My latest at @flux.community: With so many rich and powerful Americans leaning into self-preservation or even the benefits of authoritarian rule, the U.S. will need a cultural and economic reset as well as a political one. 1/ plus.flux.community/p/as-elite-c...

Fascist podcaster Nick Fuentes proclaims victory over Republican rivals Far-right host says he and his fans can now operate openly within Republican politics: ‘We won, and now we’re taking it to the next level’ plus.flux.community/p/fascist-po...

One of the most interesting articles I've read about disinformation and how it manifests. This is one we should read and then read again. Well worth a look. #CDNpoli #ABpoli plus.flux.community/p/disinforma...

Flailing Virginia governor candidate spends most of her money fearmongering about trans people plus.flux.community/p/flailing-v...

As elite complicity with Trumpism grows, a revival of democracy will require a social reckoning With so many rich and powerful Americans leaning into self-preservation or even the benefits of authoritarian rule, the U.S. will need a cultural and economic reset as well as a political one.

Democrats are getting lots of bad advice lately. @davekarpf.bsky.social and I went very deep into the weeds in the latest "Theory of Change." Among the topics: Why so many campaign consultants' claims are not actually data-driven.

Flailing Virginia governor candidate spends most of her money fearmongering about trans people Religious extremist Winsome Earle-Sears has spent more than half of her advertising lying about less than 50 children plus.flux.community/p/flailing-v...

Going live at 3 ET Friday on Substack with @davekarpf.bsky.social to discuss Democratic strategy. We'll be discussing "What Republicans Know" and his recent WelcomePAC vivisection. I'll link both in next post icymi Set reminder here: open.substack.com/live-stream/...

Nick Fuentes enters the Republican mainstream in softball Tucker Carlson interview Blatantly fascistic video streamer finds nothing but love from former Fox host

Disinformation belief is more about defying societal norms than having incorrect views New study finds that believers in false statements are trying to project strength

Science is under attack because it left the public behind. NIH researchers @markhisted.org and @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social joined Theory of Change for a deep dive on why science has become so vulnerable to far-right attacks, and how to stand up for truth.

Republicans have extreme policy positions that are the furthest thing possible from "moderate." And yet they've won more recent elections than Democrats. The short answer is that Republicans are better at politics. Democrats can learn a lot from them--without copying the dishonesty.

It's published! The first part of "What Republicans Know" is out now, including full discussion of these infographics. Thread coming soon. www.patreon.com/posts/what-r...

No Kings protests highlight crucial fight to delegitimize MAGA authoritarianism As the president and his allies dismiss a pro-democracy majority as extremist, they highlight the GOP's outlandish dream of a one-party nation plus.flux.community/p/no-kings-p...

Privileging refugee status for Afrikaners and Neo-Nazis, Trump administration flaunts its white supremacist core Not only has this regime severely curtailed refugee admissions to the U.S., it's constructing new rules that assert only whites can be real citizens

Is No Kings the start of something bigger? The people can take back our power plus.flux.community/p/is-no-king...

Millions turn out for No Kings rallies across America The people are rising up against Donald Trump’s tyranny and corruption plus.flux.community/p/millions-t...

Pluralism was the biggest invention of the Renaissance, and it gave birth to all the greatest scientific and political achievements that came afterward. @adapalmer.bsky.social discusses in great detail with @matthew.flux.community

Democrats must make Trump's violence central to their case against him There is no beating the president and MAGA without a strategy for defeating the political violence they are inflicting on American society Via @jtccarroll.bsky.social: plus.flux.community/p/democrats-...

Charlie Kirk was a terrible person, but his prowess at organizing was astonishing. Democrats, progressive and moderate, are using tactics from the 1970s. Republicans spend hundreds of millions on networking, jobs, and outreach every year. Democrats waste their money on obsolete stuff.

Charlie Kirk was a religious extremist and an advocate for mass censorship of academics he hated. But as a political organizer and creator of opportunities for his comrades, there's much that can be learned from what he did. @matthewboedy.bsky.social discusses on the latest Theory of Change

To stop Trump’s authoritarianism, his opponents must understand and wield power @karenattiah.bsky.social, a victim of Trumpist purge at the Washington Post, discusses how liberals and progressives can get their groove back

The Link banning controversy reveals Bluesky’s decentralized aspiration isn’t reality. Bluesky’s protocol is so complicated that not even the biggest alternative, Blacksky, has been able to become independent plus.flux.community/p/banning-co...

As Trumps targets Portland, the MAGA war on blue America turns increasingly literal. Trump's "enemy within" that turns out to be. . . ordinary Americans just living their lives: plus.flux.community/p/as-trumps-...

The deep dive that @donmoyn.bsky.social and I did into what Russell Vought and Donald Trump are seeking in their shutdown is now published with transcript and show notes. We also covered the history of right-wing public administration and Vought's religious extremism, and much more!

Triumph of the ill will: Look below the surface of RFK, Jr.'s insane anti-health policies, and you'll glimpse the basic fact of Donald Trump's urge to dominate the American citizenry however he can Via @jtccarroll.bsky.social plus.flux.community/p/triumph-of...

Far-right pastor Ralph Drollinger brags that Senate Republicans took his advice to kick millions of people off Medicaid. “Here is our Bible study being enacted into policy!” Drollinger teaches private propaganda sessions to the most influential Republicans in DC. He should be better known.

Far-right pastor Ralph Drollinger brags that Senate Republicans took his advice to kick millions of people off Medicaid. “Here is our Bible study being enacted into policy!” Drollinger teaches private propaganda sessions to the most influential Republicans in DC. He should be better known.

