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Dana Milbank

@danamilbank.bsky.social

8.7K followers 210 following 56 posts

Searching for humanity. Columnist for @washingtonpost.com.

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Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jul 25

We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote -- and I need your help. My column about my new @washingtonpost.com column. Gift link. wapo.st/472i9Gz

Opinion | We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote.

The challenge of our time is to recover what we have lost: in nature, and in our communities.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · 1d

If you care about the future of our planet, one of the best things you can do is go fishing. Better still, take your child or grandchild. My latest column, on how to build a consensus to combat climate change: more "boots on the water." Gift link. wapo.st/4n1Umee

Column | Why you should go fishing, even if you think you’d be terrible at it

There are ecological and political reasons to try fly-fishing in the rivers of America.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · 8d

When I asked readers how they "rehumanize," more than 500 responded with deeply personal accounts. They pointed me to the one thing AI will never be able to do. Gift link to my latest column. wapo.st/4pYbpRk

Column | How can we be more human? I asked ChatGPT — and you.

In an age in which machines have intellectual capacities superior to our own, we no longer have the market cornered on thinking. Feeling, though, is a different story.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · 15d

The animal most in need of "rewilding" is us. I spent some time tracking mountain lions in the Pacific Northwest, getting close to these frightening but magical apex predators. Here's why bringing them back to the East would be good for us. Gift link. wapo.st/3KksTqC

Column | I got nose-to-nose with a mountain lion. It was scary – and magical.

Restoring these big cats to their historical range in the United States could help the environment and us.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · 22d

As America points fingers, these MAGA faithful link arms with liberals. My latest column, on a kaffeeklatsch in rural Virginia that has found an alternative to our toxic politics-- and an antidote to the epidemic of loneliness. Gift link. wapo.st/4gAmDHg

Column | Together, these MAGA fans and liberals fight a common foe: Loneliness

A daily meetup at this rural coffee shop has helped create a sense of belonging and connection, even among people who are political opposites.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · 29d

In ugly times, we need to seek beauty in tiny things. The first of my new column on how we rehumanize focuses on the sublime beauty in grass flowers and other ordinary things -- as long as we pause to look. Gift link. wapo.st/4pm7wVU

Column | In ugly times, we need to seek beauty. Here’s how to find it.

The first installment of a new weekly column about reclaiming our humanity, restoring our connections and reviving our sense of awe.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jul 25

We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote -- and I need your help. My column about my new @washingtonpost.com column. Gift link. wapo.st/472i9Gz

Opinion | We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote.

The challenge of our time is to recover what we have lost: in nature, and in our communities.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jul 24

My @washingtonpost.com column will be moving later this summer to Futures, a new Post section devoted to grappling with the forces shaping the 21st century.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jul 11

My night in the forest with the Heebie-Jeebie, the Big Dipper, the July Comet, the Spring 4-Flasher, the Creekside Tree Blinker and other fireflies. Insects could hold the secret to human survival -- if we allow them to survive. Gift link to my latest column:
wapo.st/46yYuh9

Opinion | On a dark night in the forest, I met the goddess of youth

With firefly scientists, I watched a fireworks show more intricate than any human-made pyrotechnics.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jul 3

This wasn’t just another routine cave-in by conservatives. This was probably the last chance to make a dent in the trajectory of the federal government’s finances — and they surrendered utterly. Gift link to my latest column. wapo.st/4kpBmFc

Opinion | The last gasp of small-government conservatism

As the GOP budget bill rushed toward passage, one so-called principled objector after another lost their nerve.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jun 27

Oslo: Give Trump the %@$&)! Nobel Peace Prize already — or he’s sending the B-2s. Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column. wapo.st/4ekP76G

Opinion | Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize odds are bombing

Has there ever been a more belligerent peacemaker than the American president?

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jun 27

Oslo: Give Trump the %@$&)! Nobel Peace Prize already — or he’s sending the B-2s. Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column. wapo.st/4ekP76G

Opinion | Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize odds are bombing

Has there ever been a more belligerent peacemaker than the American president?

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jun 20

Will America go to war against Iran? Let us ask Donald Trump, human Magic 8 Ball. Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column. wapo.st/3I6CakI

Opinion | War with Iran? Let’s run it up the flagpole!

