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nathangrayson.bsky.social
Nathan Grayson
@nathangrayson.bsky.social
22K followers 730 following 2.5K posts
Co-founder and reporter @aftermath.site. Beats: labor, livestreaming. My book about Twitch, Stream Big, is available now. Formerly: The Washington Post. Send tips to [email protected] or nathangrayson.666 on Signal
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nathangrayson.bsky.social
Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · Oct 17
I’m nathan

website: @aftermath.site (please subscribe)

book about twitch: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stream... (please preorder)

cat: biscuit (please appreciate)
gray cat (beautiful) sticking tongue out
nathangrayson.bsky.social
they don’t and they never have. “family” is a key pillar of the ideology, but only in the sense of control. children and significant others are something to be owned and, crucially, abused by patriarchal men — an extension of their property and little more
kattenbarge.bsky.social Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 21h
Seeing how children everywhere are being affected by ICE is heartbreaking. You have kids being kidnapped and living in fear of that but also their friends living in fear of who won’t be at school the next day and why. People who support ICE don’t care about traumatizing kids en masse at all
January 23, 2026 at 11:38 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
cannot even begin to count how many people are at the solidarity protest in manhattan. thousands, easily
protesters gathered in union square protesters taking up city blocks as far as the eye can see
January 23, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
moreperfectunion.bsky.social
Workers in two hundred and fifteen cities are walking off the job today in solidarity with the general strike in Minneapolis, according to @migrantinsider.bsky.social.
January 23, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
christopherterry.bsky.social
They are never, ever going to win in Minnesota.
January 23, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Nintendo’s games feel special in a way other developers can’t quite imitate. But why? According to @mackeza.bsky.social, author of Super Nintendo, an upcoming book about the Mario and Zelda maker, it’s because teams are intergenerational
January 23, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
slooowfox.bsky.social
I need everyone to understand that this could not happen anywhere else exclusively because the people of minnesota started showing up for george floyd and then never stopped

this isn't a "sudden event", this is the culmination of nearly seven fucking years of steady leadership and participation
thosjleeper.bsky.social Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 1d
National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation.

Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
January 23, 2026 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
melbuer.bsky.social
If there's a solidarity rally in your city, that's a good place to start. There's also a fund for union workers impacted by ICE, and another Linktree for mutual aid more generally (linked below)
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d
how (if at all) can we support the minnesota general strike on friday from afar?
January 23, 2026 at 4:47 AM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
ellaguro.bsky.social
some people are not going to like to hear this but if we do want esp more younger people to get off platforms controlled by right wing billionaires and onto alternative ones then we do need to figure out how to make a space that isn't the exclusively no fun all politics scold zone like bluesky
January 23, 2026 at 4:44 AM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
melbuer.bsky.social
Turns out it requires a fuckload of union-backed, coalition-built, boots-on-the-ground organizing to accomplish rather than a half-assed slogan on the internet (like many folks have mentioned for *years* whenever this exact thing came up)
davelevitan.bsky.social Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 1d
The prevailing consensus over the last year was that anyone calling for a general strike was ridiculous and ignorant and it would never work here, and maybe that’s true nationally, I dunno, but I bet those people wouldn’t have seen tomorrow in MN coming either
thosjleeper.bsky.social Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 1d
National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation.

Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
January 23, 2026 at 1:18 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
who's that in the background wearing a jacket that doesn't quite match his boots
January 23, 2026 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
cwarzel.bsky.social
not surprising and yet still jarring to read ex-FBI agents describing how Kash Patel and Bongino reacted to Charlie Kirk's murder while running the agency. truly the content creator administration/podcast govt www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
January 22, 2026 at 10:49 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
we're live!
us, live
January 22, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
We're LIVE
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 2d
On today’s stream, @mackeza.bsky.social joins us to discuss her upcoming book about Nintendo, which includes private interviews with the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto and a trip to the secretive Nintendo HQ. We go live at 4 PM ET to ask her about all that and more

