Jim Cooke

Shoddy People The redemption of disgrace.

Shoddy people.
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/shoddy-peo...

While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.

cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

Highlighting the speaker who stood in front of the Surprise mayor and told him to consider what the Mayor of Ohrdruf must’ve thought before he died by suicide: “He might have thought ‘how is this my fault I had no jurisdiction over this’ maybe he said ‘this site was not subject to local zoning.’”

Among the batch of newly released emails from Jeffrey Epstein: Epstein telling Peter Thiel he would “gladly share…expenses for the Gawker suit.”

This was sent the day after @rmac.bsky.social and @mattdrange.bsky.social reported in Forbes that Thiel was behind the lawsuit that would bankrupt Gawker

Dan McQuade, 1983–2026 | Defector Dan McQuade, our friend and colleague, died this week at the age of 43. He is survived by his wife and young son. At the end of 2024, Dan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. The news of his diag...

Rest in peace to one of the great bloggers and the de facto mayor of Philadelphia. It was my honor and pleasure to work with him. defector.com/dan-mcquade-...

Worth noting that one reason you’re benefitting so fully from the Star-Tribune’s timely, extensive coverage of unfolding events is that it’s a metro newspaper that hasn’t been systematically starved to further enrich shareholders and executives.

How the Gawker Trial Was the Gateway to Trump. The Journalism 2050 podcast returns with guests @mariabustillos.com, @marinedoux.bsky.social, and @swajcmanearle.bsky.social, hosted by @emilybell.bsky.social. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.

If the United States Constitution doesn’t protect you from a federal agent shooting you in the face for the “crime” of turning your car around, it doesn’t exist. ICE has become a paramilitary force with zero oversight and a Secretary in Kristi Noem who encourages the chaos. ENOUGH.

screenshot of a subscription appeal email from defector: Too often these days I find myself “choosing” between Bad and Worse. This week’s indignity: Should I want Larry Ellison’s poreless son or a gluttonous, $400 billion company to secure the right to enrich the vile David Zaslav? For all the complaints about how “we don’t make things in America anymore,” the country produces plenty of opportunities to debase yourself by rooting for the merely Bad. Immiserated by a steady stream of these false choices, it’s easy to forget that Something Else is possible. Defector is Something Else. From our blogs and podcasts to the company’s cooperative structure, everything we do reflects the sensibilities shared by our staff and subscribers. We have no access to preserve, no investors to please, and no gambling partner to feed. This lets us see things clearly, say things straightforwardly, and offer refuge from this inhumane moment. We chose Something Else. You can, too:

loath to be too precious about this stuff but I want one lesson of defector to be "you can choose to not do stuff that sucks" even if "doing stuff that sucks" is the default

yessir. www.jimcookeart.com/uterus-middl...

Schumer is pressured to step aside as Senate Democratic leader after shutdown vote National progressive organizations urged Chuck Schumer to step down, and have encouraged New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for his Senate seat in 2029.

Schumer is pressured to step aside as Senate Democratic leader after shutdown vote

A thing that I think is good is when a human creates a piece of art

'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' will return to ABC on Tuesday after being benched by Disney The move follows conversations between the two sides to figure out how to defuse the situation that began with Kimmel's comments in the aftermath of the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Jimmy Kimmel will return to ABC on Tuesday night, the Walt Disney Co. said.

The move follows conversations to figure out how to defuse the situation that began with Kimmel’s comments in the aftermath of the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Artists are losing work, wages, and hope as bosses and clients embrace AI Visual artists, illustrators and graphic designers share their stories about how AI is being used to lower wages, degrade work and even replace it altogether, in this installment of AI Killed My Job.

Freelance illustration gigs drying up. Ad agencies using Midjourney instead of hiring human artists. Costume design turned over to AI wholesale. Good work vanishing.

These are the stories of working visual artists, who describe losing jobs, wages, and hope as their clients and bosses embrace AI.

This isn't a list of jobs that A.I. can easily replace.

It's a list of jobs that techno fascists don't think are worthwhile or meaningful and that they want to eliminate.

They don't want humans to try to make sense of the world, they want us to believe whatever we're told.

Hulk Hogan and the Lawsuit That Changed Journalism and America A few days ago I got in a back and forth with...

Hulk Hogan and the Lawsuit That Changed Journalism and America talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/hulk-...

Economic Impacts of U.S. Senate “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Energy Provisions • Energy Innovation The Senate's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" will cost America 300GW of new power, $960 billion in GDP, and 770,000 lost jobs.

The bill the Senate is voting on right now would reduce US power generation through 2035 by 300GW, raise wholesale & retail power prices, increase household energy costs, reduce national GDP, & kill 100s of 1000s of jobs.

I mean, this isn't "public grocery store" bad, but it's pretty bad!

The Subway Is Not Scary Fear of the subway is a mark of low moral character.

Telling me "the subway is so dangerous now" is my immediate sign that you need your TV taken away and your news algorithm adjusted www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-subway...?

Will mom get detained? Is dad going to work? Answering kids' big questions amid ICE raids As fear over ICE raids mounts across Los Angeles, undocumented families are grappling with how to handle crucial conversations with their children.

When Josefina and her husband discussed whether he should quit his job amid the ICE raids, they hadn’t meant for the kids to overhear. They wanted to shield them. But soon enough, the whole family joined the hard conversation, one similar to many unfolding across L.A. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Why they protest: Voices from the downtown L.A. ICE demonstrations Over the past week, Los Angeles Times reporters have asked protesters why they're demonstrating. Here's what they had to say.

Why they protest: Voices from the downtown L.A. ICE demonstrations

Video shows immigration agents interrogating a Latino U.S. citizen: “I’m American, bro!” Brian Gavidia, who was born and raised in East Los Angeles, was questioned by men wearing vests with "Border Patrol Federal Agent” written on them.

Video shows immigration agents interrogating a Latino U.S. citizen: "I'm American, bro!"

Stupid TV, Be More Funny This comprehensive account of the meteoric rise of The Simpsons combines incisive pop culture criticism and interviews with the show’s creative team th...

I've basically been writing this in my head since I was 10, but now it's finally time to unleash it on the world. My book about the golden age of The Simpsons comes out on June 10. Preorder STUPID TV, BE MORE FUNNY here. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alan-...

To be in public office right now is to constantly ask yourself: How do I make sure I'm standing on the right side of history?

There's a simple answer.

The wrong side of history will always tell you to be afraid - the right side of history will always expect you to be brave.

California to sue Trump over National Guard deployment; L.A. braces for more protests After a weekend of isolated clashes between law enforcement and protesters around Los Angeles, federal authorities began charging some people on Monday, including a California labor leader.

Apparent confirmation of reports that la unified school district believes ICE may target school graduations for deportation raids www.latimes.com/california/l...

Polite request to please credit the photographers whose L.A. photos you’re sharing. They’re out there risking getting their shins exploded by police munitions to get those shots.

California National Guard with riot shields pushed the protesters into the streets. Tear gas deployed and pellets exploded on the street. Didn’t see any arrests, though there was some shoving back and forth with the shields.

Nat Guard/DHS threw tear gas canisters and smoke grenades into the crowd. Protesters and media hit. Pellet rounds deployed. All to seemingly clear path for a convoy of DHS/Border Patrol vehicles. I got hit but fine after an eye rinse.