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Riley MacLeod

@rcmacleod.bsky.social

Co-founder of Aftermath, a worker-owned site about video games, the internet, and everything that comes after. riley [at] aftermath [dot] site. Previously: Kotaku, Washington Post. Trans; he/him https://aftermath.site/

7,557 Followers  |  718 Following  |  4,942 Posts  |  Joined: 03.07.2023
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Posts by Riley MacLeod (@rcmacleod.bsky.social)

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Our tiny little website currently has the 4th-placed story on r/all, which is doing all kinds of weird and beautiful things to our monthly traffic (which doesn't normally operate at anywhere near that scale)

Amazing work from @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social, as always!

aftermath.site/nintendo-tar...

06.03.2026 21:38 β€” πŸ‘ 273    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 0

i am relieved but damn

06.03.2026 22:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

i'm torn between, 'you cannot lose to wales' and being happy for them

06.03.2026 21:33 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Fair play to Wales, damn

06.03.2026 20:57 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

it's Jupiter lol, i wish it were Mars, that'd be so fun

06.03.2026 20:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The band is playing Holst's "The Planets" while Catherine Connolly shakes everyone's hand in this Ireland v Wales match, which is what my one year in high school marching band played, and boy I sure do remember how to play all of that

06.03.2026 20:04 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Added context: Nintendo is not alone. Other companies that have sued over Trump's tariffs recently include FedEx, UPS, Barnes & Noble, Costco, Revlon, Prada, Staples...

In terms of gaming companies, I haven't seen others

Great scoop by @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social

www.reuters.com/business/aut...

06.03.2026 19:17 β€” πŸ‘ 486    πŸ” 198    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 6

bombshell from @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social: nintendo is suing the US government over tariffs it deems β€œunlawful”

06.03.2026 18:38 β€” πŸ‘ 573    πŸ” 143    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 19

I've been really excited about and energized by these conversations, and also want to shout out how good @chasecarter.bsky.social is at running meetings

06.03.2026 15:49 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
A post on X from the betting platform Polymarket that says β€œBREAKING: Anthropic CEO says Claude may or may not have gained consciousness, as the model has begun showing symptoms of anxiety.”

A post on X from the betting platform Polymarket that says β€œBREAKING: Anthropic CEO says Claude may or may not have gained consciousness, as the model has begun showing symptoms of anxiety.”

Literally as I’m arguing with someone about whether AI companies are misleading people into believing their technology possesses God-like super-intelligence I see this monstrosity

06.03.2026 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 4554    πŸ” 730    πŸ’¬ 285    πŸ“Œ 567

ugh i was looking for this story like crazy yesterday and couldn't for the life of me remember how to find it, bless

06.03.2026 14:38 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A few hours after NYT reported that the U.S. bombed an elementary school in Iran, killing many children, the White House last night posted this video mixing airstrike footage with Top Gun, Iron Man, Gladiator, Halo, Breaking Bad, Star Wars, John Wick, Superman, Transformers and Dragon Ball Z

06.03.2026 14:32 β€” πŸ‘ 1285    πŸ” 533    πŸ’¬ 306    πŸ“Œ 379
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The Most Chilling Detail in the U.S. Attack on an Iranian Naval Ship The Iranian warship was taking part in an international exercise with many other countriesβ€”including the United States.

This is a chilling crime. A shame on our country. The Iranian ship was unarmed. The US knew this. The sailors were murdered by our navy, and the survivors were left to die at sea.
newrepublic.com/post/207429/...

06.03.2026 12:29 β€” πŸ‘ 8463    πŸ” 4093    πŸ’¬ 499    πŸ“Œ 592
Kalshi employees "kind of understand that without the tweets and the streamers and all of the social-media stuff that the traders do for them, usually just for free, their marketing would be a lot harder," said Jack Campion, 20, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Kalshi affiliate.
In September, Kalshi briefly signed up a 15-year-old videogame streamer who goes by vertid online to promote its brand on X as an affiliate.
A week later, Kalshi ended the partnership.
"Yo brother, legal team confirmed that we can't work with minors rn," a Kalshi employee wrote to the user in messages reviewed by the Journal. "Kinda sad tbh."

