Matt Steinglass
@mattsteinglass.bsky.social
33K followers 1.5K following 27K posts
Europe correspondent for The Economist. Please don’t kill me
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mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Thomas Pynchon, the greatest Californian novelist, wrote in his first novel “V.” of a mad society that built its city at the lip of a volcano which annihilated it every hundred years, but always rebuilt immediately in the same place
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Now thinking about calling up a woman I haven’t spoke with since 1998 and just saying “You were right, Bernhard’s ‘The Loser’ is amazing. So, what else is new?…”
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
3 weeks ago in a small bookshop in Budapest with only a few English-language titles I picked up this strange novel by an author I hadn’t heard of, and today he won the Nobel Prize. I’m 41 pages in and this episode would fit perfectly in the book.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
The entirely consistent position of TPUSA et al is that censorship by government or platforms, and doxxing, cancellation and harassment, are bad when wielded against them and their allies, and good when wielded against their enemies.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Wat een moeilijke interview, heb medelijden met @lamyae.bsky.social. Alsof je een muur probeert de bouwen uit spaghetti.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Op vraag waarom anderen twijfelen of VVD nog liberaal is, slaat Yesilgöz een treiterende toon aan: “het is voor andere partijen even wennen dat wij een meerderheid hadden” (voor rechts beleid, samen met PVV). Vinden kiezers die toon aantrekkelijk of juist irritant? podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/n...
Dilan Yesilgöz: 'Ik trap helemaal niet naar links'
Podcast Episode · NRC Haagse Zaken · 08/10/2025 · 1h 28m
podcasts.apple.com
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
There is an essay I have wanted to write for about 7 years about how the good westerns including Star Trek are about responsibility as a masculine value, and the JJ Abrams Trek movie completed the total perversion of the ethos by making Kirk purely an adolescent rebel
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Isn’t it Candace’s “Charlie sent me texts saying he was going to turn anti-Israel and after death came to me in a dream and said he was betrayed, not saying the ZOG Mossad killed him but draw your own conclusions” schtick?
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
If constitutional change is not a plausible way to fend off MAGA authoritarianism bc it ain’t happening this decade, is it true that retaking the Senate is an absolute must? Maybe. Strong argument I think.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
I have been stuck on this loop for a decade-plus: the Senate shouldn’t exist, the two-party system and fptp are a doom loop etc. But the US is not going to change its constitution; a civil war might happen first.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
1. The fact that the game may be rained out does not mean the manager shouldn’t think about strategy. 2. We should not normalize the expectation that elections may be cancelled.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Not sure he mentioned Tennessee, fill in your list of gettables—the question is whether Dems can win the Senate and whether that’s the whole ballgame.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
The important question for me is whether he’s right about the unavoidable necessity of winning the Senate.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
It’s a strong argument. America is not going to mount a color revolution. If MAGA loses it will be at the ballot box, as populist nationalists lost in Poland and the Philippines. But is there an authentic centrist-Democrat message that can hold the left and win over queasy Republicans? Not sure. 2/2
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Yglesias makes the case that preventing a full authoritarian takeover hinges entirely on Democrats retaking the Senate in 2026; the House isn’t enough. Hence the entire ballgame is how to win uneasy Trump voters in even vaguely gettable GOP states, ie Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Maine, Florida. 1/2
The authoritarian menace has arrived
And so has the backlash — but the resistance needs to be smarter
open.substack.com
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Mark Bray teaches the history of antifascism at Rutgers U. He is trying to leave the US with his family bc of death threats they are receiving since Charlie Kirk’s outfit called him an antifa terrorist. Situation sounds crazy. Bookmarking this until I hear they have successfully left the US.
mark-bray.bsky.social
“Someone” cancelled my family’s flight out of the country at the last second.

We got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation ‘disappeared.’
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Ben nog steeds een beetje in de war, maar geen probleem, zo gaat het vaker met mij
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
As a Gen Xer, I feel guilty for our generation’s part in putting ironic quote marks around everything such that much of the mainstream no longer seems able to denote actual operational authoritarianism.
govpritzker.illinois.gov
I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.
Reposted by Matt Steinglass
govpritzker.illinois.gov
I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.
Reposted by Matt Steinglass
efinkel.bsky.social
The Gaza war feels like it lasted forever, our entire lifetime, past, present, and future. That is, until you remember that Russia's invasion started a year and a half before Gaza and has no sign of ever ending.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Ik weet wat een confettikanon is, wat voor schade de vleesindustrie veroorzaakt en welke grap ik heb gemaakt, maar ik heb letterlijk geen idee wat u hiermee bedoelt.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Van de boerenlobby mag je niet meer zeggen dat de EU van ons eenheidsworst wil maken
anjahazekamp.bsky.social
Wtf. Het Europees Parlement heeft zojuist voor een verbod op de 'veggie burger' gestemd. De vleeslobby probeert hiermee de transitie naar meer plantaardig eten te stoppen. Ze houden krampachtig vast aan een onhoudbaar voedselsysteem.

Lees hier meer 👇🍔🌱
europa.partijvoordedieren.nl/nieuws/europ...
Europees Parlement stemt voor verbod op 'veggie burger' | Nieuws
De Partij voor de Dieren staat voor duurzaamheid, mededogen, persoonlijke vrijheid en persoonlijke verantwoordelijkheid. Doe mee en word lid!
europa.partijvoordedieren.nl
mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Westerns, eg “High Noon”. A little Space Western called “Star Trek”