jonathan friedman
@jonathanfriedman.com
Media, culture, and news strategist and nerd. Occasional producer. USC Marshall, Semafor, Bad Robot, CAA, Obama White House, The Verge, NYU Gallatin alum. Recovering tweeter @jonfriedman
Pinned
2025 #GOODTV RANKINGS
1, ANDOR (s2, Disney)
Seemingly impossible feat to turn decades-old action-adventure sci-fi IP into a rich text of protest art, a spy/resistance thriller. But Tony Gilroy and co did it. All hail 🏆
1, ANDOR (s2, Disney)
Seemingly impossible feat to turn decades-old action-adventure sci-fi IP into a rich text of protest art, a spy/resistance thriller. But Tony Gilroy and co did it. All hail 🏆
Reposted by jonathan friedman
The MAGA influencers attacking journalists as biased for contacting potential sources on LinkedIn are getting paid tens of thousands of dollars to secretly lobby for soda companies, Qatar and Israel www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Washington’s New Lobbyists: Paid Online Influencers With Few Rules
Corporate and foreign interests pour money into getting pro-Trump social-media stars to push their causes.
www.wsj.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:49 PM
The MAGA influencers attacking journalists as biased for contacting potential sources on LinkedIn are getting paid tens of thousands of dollars to secretly lobby for soda companies, Qatar and Israel www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
This is so important to point out:
AOC: I want everybody to understand that the cuts to your health care are what’s paying for this. You get screwed over to pay a bunch of thugs in the street that are shooting mothers in the face.
January 13, 2026 at 1:55 AM
This is so important to point out:
Reposted by jonathan friedman
One thing the DOJ *isn't* doing?
Investigating whether Renee Nicole Good's civil rights were criminally violated.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
Investigating whether Renee Nicole Good's civil rights were criminally violated.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
January 13, 2026 at 2:02 AM
One thing the DOJ *isn't* doing?
Investigating whether Renee Nicole Good's civil rights were criminally violated.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
Investigating whether Renee Nicole Good's civil rights were criminally violated.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Reporting (still) matters. It can (still) make a difference.
Roughly 8 in 10 Americans that ICE is baselessly arresting or deporting U.S. citizens. Wasn't long ago that the Trump admin was going after ProPublica and other outlets for reporting this.
January 13, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Reporting (still) matters. It can (still) make a difference.
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Pipe bomb suspect voted for Trump twice, per his legal team. www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-pipe...
DC pipe bomb suspect voted for Trump twice, attorney says
For the first time, lawyers representing accused pipe bomber Brian Cole, Jr., are speaking out on behalf of their client.
www.fox5dc.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Pipe bomb suspect voted for Trump twice, per his legal team. www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-pipe...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the integration of Elon Musk's xAI platform, Grok, into military networks as part of a new "AI acceleration strategy" during a visit to SpaceX.
January 13, 2026 at 4:45 AM
Pop Crave, resistance leader
January 13, 2026 at 3:45 AM
Pop Crave, resistance leader
Too many civil servants getting axed bc they won’t break laws/standards for this president
(MS NOW) - The Justice Department has fired the No. 2 official in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia after he declined to lead the controversial prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, according to multiple people briefed ..
@ms.now
www.ms.now/news/trump-d...
@ms.now
www.ms.now/news/trump-d...
January 13, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Too many civil servants getting axed bc they won’t break laws/standards for this president
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Mississippi’s largest synagogue was set on fire before dawn Saturday. Fire department ruled it arson, and a suspect has been arrested.
It is the same synagogue that the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights. mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
It is the same synagogue that the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights. mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
Predawn fire reduces parts of Mississippi's largest synagogue to charred ruins - Mississippi Today
A fire heavily damaged Jackson’s only synagogue before dawn Saturday – the same house of worship that was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1967 because the rabbi had been an advocate for civil rights...
mississippitoday.org
January 11, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Mississippi’s largest synagogue was set on fire before dawn Saturday. Fire department ruled it arson, and a suspect has been arrested.
It is the same synagogue that the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights. mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
It is the same synagogue that the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights. mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
"the worst of the worst"
This woman is harder than goddamn steel dealing with these goddamn thugs. I want her to be my neighbor.
January 12, 2026 at 8:51 PM
"the worst of the worst"
The comfiest show on TV is back !
Welcome back to 1945! Jimmy is suddenly five years old, Tristan is back from Italy, and the Skeldale kitchen is a biohazard.
All Creatures Great and Small Season-Premiere Recap: A Horse in Every Room
Welcome back to 1945! Jimmy is suddenly five years old, Tristan is back from Italy, and the Skeldale kitchen is a biohazard.
www.vulture.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:45 PM
The comfiest show on TV is back !
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Scoop: The EPA will no longer estimate the lives saved by reducing air pollution when writing clean-air regulations, according to documents reviewed by @nytimes.com.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Scoop: The EPA will no longer estimate the lives saved by reducing air pollution when writing clean-air regulations, according to documents reviewed by @nytimes.com.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Janet Yellen tells @nytimes.com that the investigation against Powell is the most significant attack ever on Fed independence.
"If you can bring charges for no reason whatsoever against your enemies, we're no longer living in a society governed by the rule of law."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/b...