Trump says no one knows whether the U.S. will attack Iran. Apparently, neither does he.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jun 18

How nature improves our cognition, our mood and much else. Lessons from the Appalachian Trail — and from scientists studying nature’s impact on our wellbeing. Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column. wapo.st/4kJERXT

Opinion | We know time in nature fixes our brains. Here’s why.

Experimental science is proving what humanity has known, intuitively, for generations.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jun 6

The spectacular Musk blowup is just another day in Trump's reign of error. My latest @postopinions.bsky.social column finds there is no sanctuary from this administration's buffoonery. Gift link: wapo.st/43vKwe9

Opinion | They are not good at this

Nearly five months into Trump’s new reign of error, his administration’s mistakes are multiplying.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Jun 4

Here are the 3,515 things the Democratic Party must do -- immediately! Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column: wapo.st/4kt1JuR

Opinion | Let us count the 3,515 ways in which Democrats are lame

With all this free advice, the Democratic Party’s to-do list is getting exceedingly long.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 30

The targets of Trump’s bullying rarely win him over with obeisance. The better course is to follow (metaphorically speaking) Elon Musk's advice: “If I had punched them hard in the nose, they wouldn’t come after me again.” Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column: wapo.st/3ZItCqe

Opinion | The bully gets punched in the nose

More and more Americans are summoning the courage to fight back against President Donald Trump.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 23

I cringe for my country when I look back on all the Trump administration’s embarrassing episodes over the last week. Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column. wapo.st/4kuCrfh

Opinion | This is just embarrassing

Everywhere I looked this week, I cringed for my country.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 21

Uncovering the secret lives of turtles, we also discover ourselves. A @postopinions.bsky.social column on my time in the fields and streams of Virginia, tracking box turtles, river herring and American kestrels. Gift link. wapo.st/4moW1LV

Opinion | Uncovering the secret lives of turtles, we also discover ourselves

Breakthroughs in tracking animals’ movements through GPS, radio frequency and acoustics have exploded.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 16

This is what happens when we have a morally lost president. My latest @postopinions.bsky.social column, on the Trump administration invoking eugenics, taking Medicaid and food stamps from the poor, celebrating Jamaal Khashoggi's killer and more. Gift link. wapo.st/3EVWAfp

Opinion | Trump will never understand that America is great because it is good

What’s needed more than anything at this moment is to make the country moral again.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 13

Trump needs that Qatari 747 — for all his evasive maneuvers. Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column, on Trump’s reversals on tariffs, China, Iran, Israel and more.

wapo.st/4khCvz3

Opinion | Trump needs that Qatari 747 — for all his evasive maneuvers

Trump said Monday that he invented a new word that is very old. But it is the best word for him.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 9

As the world goes to hell, Trump is living his best life. My latest @postopinions.bsky.social column, on how Trump and his family are pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars while he talks about rationing dolls and pencils. Gift link.
wapo.st/3ZcXpaj

Opinion | As the world goes to hell, Trump is living his best life

The president has no permanent alliances, only personal financial interests.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 7

Could Trump incompetence save the Republic? My latest @postopinions.bsky.social column, on the administration’s attempted sabotage of the VA, led by a guy who doesn’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. Gift link. wapo.st/4m5jxNF

Opinion | Could incompetence save the Republic?

VA Secretary Doug Collins testifies on Capitol Hill. It doesn’t go well.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · May 2

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. And bust is boom. As the grave consequences of the administration’s policies become apparent, Trump and his lieutenants have retreated to a fantasyland. My latest column. wapo.st/3RIvtXZ

Opinion | As wreckage piles up, Trump and his aides retreat to fantasyland

Every remark spins a different strand of make-believe.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Apr 30

Trump invoked Biden’s name 21 times on Tuesday night, not counting an additional nine references to “Sleepy Joe” and “Crooked Joe,” a transcript shows. By comparison, Trump made just two mentions of the economy in an hour and a half. My latest column. wapo.st/4jyBrqF

Opinion | Give ‘Sleepy Joe’ a rest. Trump has nobody to blame but himself.

With little to celebrate about his first 100 days in office, Trump is dwelling on the past.

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · Apr 25

'Meshugge' doesn't begin to capture Donald Trump. My @postopinions.bsky.social column on the latest from the bumbling amateurs in the administration. Gift link: wapo.st/42t676t

Opinion | For the Trump administration, it’s amateur hour

I wish there was a Yiddish insult that captured the missteps we’re seeing from the White House.