jason

In summary:

I Infiltrated Moltbook, the AI-Only Social Network Where Humans Aren't Allowed I went undercover on Moltbook and loved role-playing as a conscious bot. But rather than a novel breakthrough, the AI-only site is a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies.

another @thiccreese.bsky.social banger www.wired.com/story/i-infi...

Republicans Are All In on Boosting Fraud Allegations in California Right-wing influencers who were instrumental in spreading allegations of fraud in Minnesota ahead of ICE’s surge are now going after a number of California’s social welfare programs.

"right-wing creators ... have been going after a number of California’s social welfare programs, making unsubstantiated accusations of fraud—and potentially laying the groundwork for a similar federal crackdown in the nation’s largest Democrat-run state." www.wired.com/story/republ...

The Trump Administration Arrested Don Lemon Like He Was a Fugitive Slave Lemon’s arrest is not only a clear violation of the First Amendment but a blatant throwback to the Constitution’s long-discarded Fugitive Slave Clause.

Here’s my @thenation.com post on the arrest of Don Lemon, Georgia Fort, the violation of the First Amendment, and Trump’s ongoing attempts to change the face of his victims and spark a race war.

"The videos, which have millions of views on Facebook and Instagram, offer a blend of revisionist justice that imagines a digital multiverse where the ICE agents are just like us: not above the rule of law."

truly a man of the people

Age Verification Is Reaching a Global Tipping Point. Is TikTok’s Strategy a Good Compromise? TikTok’s new age-detection tech seems like a better solution than automatically banning youth accounts. But experts say it still requires social platforms to surveil users more closely.

“Unless something dramatically changes, regulators around the globe are building a legal infrastructure that will require most websites and apps to be age-authenticated.” www.wired.com/story/age-ve...

‘I’m Witnessing a Lot of Emptiness’: How ICE Uprooted Normal Life in Minneapolis WIRED talks to a postal worker, a teacher, two US citizens detained by federal agents, and six more Minnesota residents about life in an occupied American city.

the war is at home www.wired.com/story/how-ic...

‘Nobody Can Stop Us’ Venezuela and the killing of Renee Good mark a turning point.

“This, on a grand scale, has become the defining feature of the current phase of American preeminence: robbery.” nymag.com/intelligence...

people voted for this

How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance Law enforcement has more tools than ever to track your movements and access your communications. Here’s how to protect your privacy if you plan to protest.

Just days into 2026, the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has sparked protests around the US.

If you’re planning to protest, here’s how to safeguard your digital security.

The Trump administration has repeatedly targeted small and politically disempowered populations—Haitians, Somalis, trans people—in order to justify abuses of power. But its abuses of power are not limited to those communities. What the government can do to the most vulnerable among us, it can also do to you.

The shooting in Minnesota is a reminder that while authoritarian governments may justify abuses of power by directing them at scapegoats or vulnerable populations, the goal is ultimately to deploy them against anyone they wish to www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Announcing the 2026 class of Periplus fellows! Every year, the Periplus collective awards mentorships to writers of color living and working in the United States, pairing each one with a member of the collective: an established writer who will …

congrats to all the periplus fellows. excited to return as a mentor this year lithub.com/announcing-t...

mr. scorsese was five hours long and still too short. marty forever

what day is it?

holy shit ant

what exactly am i paying for?

espn+ not streaming the nba christmas day games is very stupid

DEI Died This Year. Maybe It Was Supposed To I’m a Black staffer at WIRED. My position feels more precarious than ever. There’s a reason for that.

“In America, one can never escape the inevitability of race. It’s happening now, as you read this—that inevitability, the one built on old power imbalances and a racial hierarchy, is pushing industries to the brink”

reckoning with the reality of DEI for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/dei-di...

DEI Died This Year. Maybe It Was Supposed To I’m a Black staffer at WIRED. My position feels more precarious than ever. There’s a reason for that.

“In America, one can never escape the inevitability of race. It’s happening now, as you read this—that inevitability, the one built on old power imbalances and a racial hierarchy, is pushing industries to the brink”

reckoning with the reality of DEI for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/dei-di...

Am I Having an Emotional Affair with ChatGPT? - Playboy Father Playboy (yes, a real priest) provides guidance on modern romance's ethical conundrums.

“One of the more slippery slopes of our time will have been all those people who surrendered affection for efficiency by offering machines an intimate place of dignity and grace simply because they appeared to make doing hard things look easy” www.playboy.com/read/advice/...

the wemby era is gonna be so much fun

the knicks are hooping

wes doesn’t limit his work to the same city every time which may be the actual problem i’m having. just kinda feels like we’ve seen some version of this before

but vince gilligan shows also need time to settle into their own identity. he usually levels up in a big way by season 2 or 3

i think my issue with pluribus, which i’m liking less and less as the season progresses, is how much it tonally mirrors breaking bad and better call saul. the panoramic shots, the color palette, the long stretches of quiet despair and swirling paranoia. beyond the concept nothing feels original

You’re Thinking About AI and Water All Wrong Fears about AI data centers’ water use have exploded. Experts say the reality is far more complicated than people think.

new from me: are data centers going to wipe out water supplies? how much water does ChatGPT really use? and what's going on with that big correction in Empire of AI?

i went long on the conversation around AI and water, and how it's actually about what we want resources to be used for:

1000%

“Ziwe” Is Trapped in an Interminable Dance with Whiteness The variety series on Showtime, formerly an interview show on Instagram Live, struggles to release itself from the grip of its muse.

doreen, as always, was right www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

i don’t think ziwe is in any way funny or interesting and seeing vince outwit her is so delicious