James Fallows
@jfallows.bsky.social
Reporter and writer: https://fallows.substack.com/ and https://www.ourtownsfoundation.org/ One-time speechwriter, long-time pilot, longer-time husband of linguist/writer Deborah Fallows. Note same wristwatch in the two photos, more than 50 years apart.
What is up with MAHA/RFKJr's hands???
January 14, 2026 at 10:43 PM
What is up with MAHA/RFKJr's hands???
Obviously correct, and worth underscoring in every press report.
As is the reality that Trump himself would obviously be removed from positions of responsibility in any other setting—pilot, surgeon, teacher, company official, bus driver—and those around him are denying that while using him.
As is the reality that Trump himself would obviously be removed from positions of responsibility in any other setting—pilot, surgeon, teacher, company official, bus driver—and those around him are denying that while using him.
ICE officers tell media that the conduct in Minneapolis is part of a plan by Stephen Miller to provoke as much violence and death as possible—which in turn will be taken as pretext for more. “They’re essentially operating now in a resource constraint-free environment and doing very dangerous things”
Former members of ICE say recent violence is "by design"
"What has changed is there has been an encouragement from the top to be much more aggressive in enforcement."
www.motherjones.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Obviously correct, and worth underscoring in every press report.
As is the reality that Trump himself would obviously be removed from positions of responsibility in any other setting—pilot, surgeon, teacher, company official, bus driver—and those around him are denying that while using him.
As is the reality that Trump himself would obviously be removed from positions of responsibility in any other setting—pilot, surgeon, teacher, company official, bus driver—and those around him are denying that while using him.
Union member TJ Sabula, Fed Chair Jerome Powell: Today's "stand up!" patriots.
January 14, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Union member TJ Sabula, Fed Chair Jerome Powell: Today's "stand up!" patriots.
How can TurboTax be such a monopoly, and yet such a huge dysfunctional PITA?
Hmmmm, I guess that's not really a paradox, is it.
Hmmmm, I guess that's not really a paradox, is it.
January 14, 2026 at 8:02 PM
How can TurboTax be such a monopoly, and yet such a huge dysfunctional PITA?
Hmmmm, I guess that's not really a paradox, is it.
Hmmmm, I guess that's not really a paradox, is it.
When we were in China between betw 2006 and 2011, like most Western reporters I thought the worst thing outsiders had to fear was being kicked out of the country. They weren't detaining many (white) foreigners/reporters then.
Now this, from a US regime, in the nation's capital.
Now this, from a US regime, in the nation's capital.
January 14, 2026 at 2:32 PM
When we were in China between betw 2006 and 2011, like most Western reporters I thought the worst thing outsiders had to fear was being kicked out of the country. They weren't detaining many (white) foreigners/reporters then.
Now this, from a US regime, in the nation's capital.
Now this, from a US regime, in the nation's capital.
It's up to the people of Maine to chose the right person to beat the complicit Susan Collins. Vote for the one with the best chance!
But... seriously???
(Our extended family, like so many others, knows a lot about these complications of parenthood. But no one wants to hear this.)
But... seriously???
(Our extended family, like so many others, knows a lot about these complications of parenthood. But no one wants to hear this.)
Things I did not need to know from a political campaign: ""Graham has great sperm," Gertner said in the video. “The infertility was something that was part of my body.”"
Graham Platner on campaign hiatus to pursue pregnancy with wife in Norway
In a video on social media, Platner said a first attempt at IVF costs $25,000 in the U.S., while one IVF round in Norway costs $5,500.
www.newscentermaine.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:14 PM
It's up to the people of Maine to chose the right person to beat the complicit Susan Collins. Vote for the one with the best chance!
But... seriously???
(Our extended family, like so many others, knows a lot about these complications of parenthood. But no one wants to hear this.)
But... seriously???
(Our extended family, like so many others, knows a lot about these complications of parenthood. But no one wants to hear this.)
This is *the* thing no author can abide: An editor inserting a change **after** writer has seen "final proof" etc.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
I wrote book reviews for a while for the WSJ well over a decade ago, and Bari Weis was my editor. One of her special tricks was to try to insert a sharp rightward slant into my essays *after* it had been copy edited, as a way of slipping her viewpoint in at the last minute.