"If you can bring charges for no reason whatsoever against your enemies, we're no longer living in a society governed by the rule of law."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/b...
Fed Changes Course and Takes On Trump’s Political Fight
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Janet Yellen tells @nytimes.com that the investigation against Powell is the most significant attack ever on Fed independence.
"If you can bring charges for no reason whatsoever against your enemies, we're no longer living in a society governed by the rule of law."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/b...
"If you can bring charges for no reason whatsoever against your enemies, we're no longer living in a society governed by the rule of law."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/b...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Trump said in an interview with the NYT that he believed civil rights-era protections resulted in white people being “very badly treated”
Trump Says Civil Rights Led to White People Being ‘Very Badly Treated’
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Trump said in an interview with the NYT that he believed civil rights-era protections resulted in white people being “very badly treated”
Reposted by jonathan friedman
The national media, the ADL, corporate leaders, etc. are not revisiting their decisions about Musk now afaict. Musk is just allowed to be a very public Nazi accelerationist as well as a CSAM publisher without any mainstream scrutiny.
Every week is overwhelming evidence of what we saw with our own eyes, but which our credulous media was afraid to print: the Nazi salute was a Nazi salute
Yesterday Elon Musk retweeted "white solidarity is the only way to survive". In our numb overwhelmed media environment it barely made headlines that the world's richest man endorsed blood-curdling white nationalism. My brief writeup for @religiondispatches.org
religiondispatches.org/elon-musk-ju...
religiondispatches.org/elon-musk-ju...
January 12, 2026 at 2:24 PM
The national media, the ADL, corporate leaders, etc. are not revisiting their decisions about Musk now afaict. Musk is just allowed to be a very public Nazi accelerationist as well as a CSAM publisher without any mainstream scrutiny.
Reposted by jonathan friedman
the timing of all this as Google hits a $4 trillion market cap and makes Larry Page and Sergey Brin richer than ever
bsky.app/profile/rmac...
bsky.app/profile/rmac...
Sergey Brin is joining fellow Google founder Larry Page in cutting his ties to California ahead of a proposed state tax on billionaires. Our latest: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/t...
Google Guys Say Bye to California
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:19 PM
the timing of all this as Google hits a $4 trillion market cap and makes Larry Page and Sergey Brin richer than ever
bsky.app/profile/rmac...
bsky.app/profile/rmac...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
the golden globes wants to grow up and leave its messy past behind. it also wants polymarket $$$ and podcast fans to grow its audience. sunday's show is what happens when those two goals collide: variety.com/2026/tv/revi...
Golden Globes’ Strong Winners Were Nearly Derailed by Polymarket Predictions, Podcast Awards and Other Distracting Stunts: TV Review
The 83rd Golden Globes were nearly derailed by distracting stunts, despite strong winners and a capable host in returning MC Nikki Glaser.
variety.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:43 AM
the golden globes wants to grow up and leave its messy past behind. it also wants polymarket $$$ and podcast fans to grow its audience. sunday's show is what happens when those two goals collide: variety.com/2026/tv/revi...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Hard to overstate what a remarkable statement this is from a Republican senator — even a retiring one — accusing thte Trump White House of weaponizing DOJ to control the Fed:
"It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question."
"It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question."
January 12, 2026 at 2:13 AM
Hard to overstate what a remarkable statement this is from a Republican senator — even a retiring one — accusing thte Trump White House of weaponizing DOJ to control the Fed:
"It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question."
"It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question."
Reposted by jonathan friedman
JUST IN: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore $12 million in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics, saying the terminations appear to be retaliation for the group's view points re: vaccine safety/efficacy. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
January 12, 2026 at 4:29 AM
JUST IN: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore $12 million in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics, saying the terminations appear to be retaliation for the group's view points re: vaccine safety/efficacy. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
Honestly — thank you to the Fed for being on Bluesky
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:03 AM
Honestly — thank you to the Fed for being on Bluesky
Reposted by jonathan friedman
i think powell's response here is a demonstration of the folly of the idea that democratic accountability requires presidential control. what if the president is not acting in the public interest? you want independent agencies to be able to push back and pursue their *congressional mandate*
Powell, showing more guts than almost any GOP legislators:
"The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Fed setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President."
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
"The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Fed setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President."
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
January 12, 2026 at 1:43 AM
i think powell's response here is a demonstration of the folly of the idea that democratic accountability requires presidential control. what if the president is not acting in the public interest? you want independent agencies to be able to push back and pursue their *congressional mandate*
Reposted by jonathan friedman
Tillis is spot on. The Senate can't confirm a Trump toady to succeed Powell at the Fed. The rest of the game is now out in the open, and it doesn't end well.
January 12, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Tillis is spot on. The Senate can't confirm a Trump toady to succeed Powell at the Fed. The rest of the game is now out in the open, and it doesn't end well.
Reposted by jonathan friedman
This is just blatant, unabashed white nationalism. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
Trump Says Civil Rights Led to White People Being ‘Very Badly Treated’
www.nytimes.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:04 PM
This is just blatant, unabashed white nationalism. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.
www.wsj.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:44 PM
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon
The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire
www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Reposted by jonathan friedman
