Riley MacLeod
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rcmacleod.bsky.social
Riley MacLeod
@rcmacleod.bsky.social
7.2K followers 670 following 4.2K posts
Co-founder of Aftermath, a worker-owned site about video games, the internet, and everything that comes after. riley [at] aftermath [dot] site. Previously: Kotaku, Washington Post. Trans; he/him
https://aftermath.site/
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rcmacleod.bsky.social
OH OKAY
gerritd.bsky.social Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 4h
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 25, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
gerritd.bsky.social
OpenAI today said that though Raine’s death is tragic, they’re not liable because he said he had suicidal ideation for years before using ChatGPT, and he also sought info on suicide from other online resources
November 25, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
51st.news
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today that she won’t be seeking a fourth term in office next year.

This creates a huge opening for the 2026 D.C. mayoral race.

But first, what legacy will Mayor Bowser leave? @maustermuhle.bsky.social reflects here:
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser won't run for a fourth term
Her decision creates a huge opening for the mayoral contest in 2026.
51st.news
November 25, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
aftermath.site
We now have a full text RSS feed for members, if you're into that kinda thing:

aftermath.site/aftermath-rss-...
November 24, 2025 at 11:48 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
For Aftermath, @alyssamerc.bsky.social spoke with the Sucker Punch dev fired over Charlie Kirk comments and others, who highlighted the unique way the backlash played out in games
“If we as an industry got better about realizing when harassment is happening and standing up as a block, maybe this wouldn’t stop harassment, but there would be much more hesitation to do it,” the anonymous Sucker Punch employee said. “I know within our studio there’s this mentality of ‘don’t feed the trolls, there’s going to be harassment, there’s going to be people on the fringes trying to nibble at you…just ignore them,” they continued. “But that comes from an era of the internet where everyone was on forums in these siloed communities that were moderated, and you would have a lone actor enter a community and try to agitate people, and everyone would starve them of attention, or the moderators would put them in their little bubble. But that’s not how the internet works anymore, it’s people with global reach, an agitator that has millions of followers, and they use coded language and dog whistles and speak in a way that lets them shirk accountability and responsibility.”
November 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
newsguild.org
🚨‼️: This morning, Pittsburgh strikers are back at work!

@pghguild.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
My friends hate the way I refuse to follow directions and just get to places based on my personal definition of "vibes," so I was delighted to play a game at @nyugamecenter.bsky.social's No Quarter this weekend that was basically just "bike vibes"
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 1d
Finally, a biking game that embraces vibes
aftermath.site/no-quarter-bik...
People playing the game Bike Race, using a Citi Bike as a controller
November 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
chrisbratt.bsky.social
EXCLUSIVE: So far it's been unclear what proof Rockstar Games has to justify its firing of 34 union members, who it claims were leaking "confidential information in a public forum".

PMG has now seen some of the messages which contributed to this decision being made.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TvW...
The Messages Rockstar Saw Before Firing 34 Union Members
YouTube video by People Make Games
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
If I ran a magazine that was dealing with this whole situation, I think I would... not do this?
www.status.news/p/olivia-nuz...
Those second-guessing the magazine’s editorial judgment, meanwhile, may have more fodder when they get their hands on a copy of the print edition of the Hollywood issue, which includes an abstract nude portrait of Nuzzi by sketch artist Isabelle Brourman, Status has learned from multiple people familiar. Brourman previously worked with Nuzzi multiple times at New York Magazine, including when Nuzzi visited Mar-a-Lago after the assassination attempt on Trump last year.
November 24, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
kashhill.bsky.social
For the last few months, we've been talking to current and former employees of OpenAI to understand what went wrong with ChatGPT this year and how the company is fixing it. Here's the story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
lukeplunkett.com
two years into a business called "aftermath" and we finally got our second dre request
November 23, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
megannicolett.bsky.social
I spoke with people role-playing ICE raids in video games to help educate people on their rights and what to do in real-life situations. Tonight, they're holding an event in Fortnite www.wired.com/story/activi...
New Save Collective plans to continue holding future events and organizing gamers. The fight for these communities online is far from over. “Gaming wasn't kind of a random genre that we chose,” says Siggelkow. “We've been tracking anti-immigrant myths and disinformation digitally for years. We really grounded this campaign in a lot of data and research. This really is a space that is critical for immigration narrative.”
November 21, 2025 at 10:16 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
How do I read the blog, someone help me, I'm not better than this
November 22, 2025 at 1:19 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
This story is wild
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Missing Kayaker
What happened to Ryan Borgwardt?
www.theatlantic.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:12 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
I love getting every other outlet's newsletter because none of it helps me solve my endless debate of "does the blurb go above the picture for the blog or below it"

