Mariah Blake

DHS Opens a Billion-Dollar Tab With Palantir "If you are interested in helping shape and deliver the next chapter of Palantir’s work across DHS, please reach out,” a Palantir executive wrote to employees about the massive purchasing agreement.

"If you are interested in helping shape and deliver the next chapter of Palantir’s work across DHS, please reach out,” a Palantir executive wrote to employees about the massive purchasing agreement. www.wired.com/story/depart...

I'm absolutely gobsmacked. They Poisoned the World is shortlisted for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, awarded to a work of narrative nonfiction that "exemplifies the literary grace and commitment to serious research and social concern." #PFAS
@crownpublishing.bsky.social

🙏🙏🙏

The Epstein Emails Show How the Powerful Talk About Race The files reveal the disgraced financier’s interest in “race science.”

A great piece from @alibreland.bsky.social on Epstein's race science obsession—one he shares with much of the contemporary right wing elite www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

NEW: ICE is leasing offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

'This state ... is not playing': Epstein 'truth commission' heads to House floor Lawmakers advanced a resolution for a truth commission into Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes in New Mexico to the House floor.

Headlines like this make me proud as hell to be New Mexican. The Epstein 'truth commission' would investigate crimes committed on Epstein’s NM ranch, exposing perpetrators and accomplices whose names have been redacted.
www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legisla...

'This state ... is not playing': Epstein 'truth commission' heads to House floor Lawmakers advanced a resolution for a truth commission into Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes in New Mexico to the House floor.

Headlines like this make me proud as hell to be New Mexican. The Epstein 'truth commission' would investigate crimes committed on Epstein’s NM ranch, exposing perpetrators and accomplices whose names have been redacted.
www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legisla...

Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund

gofund.me/b4d92d2f6

there isn’t a better Books desk in the country than the one at the Washington Post. I’m not really sure there’s anything else to say

Danke, Patricia!

Die Vergiftung der Welt – Mariah Blakes Buch über den globalen PFAS-Skandal „Die Vergiftung der Welt“ auf pfas-dilemma.info: US-Journalistin Mariah Blake deckt den globalen PFAS-Skandal auf, beschreibt gesundheitliche Risiken, Vertuschung durch Industrie und Politik, die Folg...

Acht Jahre Recherche, interne Konzernakten und die Geschichten betroffener Familie - „Die Vergiftung der Welt“ von der Investigativjournalistin Mariah Blake, vorgestellt auf pfasdilemma:
pfas-dilemma.info/medien/101-p...

#pfas #VergiftungderWelt
@mariahblake.bsky.social @danieldrepper.bsky.social

Predicting that this week we’ll hear more conciliatory words from the Administration regarding Minnesota (since they’re starting to realize that ICE has become politically toxic) but everyone outside of Minnesota needs to know that nothing on the ground has changed.

Also grateful to be part of this crucial conversation with two people I deeply admire @laurelschaider.bsky.social and @wbrangham.bsky.social 🙏

I'm speechless. They Poisoned the World is a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award! #PFAS
pen.org/press-releas...

Thank you!

I'm speechless. They Poisoned the World is a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award! #PFAS
pen.org/press-releas...

quilt by Melissa Laranjeira, made in response to killings by ICE (@thexennialquilter). the quilt is white, with elegant large letters in black reading: WE KNOW WHAT WE SAW

good morning. (quilt by Melissa Laranjeira, via www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...)

YES

It’s hard to accurately describe what is happening in Minneapolis without sounding crazy.

Unmarked rental vans all over the city, with people in military gear and no id jumping out of them to take captive anyone who looks nonwhite or who makes political speech they disagree with.

Don’t look away

3M ends PFAS manufacturing on schedule The Maplewood-based company announced in 2022 it would cease producing using the “forever chemical” in the span of three years, though it still expects to use third-party PFAS in some products.

A hugely important and hopeful story out of Minnesota. 3M, which had been the world's largest manufacturer of toxic #PFAS since 1950s, has officially gotten out of the business.
www.startribune.com/3m-end-pfas-...

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof. What happens when you do minimal screening before hiring agents, arming them, and sending them into the streets? We're all finding out.

A few months ago, ICE hired me

I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable

And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"

My latest for Slate

Some news, as they say: The German edition of They Poisoned the World comes out on Feb. 25. You can preorder here: www.oekom.de/buch/die-ver...
#PFAS

I strongly disagree

New Cellphone Video Shows ICE Agent’s Perspective Before Minneapolis Shooting

The @nytimes omits the part where the agent calls Good a “fucking bitch” right after shooting her in the face. But it devotes four paragraphs to absurd claims from the Trump camp & conservative pundits that the shooting was justified. Shameful.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/u...

New Cellphone Video Shows ICE Agent’s Perspective Before Minneapolis Shooting

The @nytimes omits the part where the agent calls Good a “fucking bitch” right after shooting her in the face. But it devotes four paragraphs to absurd claims from the Trump camp & conservative pundits that the shooting was justified. Shameful.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/u...

So, where are the Epstein Files?

Local Reporting Network Fellow Remote, United States

Our Local Reporting Network is open again for proposals! We're looking for accountability journalism projects from around the country. We cover your salary (up to $80k plus a stipend for benefits) plus provide editing and other support. Apply here: