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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass
@maassp.bsky.social
1.1K followers 530 following 140 posts
Editor & writer. Author of “Love Thy Neighbor” & “Crude World.” Done time at the NYT, WP, Intercept.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Apr 9
Twenty-two years ago today I stood in Baghdad's Firdos Square and watched U.S. Marines tear down a statue of Saddam Hussein. The toppling was portrayed by the American media as a symbol of Iraq's joyous liberation but the reality of what happened was quite different. (Thread)
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Reposted by Peter Maass
literaryhub.bsky.social
Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 1d
@maassp.bsky.social unpacks the sensationalist journalism of Richard Harding Davis, America’s first star war reporter.
How America’s First Star War Reporter Set the Tone For a Century of Journalism
Richard Harding Davis is regarded by many as the first war correspondent of modern American journalism—not because he was the first to cover nineteenth-century warfare, but because he attracted a l…
buff.ly
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · 1d
Thank you, truly appreciate it. Fwiw I kind of think the Swedish Academy is getting the fate it deserves -- the awarding of its cherished prize treated as trashy performance art.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · 2d
Take it from me, the guy who derided/dunked/nuked the Swedish Academy for awarding the 2019 Nobel Literature Prize to genocide denialist Peter Handke -- this hilarious takedown by @alexshephard.bsky.social and @markkrotov.bsky.social merits its own Nobel. newrepublic.com/article/2015...
The Nobel Prize in Literature Is Boring Now
László Krasznahorkai, who was awarded the Prize on Thursday, is a brilliant novelist and consummate laureate. But has the Swedish Academy lost its sense of fun?
newrepublic.com
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · 2d
Very proud that LitHub published my retrospective on the first great war reporter, Richard Harding Davis, whose coverage of the Spanish-American war set the flawed standard for conflict journalism. My piece introduces a new publication of Davis's "Cuba in War Time." lithub.com/how-americas...
How America’s First Star War Reporter Set the Tone For a Century of Journalism
Richard Harding Davis is regarded by many as the first war correspondent of modern American journalism—not because he was the first to cover nineteenth-century warfare, but because he attracted a l…
lithub.com
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · 16d
Baghdad 1979 is calling, wants its Baath Party purge back.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Sep 10
With Lachlan Murdoch in the headlines, thanks to his buyout of his siblings for full control of Fox News, I'm re-upping my deep dive into his (revealing) years as a philosophy student at Princeton. theintercept.com/2019/03/30/l...
How Lachlan Murdoch Went From Studying Philosophy at Princeton to Exploiting White Nationalism at Fox News
Rupert Murdoch's oldest son has taken charge of Fox News. The family's role in the far-right network is coming under greater scrutiny.
theintercept.com
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Reposted by Peter Maass
alissaquart.bsky.social
Alissa Quart @alissaquart.bsky.social · Aug 31
My latest story for @timemagazine.bsky.social on Labor Day, Labor Day Sales and the American Dream. A very personal essay time.com/7313480/labo... @eccobooks.bsky.social @economichardship.bsky.social @jillgrinberglit.bsky.social @maiasz.bsky.social @maassp.bsky.social @economichardship.bsky.social
What Labor Day Sales Say About the American Dream
Alissa Quart writes about the relationship between Labor Day sales and economic opportunity in America.
time.com
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 29
What I'm doing in the coming year -- a fellowship at the Leon Levy Center for Biography to work on my book about Jacob Schiff, Felix Warburg and their philanthropic support for Jewish emigration to British-controlled Palestine in the context of non-Zionism.
thegraduatecenter.bsky.social
CUNY Graduate Center @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social · Aug 29
Congratulations to the 2025 Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellows! Peter Maass, Deborah Solomon, Kristen Iversen, Autumn Womack, Alex Traub, and Ph.D. candidate Vanessa S. Troiano www.gc.cuny.edu/news/leon-le... @maassp.bsky.social @bam-bio-mem.bsky.social
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Leon Levy Center for Biography Awards Six Writing Fellowships
Prominent writers receive support for biographies of figures such as Jasper Johns, Toni Morrison, Felix Warburg, and Nikola Tesla.
www.gc.cuny.edu
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Reposted by Peter Maass
janinedigi.bsky.social
Janine di Giovanni @janinedigi.bsky.social · Aug 17
Friends, a funny but cautionary tale of how wrong GROK gets things.

