Christopher Grimes

“Medium income” 🤡

@megancnbc.bsky.social

Trump Administration to Require Universities to Submit Data on Applicants’ Race

"...if the Trump administration were truly concerned about merit-based admissions, it would also take steps to collect data on legacy enrollment and the children of donors."

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/u...

The high summer of Donald Trump [FREE TO READ] In all likelihood, it is downhill for the US president from here

Very good by Janan Ganesh:

One lesson stands out from world politics over recent years: however price-sensitive you think voters are, they are more price-sensitive than that. Yes, Trump supporters are loyal. But a principle is not a principle until it costs you money.

on.ft.com/4oqsaDA

Is California’s economy heading for a deep slump? A clampdown on migrant labour is adding to concerns about tariffs, a downturn in Hollywood and cost-of-living pressures

Is California’s economy heading for a deep slump?—
US President Donald Trump’s mass deportation programme is starting to take a bite out of California’s $49bn agriculture business, which produces… www.ft.com/content/291b... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Strong @financialtimes.com “Big Read” by @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social on the impact of immigration authorities on the Californian economy - financially and morally. ⬇️

Stephen Colbert, the cancelled late night TV host The comedian’s ousting ahead of Paramount’s $8bn sale to Skydance raises concerns about political interest in US media

Stephen Colbert, the cancelled late night TV host-Colbert will probably continue to make jokes at the expense of the network until he is let go. After that he may opt to move to podcasts or streaming… www.ft.com/content/be62... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

US regulators approve Skydance acquisition of Paramount Deal gets go-ahead just weeks after Hollywood studio paid $16mn to settle lawsuit by Donald Trump

US regulators approve Skydance acquisition of Paramount-The approval comes a week after Paramount announced it was cancelling Late Night with Stephen Colbert, which… www.ft.com/content/2d66... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Walking the secret staircases of Los Angeles Once upon a time, Los Angeles was a walking city. Vestiges remain in its hidden stairs. Here are three beautiful walks up the Hollywood Hills, along the Santa Monica coast and through Echo Park

Walking the secret staircases of Los Angeles-When we walk, we take our dog-eared copy of Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles by Charles Fleming, who began climbing the steps…
www.ft.com/content/943e... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Inside America’s booming immigration detention industry The enormous US deportation programme is enriching companies as detainees complain of poor treatment

ig.ft.com/us-immigrati...

…to “go fuck themselves”. Musk began heaping more pressure on Yaccarino and the pair failed to gel, said four people who worked with both of them. The billionaire’s blunt style clashed with his deputy’s Madison Avenue polish. @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social

Linda Yaccarino: Elon Musk’s X deputy who ‘tried to ride the tiger’ Inside the former social media CEO’s tumultuous partnership with the world’s richest man

Linda Yaccarino: Elon Musk’s X deputy who ‘tried to ride the tiger’-She was tasked with bringing back advertising dollars to a platform whose politically polarising owner had told brands who did not spend with them…
www.ft.com/content/833c... @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

AI is killing the web. Can anything save it? The rise of ChatGPT and its rivals is undermining the economic bargain of the internet

Worth reading from The Economist:

Thanks to AI, we've stopped visiting the websites from which information is gleaned. For companies that sell advertising or subscriptions, lost visitors means lost revenue.

www.economist.com/business/202...

…praised Adolf Hitler and shared antisemitic rhetoric on the platform, causing public outrage. @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social

ICE dragnet strikes terror in US immigrant communities The enforcement agency has been empowered by Donald Trump’s push to deport undocumented migrants

ICE dragnet strikes terror in US immigrant communities-
The deportation drive has been boosted by Trump’s so-called big, beautiful bill, which allocates about $170bn for immigration enforcement and border security…
www.ft.com/content/4fef... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Paramount agrees $16mn settlement in Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News Agreement comes as Shari Redstone’s company and Skydance face deal deadline

Paramount agrees $16mn settlement in Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News—The company’s willingness to settle the suit has sparked concern among free-speech advocates, who say Trump’s case… www.ft.com/content/d79a... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Apple races to box office glory with Brad Pitt’s F1 blockbuster Global takings top $200mn following a more commercial approach for movie release from the tech group

