The Enhanced Games, an elaborate ad for supplements masking as athletic competition, are here. I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social about how the Games reflect the world forged by their billionaire backers: in a society dominated by scams, whoever can cheat most blatantly deserves to win.

Thousands of workers are threatening to strike at the Los Angeles World Cup stadium. The SoFi Stadium plans to host two of the three US Men's World Cup matches, but now 2,000 cooks, servers, bartenders and more may strike. Their main issue? ICE being present at the World Cup.

One of the lessons of the Iran war is that it was a huge mistake not to even try to put any of the Iraq war architects in prison. We shouldn’t make it again.

Pyro display at this Union Berlin match only slightly obscuring the view of the pitch…

Economic strike in Minnesota to protest against ICE: ‘No work, no school, no shopping’

wrote about the much-deserved death knell of the world's worst architecture project for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/worl...

i think it is simply true that for all intents and purposes stephen miller is the president of the united states

It’s very telling that ICE is being supported by companies like Palantir, building AI tech to help them abduct people, while the communities resisting them are organizing and creating their own systems. It’s always important to remember that these tech companies are not for people.

Nice little sticker on display in the true 2026 World Cup final host state, New Jersey

Breaking News: Gov. Kathy Hochul, partnering with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, will unveil a plan to expand free or affordable child care for New Yorkers across the state.

Seasons greetings from the best place to eat in NY, and possibly the world (a windowless mall basement in flushing, queens)

“Going to the World Cup” used to be something normal people did. Not with these ticket prices. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/688...

Breaking News: Republicans in the Indiana Senate defied President Trump and joined Democrats in voting down a congressional map aimed at adding GOP seats.

FIFA's never exactly been a shining light, but its bizarre, sycophantic bowing to Trump's every whim is a new low for both FIFA and the world's most popular spot. I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social about how football fans deserve more than a bleakly authoritarian cash grab - and need to push back.

FIFA's never exactly been a shining light, but its bizarre, sycophantic bowing to Trump's every whim is a new low for both FIFA and the world's most popular spot. I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social about how football fans deserve more than a bleakly authoritarian cash grab - and need to push back.

Germany officially set to host Women's EURO 2029 - hopefully will help give their development a further push as they struggle to keep up with Spain and England. Plus Germany always a great host country (if you can avoid Gelsenkirchen, at least)

Nothing better than CONCACAF qualifying. Also loving that if Suriname qualify, between them, Curaçao and the Netherlands there will be like 80 Dutch-born players at the World Cup. The Netherlands x CONCACAF combo is becoming unstoppable

It’s become conventional wisdom that America’s young men are in crisis. The reality is more complicated than that. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this

After 11 years in Berlin I’m officially a German citizen! Will celebrate by consuming concerning quantities of bratwurst, tut tutting jay walkers, and complaining (highly encouraged among Germans and a big no no when foreigners do it). Where do I pick up my Camp David shirt?

NEW: NYC's mayor-elect must now grapple with the sweeping NYPD surveillance apparatus that has historically targeted Muslims and other minority groups. @awinston.bsky.social reports for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/welcom...

An excellent question at the end of this well done video from @braneck.bsky.social. But a sad one to consider in a city like Birmingham.

Mamdani up another two points on this alone

As ceasefire takes hold, Germany's pro-Palestinian protesters grapple with fallout at home @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/as-ceasefire...

Had a great time on @cornerspaeti.operationglad.io delivering for the all important Berlin leftist sports fan demographic (we exist!) and chatting with Nick about the encroaching Americanization of European sport. Worth a listen even if we won't see you at the Berlin NFL games, check it out!

🚨NEW EPISODE🚨 Nick has on @braneck.bsky.social to talk about SPORTS! Wait don't leave, it's focusing on American sports being exported to EU markets and beyond. Globalisation! Geopolitics! Economies! You love that shit. Also Ciarán leaves a quick news update from paternity leave. OPERATIONGLAD.IO

Big moment in club history: Union Berlin make their women’s Bundesliga debut in front of a packed crowd. Also momentous for women’s football in the city - they’re the first side from Berlin proper to play in the top flight since 2010. This will be fun. #FCUnion #FCUFCN

Germany welcomed them with open arms. A decade later, migrants grapple with a rightward lurch @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germany-welc...