(I am team "below")
November 21, 2025 at 9:13 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
🤔 www.niemanlab.org/2024/06/insi...
Business Insider’s owner signed a huge OpenAI deal. ChatGPT still won’t credit the site’s biggest scoops “We are…deeply worried that despite this partnership, OpenAI may be downplaying rather than elevating our works,” Business Insider’s union wrote in a letter to management. By Andrew Deck June 13, 2024, 3:56 p.m.
November 21, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
paleofuture.bsky.social
love to read the official website for the white house
ABC “News” Is Fake News
ABC “News” is not journalism — it’s a Democrat spin operation masquerading as a broadcast network. The network’s longstanding commitment to hoaxes,
www.whitehouse.gov
November 21, 2025 at 5:17 PM
rcmacleod.bsky.social
In middle school we had to go around in English class reciting all the prepositions and I remember having no idea why, but I am trying to learn the prepositional pronouns in Irish by mumbling them to myself non-stop, and oh no I get it now
November 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
hannahrkeyser.bsky.social
For CNN I'm looking to talk to young men (feel free to interpret "young" broadly) who are actively sports betting sober—as in, you made a conscious decision to abstain for your wellbeing or you quit gambling—but are still sports fans. If that's you: Hannah[dot]keyser[at]cnn[dot]com
November 21, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
timmarchman.bsky.social
WIRED is hiring for a senior politics reporter who will write our weekly newsletter; detailed job description below. This role will be based in New York or DC and report to me; the salary range is $95,000 - $132,000. condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...
WIRED seeks an experienced journalist to cover national politics, particularly the Trump administration’s efforts to remake the federal government and how other power centers—Congress, tech oligarchs, and more—are responding. In this role, you’ll be responsible for breaking news consistently. We’re less interested in horse race drama than we are in the people making consequential decisions, whether in the White House, among local and national Democrats, or Silicon Valley, and the logic guiding their actions. To succeed in this role, you should be deeply sourced at both the top and working levels of government and politics and intimately familiar with the operational mechanics of the federal government; you will ideally also have good sourcing in and understanding of the tech industry. You should have a proven ability to deliver scoops, exclusives, and stories that can’t be found anywhere else. We’re interested in hard news and the ability to put new information into a broader context. A large part of this role is writing a politics-focused newsletter every week; the ideal candidate will understand how to leverage their reporting to attract and retain subscribers, engage audiences, and drive reader loyalty in a competitive news landscape. In addition to breaking news and regular newsletter sends, there are opportunities to work on long-form feature stories and collaborate with reporters across our coverage areas as part of this role as well. You should also be prepared to engage in a wide range of storytelling formats, such as social, podcasts, video series, and live events. This senior writer will report to WIRED’s Director, Politics, Science, and Security, and will be part of a growing and increasingly global newsroom of smart, kind, collaborative, and well-informed colleagues who are always brimming with ideas and eager to help each other out. This role is in-office (4 days/week) and will be based in our New York or Washington, DC offices.
November 21, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
stephentotilo.bsky.social
NEW: Ubisoft has not been sold, nor has it collapsed.

The week-long delay in its corporate earnings, the subject of much speculation, was due to--are you sitting down?-- financial reporting technicalities regarding two unspecified partnerships.

www.gamefile.news/p/ubisoft-de...
Speculation around Ubisoft earnings delay proves unfounded
It was an accounting issue involving new auditors and the reporting of revenue from two unspecified partnerships, the company said.
www.gamefile.news
November 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
jaweedkaleem.bsky.social
BREAKING: The Trump administration is suing California, saying its public universities -- including UC and CSU -- illegally offer in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants: www.latimes.com/california/s...
In-state college tuition for California’s undocumented students is illegal, Trump suit alleges
California universities offer in-state tuition to undocumented students who graduate from state high schools. Now, the Trump administration is suing CSU, UC and the state, calling the practice illegal...
www.latimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
joshuaeaton.bsky.social
Now that’s a lede.

Story by @taracopp.bsky.social and @michelleboorstein.bsky.social.

Read here: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika, an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and that more than 400,000 U.S. troops died fighting against in World War II, as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month.
November 20, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
emilypont.bsky.social
A literal fire has erupted in the middle of the United Nations conference devoted to stopping the planet from burning.

heatmap.news/sparks/cop30...
COP30 Is on Fire
Flames have erupted in the “Blue Zone” at the United Nations Climate Conference in Brazil.
heatmap.news
November 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Riley MacLeod
lexroman.com
Worker-owned newsroom Aftermath just moved to Ghost last week. Why?

Upgrading their revenue tools with Outpost was a big motivator.

Read more in my latest for Project C

newsletter.projectc.biz/p/aftermath-... @aftermath.site
November 20, 2025 at 1:58 PM