Musa Okwonga
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okwonga.bsky.social
Musa Okwonga
@okwonga.bsky.social
Author, essayist, public speaker. Co-founder and co-host of the Stadio football podcast. musaokwonga.com
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In 2008 I met a climate scientist from Mali who was advocating for this so long that he looked exhausted. Absolutely amazing man. He was working so hard on this. And then I see numbers like this and my heart just soars. Youba Sokona, you (and your peers) really did it.

www.ipcc.ch/people/youba...
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
🚨 Epstein Met Privately with Gates & Thiel to ‘Rebuild His Reputation’ Through Philanthropy.

Documents suggest they met at Epstein's home, alongside Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel and media mogul Mortimer Zuckerman.
@nafeez.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social
bylinetimes.com/2026/02/11/j...
Jeffrey Epstein Met Privately with Bill Gates and Peter Thiel to 'Rebuild His Reputation' Through Philanthropy
To 'rebuild' his reputation, Epstein proposed a global philanthropic framework for Gates at the convicted child sex offender's Manhattan home during a meeting attended by Palantir co-founder Peter Thi...
bylinetimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
As always, the problem is not "the left" being unwilling to envision a world where AI, able to live up to its hype or not, ends up driving millions out of work. Rather, it is the accumulation of capital in the hands of a few who will eke out a few extra drops of blood from stone.
I understand why people are exhausted by AI hype, and why those of us squarely in the corner of "human dignity uber alles" see AI doomerism as self-serving hype, but I *really* think people on the left broadly need to start thinking seriously about the possibiltiy of the hype being...true.
February 12, 2026 at 1:32 PM
February 12, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
"In place of real politics, it has office politics."

Really good piece by Aditya Chakrabortty

(Includes link to Democracy for Sale's piece about Alan Milburn's massive private earnings and a name check for my @lrb.co.uk scribbling on Labour and the lobbyists.)

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Behold the incredible shrinking Starmer: the PM who promises more while giving less | Aditya Chakrabortty
It is not just this doomed government but the Labour party itself that is disappearing before our very eyes, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
cohosted a podcast with the great Leila Shami.

We spoke to Razan Rashidi from The Syria Campaign about a lot but particularly about how acts of justice build trust in the state and how without it a culture of impunity takes over that can spiral off into retaliatory violence and acts of vengeance.
February 8, 2026 at 2:03 PM
RACISM DOCTOR: “yes that’s right we triple-checked him, right down beyond the bone marrow, very impressive in fact, he was actually racist at a molecular level”
“There’s not a racist bone in my body” - someone whose bones, upon close examination, are in fact all racist
February 12, 2026 at 12:57 PM
“There’s not a racist bone in my body” - someone whose bones, upon close examination, are in fact all racist
February 12, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Each time he comes out of the TV studio after a rant like this, someone should greet him by saying “oops what a little mess Jim made! did you enjoy yourself?”
The billionaire INEOS owner, Jim Ratcliffe, said in a statement: 'I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern'

Read more: www.thenational.scot/news/2...
February 12, 2026 at 12:46 PM
It’s very easy to go “hurr hurr woke nonsense” but it’s actually much harder to create something that’s more enjoyable than the woke nonsense, which is why fascists end up trying to silence everyone who points this out, or hating on everyone who enjoys Bad Bunny.
The challenge for fascism is not when it is fighting for control but when it gains control: because then it has to create a cultural product that people are consistently happy with. And, well, just look at the Turning Point USA Super Bowl show or that Match of The Day they had without commentators.
February 12, 2026 at 12:36 PM
The challenge for fascism is not when it is fighting for control but when it gains control: because then it has to create a cultural product that people are consistently happy with. And, well, just look at the Turning Point USA Super Bowl show or that Match of The Day they had without commentators.
February 12, 2026 at 12:33 PM
People like this must hate Greta Thunberg because she gets thousands of times the positive attention for a fraction of the outlay. Jim Ratcliffe makes more sense to me to me once I understand him not as a business giant but as a wannabe influencer.
Jim Ratcliffe: “I have all this money and power, how come the world is not all about me?”
February 12, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Firmly believe he said this, at least in part, because he was jealous of the attention that his resurgent football team was getting.
February 12, 2026 at 12:23 PM
If it was a gift to the far-right then the far-right would be boasting about being in the Epstein files. But they aren’t, are they? Because you can’t spin the sexual abuse of children the same way you can spin financial corruption or even genocide. It’s one of the last few “live rails” in politics.
“The Epstein scandal is a gift to the far-right” - no, this in itself is a far-right talking point; just look at Epstein’s actual politics and look at who his actual friends were. It can’t be a gift to the far-right if it *directly implicates the far-right themselves*.
February 12, 2026 at 12:17 PM
“The Epstein scandal is a gift to the far-right” - no, this in itself is a far-right talking point; just look at Epstein’s actual politics and look at who his actual friends were. It can’t be a gift to the far-right if it *directly implicates the far-right themselves*.
February 12, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
This is how you hold them accountable.
🚨🚨The revelation of the #epstein files is an invaluable source of taking down corrupt powerful public figures linked to the convicted paedophile. Latest head to roll seems to be former SG og @coe.int Thorbjørn Jagland whose immunity has been lifted. 🧵
www.politico.eu/article/coun...
Europe’s top human rights body lifts former Norwegian PM’s immunity after Epstein links
The probe into Thorbjørn Jagland is roiling Oslo, which has faced numerous embarrassing disclosures in the new files.
www.politico.eu
February 12, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
What comes across - momentum from tech activity that offsets subdued momentum everywhere else - AI investment in US offsets rather weak trade

China / Asia - similar method, exports are down, compensated by pickup in tech

Key Q: what if these assets get re-evaluated and the reality gets exposed?
February 11, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
It rather blunts the Prime Minister's later attack on Ratcliffe's claims that his government has so frequently demonised immigrants and failed to confront opponents' racism that it's left his cabinet ministers trying to second guess what an acceptable line on grotesque racism is.
February 11, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
We've prepared a zine version of our text "Rapid Response Networks in the Twin Cities," describing the dynamic and resilient system that people in the Twin Cities have developed to keep the pressure on ICE.

Please print and distribute!

crimethinc.com/zines/rapid-...
February 11, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground
February 11, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
Man who moved abroad to avoid hundreds of millions of pounds of tax and whose business have benefited from hundreds of millions of pounds of public funds believes that, 'Britain has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state.'
February 11, 2026 at 5:17 PM
"Colonised". Yes, he said that. He really did.
February 11, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
Billboard now has a list they're updating with all the statements from departing Wasserman clients, which now include Dropkick Murphys, Orville Peck, Sylvan Esso, Gigi Perez. I'll update the thread with major announcements from the agency or anything regarding LA28 specifically
Wasserman Fallout: Every Artist Who Has Spoken Out Over Founder’s Epstein Ties (UPDATING)
Casey Wasserman's association with Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has led some of the agency's artists to react to the revelations.
www.billboard.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social sums up why Starmer is responsible for voters hating him after such a short time:
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Musa Okwonga
There's silencing your critics … and then there's being found guilty of stealing your France teammate's credit card (and that of a team staff member) and handed a three-month suspended prison sentence, before bringing the shush after claiming a second Olympic biathlon gold at these Winter Olympics
February 11, 2026 at 3:53 PM