Articles from: kottke.org

Diego Luna Guest-Hosts Kimmel, Talks Immigration

Diego Luna is guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live this week and for his first monologue, the Mexico native spoke about immigration a

Stupid-Americans feel about Trump the way Irish-Americans felt about JFK in 1960....

Stupid-Americans feel about Trump the way Irish-Americans felt about JFK in 1960. “They love him for who he is, which is one

There’s No Undo Button For Our Fallen Democracy

Tressie McMillan Cottom, one of America’s leading public intellectuals, posted this to Bluesky yesterday: I’m going t

Taking Journalism’s ‘Experts Said…’ Chicanery About Facts to Its Natural, Absurd Conclusion

Yesterday, the NY Times published an article about Donald Trump’s threat to take away citizenship from a US-born citizen:

Photos Show the Vast Scale of China’s Solar Power Projects

Over at the Atlantic, Alan Taylor has collected a bunch of photos showing just how hard China is pushing on solar energy. As

After Paramount cancelled the Late Show with Stephen Colbert after he criticized...

After Paramount cancelled the Late Show with Stephen Colbert after he criticized the network’s $16 million bribe to Trump, D

The End of America as a Center of Science

Ross Anderson writes about how scientific empires, from the ancient Sumerians to the Nazis to the Soviet Union in the 1950s, have

Jamelle Bouie on the Death of the Fourth American Republic

This is a great piece from Jamelle Bouie on the likely death of the Voting Rights Act and, zooming out, the end of an era in Ameri

American neo-Nazis love the Trump era. “[Trump] awakened a lot of people...

American neo-Nazis love the Trump era. “[Trump] awakened a lot of people to the issues we’ve been raising for years. H

The Boston Globe’s Prescient 2016 View of Our Trumpist Future

On April 9, 2016, several months before Donald Trump was elected President for the first time, the Boston Globe ran an editorial e

The Covid Vaccine Situation for the Fall Is a Complete Mess

Dr. Katelyn Jetelina (aka Your Local Epidemiologist) has a frustrating update on how Covid vaccines are probably going to work thi

Gutted: How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies (ProPublica). “Food and...

Gutted: How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies (ProPublica). “Food and drug facility inspectors are having to go t

The Armed Takeover of US Cities by the President Is Not a “Distraction”

Jamelle Bouie on Democratic politicians who maddeningly cannot recognize and acknowledge what is going on in the country. From

“Trump told voters that they could indulge their resentments and still walk...

“Trump told voters that they could indulge their resentments and still walk away richer and more prosperous. But they can&#8

The Trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu

Disney dropped the trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu today, a feature-length film that will debut in theaters in May 2026. A

Yes, this exactly: “The government is already shut down, and has been...

Yes, this exactly: “The government is already shut down, and has been for several months, as the Trump administration initia

Atul Gawande of Harvard’s School of Public Health: The Trump regime’s destruction...

Atul Gawande of Harvard’s School of Public Health: The Trump regime’s destruction of USAID “has already caused t

“The Trump administration’s vision for the United States is one of a...

“The Trump administration’s vision for the United States is one of a white Christian nation. And the path to accomplis

On Kindness, Power, and Hypocrisy

Earlier this week, Vanity Fair published a two-part story about the Trump regime’s “inner circle”, including e

Listen to the Cassandras

Kottke Wrapped 2025

Spotify really started something, didn’t they? Everyone has a “Wrapped” this year; I even got an email one fro

“America is no longer a democracy. That doesn’t mean authoritarianism has won....

“America is no longer a democracy. That doesn’t mean authoritarianism has won. But merely restoring the pre-Trump stat

M. Gessen on the new world order the Trump regime seems eager...

M. Gessen on the new world order the Trump regime seems eager to bring about. “If Trump can take Venezuela and Putin can tak

Isaac Chotiner interviews Oona Hathaway, an expert in international law, about the...

Isaac Chotiner interviews Oona Hathaway, an expert in international law, about the “brazen illegality” of the Trump re

What Is the Scale of the Resistance in Minnesota?

A must-read thread from Margaret Killjoy (Skywriter thread) on what’s going on in Minnesota. I came to Minneapolis to repor

Science magazine: US government has lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs since...

