Manisha Krishnan

“It is comforting to know that money still can’t buy some things, including being a cool and funny human being“ —@manishakrishnan.bsky.social

I don’t recommend yelling “more vulgar” repeatedly in your boss’ office

don’t tempt me with a good time

WIRED's @manishakrishnan.bsky.social has done the lord's work and tried this out at the office. It went ... about how you'd expect.

SCOOP: I was one of the guinea pigs.

Manisha doing God's work here to show just how desperate Musk is to be seen as funny....

At least one of these anonymous coworkers sounds strikingly intelligent and well-dressed.

Elon Musk Said Grok’s Roasts Would Be ‘Epic’ at Parties—So I Tried It on My Coworkers It went about as well as you’d expect.

Elon Musk claims Grok's "epic vulgar roasts" can "make people really laugh at a party" so I took him up on it and used my coworkers as guinea pigs: www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

A must-read from @manishakrishnan.bsky.social

First of all, beyond how great the content of this story is. I also love the way this story was allowed to be written. I was engaged throughout, and felt like I was on a ride of discovery with @manishakrishnan.bsky.social. Very dope piece

The Hard-Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution Earlier this year, I attended a shooting competition for queer, often trans, very online misfits. Then Charlie Kirk was killed.

Then in September, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed and the nature of the story @manishakrishnan.bsky.social was writing completely changed. Despite the fact that the suspect in Kirk's shooting, Tyler Robinson, is not trans, trans communities got a lot of blame from the right-wing rage machine.

Brutality matches are hosted by Karl Kasarda, who runs InRange TV, a YouTube channel that embraces the idea of the Second Amendment being for everybody, but especially minorities. Trans and queer people made up about a quarter of participants.

🔗 www.wired.com/story/the-ha...

The Hard-Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution Earlier this year, I attended a shooting competition for queer, often trans, very online misfits. Then Charlie Kirk was killed.

What do you do when you’re a gun-loving leftist who doesn’t fit into mainstream American gun culture?

That's a question @manishakrishnan.bsky.social set out to answer this summer when she attended a Brutality match, an inclusive firearms competition in Idaho.

The Hard-Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution Earlier this year, I attended a shooting competition for queer, often trans, very online misfits. Then Charlie Kirk was killed.

Incredible reporting and storytelling from @manishakrishnan.bsky.social, who started working on this story before Charlie Kirk was assassinated:

The Hard-Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution Earlier this year, I attended a shooting competition for queer, often trans, very online misfits. Then Charlie Kirk was killed.

When I checked back in with my sources, there was a wariness and a sense that the temperature couldn’t be turned back down. But they also wanted their stories to be heard. Read the full story (with beautiful photos) here:
www.wired.com/story/the-ha...

That left me with grappling with a lot of questions, including how to tell this story in a way that wouldn’t add more fuel to the right-wing rage machine.

People there embraced a range of subcultures, from polyamory, to hacking, to cosplay. But there was an undercurrent of fear, bolstered by the current administration’s attacks on trans people. And after Charlie Kirk was killed, trans people and leftists were scapegoated and that rhetoric ramped up.

The event organizer, YouTuber Karl Kasarda, is a pariah in the broader gun community, because he champions the Second Amendment for minorities. He’s been doxed and the subject of years-long threads on hateful forums like Kiwi Farms

That led me to a Brutality match in rural Idaho this summer, a shooting competition made up of intense physical challenges, cosplay, and a leftist theme: a workers' rights uprising on Mars.

I was also curious how they were creating community after either being rejected by or rejecting mainstream conservative gun culture. I wanted to go further than just talking to liberals with guns

The Hard-Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution Earlier this year, I attended a shooting competition for queer, often trans, very online misfits. Then Charlie Kirk was killed.

NEW: After Donald Trump was elected again, I started talking to trans, leftist, and anarchist gun enthusiasts and YouTubers. I wanted to know how they felt about community defense when it feels like rights, particularly for trans folks, are being stripped away: www.wired.com/story/the-ha...

Can Tech Get Rid of Bad Trips?

my first time guest hosting @wired.com's Uncanny Valley Podcast this week with @manishakrishnan.bsky.social and @snackfight.bsky.social this week was a real trip (the good kind!)
open.spotify.com/episode/4O40...

New Save Collective plans to continue holding future events and organizing gamers. The fight for these communities online is far from over. “Gaming wasn't kind of a random genre that we chose,” says Siggelkow. “We've been tracking anti-immigrant myths and disinformation digitally for years. We really grounded this campaign in a lot of data and research. This really is a space that is critical for immigration narrative.”

I spoke with people role-playing ICE raids in video games to help educate people on their rights and what to do in real-life situations. Tonight, they're holding an event in Fortnite www.wired.com/story/activi...

Elon Musk Could 'Drink Piss Better Than Any Human in History,' Grok Says Grok has been reprogrammed to say Musk is better than everyone at everything, including blowjobs, piss drinking, playing quarterback, conquering Europe, etc.

Incredible headline.

The Pelvic Floor Is a Problem Everyone’s suddenly obsessed with the pelvic floor—physical therapists, MAHA influencers, me. Could this deeply misunderstood body part really be the seat of so much modern dysfunction?

I wrote this piece because I only learned about pelvic floors a few years ago, despite having had one all my life. And then it turned out to be where I store all my issues. And then that turned out to be true for a lot of people www.wired.com/story/the-pe...

The letter adds that site-based age verification methods have “failed to achieve their primary objective: protecting minors from accessing age-inappropriate material online.”

🔗 www.wired.com/story/pornhu...

Pornhub Is Urging Tech Giants to Enact Device-Based Age Verification The company sent letters to Apple, Google, and Microsoft pushing for an alternative way to keep minors from viewing porn, as US and UK laws have caused its traffic to plummet.

EXCLUSIVE: In letters sent to Apple, Google, and Microsoft this week, Pornhub’s parent company urged the tech giants to support device-based age verification in their app stores and across their operating systems, WIRED has learned. www.wired.com/story/pornhu...

Young Mormons Built an App to Help Men Quit Gooning The Relay app allows users to track their porn-free streaks and get group support. Its creators say they’re taking a stand against porn and AI erotica.

An app founded by Mormon students is helping ‘gooners’ who use porn compulsively to turn off their screens. But porn advocates maintain that government controls on porn are part of an age-old war on self-pleasure

New for WIRED (h/t @manishakrishnan.bsky.social)

www.wired.com/story/young-...

The ‘Great Meme Reset’ Is Coming From Jack Dorsey to Gen Alpha, everyone seemingly wants to go back to the internet of a decade ago. But is it possible to reverse AI slop and brain rot?

Been fascinated by the idea of a Great Meme Reset ever since I first heard about it. Originally, I was trying to parse how it would be possible to rewind the internet. Then I really thought about what it could mean and why people might want to turn back time...

www.wired.com/story/the-gr...

I miss the days when “gooning” just meant being a hockey fighter / enforcer