Reading List
The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.
Kash Patel’s weird week
Kash Patel has had a long week. The FBI director and frequent social media poster faced scrutiny for how he handled the Charlie Kirk assassination investigation, including from members of his own party. Conservative activist Chris Rufo posted on X: “We would be wise to take a moment and ask whether Kash Patel has what […]
The free speech paradox
Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t suspended because of poor ratings. He wasn’t suspended because he crossed some ethical red line. He was suspended because the president of the United States decided to make an example of him. The supposed justification came on Kimmel’s Monday night show. “We hit some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA […]
This is how Trump ends democracy
Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension — the direct result of an FCC threat to pull the licenses of networks that aired him — has shown us how authoritarianism can come to America. I mean this literally. The specific threats that Federal Communications Commission head Brendan Carr made against networks, involving a little-used doctrine called “news distortion,” show how […]
The right’s big lie about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension
The Trump administration is openly coercing media organizations into suppressing speech that it does not like. On Monday night, late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel (irresponsibly) seemed to suggest that Charlie Kirk’s killer had conservative sympathies, before making several unrelated jokes at Donald Trump’s expense. Two days later, FCC chair Brendan Carr warned broadcasters that if they […]
The growing consensus that Israel is committing genocide
A United Nations commission published a 72-page report on Tuesday that concluded Israel has committed a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention,” said Navi Pillay, chair of the commission. The […]