twitch.tv/aftermathdot...
The cover of Keza’s book, “Super Nintendo”
January 22, 2026 at 9:08 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
the congressional labor caucus has called for the FTC to review the saudi-led $55 billion purchase of EA, saying it stands to harm workers while discouraging competition by putting EA under the same umbrella as major sports leagues. the letter has been signed by 46 members of congress
The Honorable Andrew N. Ferguson Chair of the Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Dear Chairman Ferguson, We are writing to express serious concerns regarding the proposed acquisition of Electronic Arts (EA) by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, and private equity firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. We are committed to preserving fair, competitive labor markets and safeguarding American jobs, and given the impact of this acquisition on workers, labor market concentration, and the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. video game industry, we urge you to thoroughly review this transaction. Workers in the video game industry are already navigating an environment marked by instability, shrinking opportunities, and repeated rounds of layoffs. EA is one of the largest employers of video game workers in the United States, and evidence suggests the company already wields significant wage-setting power. For example, EA’s own disclosures show a steep decline in median worker pay year-over-year.1 This indicates that the company may already face limited competitive pressure to retain or reward talent. Compounding that issue, EA has eliminated more than 1,700 U.S. jobs since 2023, contributing to an industry-wide total of over 35,000 layoffs since 2022.2 These trends are deeply concerning as they signal a labor market where workers already have fewer alternatives and employers can impose deteriorating conditions without consequence. Additionally, we are concerned that the proposed buyout is expected to be financed with at least $20 billion in debt, which creates strong incentives for the acquiring firms to pursue further cost-cutting measures, including layoffs, offshoring, restructuring, or studio closures. These actions would not only jeopardize thousands of high-skilled American jobs, but also further concentrate already fragile labor markets for software engineers, artists, writers, testers, and other professionals This level of cross-ownership presents risks of self-preferencing and anticompetitive coordination across these sports, sports-related talent, and sports-related video game business lines. This could, consequently, restrict worker mobility and reduce bargaining power for employees throughout the industry. Finally, the FTC’s 2023 Merger Guidelines make clear that mergers harming workers, suppressing wages, or enabling dominant firms to reduce labor demand may violate antitrust laws. Given the scale of this acquisition and EA’s current dominance over the domestic video-game labor market, we believe careful scrutiny of this deal is essential. The transaction also raises serious concerns about interlocking directorates and common ownership across competing game publishers. This kind of overlap heightens the risk of coordinated anti-labor practices, including wage suppression, hiring restrictions, or informal no-poach dynamics and could further weaken the already limited bargaining power workers have in this industry. These risks should weigh heavily as the Commission evaluates whether the acquisition would leave workers more vulnerable to coordinated or unilateral harms. We respectfully urge the Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the labor market consequences of this proposed acquisition, including EA’s existing wage-setting power, the likelihood of post-transaction layoffs, the degree of labor-market concentration in relevant geographic and occupational markets, and the role of cross-ownership in shaping labor outcomes. Workers deserve a fair, competitive marketplace where their skills are valued. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. Sincerely,
January 22, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
On today’s stream, @mackeza.bsky.social joins us to discuss her upcoming book about Nintendo, which includes private interviews with the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto and a trip to the secretive Nintendo HQ. We go live at 4 PM ET to ask her about all that and more

twitch.tv/aftermathdot...
The cover of Keza’s book, “Super Nintendo”
January 22, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
otsumamiboy.bsky.social
Living to witness the global disinvestment from human creativity by the capitalist class has been an absolutely depressing sight to behold.

Especially as someone who places art (yes, general 'art') among humanity's most divine aptitudes.
January 22, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
dreamcastaway.bsky.social
A fresh one from me! I wrote about fandom, what characters "deserve," lesbians and our desire to Return To The Past.