January 13, 2026 at 4:21 PM
This is *the* thing no author can abide: An editor inserting a change **after** writer has seen "final proof" etc.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
Agree w Garrett, w this footnote:
In my memory, as child watching news from Birmingham on our black-and-white TV, Bull Connor's squad was brutal in retaliation. But they didn't seem as clearly to be *provoking* or inciting a reaction.
They were intimidators. CBP/ICE are provocateurs (Eg Reichstag)
In my memory, as child watching news from Birmingham on our black-and-white TV, Bull Connor's squad was brutal in retaliation. But they didn't seem as clearly to be *provoking* or inciting a reaction.
They were intimidators. CBP/ICE are provocateurs (Eg Reichstag)
We must stress: The only violence is coming from CBP/ICE. They are rioting in the face of sustained nonviolent protests by thousands of Americans across the country.
They are today’s Alabama State Troopers at the Selma bridge. They are Bull Connor’s police with firehoses in Birmingham.
They are today’s Alabama State Troopers at the Selma bridge. They are Bull Connor’s police with firehoses in Birmingham.
Protester blinded, skull fractured by DHS agent during Santa Ana demonstration, family says
January 13, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Agree w Garrett, w this footnote:
In my memory, as child watching news from Birmingham on our black-and-white TV, Bull Connor's squad was brutal in retaliation. But they didn't seem as clearly to be *provoking* or inciting a reaction.
They were intimidators. CBP/ICE are provocateurs (Eg Reichstag)
In my memory, as child watching news from Birmingham on our black-and-white TV, Bull Connor's squad was brutal in retaliation. But they didn't seem as clearly to be *provoking* or inciting a reaction.
They were intimidators. CBP/ICE are provocateurs (Eg Reichstag)
Reposted by James Fallows
You failed to mention that she's married to the US Senator Dave McCormick, and that her appointment is a clear conflict of interest.
January 12, 2026 at 3:41 PM
You failed to mention that she's married to the US Senator Dave McCormick, and that her appointment is a clear conflict of interest.
Would be useful for stories like this to point out, among her political ties, that her husband is the *GOP Senator from Pennsylvania.* (Beat Bob Casey by 0.2% in 2024.)
Not even mentioned in CNBC dispatch.
Not even mentioned in CNBC dispatch.
Meta names former Trump advisor Dina Powell McCormick as president, vice chair
Meta names former Trump advisor Dina Powell McCormick as president, vice chair
cnb.cx
January 12, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Would be useful for stories like this to point out, among her political ties, that her husband is the *GOP Senator from Pennsylvania.* (Beat Bob Casey by 0.2% in 2024.)
Not even mentioned in CNBC dispatch.
Not even mentioned in CNBC dispatch.
In the Time of the Mad King, starting with Greenland.
By me. fallows.substack.com/p/in-the-tim...
First 2/3+ before paywall, fyi.
By me. fallows.substack.com/p/in-the-tim...
First 2/3+ before paywall, fyi.
In the Time of the Mad King.
Lieutenants like Vought, Miller, Hegseth, Noem are ever more purposefully destructive. They serve a leader ever less tethered to reality. Update on the real-world consequences for the rest of us.
fallows.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:02 PM
In the Time of the Mad King, starting with Greenland.
By me. fallows.substack.com/p/in-the-tim...
First 2/3+ before paywall, fyi.
By me. fallows.substack.com/p/in-the-tim...
First 2/3+ before paywall, fyi.
No decent person or organization should be on Xitter any more.
Yet again, Elon Musk is pushing the insanely racist Great Replacement Theory that has directly inspired several mass murders from his fellow white supremacists.
The richest man in the world who controls a massive media platform is *repeatedly* pushing this garbage and it should be a global scandal.
The richest man in the world who controls a massive media platform is *repeatedly* pushing this garbage and it should be a global scandal.
Elon retweeting a guy known for posting pedophilic incest fantasies
January 11, 2026 at 6:44 PM
No decent person or organization should be on Xitter any more.
Who could possibly have foreseen this?