I am neither Jewish, nor "Whitewashing myself" nor Antisemitic. Follow this thread my pal @maassp.bsky.social posted..you may need to go back to Peter's account to follow the whole damn thread...which gets comically absurd
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Reposted by Peter Maass
foreverwars.bsky.social
FOREVER WARS @foreverwars.bsky.social · Aug 18
“[W]hen you disregard ‘crime in the strict legal sense’ as the criterion for enforcement, grand new vistas of violence against "disordered" social populations open,” writes @attackerman.bsky.social
"Crime" And The Occupation of D.C.
What is the meaning of crime? Is it Criminals Robbing Innocent Motherfuckers Everytime?
www.forever-wars.com
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 16
Meanwhile, in upstate New York…
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 16
LLMs are black boxes but it seems fair to conclude that Grok used Janine's posts to form its opinion of her and failed to discern that her use of "I'm Jewish" was not a reference to her own lineage but a quote from a story she linked to. A fifth grader wouldn't make that mistake.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 16
Grok hadn't mentioned my article in its first response, so I wondered what was going on. I vaguely recalled that Janine retweeted my article in 2024, so I checked her timeline and yes, bingo, she had done so and quoted my "I'm Jewish" line.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 16
Someone then asked if she was actually Jewish, and Grok fessed up that it "misattributed" my Washington Post story -- headlined "I'm Jewish, and I've covered wars. I know war crimes when I see them" -- to her.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 16
Here's a funny yet revealing tale about Grok (Elon Musk's AI) attributing a story I wrote to my friend @janinedigi.bsky.social, and as a result saying she's Jewish (which she's not, though I am).
It starts with a query from an X account that didn't like a post from Janine and asked Grok about her.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 12
Pulitzer Prize for Best Use of Habibi…
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Aug 12
#ReleaseTheCuomoList
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 11
From 2024, @mollycrabapple.bsky.social:
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 7
Perfect 10 on the North Korea scale. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
JD Vance’s team had water level of Ohio river raised for family’s boating trip
Exclusive: Incident raises questions of exploitation of public services, but Secret Service says it was requested for ‘safe navigation’
www.theguardian.com
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Aug 4
A fascinating and meticulous article by Gary Knight about the likelihood that one of the most famous war photos of the 20th century was taken by one photographer but attributed to another. www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
Inside the Battle Over 'Napalm Girl'
A new documentary, 'The Stringer,' investigates the story of the famous Vietnam War photo "Napalm Girl," raising questions about who actually took it
www.rollingstone.com
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Reposted by Peter Maass
zeteo.com
Zeteo @zeteo.com · Jul 28
“There is a campaign in the Israeli media about Israel starving Gazans. From the pictures I see I think they need to lose some weight.”
Right-wing Israeli network Channel 14 hosts mock the mother of four-year-old Razan Abu Zaher, who died last week of starvation.
Read: zeteo.com?utm_source=n...
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Jul 28
Every word of this www.forever-wars.com/the-belated-...
The Belated Voices Against The U.S.-Israeli Genocide of The Palestinians
Why did the onset of famine, and not any of the previous 21 months of collective slaughter, not compel them to speak out?
www.forever-wars.com
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Jul 22
One of the loveliest articles you can read today was written by my wife, Alissa Quart, about her mother’s paintings and what spreading them in our world means. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/o...
Opinion | My Mother, the Artist, Discovered at 90
www.nytimes.com
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Reposted by Peter Maass
albanakasapi.bsky.social
Albana Kasapi @albanakasapi.bsky.social · Jul 13
This morning on BBC World Service we took time to Remember Srebrenica.
We recalled what happened&heard from survivors & relatives. David Rhode told us how he uncovered the first mass graves 30 years ago. With guests Arminka Helic and Steven Erlanger👇from min 26:30
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Weekend - Gulf states urge Trump to help achieve Gaza ceasefire - BBC Sounds
A Gaza hospital says 24 people were killed on Saturday near an aid distribution site
www.bbc.co.uk
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · Jun 2
Will be tapping this sign for years.
jasminmuj.bsky.social
Jasmin Mujanović @jasminmuj.bsky.social · Jan 31
As someone from the Balkans I regret to inform you that the tolerance of the average public for being utterly brutalized by their government(s) for the most fantastical and asinine reasons is far greater than you may anticipate. Sectarianism is a hell of a drug, alas.
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maassp.bsky.social
Peter Maass @maassp.bsky.social · May 30
Upcoming at the Tribeca film festival, the short documentary "Natasha," co-directed by my friend Andrew Meier, about the slain human rights investigator in Chechnya, Natasha Estemirova. www.natashadoc.com
NATASHA | NATASHA DOCUMENTARY FILM
NATASHA documentary is the story of a fearless human rights investigator in Vladimir Putin’s Russia and war in Chechnya.
www.natashadoc.com
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