Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Liza Featherstone

Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 5d

Michigan Avenue right now.

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · 6d

I’m not hearing a downside

www.theverge.com/news/674366/...

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

www.theverge.com

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Alissa Quart @alissaquart.bsky.social · 19d

Excited about next week’s nearly daylong @economichardship.bsky.social event at @columbiajournalism.bsky.social starring @jeffsharlet.bsky.social , @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social , @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social Ray Suarez and others!

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · 21d

I got to interview @omarfatehmn.bsky.social for @jacobinmag.bsky.social
Asked what democratic socialism means to him, Fateh, whose first child was born last month, had a straightforward answer. “It’s pretty clear-cut,” he said. “You want to take care of everyone.”
jacobin.com/2025/09/omar...

Minneapolis’s Omar Fateh on His Run for Mayor

What does democratic socialism mean to Omar Fateh, Minneapolis mayoral candidate? “It’s pretty clear cut: you want to take care of everyone.”

jacobin.com

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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 23d

He still thinks/claims that “asylum seekers” come from insane asylums

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23d

Trump threatens war against Venezuela

We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan “Leadership” has forced into the United States of America. Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these “Monsters.” GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · 24d

oh wow! I have never thought about that. thanks for bringing it to my attention.

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Laura Tanenbaum @ltanenbaum.bsky.social · 27d

Wow this campaign keeps outdoing itself. A history lesson tied to the present and connected to one of my favorite badass history ladies rolled into one???

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 27d

On June 24, I began my Election Night speech by quoting Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” That's the spirit of this campaign, and our city.

This is "Until It’s Done,” a new series about New Yorkers who refused to accept that a worthy goal was impossible.

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 27d

The Dept. of Justice has removed a study showing that white supremacist and far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the U.S.

DOJ Deletes Study Showing Domestic Terrorists Are Most Often Right Wing

Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the Trump administration’s promise to go after the “radical left” a study showing most domestic terrosim is far-right was disappeared.

www.404media.co

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 27d

We relaunched our canvassing operation a month ago— and our volunteers already surpassed 235k doors knocked, including 39,700 this past weekend.

There's a hunger in our city for a new kind of politics and it's motivating people to participate at a scale they never have before.

Huge group photo of canvassers at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Many are carrying signs that say "Jews for Zohran" and "Jews for Racial & Economic Justice."

About a dozen volunteers taking a group photo.

About 20 volunteers taking a group photo.

About a dozen volunteers taking group photo.

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The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 28d

It needs to be said that by rebranding Charlie Kirk's views as moderate by both right wingers and liberal cowards resets the extremist views he held as normal and pushes the Overton window to the far right

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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 28d

Why am I yawning? Because this plan sounds so safe and poll-tested. Because it is essentially playing defense (again). And mostly because Donald Trump is not merely a threat to the health care subsidies of a comparatively small minority of Americans—he’s a threat to our way of life.

trib.al/5gIlv5D

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · 28d

It’s a real firehose of lies out here.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 28d

Stephen Miller: “We are gonna channel all the anger we have over the organized campaign to led to this assassination to uproot & dismantle these terrorist networks … we are going to use every resource we have at the DOJ, Homeland Security & throughout this govt to dismantle & destroy these networks"

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 28d

The free speech activist who built a list of professors he worked to get fired for their speech must be celebrated for his support of free speech, and anyone who quotes his speech accurately in context will be fired and/or face state punishment by the champions of free speech, do I have that right?

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Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 @judiciarydems.senate.gov · 28d

Not good for Kash! 😬

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · Sep 13

Thanks, Josh!

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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · Sep 12

I appreciate that Liza ends the piece with a question, which she doesn't try to resolve. I feel like a lot of political writing could be improved by simply trying to clarify what the questions are, without necessarily taking a side.

Given that Mamdani’s struggles to govern the city successfully will also determine the near-term success or failure of New York City’s socialist movement, do we make it easier on him by following his lead, not antagonizing the governor too much?

Or is it a mistake for socialists to abandon the oppositional stance toward centrist Democrats that has been working so well? New York is a state where Republicans, like socialists, can sometimes whip up temporary majorities if they organize effectively and take advantage of establishment Democrats’ unpopularity. Last time Hochul ran for reelection, her Republican challenger did surprisingly well. Republicans are now criticizing Hochul for the energy hikes, claiming that they’re caused by too much climate-friendly policy. The Left cedes this talking point to them at narrative and planetary peril.

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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · Sep 12

A lot of wisdom in @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social 's latest piece on NY governor Kathy Hochul - someone who's hardly been a leader, but who has repeatedly been willing to tack left when that's what the prevailing winds seems to favor. jacobin.com/2025/09/hoch...

The governor has engaged in some acts of opposition that make many New Yorkers proud. Hochul stood up for New York City’s congestion pricing plan when Trump tried to cancel it. She signed legislation to protect abortion providers who may face prosecution in other states. The governor objected to Republicans’ xenophobic and antidemocratic threats to deport Zohran Mamdani, the socialist who won New York City’s Democratic primary in June.

