“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

this is a staggering amount of money to build camps—suggesting that building & running a gulag will be the primary function of the otherwise gutted Trump-state in last fiscal yr: "D.H.S. allocated about $3.4 billion for the entire custody operation overseen by ICE" www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...

It’s a literally blindingly nice day for football in Berlin 😊😊 #FCUWOB #fcunion

German politicians and media decry Trump's authoritarianism yet ignore Germany's own draconian response to pro-Palestine protest. I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social about how Germany's political center has fueled repression while bleating incessantly about the threat of the authoritarian far right

German politicians and media decry Trump's authoritarianism yet ignore Germany's own draconian response to pro-Palestine protest. I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social about how Germany's political center has fueled repression while bleating incessantly about the threat of the authoritarian far right

Say hello to a new subway map! 🗺️ Today, the MTA unveiled a new subway diagram that provides riders with essential travel information in an easily readable, bright, and orderly manner.

the worker’s president who understands the concerns of the common man

The SPD's decline has been almost impressively disastrous. I spoke to party members and outside experts about what happened, how the Social Democrats could win back their working class base and trust more broadly, and if that will even be possible if they are junior partners to Merz’s CDU:

Germany Turns to U.S. Playbook: Deportations Target Gaza War Protesters - my latest @theintercept.com theintercept.com/2025/03/31/g...

Guess who showed up to defend Tesla? The Proud Boys, armed militias, and at one event in Idaho, and a guy dressed as Hitler. More on the "Tesla Takedown" protests here:

Backed into a not-so-grand coalition, Germany’s oldest party licks wounds and looks for way forward @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/backed-into-...

it's been years upon years of labored "campus culture" op-eds from salaried writers hectoring students about free speech, and now the state is kidnapping students for their speech in broad daylight