Disinformation is as old as humanity. It was a lot harder to document in the past, however. One of the more interesting hoaxes that's persisted to today is the Mormon "Book of Abraham" that was concocted before ancient Egyptian was readable in the US. UCLA Egyptologist Kara Cooney and I discuss:

🧵 In the latest Theory of Change, I spoke w/ @karenattiah.bsky.social about how anti-Trump leaders need to be much more serious about power and money if they want win. "It's not enough just to be right. It's also, you also have to be resourced and organized." plus.flux.community/p/to-stop-tr...

My latest @flux.community: As the Trump administration declares war on the "radical left," opponents of Trump need to remind their fellow Americans that MAGA includes most of the population in this group. 1/ plus.flux.community/p/proclaimin...

🧵 Liberal elites have become pathological, so committed to their own Rawlsian neutrality that they are unable and unwilling to defend their own philosophy. This thread is a summary of the latest "Theory of Change" episode featuring @polphilpod.bsky.social. Continue here or click through 👇

In my latest Theory of Change episode, Seth Flaxman discusses how Democrats have failed to articulate a broader alternative to Trump's MAGA claims and why opposition is not enough. Reactionary hate can only be defeated when opposition is paired with inspiration: plus.flux.community/p/americans-...

"Trump has invented an alternate reality, rooted in racism, bloodlust, and a desire for domination. In this alternate reality, DC is beset by 'bloodthirsty criminals' and 'roving mobs of wild youth…'" @jtccarroll.bsky.social on Trump's fascistic DC takeover despite 30-year lows in crime

Reactionary American Christians think that forcing their faith into public spaces will make people more religious. In fact, evidence shows the exact opposite appears to be the case. Keeping religion out of government protects citizens and protects faith. plus.flux.community/p/government...

1/🧵 There's been so much hype, naysaying and doomerism about AI that I wanted to do two episodes about it on "Theory of Change" with @vgr.bsky.social and @davekarpf.bsky.social. The discussion w/Rao centers on his idea of "mediocrity" and its significance in natural, economic, and AI processes.

In the latest "Theory of Change," I spoke with @davekarpf.bsky.social about how today's controversies over AI echo past discussions over "Big Data," and that how technology is used by society is the most important question to keep in mind about innovations.

The latest episode of my "Theory of Change" podcast is out! @vgr.bsky.social joined me to cut through the AI hype and doomerism, exploring how large language models really work and why "mediocrity" is often the secret ingredient behind breakthroughs in evolution, technology, and the economy.

My latest @flux.community: Nothing Trump does about Epstein will satiate his raving mob, and Musk's attempts to "de-woke" Grok will always end in electronic Hitlerism. This is what happens when you actually believe that reality has a liberal bias. plus.flux.community/p/epstein-gr...

🧵 Social media permanently changed American political campaigning, but only Republicans have changed with it. Donald Trump won the 2024 election, not because people liked him, but because his party understands network marketing. @rynnreed.bsky.social and I discussed. Click thru or continue here...

One of the weirdest sub-plots of 2024 was Donald Trump marketing himself as a hip-hop icon following his arrest. Sadly, several prominent artists helped, a sick degrading of the revolutionary ethos of Tupac and early rap. I spoke with @deanvannguyen.bsky.social about Tupac's political legacy 👇

My latest @flux.community: Trump accomplished the opposite of what he intended in Iran. The country's uranium isn't destroyed. It now knows what Israel and the US know about its operations. And it 100% is going to move toward nukes. plus.flux.community/p/trumps-col...

Ten years of Trumpism: America's lost decade I did a livestream episode of Theory of Change with @erikloomis.bsky.social and Paul Campos on how neither Trump nor his Democratic opponents have barely changed a thing in their policies and campaign tactics since 2015

🧵 1/ Donald Trump just bombed Iran’s nuclear sites—obliterating not just the targets, but one of the dumbest myths in modern politics: that he’s “anti-war.” He never was. This was always coming--but lazy pundits and naive Americans refused to see it plus.flux.community/p/the-delusi...

Donald Trump's attacks on science are of a piece with reactionism's hatred of secular truth, but we shouldn't miss that he's also trying to destroy the civic culture of America's military as well by politicizing it and degrading service, as @jtccarroll.bsky.social writes @flux.community

The far-right attacks on science and sex are part of its larger war on reality and knowledge. @savannahsly.bskyverified.social and I talked about how and why Republicans are so obsessed with criminalizing porn on the latest Theory of Change episode plus.flux.community/p/the-right-...

🧵 Donald Trump's 2024 victory is part of a global shift toward a reactionary politics that pretends to be "populist." It's a "next-level" enemy that the Anglo-speaking left has never faced. Continue here or click through to watch/read my discussion w/ @mattpolprof.bsky.social.

🧵Trump's looming war on universities Trump’s second term has begun, and one thing is clear: a full-scale assault on higher education is coming. Here’s how it'll play out—and why academia still doesn’t get it. Join me as I summarize my Theory of Change episode featuring @nils-gilman.bsky.social...

A new episode of "Theory of Change" is out! Join @nilsgilman.bsky.social and @matthew.flux.community for a discussion about Trump's looming attack on higher education plus.flux.community/p/trumps-loo...

🧵 The world is on fire. Chaos reigns. Why is this happening? Primarily because fundamentalist Christianity has become an undead intellectual zombie. What's even more bizarre and grotesque, however, is that Trumpian Christianity is much more about Nietzsche than Jesus.