A reminder of why we journalists are big believers in editors: (image is via Steven Pinker)

This all reminds me of the time Croesus asked the Delphic oracle if he should attack Persia and she responded, "If Croesus crosses the Halys River, he will destroy a great empire." Turned out to be Croesus’s.

On a grim day, one bit of good news: Shelly Kittleson, the American reporter kidnapped in Iraq, reportedly has been freed: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/w...

This would be a good time for: a.) STRATCOM commanders to read up on Nuremberg and prosecutions for obeying orders to commit war crimes; and b.) for cabinet members to reread the 25th Amendment and have each other on speed dial.

President Trump threatens not just war crimes but also what sounds like genocide, saying that in Iran "a whole civilization will die tonight." This is obviously morally repugnant and also raises concerns about the mental stability of a man who controls nuclear weapons.

Religious zealots in America battle religious zealots in Iran, and humanity loses. God should sue both sides for defamation.

One of the sources of American economic and scientific dominance over the last 200 years has been the way we welcomed some of the brightest minds from all over the world. We benefited and the world benefited -- yet now under Trump we're closing down our lighthouse and its beacon.

A study in September by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank, warned that without a reversal, the cuts to science could shrink the U.S. economy by nearly $1 trillion over 10 years. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/b...

The Iran War has gobbled up a breathtaking amount of U.S. military capability vital for deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump's immigration policy: An Army staff sergeant brings his new bride to the base to get her military ID. She's undocumented but a lawyer is working on getting her a green card. ICE takes her away in handcuffs and may deport her any day. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/u...

The Iran war, an expert notes, is 'an operational success but a huge strategic failure' -- partly because we may be turning Iran into another North Korea. My column: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/o...

NEW: The Pentagon today invited more than 3,500 employees to attend a Good Friday service at its in-house chapel. Except it’s only for Protestants, not Catholics. www.huffpost.com/entry/news-l...

Remember Mr. Shah Alam, the semi-blind Rohingya genocide survivor whom immigration agents dumped on the street in Buffalo in the middle of winter? The medical examiner has found he died of dehydration and hypothermia: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/n...

A single bottle of wine--a 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti--just sold for $812,500. But here's the good news! You can get a world-class Pinot Noir from Kristof Farms and save $812,440! Think what you could do with those savings! KristofFarms.com: We're here to help!

President Trump says the U.S. could take Iran's oil. Trump also says the U.S. and Iran are having "serious" talks. MS NOW Reporter David Noriega is in Jerusalem with the latest updates. @nickkristof.bsky.social and @rickstengel.bsky.social join Alex Witt to weigh in. www.ms.now/chris-jansin...

President Trump threatens war crimes, such as destroying Iran's electrical grid and desalination plants. This is silly as well as immoral: Iran gets 3% of water from desalination, compared to half in Saudi Arabia and 90% in Kuwait. Do we really want to escalate in that direction?

We're opening The Most Beautiful Farm in The World to tours and wine/cider tastings, on Sunday, April 26, 1pm and also 2:45. Nick and Sheryl and their daughter will host. By reservation only: app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/f18... Any questions, ask [email protected]

At the end of my grim column today about Trump's Iran War, I offer uplift. My holiday impact prize campaign raised $50.3 million for 3 nonprofits. This will help millions, so thanks to donors and to @bloombergdotorg.bsky.social for matching. I have the best readers! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/o...

In the Vietnam War, Senator George McGovern put it best: “I’m tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to fight.” In that tradition, President Trump now seems likely to send ground troops to Iran. Here's why that's such a reckless idea: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/o...

This was dispiriting. I had a haircut from a young woman, and after she established that I write for a newspaper, she gushed: "That's so interesting! I've never actually read a newspaper."

Yes, I know we're all focused on Iran. But the slaughter in Sudan continues, and this excellent piece in The @guardian recounts the mass atrocities that unfolded in El Fasher, Darfur, enabled by our pals in the UAE -- as world leaders looked away. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

What a story! A janitor at a Yale University teaching hospital earned a college degree while working full time, then went to med school and is now returning to the same hospital as a resident in anesthesiology! www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20... Mentors matter so much!

Great conversation at the Common Sense Summit with John White and @nickkristof.bsky.social on what works in American classrooms. @robinhoodnyc.bsky.social knows quality early investment works: from universal pre-K to NYC Reads, we fund, grow, and scale interventions that drive real change.

For the cost of less than three days of war with Iran, we could save about 1,500,000 children’s lives a year from malnutrition, notes @nickkristof.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...