/s
(Answer: Anyone whose knowledge of immigration-and-economics, especially through US history, extends beyond Jean Raspail's "Camp of the Saints.")
/s
(Answer: Anyone whose knowledge of immigration-and-economics, especially through US history, extends beyond Jean Raspail's "Camp of the Saints.")
The U.S.-Born Unemployment Rate Rose After Trump Reduced Immigration www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...
The U.S.-Born Unemployment Rate Rose After Trump Reduced Immigration
Government data show the Trump administration’s policies reducing the number of foreign-born workers did not help U.S.-born workers in 2025.
www.forbes.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Who could possibly have foreseen this?
/s
(Answer: Anyone whose knowledge of immigration-and-economics, especially through US history, extends beyond Jean Raspail's "Camp of the Saints.")
/s
(Answer: Anyone whose knowledge of immigration-and-economics, especially through US history, extends beyond Jean Raspail's "Camp of the Saints.")
The @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social of 25 years ago, and the me of that same era, would be equally incredulous if told that we'd be on the same side of the major battle-for-democracy in the 2020s.
In my world, there's a certain reluctance to being merely, or in a knee-jerk way, a resist lib. That's understandable, even commendable. On the other hand, let's be clear: It's a hell of lot better, morally and intellectually and politically, to be a resist lib than a Vichy conservative.
January 11, 2026 at 4:15 PM
The @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social of 25 years ago, and the me of that same era, would be equally incredulous if told that we'd be on the same side of the major battle-for-democracy in the 2020s.
Reposted by James Fallows
The Verge covers the details here:
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
No, Grok hasn’t paywalled its deepfake image feature
X’s sexual deepfake machine is still running, despite Grok saying otherwise.
www.theverge.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:30 PM
The Verge covers the details here:
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
Follow up:
As I understand it, the Grok-porn "fix" by Xitter is that only paying subscribers can *make* these sexploitation images.
But they still *appear* throughout the main algorithmic feed. That's how it seemed.
Correct?
-If not, what am I missing?
-If so, how is this a fix?
As I understand it, the Grok-porn "fix" by Xitter is that only paying subscribers can *make* these sexploitation images.
But they still *appear* throughout the main algorithmic feed. That's how it seemed.
Correct?
-If not, what am I missing?
-If so, how is this a fix?
Road report:
-I haven't done anything on Xitter since Nov 2024.
-Via someone's account, recently trawled through the main news feed.
It actually is shocking. Between the Grok-generated sexploitation, and white-supremacist cheerleading, that's most of the feed.
No "real" org should be there.
-I haven't done anything on Xitter since Nov 2024.
-Via someone's account, recently trawled through the main news feed.
It actually is shocking. Between the Grok-generated sexploitation, and white-supremacist cheerleading, that's most of the feed.
No "real" org should be there.
January 10, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Follow up:
As I understand it, the Grok-porn "fix" by Xitter is that only paying subscribers can *make* these sexploitation images.
But they still *appear* throughout the main algorithmic feed. That's how it seemed.
Correct?
-If not, what am I missing?
-If so, how is this a fix?
As I understand it, the Grok-porn "fix" by Xitter is that only paying subscribers can *make* these sexploitation images.
But they still *appear* throughout the main algorithmic feed. That's how it seemed.
Correct?
-If not, what am I missing?
-If so, how is this a fix?
This is big.
Good for the National Opera.
Too bad for the Kennedy Center, dragged down by ... these people.
Good for the National Opera.
Too bad for the Kennedy Center, dragged down by ... these people.
The storied Washington National Opera decides to leave the Kennedy Center where it has played since 1971, perhaps the most significant artistic rebuke yet to Trump’s campaign to remake the facility in his image and attach his name to it. @adamnagourney.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:19 AM
This is big.
Good for the National Opera.
Too bad for the Kennedy Center, dragged down by ... these people.
Good for the National Opera.
Too bad for the Kennedy Center, dragged down by ... these people.
