Jakob Cansler

Trump Administration Says Boat Strike Is Start of Campaign Against Venezuelan Cartels

"Pentagon officials were still working Wednesday on what legal authority they would tell the public was used to back up the extraordinary strike in international waters."

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...

Actually kind of crazy that a movie about crackdowns on universities under an autocracy made almost $500 million domestically last year

Cansler Culture | Jakob Cansler | Substack Politics & Pop Culture. Usually both at the same time. Click to read Cansler Culture, by Jakob Cansler, a Substack publication. Launched 4 years ago.

Also, if you've liked @jhcansler.bsky.social's work on culture and global politics for WPR, you'll enjoy his newsletter.

Hands down best title I've ever seen. Highly recommend.

DC Isn’t Becoming a State. But It Could Become Maryland. Washingtonians may be aghast at the thought of reconnecting with their northern neighbor, but some think it’s preferable to appeasing Trump.

This looks more enticing every day

Superman’s Lesson for Post-Trump U.S. Foreign Policy Superman has long represented an idealized postwar U.S. foreign policy. The character’s new film may offer a lesson for what comes after its dismantling.

Superman’s worldview represents the most utopian version of U.S. foreign policy in the postwar era. At a time when that foreign policy is being actively dismantled, it may also suggest a potential path forward for the United States.

Apparently some people are calling this my magnum opus. That’s what I’m hearing.

Superman’s Lesson for Post-Trump U.S. Foreign Policy Superman has long represented an idealized postwar U.S. foreign policy. The character’s new film may offer a lesson for what comes after its dismantling.

Superman has long represented an idealized postwar U.S. foreign policy. The character’s new film may offer a lesson for what comes after its dismantling, @jhcansler.bsky.social writes.

Superman’s Lesson for Post-Trump U.S. Foreign Policy Superman has long represented an idealized postwar U.S. foreign policy. The character’s new film may offer a lesson for what comes after its dismantling.

“Superman” may be the clearest display yet of the character as a symbol of an idealistic postwar U.S. foreign policy.

At a time when that foreign policy is being actively dismantled, it may also suggest a potential path forward, @jhcansler.bsky.social writes.

Latest from me in @wpr.bsky.social:

Superman’s Lesson for Post-Trump U.S. Foreign Policy Superman has long represented an idealized postwar U.S. foreign policy. The character’s new film may offer a lesson for what comes after its dismantling.

"'Superman' may be the clearest display yet of the character as a symbol of an idealistic postwar U.S. foreign policy. And at a time when that foreign policy is being actively dismantled, it may also suggest a potential path forward for the United States."

Stellar piece by @jhcansler.bsky.social.

(that's a gift link, btw)

Superman’s Lesson for Post-Trump U.S. Foreign Policy Superman has long represented an idealized postwar U.S. foreign policy. The character’s new film may offer a lesson for what comes after its dismantling.

My latest for @wpr.bsky.social: “Superman” may be the clearest display yet of the character as a symbol of an idealistic postwar U.S. foreign policy.

At a time when that foreign policy is being actively dismantled, it may also suggest a potential path forward for the United States.

Ok I was joking before but now I really do think the New Heights podcast today will be a big test to see if the "alt" media can create a monocultural moment

I spend more time wondering how they get around town so quickly than I do worrying about them

Taylor Swift going from announcing albums at awards shows to announcing on a podcast kinda sums up The Culture

Introducing WPR’s New Editor-in-Chief After 17 years as WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein will be passing the baton to Elliot Waldman.

After 17 years as WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein will be passing the baton.

Read his announcement here:

How the Right Shaped the Debate Over the Sydney Sweeney Ads

This is the end state of "twitter is just people imagining someone to get mad at"

As Elections Near, the Dutch Are Still Seeking a Political Savior A pragmatic political neophyte is surging in the Netherlands’ pre-election polls, as the disillusioned Dutch seek someone to restore their trust in politics.

A pragmatic political neophyte is surging in the Netherlands’ pre-election polls, as the disillusioned Dutch seek someone to restore their trust in politics, @fridaghitis.bsky.social writes.

Israel’s State of Permanent War Is About Expansion, Not Survival Israel is shifting to a permanent war footing, framing its military operations as existential. But Israel’s wars today have little to do with survival.

For the record, we got quite a few replies from respected observers when we ran this saying it was ridiculous to suggest Israel was interested in territorial expansion

Pet peeve: When people say "We're not really a purple state; we have very blue urban areas but very red rural areas." This is every state.

I can quit investing in critical minerals anytime I want

Trump’s Assault on the Fed Could Sink the Global Financial System The Federal Reserve’s credibility forms the bedrock of global monetary stability. Trump’s assault on its independence threatens to blow the whole thing up.

In my latest, at @wpr.bsky.social I speak to the importance of central bank independence, citing examples of countries that were met w/ severe financial pain for violating this principle. I also speak to how this is particularly important for the US given the dollar’s status as the reserve currency

Keeping the Memory of Hiroshima Alive Is More Important Than Ever The 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima comes at a time when the strengthening the nuclear taboo has taken on renewed urgency.

The 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima comes at a time when strengthening the nuclear taboo has taken on renewed urgency.

Read more in today’s Daily Review:

Trump Is Single-Handedly Torpedoing the U.S.-India Partnership Six months ago, U.S.-India ties had reached unprecedented heights. Now, Trump’s escalating tariff threats and bombastic rhetoric are unraveling the whole thing.

Trump’s escalating tariff threats and bombastic rhetoric are rapidly unraveling the U.S.-India partnership.

Now, India is more open to better ties with China than it has been in years.

Keeping the Memory of Hiroshima Alive Is More Important Than Ever The 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima comes at a time when the strengthening the nuclear taboo has taken on renewed urgency.

The world is entering a period in which direct memory of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is growing increasingly scarce, while the perceived threat of nuclear war is once again on the rise.

Still, strengthening the nuclear taboo is far from a lost cause.

Read more in today’s newsletter:

80 Years After Hiroshima Bombing, Art Needs ‘Courage to Be Afraid’ Eighty years after the city’s destruction, we seem to be blundering into a new age of nuclear perils. It is time for culture to rediscover “the courage to be afraid.”

80 years after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the world has blundered into a new age of nuclear perils, Jason Farago writes. “To survive this second nuclear age we are going to need models from the first one: artists who faced up to what the bomb did, and what the bomb made of us.”

new chappell roan is great but I'm growing concerned that her trajectory is moving from genre experimentation to genre pastiche

The First Test for Syria’s Transition Will Be the Economy Rebuilding Syria will take years and billions of dollars. The first step is stabilizing the economy and improving the living standards of Syria’s poorest.

41% tariff on the country without exports

A dog is already playing basketball but y'all are still yelling about the rules