alex nguyen

What The Hell Is Going On, a thread:

I’ve seen some thinkpieces and posts about Portland protests that fail to understand the long-term hyperspecificity of Portland culture/humor, and frame it as a sort of shitposting meme-pilled ironic thing. Which is wrong.

So I’m gonna give you my breakdown.

ICE is sending people to a prison in Africa’s only absolute monarchy Inside the “legal black hole” in Eswatini where Trump is sending detainees.

"A copy of the arrangement I reviewed shows that the United States has agreed to pay Eswatini $5.1 million to take in up to 160 so-called 'third country nationals'" www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

I don't like him personally, but David Simon on AI is the final word on the subject.

The 13th Largest Army in World Is Unleashing Violence in Chicago As federal agents kill and use extreme force in Chicago, their budget surges.

“If the immigration enforcement apparatus of the United States were its own national military, it would be the 13th most heavily funded in the world.“

- @sarahlazare.bsky.social & Lindsay Koshgarian, @inthesetimes.com

inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...

Remember when these guys ran a completely fabricated story about trans kids sourced to a single bigot who worked at St Louis Children’s Hospital and it got so much traction that they ended a bunch of programs for trans kids because of all the bomb threats

Sam Bankman-Fried and the multibillion-dollar drama over FTX’s ruins In exclusive prison interviews, the convicted crypto king is still fighting to control the narrative ahead of a high-stakes appeal.

“We were treated like digital peasants.”

What happened after FTX’s collapse? Read our investigation into the untold tale of a bankruptcy that has ballooned into one of the biggest in US history, and the lawyers and opportunists who have profited from the carnage.

YouTube video by The Daily Show Kevin Nguyen - “Mỹ Documents: A Novel” | The Daily Show

I feel very lucky that I got to talk about my Homeland-Security-mass-detention-Asian-American book on The Daily Show

🗣️ Journalist request (pls share):

🏟️ Looking to hear from NWSL fans who:

⚪️ got rid of a szn ticket
or
⚪️ will not be renewing in ‘26
or
⚪️ has been going to fewer games than past years
or
⚪️ has decided to buy a szn ticket/ticket package

hmu ⤵️

Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan Drafts of unpublished rules obtained by ProPublica detail plans that would open the door to full-time work requirements, two-year limits on living in federally supported housing and stripping aid from...

The rules from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would allow major changes to public housing and Section 8 vouchers:

- full-time work requirements
- 2-year time limits
- stripping aid from whole families if one member is in the country illegally

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

The deceptive phrase behind Trump's Medicaid purge How the idea of “able-bodied” is abused

For the November/December issue of @motherjones.com, I dove into the history of the word "able-bodied"—including how it's been harmful to disabled Americans since the 1930s and it most certainly will be when Medicaid work reqs come into play again. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

the album art for the upcoming 10 year anniversary edition of Carly Rae Jepsen's EMOTION with expanded tracks

there's a big problem with the culture here on bluesky, and it's that not nearly enough people are posting about the 10 year anniversary of Carly Rae Jepsen's groundbreaking and timeless album EMOTION being this year and how awesome that is

Calling all freelance fact-checkers!

We're in need of some fact-checking assistance during the first week of October—hit us up if you're interested in fact-checking a very fun project.

Email Chris (chris@hellgatenyc.com) for more details.

Tumblr post from every-lemon Sep 8 so my spouse is part of a weirdly intense but mostly benign men's workout group that meets at like, 5:30am outside every day, even in winter. they do a lot of burpees and lugging cinder blocks up hills and stuff. they take turns leading the workouts and tomorrow is his turn. I asked what he was planning. he handed me a sheet of William Carlos William poems from a large stack he'd printed. I said "what" and he explained, helpfully, "it's a William Carlos William themed workout." I asked what inspired it and he said "l've been planning this for months."

Follow up tumblr post every-lemon Sep 9 it was a smash hit. a dozen guys showed up (more than usual). spouse brought a red wheelbarrow and they took turns bringing cinder blocks up the hill with it. then they broke up in teams and did a relay with an "icebox" (cooler filled with 40lbs of ice). at the end he opened the cooler to reveal it was full of beach plum lacroix and all the guys cheered. they drank sparkling water as he read 'approach of winter' out loud. he was home by 6:30am.

dudes rock

I know it's hard to do but you have to tune out the constant & I mean constant torrent of criticisms on social media re: activism & organizing. If you don't, it can stop you from trying to do any activism or organizing. Most of the critics aren't doing any organizing themselves so keep trying things

Robert Redford talking about how the Algerian War led him to interrogate his own understanding of the United States of America.

Fired By The Post The Washington Post said it fired Karen Attiah over comments she made about white men in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, Status has learned.

Scoop: Status has obtained the termination letter The Washington Post sent to @karenattiah.bsky.social, in which it informed her that she was being fired for social media posts "about white men."

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/karen-atti...

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced. I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

Some personal news:

I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Thread incoming.

substack.com/@karenattiah...

At least 2 students shot at a Denver-area high school, authorities say | CNN At least two students have been shot at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

The shooting of Charlie Kirk was the 46th school shooting of the year. The 47th one happened moments afterwards. www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/u...

Rightwing influencer accompanied Ice agents during raids in Chicago Ben Bergquam was with Ice agents during a raid on Sunday and yelled at protesters that they were ‘the enemy within’

New from me: A rightwing influencer did ride along with Ice as they detained four people on Sunday in Chicago

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

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

Georgia judge to toss landmark racketeering charges against 'Cop City' protesters A Georgia judge said he will toss the RICO charges against all 61 defendants accused of a conspiracy to halt the construction of “Cop City.”

Fuck yes! The bullshit "racketeering" charges against the #StopCopCity protesters are being dismissed; not over yet, but this is very good news
www.wabe.org/breaking-geo...

people are always telling me that we just have to wait for olds to die off & then everything will be fine.

i usually respond with, "the woman who lied about emmett till whistling & got him lynched was 21. the murderers were 24 & 35. there's more to do than wait.”

there will always be hitler youth.

"school shooting industry"

The Futile Search for the Bullsh*t-Less Job Total Control + Totalizing Fear

This is my favorite thing I've read in the past week. We typically discuss the job market as it relates to those searching to land a job. But even those *with* jobs feel unsettled and disillusioned, and are planning a raft for when our ship sinks

Mother Jones is looking for a fluent Hebrew/English speaker who can help us fact-check some translations -- ideally someone with research/fact check/journalism experience. It would be a few hours of paid work. DM me if interested!

A private investigator. Psychics. Calls to the FBI. Dozens of reports to regulators. A million dollar legal battle. A restraining order. An arrest warrant.

American surrogacy raked in approximately $5 billion in 2024. What can go wrong?

Alice Wu reflects on love and Saving Face with new Criterion release “I immediately posted on social media, I think on some weird level so that they couldn’t take it back”

this was a fun one: i got to chat with Alice Wu about the new Criterion release of Saving Face. we talked rom-coms, love, betting on yourself, and revisiting such a personal project decades later. pvguide.ghost.io/alice-wu-int...

How the Horrors of Hurricane Katrina Radicalized Young People Into Climate Activists “I always wonder what my life would have been like if Hurricane Katrina didn't happen," said one survivor and climate advocate.

Aug 29 marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina.

@siric.bsky.social profiles 4 young climate advocates whose lives it changed—2 of whom fled New Orleans during Katrina as kids @teenvogue.com:

"For them, combatting climate change, environmental racism, and structural inequality has become a calling."

find yours here

go.bsky.app/2Fq4P6e