(Media) SCOOP: Weeks ago, the owner of the Washington City Paper had offered to purchase The Washington Post's sports and local sections, keeping their desks alive. The Post reporters were laid off and the desks were shut down instead. www.theverge.com/policy/87683...

on benito, and america

trying to become so pretentious that i never die, but perish

No Kings includes Draft Kings

Fellow puzzle lovers: In honor of the Super Bowl I made a little football-themed crossword with my friend @robdubbin.bsky.social for @puzzmo.com. You can play for free today: www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2026-...

I don't see how self-publishing world survives GenAI. It's going to be an absurd increase in slop books with no reason to expect any increase in paying readers. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/b...

“I know they would do anything, that they would hurt people, that they’ve murdered people... I know that intellectually. But I still did not expect them to gas a chill, friendly protest full of nurses and teachers and children and the elderly.” www.theverge.com/policy/87278...

How the men in the Epstein files defeated #MeToo

Hey Peakies, OG and new, if you’re looking for the whole story… look no further. #scottmeslowbksy.social

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

One local who was arrested while protesting at the site of Alex Pretti’s killing talked to The Verge about his harrowing experience in custody at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building and how the community is fighting back. Read more from @gabydvj.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/policy/87365...

i interviewed one of the people who was detained by DHS while protesting alex pretti’s killing. here’s how it all went down, in his own words: www.theverge.com/policy/87365...

Moltbook is people!!

ICE tear gassed a bunch of children on Saturday. This was a massive escalation of force. They were shooting tear gas at the back of the crowd, it took these unmasked people maybe 3-5 minutes in the cloud of tear gas to escape in without trampling. www.theverge.com/policy/87278...

The Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins has opened applications for its food systems journalism fellowship this year. I'm part of the current crop, and can definitely recommend it if you're an early career food writer, or looking to add it to your repertoire like I was

Bruno Venus! Bruno Mercury! Bruno Mars! Bruno Jupiter!

I interviewed an expert on what's happening with connectivity in Iran: The longest blackout in Iran's history. Thousands dead. Documentation of war crimes dependent on Starlink. A regime that uses AI's ubiquity to undermine the credibility of evidence. www.theverge.com/policy/87184...

We have @gabydvj.bsky.social in Minneapolis. This is a quick peek of the great, on-the-ground reporting she has in the works:

lol these qualifications clearly came from someone asking grok "what is a successful author"

No paywall on this one—read it for free

In Minneapolis, there are countless signs every day that the sanctity of our safe, loving places has been ruptured. The Trump administration has not just failed to protect children; it has seen, in their innocence and vulnerability, a fault line that ICE can exploit.

Great piece here from Mia: "The main function of slop is to take something from you: your time, your attention, your trust. It is passive in that it requires nothing from viewers but to sit back and consume"

"School bus drivers should not need special training on what they should do if ICE shows up at a stop. Parents should not need to explain the routine presence of masked agents wearing military fatigues and carrying guns." Read more from @scottmeslow.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/policy/87072...

TGIWFWTD (Thank God It's Whiskey Friday With Tony Dokoupil), everyone

The violent occupation of Minneapolis started with a vlog. I've wanted to find a framework to describe Nick Shirley & others like him: "Influencer" is too quaint. "Journalist" is obviously wrong. I landed on "slopagandist." Gift link (open in a web browser) www.theverge.com/news/869824/...

sarah: i want to write a buying guide me: about what sarah: 😈

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

"I didn’t realize, in the hours before his name was released to the public, that the man millions of people had seen lying facedown on the pavement from multiple angles of eyewitness video was my childhood best friend." Read more from @kristenradtke.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/policy/86856...

Really disappointing to see the AP use this kind of language when the pointlessness and cruelty of Japanese American incarceration has been clear for more than 80 years.

I talked to one of the r/MassiveCock posters who decided to bring anti-ICE conversations to the subreddit. "... Nothing in life should feel ‘normal’ when these sorts of things are happening in our country. Even porn and sex," he said. Gift link (obviously): tinyurl.com/mr3nua5k

we need to go back to athletes not trying to be fashionable

I don't think it matters whether or not Alex Pretti had a gun www.theverge.com/policy/86745...

After Alex Pretti was shot, photographer Steven Garcia followed peaceful protestors as they withstood being teargassed by ICE agents. www.theverge.com/policy/86741...

The day of the second killing

We got a photographer following protests and ICE assaults in Minneapolis today

“Everyone should be allowed to carry a gun for their safety but the government can murder you in the street if you have a gun” is an incredible endpoint for the conservative moment

MAGA and the Trump admin will no doubt comb through video of another ICE killing to find the one clip that they can use to justify shooting someone at point blank range. They’ll try to use video to sow doubt about what you see with your own eyes. Don’t fall for it. www.theverge.com/tech/858710/...

I wrote about Minneapolis. nymag.com/intelligence...

If you're a subscriber, should also check out my interview with Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who was *also* nominated today for her cinematography work on Sinners

When the AI slop summer reading list dropped last year I knew I had to write about making book lists. Thanks to @thebaffler.com for letting me go long with bewildered nostalgia & regret on 20 years of Internet book culture & how we made the slop book list inevitable. thebaffler.com/after-the-fa...

We’ve decided to make this story free for all readers, forever. We hope you’ll support this reporting by sharing it.

I won a prize 🤓

Very proud to work at a place that can publish things that are this honest

lol the NYT didn’t have to wait until the goons took to the streets, The Verge ran this package in 2022 www.theverge.com/c/23055922/h...

states' rights rise up (also we have gift links now) www.theverge.com/policy/86363...

You asked for it so here they are: The Verge has gift links now! Subscribers can now share five posts a month any way you want. Just hit the little gift icon in the meta box at the top of each article. Share away please

pretty sure he meant the other thing, grok, but very cool that those are your two things