This is Stadio. youtu.be/XCw27DskYRw?...

Pumped to again appear on the great @spassbremse.bsky.social, where we discussed finance and sportswashing in football, the women’s Euros, and Berlin’s wildly unsuccessful branding as a ‘sport metropole’. Plus, of course, stadium bratwurst chat. Check it out!

An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza. Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF. #NotATarget Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...

Pumped to again appear on the great @spassbremse.bsky.social, where we discussed finance and sportswashing in football, the women’s Euros, and Berlin’s wildly unsuccessful branding as a ‘sport metropole’. Plus, of course, stadium bratwurst chat. Check it out!

Germany finally restricting weapons exports to Israel (at least those that ‘could be used in Gaza’). Great news, and pretty crazy that a Merz-led Groko is taking a stronger stance on Gaza than Scholz and the Greens did

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz says it’s stopping exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza (AP) #Gaza #Israel #Germany #warcrimes apnews.com/article/germ...

Sweden’s ‘soft hooligans’ supporters out in full force in Zürich before their final group stage match vs Germany. As someone intrigued by hooliganism but afraid of violence, legal trouble, physical exertion, and spiders (unrelated) I may see if the soft hooligans are taking new members #WEURO2025

I’m celebrating the 4th of July like any other proud American: by watching Germany take on Poland at the Euros in Switzerland. Will sadly have to replace the customary bud light and hot dogs with a stadium bratwurst. #WEURO2025

Walz announces that Rep. Melissa Hortman is dead as a result of a "politically motivated assassination"

The idea that this political violence is the consequence of people on both sides cheering it on seems like a sympathetic point but just doesn’t hold up to history. In my adult life, I’ve seen people on the right do everything from kill politicians to kill regular citizens, and it’s shrugged off.

Germany orchestrates plans to draw younger, more diverse crowds to opera @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germany-orch...

A good morning to read about birthright citizenship from the perspective of the great-grandson of Wong Kim Ark, the plaintiff whose case in 1898 affirmed that birthright citizenship is guaranteed to the children of undocumented migrants born in the U.S. wapo.st/3F9Djae

New Jersey Transit rail strike, first in four decades, begins as wage talks stall reut.rs/4jXEKYt

Germany marks 80 years since WWII’s end while struggling with rise of far right @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germany-mark...

Just galling on so many levels. US Vice President JD Vance Jokes About Deporting Tourists Attending the 2026 Men's World Cup www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-van...

I see the whole "returning to GroKo under Merz might not be perfect but at least it will bring the stability Germany needs right now" argument is working out splendidly

It's now official: Union Berlin’s women team is going up to the Bundesliga! Demolishing Gladbach in front of 14,000 fans secures Union’s first ever top flight season, and makes them Berlin’s first women’s Bundesliga club since TeBe back in 2010.

This graphic, from German publication Die Zeit, shows the rise in right-wing extremist incidents in German schools last year. “Most of these are offenses such as swastika graffiti and Hitler salutes, but also racist insults and even death threats against classmates with a migration background.”

I had a very good conversation with @braneck.bsky.social on the future of German and European defense policy. Some of it made it into this article, so why don't you give it a read ;-)

Germany’s massive military makeover still needs to win recruits @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germanys-mas...

Germany's Deutsche Welle (DW): “Housing costs all over the world are skyrocketing, and climate change-driven disasters are only making it worse. Could city planning and risk reduction help?” By @braneck.bsky.social

When I left the Washington Post in 2023, my colleagues and I were worried AI would hoover up our work and enable "zombies" to churn out stories based on our reporting and writing styles. Today WaPo announced a partnership with OpenAI. And here it is: Zombie Gillian Brockell. I DID NOT WRITE THIS.

I used to be a bit skeptical of AI’s societal value but now that I know it can be used to make pizza rat emojis I’m all in