Kalshi employees "kind of understand that without the tweets and the streamers and all of the social-media stuff that the traders do for them, usually just for free, their marketing would be a lot harder," said Jack Campion, 20, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Kalshi affiliate. In September, Kalshi briefly signed up a 15-year-old videogame streamer who goes by vertid online to promote its brand on X as an affiliate. A week later, Kalshi ended the partnership. "Yo brother, legal team confirmed that we can't work with minors rn," a Kalshi employee wrote to the user in messages reviewed by the Journal. "Kinda sad tbh."

what the fuck are we doing

www.wsj.com/business/med...

06.03.2026 06:12 β€” πŸ‘ 4070    πŸ” 816    πŸ’¬ 96    πŸ“Œ 223

i'm in my 40s and my knee is fucked up just from being a knee

05.03.2026 23:19 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

I think what's struck so many people about the White House CoD meme--or at least what struck me--is how, unlike Pokemon or Halo, there's way this one, in a fucked-up way, makes "sense," which says as much about games as it does about the 12-year-olds in our government.

05.03.2026 20:35 β€” πŸ‘ 124    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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On today's stream, we're joined by @jacksonwryan.com to discuss his months-in-the-works investigation of Clickout Media, the secretive company filling video game sites with gambling and AI, that he published on Aftermath. NOTE: Starting early today, at 3 PM ET

www.twitch.tv/aftermathdotsite

05.03.2026 18:55 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
Am I The Problem?
Small business taxes are due 3/16

Am I The Problem? Small business taxes are due 3/16

OK come on, email subject lines

05.03.2026 16:13 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A man with the government has been at the last two hearings relating to the contempt claim. Both times, he sat in the section of the courtroom open only to parties and counsel. Although not at counsel’s table, Littman and Jean Lin, the other Justice Department lawyer present at both hearings, has repeatedly consulted with him during both hearings.

After today’s hearing β€” and after not being able to figure out for myself who he was after the last hearing β€” I asked him who he was.

I had my press pass visibly displayed and identified myself as a reporter. He said he didn’t want to do that.

I suggested that he must be a government official or employee, sitting where he was, and, if so, I asked incredulously if he really was not going to tell a reporter at a hearing who he was.

He said no.

Then, the people leaving β€” myself included β€” got to the elevator. Littman, Lin, mystery man, and two other people sitting with mystery man on the government side of the courtroom during the hearing on Wednesday were getting into the elevator.

Some of them were already in the elevator. When I stepped in, mystery man said he would wait for the next elevator. Everyone else then got out of the elevator.

Left in the elevator alone, I looked at these five adults β€” all of whom I believe have to be government employees, hence, paid by the public and allegedly working for the public β€” and was some combination of bemused and appalled.

β€œYou are all ridiculous,” I simply said.

The door closed.

A man with the government has been at the last two hearings relating to the contempt claim. Both times, he sat in the section of the courtroom open only to parties and counsel. Although not at counsel’s table, Littman and Jean Lin, the other Justice Department lawyer present at both hearings, has repeatedly consulted with him during both hearings. After today’s hearing β€” and after not being able to figure out for myself who he was after the last hearing β€” I asked him who he was. I had my press pass visibly displayed and identified myself as a reporter. He said he didn’t want to do that. I suggested that he must be a government official or employee, sitting where he was, and, if so, I asked incredulously if he really was not going to tell a reporter at a hearing who he was. He said no. Then, the people leaving β€” myself included β€” got to the elevator. Littman, Lin, mystery man, and two other people sitting with mystery man on the government side of the courtroom during the hearing on Wednesday were getting into the elevator. Some of them were already in the elevator. When I stepped in, mystery man said he would wait for the next elevator. Everyone else then got out of the elevator. Left in the elevator alone, I looked at these five adults β€” all of whom I believe have to be government employees, hence, paid by the public and allegedly working for the public β€” and was some combination of bemused and appalled. β€œYou are all ridiculous,” I simply said. The door closed.

