Richard Warnica
@rwarnica.bsky.social
180 followers 360 following 36 posts
Senior Writer and occasional feature editor at the Toronto Star.
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Reposted by Richard Warnica
dougsaunders.bsky.social
This is one of those astonishing historical events I’m surprised I’ve never heard about and should be the subject of several Hollywood movies. Imagine being one of the guys who took the Middle Passage *back* and started again
nybooks.com
“The presence of Black seamen was especially important for stowaways. Sailors were known to stack the heavy bales of cotton in a way that created spaces where slaves could fit and to provide them with food and water during the voyage.” —Eric Foner
The Underground Railroad’s Stealth Sailors | Eric Foner
The web of Atlantic trading routes and solidarity among maritime workers, many of them Black, meant fugitive slaves’ chances of reaching freedom below deck were better than over land.
buff.ly
rwarnica.bsky.social
The Southern District of New York stipulates that not like us was a banger
uebey.bsky.social
NEW: Drake loses his defamation case against Kendrick Lamar over the “Not Like Us” lyrics.

More coming @courthousenews.bsky.social
rwarnica.bsky.social
In case you were wondering, talking to @tricialockwood.bsky.social is exactly as delightful as you'd imagine it would be.
Reposted by Richard Warnica
mcfonen.bsky.social
I finished the new book last night and I would argue that @tricialockwood.bsky.social is not merely the only writer but in fact the only person who actually makes sense anymore
rwarnica.bsky.social
I wrote about art, activism and Trumpian aesthetics for @thewalrus.ca. tinyurl.com/4num7yxk
Reposted by Richard Warnica
Reposted by Richard Warnica
thewalrus.ca
How do you picture Donald Trump?

In January, writer @rwarnica.bsky.social visited the Phillips Collection, America’s first museum of modern art, with Isabelle Brourman: the artist who may come closest to “excavating what there is of Trump’s soul.” thewalrus.ca/the-artist-who-t...
Reposted by Richard Warnica
mjsdc.bsky.social
"This Court has listened carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk’s captors for masking-up and has heard the same reasons advanced by ... ICE. It rejects this testimony as disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a single reason—to terrorize Americans into quiescence."
annabower.bsky.social
Young’s opinion, which rules that the Trump admin illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation, is absolutely scathing.

“In all our history we have never tolerated an armed masked secret police…ICE brings indelible obloquy to this administration and everyone who works in it.”
And there's the issue of masks. This Court has listened
carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk's captors for masking-
up and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd
Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as
disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a
single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence. Small
wonder ICE often seems to need our respected military to guard
them
as they go about implementing our immigration laws. It
should be noted that our troops do not ordinarily wear masks.
Can you imagine a masked marine? It is a matter of honor -- and
honor still matters.
To us, masks are associated with cowardly
desperados and the despised Ku Klux Klan. In all our history we
have never tolerated an armed masked secret police.
Carrying on
in this fashion, ICE brings indelible obloquy to this
administration and everyone who works in it
"We can not escape
history," Lincoln righty said. "[It] will light us down in
honor or dishonor, to the latest generation." Abraham Lincoln,
Second Annual Message to Congress (Dec. 1, 1862) .
Perhaps we're now afraid to stick our necks out. If the
distinguished Homeland Security intelligence agency can be
weaponized to squelch the free speech rights of a small, hapless
group of non-citizens in our midst, so too can the Federal Home
Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the audit divisions of the I.R.s.
and the Social Security Administration be unconstitutionally
[98]
Reposted by Richard Warnica
lizrenzetti.bsky.social
Great reporting from @alyshah.bsky.social and Mahdis Habibinia. The @thestar.com continues to do a superb job covering the city
Reposted by Richard Warnica
rwarnica.bsky.social
Please enjoy Ethan Hawke screaming “Longform!” while getting thrashed by Tulsa thugs.
rwarnica.bsky.social
What a way to make a living.
rwarnica.bsky.social
I made a joke earlier about surviving the worst 20 years in newspaper history but I think that might be literally correct. Newspaper revenues in the U.S. peaked in 2005. I graduated j-school in 2006. They went down that year and have basically been going down ever since.
rwarnica.bsky.social
Suck it, David Grann.
rebeccarhelm.bsky.social
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
rwarnica.bsky.social
Been gone from B.C. so long I actually enjoy the sound of rain now.
rwarnica.bsky.social
In 2016, *they* was Muslims. In 2024, it was trans people. The worse things get, the more enemies they'll need to blame. The more vulnerable people are going to suffer. www.instagram.com/reel/DEITEQE...
rwarnica.bsky.social
Trumpism never delivers for its followers, so the longer it goes on, the more it has to explicitly rely on the idea that the good things and the good times have been stolen. We had everything until *they* took it away.
rwarnica.bsky.social
Charlie Kirk's murder has accelerated something I started thinking about in New Hampshire last year, over lunch with @jeffsharlet.bsky.social .
www.thestar.com/news/world/u...
rwarnica.bsky.social
Donald Trump held a rally in Queen's last year with two accused gang murderers. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/m...
Reposted by Richard Warnica
polgreen.bsky.social
I wrote about what the desperate attempt to find a trans connection to the Charlie Kirk assassination tells us about the deep psychological impulses at work in Trumpism. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/o...
Opinion | The Fallout From Charlie Kirk’s Killing Reveals Two Truths of Trumpism
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Richard Warnica
brianstelter.bsky.social
ABC's decision reeks of Orbanism. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán consolidated control of the media in his country using autocratic carrots and sticks, and President Trump appears to be following the same playbook. I laid it out on CNN TV and in this column: www.cnn.com/2025/09/18/m...