And with loopy Robert F. Kennedy Jr laying waste to our nation’s infrastructure of infectious disease prevention, last Friday she issued an executive order ensuring that New York’s pharmacies can still administer the updated COVID-19 vaccine. Also on Friday, she spoke out strongly against Trump’s attempts to interfere with the New York City mayoral race, saying, “Contrary to what the president thinks, he is not a king. He is not a kingmaker. He should not be anointing the next mayor. . . . We are not fucking selling out our city.”

All good. But when it comes to climate, an issue of vital importance to the Democratic base and the future of humanity, she and Trump appear to be BFFs.

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · Sep 12

Many right wing Silicon Valley billionaires are sick freaks who welcome human extinction because they want AI to take over. Their influence explains why Trump 2.0 is such a terrible time to be alive: newrepublic.com/article/2003...

Under Trump, It’s Much Better to Be a Bot Than a Human

The current administration seems much more favorably predisposed to machines than it is toward living things.

newrepublic.com

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · Sep 12

What a time to be alive! Actually quite the opposite, thanks to Trump's policies, but it's a fabulous time to be a bot:
newrepublic.com/article/2003...

Under Trump, It’s Much Better to Be a Bot Than a Human

The current administration seems much more favorably predisposed to machines than it is toward living things.

newrepublic.com

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🎃🦇 momo (spookily good bad) 🦇🎃 @momojes.bsky.social · Sep 11

happy bolsonaro is going to jail day to all who celebrate

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Liza Featherstone @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social · Sep 11

...the Joe Biden playbook: build renewables while also building fossil fuel infrastructure at the same time, ensuring that we make no meaningful climate progress. Better than Trump’s atavistic death drive of an environmental policy, but that doesn’t make it any less daft.
jacobin.com/2025/09/hoch...

What Can We Do About Kathy Hochul?

Despite her anti-Trump posturing, New York governor Kathy Hochul is hardly a paragon of progressivism. But winning her over on at least some key issues is crucial for a socialist mayoralty’s success. ...

jacobin.com

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Jacobin @jacobinmag.bsky.social · Sep 11

Despite her anti-Trump posturing, New York governor Kathy Hochul is hardly a paragon of progressivism. But winning her over on at least some key issues is crucial for a socialist mayoralty’s success.

Does the Left have any leverage over Hochul?

What Can We Do About Kathy Hochul?

Despite her anti-Trump posturing, New York governor Kathy Hochul is hardly a paragon of progressivism. But winning her over on at least some key issues is crucial for a socialist mayoralty’s success. Does the Left have any leverage over Hochul?

jacobin.com

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Public Power NY @publicpowerny.bsky.social · Sep 11

On climate, @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social writes that Hochul and Trump "appear to be BFFs." New Yorkers deserve better.

Hochul, by contrast, approved the Iroquois pipeline earlier this year and seems to be kowtowing to Trump by expediting approval for the wildly unpopular Williams and Constitution pipelines. The Williams pipeline was rejected by the state's Department of Conservation three times under Andrew Cuomo (himself no wild-eyed opponent of Trump, as we have recently seen).

It's not the first time Hochul has flip-flopped on this issue. She has fought hard against the Build Public Renewables Act, a landmark piece of climate legislation designed to create and expand publicly owned renewable energy projects in New York. At first she tried to simply defeat it, then she tried to water it down and politically weaken it by cutting out the labor and
environmental justice provisions. When none of that worked, she appointed a Republican to head the relevant agency, Justin Driscoll, who has testified that the public ownership requirement should be stripped - from the Build Public Renewables Act.

While New Yorkers are struggling to afford necessary energy for their daily lives, and we as a polity are trying to create renewable, clean alternatives to fossil fuels, the last thing we should prioritize are these job-killing, water-wasting, and extremely energy-intensive instruments of human alienation.
Hochul's energy policy isn't just bad by normal climate metrics. Not only does she resist policy reforms that will lower emissions, she resists energy affordability itself. Her own agency has presided over punishing rate hikes, while refusing to be a true partner in the cause of public power, the only way to truly guarantee energy in the public interest.

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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · Sep 11

You’re just not allowed to do journalism if it displeases MAGA

Florida Reporter Suspended After Texting MAGA Congressman to Ask If He Still Supports Campus Carry After Kirk Shooting

A reporter with a popular Florida political website was suspended after angering a Republican congressman with a question he texted in the wake of Charlie Kirk being shot.

www.mediaite.com

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · Sep 10

A National Guard report accidentally emailed to the Post says veterans and active-duty troops view the D.C. deployment with "shame and alarm" @alexhorton.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

National Guard documents show public ‘fear,’ troops’ ‘shame’ over D.C. presence

Internal documents reviewed by The Post reveal, with rare candor, how domestic missions rooted in politics risk damaging Americans’ trust in the military.

www.washingtonpost.com

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