ence morse

How TikTok keeps its users scrolling for hours a day Washington Post reporters analyzed data from over 800 TikTok users to learn how the app turns people into power users, some of whom spend hours per day scrolling.

This story is fantastic, important and difficult to execute -- proud of my colleagues @caitlingilbert.bsky.social @richardsima.bsky.social , Leslie Shapiro, @asteckelberg.bsky.social @ence.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/int...

Three different people at my bus stop this morning were reading this column... and one guy had a printout of Sietsema's latest piece on appetizers in DC. Impact!

Here’s how TikTok ‘power users’ end up scrolling 4 hours a day or more Washington Post reporters analyzed data from over 800 TikTok users to learn how the app turns people into power users, some of whom spend hours per day scrolling.

🤳EXCLUSIVE: We analyzed real data from over 800 U.S. TikTok users to reveal how the app transforms casual users into power users.

Extremely proud of this one, over a year in the making w/ @richardsima.bsky.social Leslie Shapiro @asteckelberg.bsky.social @ence.bsky.social

wapo.st/4obueib

Mormons raise nearly $200,000 for family of gunman who attacked their church In the days after a shooting at the LDS Church in Michigan, members of the church raised money for the families of the victims — and the family of the shooter.

In the days after a shooting at a Mormon church in Michigan, members raised money for the families of the victims — and the family of the shooter.

What does an independent mean in politics? New CNN poll results identify five distinct types of independents.

Check out our new CNN poll deep dive into who political independents are, how they engage with politics and what they think about the current political moment. The classic swing voter appears to be a thing of the past. www.cnn.com/interactive/...

‘It's Just a Mess:' 23 People Explain How Tariffs Have Suddenly Ruined Their Hobby "The real kick in the teeth is no matter how much manufacturing is brought back to the US these items will never be made in the USA. There is no upside."

Talked to 23 people who suddenly have to pay huge tariffs or otherwise cannot get chainmail from Pakistan, yarn from France, retro computers from Japan, metal music from the Netherlands, DVDs from Germany, cosplay supplies, sunscreen, etc.

www.404media.co/its-just-a-m...

How JPMorgan Enabled the Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein

NEW: JPMorgan, the largest US bank, enabled the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.

The bank lent him money, created accounts for his victims, disregarded suspicious transactions and overruled employees who raised concerns.
@mattgoldstein26.bsky.social @jsgatnyt.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/m...

Screenshow of a chart showing how xAI tweaked Grok

Great analysis of how Grok's political bias has changed. NYT tested Grok on a political bias survey, using different versions of its system prompt. Shows much tweaking these system prompts affects model outputs. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/technology/elon-musk-grok-conservative-chatbot.html

How Tea’s Founder Convinced Millions of Women to Spill Their Secrets, Then Exposed Them to the World A 404 Media investigation reveals how the man who started Tea, the ‘women dating safety’ app, tried to hire a female ‘face’ for the company and then hijack her grassroots community.

Incredible, must-read investigation by @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social into how Tea's founder got women to join the app, how its founding story changed, how it spammed Are We Dating the Same Guy Facebook groups, how it hired an influencer marketing firm to promote it

www.404media.co/how-teas-fou...

A flirty Meta AI bot invited a retiree to meet. He never made it home. Impaired by a stroke, a man fell for a Meta chatbot originally created with Kendall Jenner. His death spotlights Meta’s AI rules, which let bots tell falsehoods.

I’m grateful to Bue Wongbandue’s family for telling his story to me. It took courage, and they didn’t want attention.

www.reuters.com/investigates...

Tom Petek, 54, conceded in an interview that he was a little nervous about coming to Washington from his hometown of Medina, Ohio, which has a population just shy of 26,000 people. It’s his first trip to D.C. in more than four years, when he joined protests outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He remains a Trump supporter and has seen news reports about a rise in crime and a slew of homicides, he said. He joked that he and his wife would have to wear bulletproof vests when visiting historic sites. But on Monday, their first full day in the city, Petek and his wife went to the National Archives, Arlington National Cemetery, the Smithsonian and the Washington Monument without incident. They planned to go on tours of the White House, the FBI building and the Capitol on Tuesday and remained unwary. “You hear the news, and the stuff about the murder rates and things, and you think, ‘Man, you’ve got to dodge bullets when you’re at the sites,’ but it’s safe,” Petek said. “You feel safe. You feel welcome.”

gasped the first time i read this kicker www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Bondi has not met with the police chief, but had been expecting and prepared for Monday’s announcement, according to two people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly. Terry Cole, the head of the DEA and the newly named commissioner of the D.C. police, met on Monday evening with D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith. Cole told Smith that “the federal team involved in this know that they don’t know the city, and they are looking for [the D.C. police department] to lead” the effort, said a D.C. police official who was not authorized to speak publicly. An administration official disputed that Cole had said federal officials did not know the city and that D.C. would lead the partnership, but said that he had relayed a desire for a collaborative relationship.

1. per the washington post, it seems very unclear what federal control of MPD actually entails and if anything is going to change in terms of the actual functioning of the police department www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Gabbard overrode CIA officials’ concerns in push to release classified Russia report CIA officials worried the release of the House Intelligence Committee report on 2016 Russian election interference could reveal top-secret spying techniques and sources. Tulsi Gabbard overrode their c...

