Reading list
Shortform reading
This is an incomplete list of the shortform reading (and listening and watching) I’ve been doing lately.
Leak Exposes Members of Peter Thiel's Secretive 'Dialog' Society
More than 200 of the world's elites registered for a retreat whose agenda runs from panels on cult-building and sex to prepping for World War III. An associated app offers matchmaking.
MAGA Pronatalism is Anti-Freedom No Matter the Packaging
But its sanewashing is underway
CPAC Had the Stage in Texas—but Not Much of a Crowd
When CPAC chairman Schlapp asked the crowd, “How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?” they erupted in cheers. “No, that was the wrong answer,” Schlapp said. “Let me try again. How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?” Some in the crowd cheered again. “No,” Schlapp said, clearly frustrated.
The Charlie Kirk purge: How 600 Americans were punished in a pro-Trump crackdown
Two months after Charlie Kirk's assassination, a government-backed campaign has led to firings, suspensions, investigations and other action against more than 600 people. Republican officials have endorsed the punishments, saying that those who glorify violence should be removed from positions of trust.
'I love Hitler': Leaked messages expose Young Republicans' racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
Library receives donations to replace books church leaders targeted for LGBTQ+ themes
We will use the donated money to replace the books and buy more like them.
#books · #extremism · #free-speech · #lgbt
Investigation Underway After Two Women Fell Ill at RAADFest, a Las Vegas Anti-Aging Conference
The attendees both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a way to fight aging and chronic disease.
How Local Reporters Manage the Dangers of Covering Extremism
The extremism beat has gone mainstream—but in local markets, it's still intensely personal.
Old Tricks, New Tech: How Legacy Media Capture Fuels Today's Digital Authoritarianism
This model of media capture has since become a case study in soft authoritarian control. Its blueprint rests on four pillars: the takeover of public media, the political capture of the media regulator, the deployment of state funds as leverage over editorial content, and the strategic acquisition of private outlets. This formula has been successfully exported—with variations—to other countries. ... Efforts to manipulate the media are nothing new; history is littered with regimes that sought to bend the press to their will. What distinguishes this modern form of capture, however, is the role of the private sector. Corporations reliant on government contracts or regulatory leniency buckled under pressure, buying up media outlets and turning them into mouthpieces of state propaganda. In the digital age, media capture is often coupled with digital authoritarianism, where governments and non-state actors collaborate to use technologies to conduct surveillance, restrict access to information, and distort the journalistic ecosystem with authoritarian-friendly outlets and campaigns of disinformation.
#extremism · #free-press · #free-speech · #media · #tech-industry
They're Literally Angry at Superman for Being Nice
How James Gunn's comments about "basic human kindness" triggered a predictable right-wing media meltdown.