Reposted by James Fallows
The storied Washington National Opera decides to leave the Kennedy Center where it has played since 1971, perhaps the most significant artistic rebuke yet to Trump’s campaign to remake the facility in his image and attach his name to it. @adamnagourney.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:10 AM
The storied Washington National Opera decides to leave the Kennedy Center where it has played since 1971, perhaps the most significant artistic rebuke yet to Trump’s campaign to remake the facility in his image and attach his name to it. @adamnagourney.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Reposted by James Fallows
The shooter calls her a "fucking bitch" right after shooting her three times. He shot because he was pissed off, not because he reasonably believed he was in danger. Also, he is filming while handling his weapon at the same time?!? Was he even looking at where he was shooting?
🚨 NEW VIDEO 👇🏽This puts an end to all the lies. Horrific.
They were having a calm exchange seconds before he murdered Renee Good, and she was barely moving and clearly avoiding him.
Stop the lies.
They were having a calm exchange seconds before he murdered Renee Good, and she was barely moving and clearly avoiding him.
Stop the lies.
January 9, 2026 at 6:43 PM
The shooter calls her a "fucking bitch" right after shooting her three times. He shot because he was pissed off, not because he reasonably believed he was in danger. Also, he is filming while handling his weapon at the same time?!? Was he even looking at where he was shooting?
Road report:
-I haven't done anything on Xitter since Nov 2024.
-Via someone's account, recently trawled through the main news feed.
It actually is shocking. Between the Grok-generated sexploitation, and white-supremacist cheerleading, that's most of the feed.
No "real" org should be there.
-I haven't done anything on Xitter since Nov 2024.
-Via someone's account, recently trawled through the main news feed.
It actually is shocking. Between the Grok-generated sexploitation, and white-supremacist cheerleading, that's most of the feed.
No "real" org should be there.
January 9, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Road report:
-I haven't done anything on Xitter since Nov 2024.
-Via someone's account, recently trawled through the main news feed.
It actually is shocking. Between the Grok-generated sexploitation, and white-supremacist cheerleading, that's most of the feed.
No "real" org should be there.
-I haven't done anything on Xitter since Nov 2024.
-Via someone's account, recently trawled through the main news feed.
It actually is shocking. Between the Grok-generated sexploitation, and white-supremacist cheerleading, that's most of the feed.
No "real" org should be there.
Reposted by James Fallows
🚨 NEW VIDEO 👇🏽This puts an end to all the lies. Horrific.
They were having a calm exchange seconds before he murdered Renee Good, and she was barely moving and clearly avoiding him.
Stop the lies.
They were having a calm exchange seconds before he murdered Renee Good, and she was barely moving and clearly avoiding him.
Stop the lies.
January 9, 2026 at 6:12 PM
🚨 NEW VIDEO 👇🏽This puts an end to all the lies. Horrific.
They were having a calm exchange seconds before he murdered Renee Good, and she was barely moving and clearly avoiding him.
Stop the lies.
They were having a calm exchange seconds before he murdered Renee Good, and she was barely moving and clearly avoiding him.
Stop the lies.
In case you haven't seen it, print front page of this morning's NYT.
January 9, 2026 at 7:19 PM
In case you haven't seen it, print front page of this morning's NYT.
In case you haven't seen the Jesse Ventura video, see it now:
www.youtube.com/shorts/cnF-D...
These Minnesota people — Frey, Walz, Sens Smith + Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, now Ventura — are not fooling around.
www.youtube.com/shorts/cnF-D...
These Minnesota people — Frey, Walz, Sens Smith + Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, now Ventura — are not fooling around.
Jesse Ventura reacts to Minneapolis ICE shooting
YouTube video by FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
www.youtube.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:35 AM
In case you haven't seen the Jesse Ventura video, see it now:
www.youtube.com/shorts/cnF-D...
These Minnesota people — Frey, Walz, Sens Smith + Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, now Ventura — are not fooling around.
www.youtube.com/shorts/cnF-D...
These Minnesota people — Frey, Walz, Sens Smith + Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, now Ventura — are not fooling around.
Have deleted a quote-post (about Xi, Trump, and Taiwan), because agree that full context is different from what I initially understood.
Apologies.
Apologies.
January 9, 2026 at 4:08 AM
Have deleted a quote-post (about Xi, Trump, and Taiwan), because agree that full context is different from what I initially understood.
Apologies.
Apologies.