Exclusive: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a minimally redacted version of a highly classified document on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election after an intense behind-the-scenes struggle over secrecy with the CIA.

The right-wing internet couldn't stop talking about Epstein after Bondi said there was no client list... until the admin accused Obama of planning "essentially a years-long coup" against Trump. Immediately, attention flipped. my latest, w/ Cleve Wootson: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

The right-wing internet couldn't stop talking about Epstein after Bondi said there was no client list... until the admin accused Obama of planning "essentially a years-long coup" against Trump. Immediately, attention flipped. my latest, w/ Cleve Wootson:
washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

This money was promptly spent: the PAC spent over $47 million out the door, with the majority going to "PETITION INCENTIVES" ($27 mil) and "SPOKESPERSON CONSULTANT" (3 payments of $1m each). Remember the Wisconsin Supreme Court petition?

Happy FEC filing day, everyone. In the first half of the year, Elon Musk put another $45 million into his America PAC. docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...

STOP READING ABOUT THE WASHINGTON POST JUST READ THE WASHINGTON POST DAN BALZ

60,000 Gazans have been killed. 18,500 were children. These are their names. Palestinian children have been killed at a rate of more than one per hour since the war began.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed 18,500 children. These are their names:

www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

I’m curious, seems like a big story and seemingly important people could be implemented in it. Ohio man, 45, independent I want to find out who went to the island. Nevada man, 61, MAGA Republican I want to know what government officials, celebrities, and other public figures were at his island based on what we know about his case. Indiana man, 27, independent It is super suspicious that the Trump administration is now not releasing the files. Oregon woman, 34, Democrat I want to know if President Trump is involved. New Jersey woman, 81, Democrat I want to know who is on the list and if Donald Trump is on the list. Illinois man, 25, MAGA Republican We were told that they would be released and that's another promise unkept. Arizona woman, 49, independent Curious who is involved. Trump needs to own up to his involvement.

In their own words: Why Americans are paying attention to the Epstein file news wapo.st/3HaN2hv

Justice Department Told Trump in May That His Name Is Among Many in the Epstein Files Bondi told president at the meeting that Justice also decided to not release more Jeffrey Epstein documents because of the presence of child pornography and the need to protect victims.

Exclusive: The Justice Department told President Trump in May that his name is among many in the Epstein files.

Over 1 in 5 high-level Trump picks held crypto, Post analysis finds Over 1 in 5 top Trump appointees reported investments in crypto and other digital assets, far more than previous administrations, a Post analysis found.

At a time when the Trump administration has taken a hands-off approach to regulating digital currencies, The Post identified nearly 70 nominees and officials who held cryptocurrency or have invested in crypto or blockchain companies
By @ence.bsky.social, @cqzakrz.bsky.social & Arfa Momin:

Over 1 in 5 high-level Trump picks held crypto, Post analysis finds Over 1 in 5 top Trump appointees reported investments in crypto and other digital assets, far more than previous administrations, a Post analysis found.

Over 1 in 5 top Trump appointees reported investments in crypto and other digital assets, far more than previous administrations, a Post analysis found.

Over 1 in 5 high-level Trump picks held crypto, Post analysis finds Over 1 in 5 top Trump appointees reported investments in crypto and other digital assets, far more than previous administrations, a Post analysis found.

“The Washington Post identified nearly 70 nominees and officials of the Trump administration who held cryptocurrency or have invested in crypto or blockchain companies. Individual holdings ranged from small investments to at least $120 million.”
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

One in five Trump nominees and top officials own crypto, which the administration is now basically choosing not to regulate. Bitcoin's price has surged 70% since the election. Doesn't get more swamp-drainy than this www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int... @ence.bsky.social @cqzakrz.bsky.social

Camp Mystic’s leader got a ‘life threatening’ flood alert. They evacuated an hour later. More than an hour passed between Camp Mystic receiving a severe flood warning and a decision to evacuate young campers asleep in cabins by the Guadalupe River.

The @washingtonpost.com assigned around 20 staffers to this account of the Texas flood, with one jawdropping anecdote after another

One thing that becomes clear: The extraordinary courage of camp counselors, who evacuated their girls as older adults floundered and stalled

Free link wapo.st/44N1cNI

Metadata Shows the FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified There is no evidence the footage was deceptively manipulated, but ambiguities around how the video was processed may further fuel conspiracy theories about Epstein's death.

NEW: Metadata from the FBI’s 11-hour Epstein prison video suggests the footage was modified, likely using Adobe Premiere Pro.

The file appears to include at least two clips, and was saved multiple times.

From @dmehro.bsky.social

www.wired.com/story/metada...

How conservatives beat back a Republican sell-off of public lands When a GOP senator proposed using federal land for affordable housing, right-wing forces revolted to protect what they see as a symbol of American greatness.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) proposed selling off up to 3.3 million acres of federally owned land in 11 Western states.

Right-wing forces revolted to protect what they see as a symbol of American greatness.

On the Guadalupe River, a crew’s frantic search to bring a dad closure Aidan Heartfield was on the phone with his dad when their family’s cabin was swept away in the Texas floods. A team is searching for any signs of Heartfield.

@arelisrhdz.bsky.social takes us on a terrible journey

NEW: Bishop Rojas of San Bernardino has dispensed his Diocese from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass due to ongoing ICE raids.