What does it mean to wind back the clock and why does that seem to be *the* thing many folks want from art now?

aftermath.site/life-is-stra...
A Game Doesn't Need To Be ‘By And For Fans’
Life Is Strange: Reunion could be a story that grapples with old choices and mistakes, or it could be one that tells fans and characters they "deserve" stories that make everything OK
aftermath.site
January 22, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
drubie.bsky.social
Cannot agree more with this. It's easy to lose what made a game, or any piece of art or media, special and resonant when you start leaning on what fans WANT.

99% of the time, fans don't know what they want, except for the thing they already have. That stifles creativity.
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 2d
A game doesn't need to be 'by and for fans'
aftermath.site/life-is-strang...
Life Is Strange: Reunion
January 22, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
danielwaweru.bsky.social
I’ve never understood why this isn’t a thing. A financial and ethical audit at the end of the term, with penalties enforced right away—something like clearing in high school—makes far more sense than the present combination of scrutiny before office, immunity while in it, and impunity after.
beijingpalmer.bsky.social BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 2d
Politicians having to undergo a thorough audit every few years is also an appealing idea if we’re thinking in Athenian terms.
January 22, 2026 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
sammyroth.bsky.social
This is one of those times when a journalist writes "casting doubt on" instead of just saying outright that a politician is failing to do the thing they promised to do. Happens all the time for no particularly good reason.
January 20, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
xoxogossipgita.bsky.social
BULLY HIM MORE
ddayen.bsky.social David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 2d
NEWS: While Hakeem Jeffries has announced he's opposing the DHS/ICE funding bill tomorrow, his team is not whipping the vote. Several frontliners are expected to vote yes. There's a difference in leadership between personal vote decisions & unifying the caucus.
From me:
prospect.org/2026/01/21/j...
Jeffries Won’t Whip Vote Against ICE Funding - The American Prospect
While the House Democratic leader announced personal opposition to a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, he won’t pressure his colleagues to do the same.
prospect.org
January 21, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
coachfinstock.bsky.social
This is insane. Insane that it's happening. Insane that these good folks need to do it in the first place. And insane that no one in power is helping them one iota.
motherjones.com Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d
Neighborhood watch is taking on a new form in Minneapolis and other cities under occupation by federal immigration agents: ICE Watch.

These folks, who're tailing federal agents as they make arrests, are passionate, determined, and just about everywhere—and ICE is getting frustrated.
Meet the Minneapolis neighbors standing up to ICE by the thousands
Local resistance is "growing exponentially," says Defend the 612's Andrew Fahlstrom.
www.motherjones.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
katmabu.bsky.social
This past weekend, I went back to Broadview for the first time since being federally indicted.

I will put my body on the line no matter how many times it takes.
January 21, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
minnmax.com
Minneapolis is MinnMax's home and it's being torn apart by ICE agents with no regard for our rights. ICE is harassing/abducting people of color on a daily basis.

Please donate to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota to help provide free legal representation to those in need. bit.ly/minnmaxgives
January 21, 2026 at 8:52 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
I have a really good feeling about this
It’s not clear yet how many people will be laid off – in addition to those who already lost their jobs earlier this month – but the damage will likely be significant. As Game File’s Stephen Totilo pointed out, a previous €300 million cost reduction plan has resulted in a total headcount decline of over 3,000 at Ubisoft. Now the company is planning for €200 million more in cuts by March 2028. Employees who manage to dodge the scythe might still end up leaving of (what could charitably be called) their own accord, as Ubisoft is also largely putting an end to remote work. “To support the effective implementation and operation of this new model, the Group also intends to return to five days per week on site for all teams, complemented by an annual allowance of working-from-home days,” Ubisoft wrote. “This evolution is intended to strengthen collaboration, including constant knowledge sharing, and the collective dynamic across teams.” Game workers at other companies have referred to this approach as a form of “soft layoff” that disproportionately targets disabled and immunocompromised people, but maybe things will be different at Ubisoft, a company that has repeatedly stepped on rakes while trying to follow the rest of the industry.
January 21, 2026 at 11:00 PM