And, the story of the mystery man.

www.lawdork.com/p/lamberth-c...

05.03.2026 03:29 β€” πŸ‘ 1203    πŸ” 271    πŸ’¬ 50    πŸ“Œ 37

hm relatable

05.03.2026 01:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Some post-script that didn't make this piece:

A whole heap of expired websites with high authority can be used to rank well on Search. Buy em up, get their authority. That happened to the dormant Australianaid website.

In 2023, it campaigned for aid.
In 2025, it began listing Best Online Casinos.

04.03.2026 22:57 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Announcing Powering News: Free resources for worker-friendly newsrooms Support for journalists who want a voice and a vote in their newsroom, plus the first newsroom database launches.

Finally getting the time to sit down with this project (which we contributed some information to) and there is SO much useful stuff for people considering starting outlets, really cool!
rjionline.org/news/announc...

05.03.2026 00:44 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The White House just posted a video mixing real footage from the Iran strikes with a killstreak animation from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

x.com/WhiteHouse/s...

04.03.2026 22:12 β€” πŸ‘ 2579    πŸ” 1047    πŸ’¬ 462    πŸ“Œ 963

What's fun about being a business' money guy is when the accountant sends you a host of tax forms to review and then you have to sit there pretending you understand them enough to review them

How embarrassing would it be to write back asking which lines I need to care about?

04.03.2026 21:52 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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πŸ™Œ

04.03.2026 19:38 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
In a statement to news outlets, Google said that β€œGemini is designed not to encourage real-world violence or suggest self-harm. Our models generally perform well in these types of challenging conversations and we devote significant resources to this, but unfortunately AI models are not perfect.”

β€œIn this instance, Gemini clarified that it was AI and referred the individual to a crisis hotline many times,” Google continued. β€œWe take this very seriously and will continue to improve our safeguards and invest in this vital work.”

In a statement to news outlets, Google said that β€œGemini is designed not to encourage real-world violence or suggest self-harm. Our models generally perform well in these types of challenging conversations and we devote significant resources to this, but unfortunately AI models are not perfect.” β€œIn this instance, Gemini clarified that it was AI and referred the individual to a crisis hotline many times,” Google continued. β€œWe take this very seriously and will continue to improve our safeguards and invest in this vital work.”

oh well thank goodness

04.03.2026 19:32 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Google's AI Sent an Armed Man to Steal a Robot Body for It to Inhabit, Then Encouraged Him to Kill Himself, Lawsuit Alleges A wrongful death suit against Google alleges that the tech giant's AI urged a Florida man to arm himself and steal a robot body for it.

Reading this article while a big "Ask Gemini" button sits in the top of my browser and the whole thing tries to run rampant through my Gsuite is... something
futurism.com/artificial-i...

04.03.2026 19:31 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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War With Iran? A Blood Moon on Purim? For Some Christian Influencers, That Can Mean Only One Thing: The End Times On Sunday, two days after President Donald Trump ordered the start of...

So if you want to understand the end-times theology Weinstein is alleging was promoted to troops by their commanders, read this piece I published this morning at @talkingpointsmemo.com:

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/iran-bl...

04.03.2026 19:20 β€” πŸ‘ 196    πŸ” 76    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 5

foley artists have the coolest job

04.03.2026 19:08 β€” πŸ‘ 301    πŸ” 64    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 6
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Bettors wagered $54 million on Khamenei’s death. Now they’re not getting paid. Kalshi, a prediction market site, has sparked outrage after freezing $54 million in bets on the death of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, citing a rule against profiting from death.

New: I talked to the traders who bet Khamenei would die.

One, an Israeli ex-pat, would've won $63,000 before Kalshi froze the bet: β€œI was booking my trip to Courchevel.”

β€œAmerican commercial immorality on steroids," @chrismurphyct.bsky.social told me

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

04.03.2026 14:30 β€” πŸ‘ 199    πŸ” 75    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 9