My interview with @illsp.bsky.social where I explain why I was so profoundly disappointed with the libertarian movement: open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

The Iran war resulted from: Trump's personal belligerence and his need to wield American military might to satisfy his inner potentate; Rubio's neocon hawkishness; Hegseth's toxic masculinity — with the hard-right Israeli PM providing the crucial catalyst.

This is a great interview with @shikhadalmia.bsky.social, particularly for those of us with libertarian tendencies who have struggled to understand why the @reason.com circles were so unalarmed as Trump edged towards authoritarianism.

Sad, heartbreaking piece from a young Iranian exile reporting on what the regime is now doing to his friends . What have we done? Read at @theunpopulist.net open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

white conservatives rewriting their laws to produce all-white congressional delegations? nothing to see here. black people electing black members of congress in majority-minority districts? constitutionally suspect racial discrimination against white conservatives.

Thank YOU!

As someone who visits NYC a couple times a year to see friends and family, I cannot pretend to be a disinterested observer here. Hotels in the city have gotten stupid expensive over the past few years and it’s nuts that more of them aren’t coming online.

New interview! @shikhadalmia.bsky.social ( @ismapolicy.bsky.social @theunpopulist.net ) discusses libertarianism, the evolution of American liberal thought, and the conditions under which a new political coalition might take shape.

LOL!!

Everything that Trump touches turns to crap, even a good policy like deregulating vapes. Great piece by @jacobgrier.bsky.social at @theunpopulist.net open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Abrego Garcia requires our gratitude and also restitution. What he endured would have broken most of us.

Obama framed immigration through shared American history. Trump framed immigrants as criminals and threats. LibCon 2026: conference.ismaglobal.org?utm_source=b...

The Yale report's is less a self-examination and more a public self-flagellation to keep the administration off its back. It is as if after years of relentless rightwing attacks, the university has lost moral confidence to stick up for itself. Me @theunpopulist.net open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

A President ordering the Justice Department to criminally investigate a woman who won a sexual assault lawsuit against him makes Watergate look like an unpaid parking ticket.

Overnight, another likely Africa ICE flight took off — the third in as many days. The previous two ICE flights did removals to Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Senegal.

Thank you!

The recent Yale report's ostensive purpose was self examination of elite universities' failure. But dig deeper into what it doesn't say, and it becomes clear that it was really trying to manage optics at a time of regime hostility. By moi at @theunpopulist.net open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Barbaric:

Very good rejoinder!

No piece has resulted in as many cancelled readers for @theunpopulist.net as this one by @mattjj89.bsky.social, which is just fine. You want people to read you for the right reasons. open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

"Which one is going to be more accountable to the average voter—the administrative state, or those silly people on Capitol Hill? You may say it’s a Hobson’s choice, but I think you’d better put your chips on Capitol Hill. There you have a real voice." www.theunpopulist.net/p/a-bloated-...

The diabolical nature of this stroke of Millerian evil cannot be overstated. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/22/u...

Pre-Friday Follow: I suspect most people who will see this follow at least one out of @liberalcurrents.com @theunpopulist.net @liberalism.org but you should be following all three.

This monstrosity was not a detention center. It wasn’t a prison. It was a torture facility in which they held detainees in 2 feet X 2 feet cages as punishment for hours. Watch and read @bernybelvedere.bsky.social at @theunpopulist.net open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

LibCon2026. Sign Up Now. We still have our early bird special on. And you will be in for a really fibrous treat with the who's who of liberals from both side: open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Well, this seems very interesting and very germane! I'll be listening. Hope you do too.

Excited to welcome @anneapplebaum.bsky.social to LibCon2026, July 16-17 at The Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. conference.ismaglobal.org

Jared Polis just went down in my estimation.

I love @cathyyoung63.bsky.social. She is fair minded and thorough and one our speakers at LibCon2026. But when every incident of wokeness she cites here from 2020, the thesis that the left's illiberalism problem isn't over becomes self refuting: open.substack.com/pub/globeopi...

This is such a chilling scenario @andycraig.bsky.social lays out at @theunpopulist.net that I was afraid of running it lest we give Republicans dangerous ideas. But giving advance public notice about nefarious plots is the best way to defuse them. Read and share: open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Thanks! At @theunpopulist.net. Subscribe!

Fantastic conversation between @shikhadalmia.bsky.social and @jamellebouie.net, especially the rebuttal to the Ruy Teixeira/Third Way overreading of the meaning of 2024. Highly recommend: www.theunpopulist.net/p/where-will...

thanks again @andreapitzer.bsky.social @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social @mjtoma.bsky.social @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com @dollemore.com @shikhadalmia.bsky.social & more for doing interviews you can follow everyone profiled (& a similar) here: go.bsky.app/S917t2b

This is going to be met with a bunch of "that will never hold up in court" responses. Ok. So do it anyway. Force this administration to make its preposterous masking arguments in front of federal judges. Make them defend secret police on the record. Go on the offensive.

LibCon2026 by @theunpopulist.net's parent organization @ismapolicy.bsky.social is around the corner. Our star-studded lineup is an embarrassment of riches (mixed metaphor, I know). Get the early bird special now and avoid FOMO. We sold out weeks before last 2 times open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Europeans are thought of as the protagonists in US immigration story coming via Ellis Island. Forgotten are the Chinese immigrants who spread from West to East, profoundly shaping our culture and policies. We can't understand US now w/out revisiting that history @theunpopulist.net shorturl.at/AwicJ

Don't miss @theunpopulist.net senior editor @bernybelvedere.bsky.social's video debut folks. Kash Patel is a natural sycophant and Berny is natural on camera. Diff is Kash might still lose his job while Berny might become an internet star :) open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

A fantastic conversation between @shikhadalmia.bsky.social and @jamellebouie.net. It’s the kind of conversation between people who do not necessarily agree on different policies — but agree on the broader project of reasserting Congress‘s power to reign in an imperial executive — that gives hope.

We are not alone in this work, and we are not the only ones to acknowledge that Congress is listening, as they should. Join us to work up some Good Trouble. We'll give you all the tools and courage you need to make your voice heard with the people who are supposed to REPRESENT you in D.C.

Truly eye-popping piece.

The internal guardrails that constrained Trump in term one are completely gone. No Bolton, no Vindman, no Fiona Hill. www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-case-f...

Trump's ballroom is lawless and corrupt. But MAGA types have no shame in using the shooting to quash legitimate opposition. Hilariously, as @bernybelvedere.bsky.social notes in the @theunpopulist.net, it wouldn't even be big enough for a WHCD. Must read. open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Great discussion, I enjoyed it. Thanks Jamelle

My wideranging convo w/ @jamellebouie.net @theunpopulist.net. We discuss the great MAGA crackup, the weird rise of centrist Dems who think their party is too radical on immigration as this president exceeds bounds of cruelty and the need for a muscular Congress. open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

I keep saying that by the time this is over, NATO will be applying to join Ukraine.

One shooter created so much fear and panic at the WHCD. Imagine how those trapped in the Capitol building felt on Jan 6 given an entire mob outside. Yet Trump supporters say that was a tourist gathering.

I was dumbfounded as I put together @theunpopulist.net's Executive Abuse Watch roundup for this week. This level of corruption would have brought down the government of a banana republic. I'm sure this barely scratches the surface. How the fuck is this possible? tinyurl.com/3kkn85f5

Fascinating analysis by @gregsargent.bsky.social "The impulse to see the leader as the only Real avatar of The People’s authentic yearnings can unleash a logic of relentless expulsion." MAGA has reached eating its own stage. Let's enjoy! newrepublic.com/article/2094... via @newrepublic.com