For a small sliver of the cost of war with Iran, @nickkristof.bsky.social argues we could fund universal pre-K, guarantee healthcare subsidies, and solve famine across the world. “Yet we can afford to drop bombs endlessly, and I would say fruitlessly, on Iran,” Kristof said. #Velshi

My column announces the winner of my 2026 "win-a-trip" contest: @brunella.bsky.social Brunella Tipismana Urbano, who grew up in Peru, taught herself English and is about to graduate from Yale with near-perfect grades. Not sure where we'll go, perhaps Bangladesh. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/o...

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “We can cough up the cash when there’s political will,” our columnist @nickkristof.bsky.social writes about the Pentagon’s $200 billion request for the war in Iran. “But where is the political will to get people health care or education, to build rather than to destroy?”

‘We can cough up the cash when there’s political will, such as to drop bombs halfway around the world. But where is the political will to get people health care or education, to build rather than to destroy?’ A must-read from @nickkristof.bsky.social Gift link 🎁🔗👇 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/o...

What could we do with the billions that the US is squandering on the Iran War at a rate of $1.3 million a minute? I did the math: free college, restoration of health care subsidies & an end to malnutrition that costs 1.5 million lives a year. Read: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/o...

In my new column, I argue that the debate about whether the Iran war will become a quagmire misses the point: It already is one. There still is a path Trump can try to take to escape, but it seems he might double down instead and send in Marines. Look out. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/o...

It must be so dispiriting to be a DOJ lawyer these dys.

Who could have imagined in 2024 that Canadians would find China more dependable than the United States?!

Readers weigh in with letters-to-the-editor on my column about President Trump's Iran war and what to think of the fact that some Iranians support it: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/o...

“Wesley Clark, a retired four-star Army general, pointed to the practical challenges and lack of strategy and told me the war “is going off the rails.””

Glad to talk to @nickkristof.bsky.social at the @nytimes.com about the way the United States is waging the war in Iran and the questions it raises about possible war crimes. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/o...

“The US supplied weaponry used in Gaza, but it still professed to uphold the laws of war. Now in Iran, I fear we may be retreating even further from the principles we once proclaimed, loosening the shackles that civilized nations place on themselves to protect our shared humanity.”

"In short, long after this war is behind us, we may remember it as part of a repudiation of the noble historical effort that we once led to limit the horrors of war. If so, all humanity is the loser."

What would we think if Iran bombed an American school? My column looks at how Trump and Hegseth are undermining the rules of war -- not clear war crimes but getting into territory that is horrifyingly ambiguous. Please read: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/o...

John Burns, a legendary colleague at the Times, a pal whom I deeply admired for his reporting from China, Bosnia, Yemen and more, is dead at 81. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/w... I cited this piece in my last book as a masterpiece of war correspondence: www.nytimes.com/1992/06/08/w... RIP, John.

A robust conversation with my @nytopinion.nytimes.com colleagues Bret Stephens and @megankstack.bsky.social about what I see as a disastrous Iran war: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/o... Bret is flabbergasted by pessimism about the war; we, er, disagree.

Read this thread by Senator @chrismurphyct.bsky.social and weep.

“Inside the administration, some officials are growing pessimistic about the lack of a clear strategy to finish the war. But they have been careful not to express that directly to the president, who has repeatedly declared that the military operation is a complete success.” Profiles in courage.

Iran's leadership has chosen Mojtaba Khamenei, the previous leader's son and aide, as the new supreme leader. So President Trump's war has succeed inreplacing one Supreme Leader Khamenei with another who is younger, healthier, just as hardline and has close ties to the IRGC.

This @postandcourier.bsky.social investigation of the woman accusing Pres Trump and Epstein of sexual assault is excellent. The allegations remain unproven. But the reporters confirmed elements of her story, and blackmail by Epstein illuminates his approach. www.postandcourier.com/news/epstein...

Really interesting @freakonomics.bsky.social podcast about how progress happens, with economic historian and Nobel winner Joel Mokyr: freakonomics.com

Breaking: SC newspaper verifies portions of Trump accuser's story. Textbook journalism. Local journalism. Support your local news outlets. www.postandcourier.com/news/epstein...

We know about the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. But there was a very similar killing of a young man named Ruben Martinez in which immigration agents claimed he attacked them with his car before they shot him. New video suggests that too may be a lie. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Those of us who oppose the war with Iran have to wrestle with an inconvenient fact: Some Iranians are so desperate for change that they are cheering the bombing. Here's how I think through that issue: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/o... Your thoughts?

Good piece noting that one reason Oregon has among the worst educational test scores in America may be that it also has one of the shortest school years; by graduation, an Oregon kid has had the equivalent of a full year less than kids in other states. www.the74million.org/article/amid...

The couples that make wine and cider together stay together! We're honored to see @nickkristof.bsky.social and Sheryl WuDunn highlighted. www.oregonwinepress.com/article?arti...