People on the right and left are sick of big corporations - like media companies - having become such a dominant force in our economy and our culture. Whichever party offers a vision to break up concentrated economic power has the potential to capture a new alignment of voters.

If you think the media ecosystem is bad now, wait'll the feds have control of the tiktok algorithm. TikTok is where 2 out of 5 young adults *get* their news.

So many academics are on HB-1 visas. This is another attack by #RussellVought on universities and scientific research. Stop telling me anything this administration does is in good faith or with any sort of policy goal except destruction.

Every new feature needs a "go away and never do this again" button

Film and TV writers — and Michael Eisner — blast Disney for benching Jimmy #Kimmel. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

As you cancel streaming services, here is a casual reminder that only 16% of Americans read for pleasure anymore, and your local library has hundreds or thousands of books you haven't read. They would love to see you stop by and renew your library card.

As I told @newrepublic.com, "Once last week, twice today, ICE has picked me up and thrown me on the ground. Honestly, it doesn’t compare to what our neighbors who are trapped inside the Broadview processing facility are going through. They’re committing crimes against humanity there."

File under "No Shit, Sherlock." And you helped build this, Ted. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Got my Covid booster today. Glad I got it in before the latest RFK Jr idiocy.

Texas Superintendent Goes Viral in Defense of Teachers, Books, and Public Schools! dianeravitch.net/2025/09/19/t...

9-0 SCOTUS ruling from last year: “Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors.”

In an abusive relationship, the perpetrator makes the biggest power grabs when he feels his control over the victim is slipping. I’m keeping that in mind whenever we see massive escalations from Trump. It’s all still very dangerous. But these moments are a sign of weakness, not strength.

I experienced this last week & refused, saying I had never before been asked to provide the names of any analysts I was planning to quote to get a comment. Spox replied that maybe they were D donors. (In that case, it was 3 retired top military JAG officers.) I guess that was not a weird oneoff.

Virginia, early voting starts today. Make your plan to vote for @abigailspanberger.com and Democrats down the ballot now: IWillVote.com/VA

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, political opportunists — including foreign actors — are creating and exploiting fear of perceived “leftist violence.” https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/security-analysts-flag-rise-russian-created-misinformation-posts/story?id=125640078

Becoming increasingly clear we’re gonna have to build a parallel infrastructure for all the media we really love. The reason all of this is happening under the color of law is hyperconsolidation, dissent being traded straight up for merger approval, or fear of harassment.

former CDC official Dr. Houry: "I first learned that the secretary had changed our CDC covid vaccine guidance on an X social media post. CDC scientists have still not seen the scientific data or justification for this change. That is not gold standard science."

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Dylan Roof, who followed white supremacist propaganda, murdered 9 Black parishioners in 2015. Do you deny this? PATEL: I'm sorry. Dylan Roof? Can you give me more information? KAMLAGER-DOVE: You're head of the FBI

Folks, if that new centrist group, which shall not be named, is building its entire business model around getting attacked by the left, then it might be advisable to be cautious about whether to draw outraged attention to it...I'd argue for picking the right moments carefully.

Me as a naive young man: Bill Kristol makes some good points Me, slightly older and angrier: Bill Kristol is terrible Me, older still: Bill Kristol makes some good points

Lessons from being online since 1995 1. Brandolini's law: "The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it." 2. Chill before serving. (Mine) 3. It's irony when the actor or observer is "confidently unaware." 4. On the Media's rules.

Dictator in waiting.

"It’s a terrible thing to hate your political opponents, but the ready availability of guns makes it easier for people to act on their hatred."

I am having a hard time reconciling "Charlie Kirk was a fierce advocate of open dialogue and free expression" with "we must identify and persecute everyone who is insufficiently mournful"

While GOP is busy with hagiographies of Kirk…

JUST IN: Democrats have won the congressional special election in northern Virginia. AP just called the blue district for James Walkinshaw, who'll replace Democrat Gerry Connolly, who passed away this spring. (Final margin to come, but Walkinshaw up huge so far.)

For those of us who are old enough to have lived through Iran Contra scandal....

Then they came for Alan Dershowitz and ditto.

All the white men who tell women who stand up for their rights to keep quiet, to listen, that `you don't listen'

A tennis player's lesson for Democrats open.substack.com/pub/anandwri...

Today's Toons ctnewsjunkie.com/2025/09/08/t...

Jeffrey Epstein had doctors prescribe birth control and sedatives to his victims. They also screened his victims for STDs. He had dentists work on their teeth. I’d like to know who these people are and why they have been protected.

Great to see this 👏👏👏👏 Trump will hate every following minute of his time at the US Open final.

Trump looks very grumpy that Alcaraz won. Upsets his white supremacist narrative.

That private schools can pick and choose their students -- meaning that the parents are not actually the ones getting choice -- then becomes a positive. Exclusivity is as or more important than the actual education being provided.

"Small website and hosting companies don’t want to be responsible for this data and the oligarchic mega corps like Meta and YouTube are salivating at the idea of getting all of it." "It's also indicative of a trend within US society where rather than regulating corporations we regulate users."

I concur. RKF Jr. fights like hell for quackery. Democrats need to fight like hell for science, health, and rationality.

Tom Hanks is too woke for the Dept of War, while they worship President Bone Spurs: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

This. 👇👇👇 JB Pritzker: "Any rational person who has spent even the most minimal amount of time studying human history has to ask themselves one important question: Once they get the citizens of this nation comfortable with the current atrocities committed under the color of law, what comes next?”

That’s exactly what this feels like!

More people in DC than in Wyoming or Vermont. Coming up on Alaska and North Dakota. Per capita, we pay more federal income tax than any of the states. (Incl NY, CA, CT, etc.) Voice in Congress: Zero. Have never before felt as much DC-specific patriotism—across race and class—as now.

ICYMI: Hachette UK’s network for Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage employees and allies, THRIVE, is looking for romance writers of colour to submit entries for this year’s Grow Your Story 👇 #BookSky

Part of student walkouts across the country yesterday www.startribune.com/live-minneso...

According to the new War.gov site, we have a lot more military bases in China and Russia than I realized. www.war.gov/About/

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

Probably want to avoid fishing while the anti-war administration remains in power

This story is WILD. Trump sent Seal Team 6 into North Korea to plant a listening device. The entire thing went sideways within minutes of landing when they noticed a fishing boat near the beach. They killed everyone on board, sunk the bodies to cover their tracks, and fled. Congress was never told.

🙄

There is literally an instagram feed called Hot Dudes Reading. Roid Boys who are performative "Alpha Men" don't understand that the brain is the sexiest organ in the long term. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...