Apple races to box office glory with Brad Pitt’s F1 blockbuster The company’s decision to release the film as a premium on-demand video before it moves to the Apple TV+ streaming service should bring in additional revenue. www.ft.com/content/fe5a... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Trump’s deportation raids strip LA streets of life Working immigrants fear for their safety as enforcement agents go beyond the seizure of those here illegally

Trump’s deportation raids strip LA streets of life—Community spirit is now taking on a new form. “Report ICE,” says graffiti on a different lamppost. “Keep your neighbors safe.” www.ft.com/content/1a7d... www.ft.com/content/1a7d... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Jesse Armstrong on his tech bro takedown Mountainhead: ‘It’s where clever and stupid meet’ The ‘Succession’ creator rushed out his first feature film to meet the moment tech billionaires blundered into geopolitics

My interview with Jesse Armstrong on his tech bro takedown "Mountainhead"

‘Where clever and stupid meet is quite an interesting place for comedy’
www.ft.com/content/49af...

Disney plans first Middle East theme park in Abu Dhabi Entertainment group’s shares jump as it reports better than expected results

Disney plans first Middle East theme park in Abu Dhabi—as it targets increasingly affluent consumers in the region. Bob Iger, Disney chief executive, said the Abu Dhabi park would be within reach of “hundreds of millions… www.ft.com/content/145e... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

How to eat and drink fewer microplastics Scientists are finding microplastics throughout the human body. Here are some simple strategies to reduce your exposure.

Bottled water is the biggest pathway to microplastic exposure, Mason said. “Most people in the United States don’t need to drink bottled water. Tap water is safer and more regulated.” www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solu...

‘Chaotic new world’: Hollywood’s star handlers under new management Firms seek out new ground in sports, music and social media as traditional TV and film strain under the streaming revolution

‘Chaotic new world’-The businesses that launched Zimmer and Emanuel’s careers — TV and film — are under strain from the streaming revolution, which has hurt the earning power of many agents. www.ft.com/content/0d86... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Harvard’s War With Trump Forces Question of How Endowments Should Be Spent The Trump administration’s war on elite universities has forced them to consider whether it’s ever worth dipping into the trust.

Harvard & other rich universities
have come to see “an endowment as an end in itself, a stand-in for a university’s purpose, a rejection of the idea that underlying a belief in institutional eternity is an alienating self-regard.”

Interesting by Ginia Bellafante

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/b...

A headline from Hell.

@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04...

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan arrested by federal authorities at Courthouse Brady McCarron, spokesman for U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C., confirmed Dugan was arrested at about 8 a.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse and is in federal custody.

JUST IN:

A Milwaukee judge has been arrested this morning allegedly because she “tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week.”

There’s not a lot of info on this yet so stay tuned for more as it is released.

www.jsonline.com/story/news/b...

Playing ‘whack-a-mole’ with Meta over my fraudulent avatars How is it possible that a company with such huge resources, including artificial intelligence tools, cannot deal with this?

Now Meta and Mark Zuckerberg have gone and pissed off Martin Wolf. They don't know what they're up against.

www.ft.com/content/80d9...

How Hollywood learnt to love video games While superhero franchises flag, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ shows the industry has finally cracked the formula for translating popular games into films

How Hollywood learnt to love video games—beyond the strong box office weekend results, A Minecraft Movie is also the latest sign that Hollywood has finally cracked… www.ft.com/content/e45f... @grimeslikedimes.bsky.social @financial-times.bsky.social

The philosophy behind Trump’s Dark Enlightenment An English magus of anti-democratic neoreaction has become a touchstone for the alt-right

In this excellent piece, @jderbyshire.ft.com recounts his periodic of encounters with Nick Land, "the dark magus of anti-democratic neoreaction"

www.ft.com/content/7330...

Thread on the insane cumulative tariffs. In the case of Canada/Mexico the full whack would bring the car industry to a halt in days.

The amateurism of the Trump White House ‘Signalgate’ will send shockwaves through the US security apparatus and foreign allies

FT Editorial: The stunning disclosure that top US officials discussed sensitive US military operations in Yemen on a Signal message group reveals the sheer amateurism of the Trump White House.

www.ft.com/content/7d06...

“These are the members of my polycule who share our specially designed non-monogamous bed.”