Alex Sujong Laughlin

Treasury Department Has Plans To Mint Dollar Coin Featuring Donald Trump's Likeness | Defector The United States Department of the Treasury has developed, to the brink of production, a dollar coin that features the face and likeness of President Donald Trump, according to a source within the Tr...

a person at Treasury gave Defector a rundown of how this process—which appears to be against the law—was expedited in order to avoid public scrutiny

defector.com/treasury-dep...

😭

when they tell you publishing is slow they mean S L O W

i've been working on this for five years and we sold it six months ago but now i get to announce to the world! i'm writing a book! never say the word "talent" around me if you don't want a whole ass dissertation!!!!!

Is it too late to get raptured

YouTube video by Per My Last Email Is it Cringe to Try Hard at Work?

I went on @morningbrew.extwitter.link's Per My Last Email podcast to talk about something I know a lot about: being a tryhard at work! www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvN0...

Charlie Kirk Is A Means To An End | Defector It’s become clear that Charlie Kirk is worth more to Trumpworld dead than he ever was alive. His fatal shooting last week in Utah has been used as a cudgel in an attempted purge of wrong-thinking libe...

I'm really proud to work at a media company that isn't made up of cowards, that can say All of This Is Really Fucking Bad over and over again because it is.

defector.com/charlie-kirk...

this is fucking crazy

The Washington Post masthead with "hello darkness my old friend" underneath rather than "democracy dies in darkness"

it's stunning what a rare and radical statement this is defector.com/five-years-o...

Diana Moskovitz Rides a Bike Podcast Episode · Try Hard · 09/08/2025 · 27m

Heyyy! I’m back at Defector after book leave and just in time to say that I’m on a podcast! @alexlaughs.bsky.social had me on the latest episode of Try Hard. I learned to ride a bike.

If you ever wished I did more fun things, wow, today is for you!

Let's remember some guys!

Immaculate Grid has teamed up with our friends at @defector.com to present "Remember Some Guys from the 21st Century."

Visit immaculategrid.com/remember this week to create and share a list of your favorite guys since 2000—there are no wrong answers!

cannot stress enough how many podcasters have pivoted into fine art because this is now somehow more lucrative than podcast

We've been working toward this day for NINE YEARS so allow me a moment of pride: IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR THIS NEW PROFESSOR. The students at Franklin & Marshall are very lucky if I say so myself 🥹

For $65,000 a year, a teacher-less AI private school comes to Virginia At Alpha School, a new private school in Northern Virginia, students will study for just two hours a day using adaptive apps and personalized lesson plans.

1) the fact that (rich) parents are down to subject their small children to an unproven educational experiment
2) the kids take “brain breaks” from their iPads by watching YouTube as a group
3) the “coaches” in classrooms don’t have to be licensed

www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Aesthetics are self evidently a valuable pursuit. I'm lucky to have a job that protects my freedom to care about aesthetics in addition to business. I don't have any solutions for the wider industry, only commiseration.

What it comes down to is: Should beautiful, interesting, entertaining things exist in the world, and should we spend our time making them?

I'm spending the morning editing a draft of a story @redford.bsky.social and I have been working on for over a year. We could've pumped it out ages ago and probably made way more money than we've spent on it.

Lots of people have reached out and said nice things about this, but lots of other people have asked me why I care enough to spend 2000 words writing about a dying industry.

(and a strange number of comments on the blog from people proudly proclaiming they don't listen to podcasts at all. ok??)

Erika Casupanan Sings in Public

The latest Try Hard hit me like a ton of bricks with this quote:

"Perfection impresses people, and imperfection is what drives connection."

@alexlaughs.bsky.social doesn't miss!

pca.st/aimdilw1

omg right?!

The Future Of Podcasting Is Here, And It Sucks | Defector This week, Left Of Dial published its Essential Listening Poll, a compilation of the 100 best podcasts of all time, according to industry creators, writers, and scholars (Disclosure: I was invited to ...

There have been a ton of 20th anniversary "best of" podcast lists lately, and it has started to feel a bit like an obituary for an industry.

[gift link] defector.com/the-future-o...

(I've emailed them about Another Round's blurb lol)

Production-wise, Normal Gossip is a direct descendant of Another Round. These are the two most influential shows of my career and I'm honored that they've both been recognized by the industry as two of the top 100 podcasts of all time. www.leftofdialmedia.com/elp-normalgo...

Are Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz Friends? Inside the rivalry that has already defined a new generation of tennis.

you can read an excerpt of CHANGEOVER over at @nymag.com today

a nice appetizer for this afternoon's Sinner-Alcaraz match

nymag.com/intelligence...

lmao i've discovered i was in the same sorority as tree paine

my biggest takeaway from the new heights ep was that it was VERY carefully edited to look off-the-cuff so i am not surprised to learn this iramadison.substack.com/p/is-travis-...

Every new announcement about the gutting and consolidation of the podcast industry makes me want to throw up. The cynicism, the accumulation of wealth among a top few people, the careers destroyed. It's real bad yall.

omg thank you so much!!!

What a beautiful tribute to Thirst Aid Kit ❤️ And it was so nice to see all our names together again! www.avclub.com/podcast-cano...

lancaster pa is like a richard scarry town