Science magazine: US government has lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs since Trump took office.

The Trump regime is still deporting people to wherever...

The Trump regime is still deporting people to wherever they want, facilitated by a corrupt Supreme Court.

Why Attack Iran?

There are many possible and plausible answers to this simple question. Timothy Snyder offers a useful perspective in helping answer it: How do [we] understan

From ProPublica, a database of financial disclosures...

From ProPublica, a database of financial disclosures from the Trump regime’s political appointees. “Use this database to explore potential conflicts of interest

Syndicates of Capital

Jessica Burbank: A new world order is here. States (countries) are no longer the highest form of power globally. Power has shifted to wealthy individuals who

Nothing Works in Trump’s America — Except Racism ....

Nothing Works in Trump’s America — Except Racism. “Trump is objectively bad at running the government, but he’s objectively good at running a Klan rally, and hi

“All of Humanity’s Problems Stem From Marc Andreessen’s Inability to Sit Quietly in a Room Alone”

Tech investor and billionaire Marc Andreessen has many bad opinions (as evidenced by his investment portfolio). On a recent podcast, he shared a real boner: tha

Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S....

Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service. “…the most devastating attack on the U.S. Forest Service in the agency’s 121-year history. Not a budget cut. Not a policy shift. Not

Gunfire of the Vanities: Trump Dinner Shooting Defines a...

Gunfire of the Vanities: Trump Dinner Shooting Defines a Violent, Unserious America, “a land where guns are everywhere and a callous elite media dons formalwear to toast its own humiliation by our nar

The Self-Defeating Both-Sidesism of the US Press

Greg Sargent writing for The New Republic: There’s no clean way to hive off terms like fascism or authoritarianism from Trump’s policies. Even if you disagree that the words apply, their use is bac

Elizabeth Kolbert’s profile of EPA head Lee Zeldin...

Elizabeth Kolbert’s profile of EPA head Lee Zeldin. “In a little more than a year, Zeldin has transformed the E.P.A. from an agency devoted to protecting human health and the environment into one that

The Supreme Court Is Corrupt. This Is What We Can Do About It.

This is excellent: Jamelle Bouie explains why he thinks the Supreme Court is corrupt and what we (through Congress) can do about it. Not all video transcripts work as text, but this one does, so I

Study: “A few weeks of X’s algorithm can...

Study: “A few weeks of X’s algorithm can make you more right‑wing – and it doesn’t wear off quickly.” People using the “For You” feed were more likely to favor GOP policies, less likely to want Trump

The World Press Freedom Index at Global 25-Year Low

Since Reporters Without Borders started tracking their World Press Freedom Index 25 years ago, the global rating has never been lower than the 2026 score. From a summary of their analysis: For

How Russell Vought Became the Shadow President

One of the biggest assholes in the Trump regime is Russell Vought — and that’s really saying something; it’s a fierce competition. He’s the guy who said in 2023 that he wanted to put federal worke

Our Mob Boss President

Jamelle Bouie writes that each US president molds the presidency in his own image and Trump has constructed a “government as protection racket and the president as mob boss”.1 So what manner of pre

Trump Destroyed USAID. Now People Are Dying....

Trump Destroyed USAID. Now People Are Dying. “Everyone, especially in South Sudan, wanted to know if the US really had cut off aid. It was easier for them to believe that the aid organizations were ly

Jamelle Bouie: The cruelty is still the point of the...

Jamelle Bouie: The cruelty is still the point of the Trump regime. “This isn’t a border security policy. It’s cruelty as governance — directed at people this administration has decided don’t deserve d

There’s a Grocery Price Emergency in America....

There’s a Grocery Price Emergency in America. “Our research shows that even relatively well-off families are struggling with high prices… President Trump and Congress are neither investing in long-ter

Great piece by Andrea Pitzer on how lost Ezra Klein is...

Great piece by Andrea Pitzer on how lost Ezra Klein is in this current moment, newly relevant because he interviewed fascist activist Christopher Rufo on his NYT podcast (JFC!) “If you don’t know what

As it was foretold: the Trump regime gutted the NOAA and...

As it was foretold: the Trump regime gutted the NOAA and now weather forecasts are less accurate. An atmospheric scientist: “The forecasts I’m able to offer you are less accurate than they would other