Lance Knobel

I'll vote for the Democratic contender who is smart enough to tell Axios to get bent

Screenshot of a data visualization titled “The Cost of American Exceptionalism,” subtitled “What would change if the U.S. matched the OECD average?” The page explains that each card shows how outcomes would change if the U.S. matched the average of 31 peer democracies. Below, a section labeled “Economy & Inequality” displays eight cards comparing U.S. figures to OECD averages. Highlights include: +$19K per household per year in redistributed income and +$96K in redistributed wealth if the top 1% matched OECD shares; a 71% lower CEO-to-worker pay ratio (from 354× to 101×); 50 million more workers with union coverage; 26 million more people with health insurance; $2.1 trillion saved annually in healthcare spending; $691 less per person per year in prescription drug costs; and intergenerational economic mobility being twice as high. Each card shows the U.S. value alongside the OECD average.

If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:

America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.

What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵

I'm not quite sure how this is true, given that he's not seeking new statutory authority for ... pretty much any of this.

At most, what they could do is shut down the government + refuse to confirm any more Trump nominees.

Insights from Ben Affleck on AI:

• AI can help write scenes but can't create full movies.

• Job loss fears are overblown because adoption of new tech is slow; it's hype for startup valuations.

• ChatGPT v5 is ~25% better but costs 4x.

• Users actually preferred v4's sycophancy for companionship.

One thing to add to @sarabethb.bsky.social's op-ed is that many of the new wave local newsrooms are determined to do a better job for the whole community than most of what happened in the past. We don't want to restore a wholly imagined golden age.

The gap between nonprofit and for-profit local news will widen "The harsh truth is that taken in isolation, there is likely no viable economic model for decent news provision in economically struggling cities or rural areas."

There's a philosophical gap between nonprofit and for-profit news organizations. It's not just the pursuit of dollars – nonprofits need to make a surplus, too. It's the root motivation for what we do and who we think we're serving. My Nieman Lab prediction for 2026: www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/the-...

Local news is in trouble in many places, yes, but you know it's not dead, @idothethinking.bsky.social. There are hundreds of newsrooms like @berkeleyside.org and @oaklandside.org around the country, and more are being started every year.

If you think your job is not to tell the truth but to "challenge your audience's assumptions" if the latter is in tension with the former then you're going to end up lying. bsky.app/profile/larr...

The president is a political cartoon of corruption come to life, a gaudy grifter who is selling off pardons and lining his pockets, building a golden ballroom and protecting his fellow sex predator elites, all the while regular Americans are suffering and struggling to make ends meet.

Run on *that*

Kendrick, Joyce Carol Oates, Menswear Guy, and Isaac Chotiner are the Voltron of People You Don't Want Focusing on You

Today I learned that the total amount of philanthropic funding for journalism in the US since 2009 equals approximately 8.6% of OpenAI’s funding to date. Really useful #kleincamp session from @ninasachdev.bsky.social and Vince Stehle of @mediaimpactfunders.bsky.social.

One of my underlying working models for non-profit news is that nobody is in competition with each other. We should all be co-operative. We should be open sourcing code, sharing wins and losses, and doing as much as possible to lift each other up - out in the open so newcomers can benefit too.

ESPN names DraftKings official odds provider In a deal starting Dec. 1, ESPN has named DraftKings its Official Sportsbook and Odds Provider, it was announced Thursday.

I, for one, definitely think this revenue boost will be used to help ESPN aggressively and independently cover the waterfall of sports betting scandals plaguing our pro and college sports.

Belatedly watched 60 minutes Trump interview. OMFG. This isn't journalism.

Have You Taken Freedom for Granted? A Saturday Prompt

In 1941, thinking about acquiescence to Hitler, FDR quoted Ben Franklin: “Those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” It’s a message for the billionaires & others capitulating to Trump.
www.americaamerica.news/p/have-you-t...

How the Berkeley economy works: we will not tolerate a gap of 400 meters between coffee shops.

after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.

paywall pop up on voter guide

early voting starts today in TX and the @houstonchronicle.com has the paywall up on their voter guide. please be serious

"If we want different results, we have to abandon standard practice."

YES.

Finally, someone put together what I and many other critics have been saying about political coverage — then took it further. reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/harm-reducti...

Author Michael Hauser Tov is 28 years old.

ed the president of the united states just announced he plans to use the U.S. military to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, i think we should probably be prioritizing attention to that right now

If we still had anything resembling a functioning Constitution, he would be impeached by lunchtime & convicted & removed from office by the close of business today.

Time to report the Marin Independent Journal to a California regulator. They arbitrarily, on no notice, charge my credit card random amounts of $, fail to give promised credits, and cut off paid access.

I'd like to support local journalism. But subscribing to the MarinIJ is just supporting fraud.

the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!

trump’s numbers are tanking and there is a palpable desire in the electorate for a real alternative and yet the only money in democratic politics is for doing starmerism

Frankly I’m surprised more comparativists aren’t saying, “Aw that’s so cute. America’s having its first little premature rumor and speculation frenzy about the autocrat’s death after his public absence for a brief period” (common in authoritarian regimes)

3 reporting interns join Berkeleyside for the summer Daniel Ekonde, Sara Martin and Skylla Mumana are getting valuable newsroom experience covering news and feature stories in Berkeley.

Daniel Ekonde, Sara Martin and Skylla Mumana are getting valuable newsroom experience covering news and feature stories in Berkeley.

Brad Lander told NY1 at Mamdani’s party that what Democrats need to decide right now is whether to be “fighters or folders” and yes he should immediately mount a primary challenge to Chuck Schumer