Very funny to me, also, that "The Arsenal of Freedom" is the name of an episode in Star Trek TNG where autonomous AI weapons killed an entire civilization and there's a sales hologram still on the planet trying to sell them. it was originally a commentary in the sale of F-14 Tomcats to Iran(!)
I couldn't string sentences together yesterday, Maybe that's a sign that I shouldn't have been spared when all my fantastic colleagues who unfairly lost their jobs pushed through their grief to write beautiful notes about their careers and the situation at The Washington Post. The health team lost 8 out of 13 reporters yesterday despite health listed as part of The Post's new pared down focus. Just six months after becoming an editor and having the honor to lead an all-star team covering federal health agencies and public health, I have to go back to reporting because there are barely any health reporters left to edit. I'll say more about the reporters we lost later today, but as a team, we did everything we were supposed to do under the vision for The Post to be a digital innovator that breaks news, offers hard-hitting accountability and directly address reader concerns. We landed exclusives on the CDC director's firing, plans to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule, projections for steep ACA marketplace rate increases and more. We avoided dutiful iterative stories and covered storylines such as the expiration of enhanced ACA premiums with smart targeted angles that were widely read. We broke the mold of a traditional newspaper with clever formats including a pop-up newsletter and live chats to help readers navigate new restrictions on coronavirus vaccines, a quiz to understand new dietary guidelines and vertical videos to showcase reporter expertise. The Metro section where I started my career (and offers a clear reason for millions of potential subscribers to pay for us instead of or in addition to other national outlets!) is hollowed out. Reporters around the world wiped out after the owner set a vision for international relevance. A sports department home to journalistic legends shuttered. And so much more bleeding across the entire newsroom.
The Washington Post gutted the health team which I helped to lead despite our stories being among the most widely read, impactful and adept at reaching new audiences.
If you like my brand of nerdy map content, come see me present How Maps Lie: an informative and entertaining exploration of just how wildly different maps are from reality.
February 5, 6PM Paul Pratt Memorial Library in Cohasset, MA
February 12 6:30PM at Jacob Edwards Library in Southbridge, MA
Could be news about something important, like Slot’s job!
Heads are going to explode 💥
Cato Institute just nuked the lie. Immigrants have cut U.S. deficits by $14.5 TRILLION since 1994, slashing the national debt by a third.
All that “immigrants are bleeding us dry” noise? Absolute bullshit.
1/3
Just edited an op-ed for an upcoming edition of @thepvdeye.bsky.social. So here's a PSA that we have a vibrant opinion section at the Eye which I edit. And if you're in Providence, and have something to say about life in the city, we'd love to publish you!
More detail:
I’m tired of evil people seemingly have the upper hand.
Insert sad bacon-draped emoji face. Best of luck, Ron!
Infuriating and sad news to hear. Best wishes.
Café workers at Seven Stars Bakery ratify new contract
"Thank you to our customers for supporting us throughout this journey,” said Stephanie Walker, a long-time employee and Shop Steward. "The community sticking by us means so much!”
steveahlquist.substack.com/p/cafe-worke...
In 2023, CBP killed a young Black girl that they imprisoned by incarcerating her and failing to provide the needed medical care for her sickle cell anemia
You cannot reform this apparatus which kills people no matter which party is in charge
Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, who was 8 years old
“Our experiences are painful and sometimes annihilating, and if we have the strength to crawl out of and excavate that wreckage, we have to ask ourselves how to describe the truth of it.” —Hilton Als
✌🏻
There are *reasons* why we protest with nonviolent tactics. No one wants to be subject to a state that uses violence indiscriminately, nor would we want that from our community members.
Read the story of John Lewis as illustrated by @natepowell.bsky.social in this series of graphic novels.
I'm on the Green Line towards downtown Minneapolis ICE OUT protest.
The train filled immediately. Even 20 stops away from our destination we reached capacity.
People are cheering at every stop when they see people waiting to board because we are all starting to realize how big this is.
This is such an important point. That 5-year-old and his dad should never been detained in the first place! That's because they were already in the system and going through the legal process to seek asylum — and their arrest was seemingly just to juice ICE's numbers.
From @genesegrill.bsky.social: "It is astonishing to experience Musil experiencing and trying to describe the new phenomena of Robert Walser and Franz Kafka here, fresh, unprepared, astonished." genesegrill.substack.com/p/musils-191...
“Every class I go to, I’m thinking, do I run out of this class if I have to?”
Such important journalism on the ground at Minnesota's colleges right now:
As clergy pray, arrests begin
"The city of Philadelphia is suing the Trump administration over the decision to remove an exhibit at Independence National Historical Park depicting the factual history of slavery in the United States." www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
🚨🚨🚨 ICE IS OUT IN FORCE IN SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS TODAY 🚨🚨🚨
If you are not at the march/rally, PLEASE bundle up and get out on the streets.
Join your neighborhood chat, and if you see ICE blow your whistle, honk your horn and get video (horizontal).
If you can't go outside, keep an eye out your window.
"Every time I am in a book store, I marvel at the depth and breadth of imagination, intelligence, and creativity on offer. We forget sometimes, that people, in all circumstances, have always been and will always be creative."
Roxane Gay substack.com/@roxanegay
#booksky #books #bskybookclub
Fleetwood Halen
A massive storm that brought a record storm surge to Alaska was poorly forecast, and “this is one of the clearest possible examples to date where missing upper air soundings due to NWS constraints may have led to a degraded forecast.”
The best season!
For the west coast crowd: The second issue of my biweekly newsletter, This, Not That, went out today. The plan is for issues to alternate between recommendations & commonplace book entries. This one is the latter, collating writings on autumn from my reading over many years. I hope you enjoy it.
If you thought shit was crazy before…just wait.
As someone who spent many hours listening to Kirk’s show on AM radio, I would say that he made Rush Limbaugh seem like Walter Cronkite by comparison, in terms of rhetorical tone and empirical rigor. The subtext of every show was “You don’t hate the left enough.”
ICYMI: A team of colleagues and I wrote a comprehensive list of career advice for marine biologists, which is by far the longest thing we've ever published in the 15+ year history of our blog.
Please read and share! 🧪🦑🌎
www.southernfriedscience.com/marine-biolo...
We’re doing this to ourselves
