Steve Mullis
@stevemullis.net
Roving news editor based in Seattle; D&D DM // Former: NPR's Morning Edition & Up First, NPR digital, Minnesota Public Radio, Orlando Sentinel. Other: Big fan of dogs, TTRPGs and nerdy stuff.
Currently reading: Peripheral; How to Stand Up to a Dictator
Currently reading: Peripheral; How to Stand Up to a Dictator
Pinned
Steve Mullis
@stevemullis.net
· May 23
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Save and 📌 this feed if you enjoy it. Please support independent media. Pay for it if you can. Most importantly, share their reporting.
Feed is chronological. (click for more info)
Reposted by Steve Mullis
For Long Lead's latest feature, DOUBLE MEANING, photojournalist Sarah Rogers and filmmaker Kate Bennis attend the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, OH to find out what we can learn from a community of twins. twins.longlead.com
What do twins know that the rest of us don’t?
Amid an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation, a gathering of twins celebrates the power of connection, companionship, and community.
twins.longlead.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
For Long Lead's latest feature, DOUBLE MEANING, photojournalist Sarah Rogers and filmmaker Kate Bennis attend the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, OH to find out what we can learn from a community of twins. twins.longlead.com
The presentation and art direction on this piece are fantastic, as is the excellent reporting.
In 2023, then-U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a devastating advisory about the persistent loneliness epidemic, declaring social isolation and lack of connection to be a public health crisis. twins.longlead.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The presentation and art direction on this piece are fantastic, as is the excellent reporting.
Reposted by Steve Mullis
NEW: A @propublica.org & @frontlinepbs.bsky.social analysis found dozens of cases in recent months which officers deployed "less lethal" weapons in ways that flout the government’s own rules — like aiming at someone’s head, spine or groin and deploying chemical agents near children.
Trump’s Immigration Forces Deploy “Less Lethal” Weapons in Dangerous Ways, Skirting Rules and Maiming Protesters
Civil rights and weapons experts cite the consequences of federal agents’ use of crowd control weapons: religious leaders shot with pepper balls and noxious chemicals. A nurse nearly blinded by tear g...
www.propublica.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:45 PM
NEW: A @propublica.org & @frontlinepbs.bsky.social analysis found dozens of cases in recent months which officers deployed "less lethal" weapons in ways that flout the government’s own rules — like aiming at someone’s head, spine or groin and deploying chemical agents near children.
The Washington Post editorial board is now just stealing from old Andy Rooney bits
November 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The Washington Post editorial board is now just stealing from old Andy Rooney bits
Two reporters I am working with today are leaving public media for other opportunities. It's understandable, but no less depressing. #SavePublicMedia
November 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Two reporters I am working with today are leaving public media for other opportunities. It's understandable, but no less depressing. #SavePublicMedia
This feels like something that'd be written in Ye Olde English and circulated in a pamphlet advertising "Dr. Snyder's Miracle Tonic"
Cabbage is affordable, delicious, and astoundingly versatile, @giladedelman.bsky.social writes. The underrated crucifer “is fit for a king”:
The Most Underrated Thanksgiving Vegetable
Embrace cabbage.
bit.ly
November 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
This feels like something that'd be written in Ye Olde English and circulated in a pamphlet advertising "Dr. Snyder's Miracle Tonic"
Reposted by Steve Mullis
X's location "transparency" feature showing many MAGA accounts are based internationally reveals what we already knew: The world is using American social media and American politics as a slot machine and social media companies are directly incentivizing this:
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
America’s Polarization Has Become the World's Side Hustle
The 'psyops' revealed by X are entirely the fault of the perverse incentives created by social media monetization programs.
www.404media.co
November 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
X's location "transparency" feature showing many MAGA accounts are based internationally reveals what we already knew: The world is using American social media and American politics as a slot machine and social media companies are directly incentivizing this:
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
Reposted by Steve Mullis
wrote about the "hemp ban" that Congress snuck into the government-reopening bill, the impact it's already having on angry farmers and brewers and small-biz owners across the country, the misconceptions around the plant, and the lobbies that agitated for this crackdown: slate.com/business/202...
November 24, 2025 at 6:54 PM
wrote about the "hemp ban" that Congress snuck into the government-reopening bill, the impact it's already having on angry farmers and brewers and small-biz owners across the country, the misconceptions around the plant, and the lobbies that agitated for this crackdown: slate.com/business/202...
Reposted by Steve Mullis
We submitted a ridiculous fake ad to Facebook for a free sub-orbital trip to space. They approved it and took our money. They're making billions of dollars this way, and they know it.
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
We submitted a ridiculous fake ad to Facebook for a free sub-orbital trip to space. They approved it and took our money. They're making billions of dollars this way, and they know it.
In a draft memo to Congress, which sources shared with NPR but which has not yet been sent, Hegseth criticizes Scouting for being "genderless" and for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'
Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts.
www.npr.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:55 PM
In a draft memo to Congress, which sources shared with NPR but which has not yet been sent, Hegseth criticizes Scouting for being "genderless" and for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
Reposted by Steve Mullis
We found that 11 of Trump’s DOT appointees disclosed between $12 million and $52 million in stock holdings and other financial interests in airlines, railroads, oil and gas corporations, transportation technology firms and other related businesses.
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
How Trump’s Transportation Department Is Loosening Safety Rules Meant to Protect the Public
ProPublica has identified dozens of instances in which the Trump administration’s DOT has moved to cut, soften or delay safety regulations for cars, trucks, planes, trains and even oil pipelines. Expe...
www.propublica.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:00 AM
We found that 11 of Trump’s DOT appointees disclosed between $12 million and $52 million in stock holdings and other financial interests in airlines, railroads, oil and gas corporations, transportation technology firms and other related businesses.
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
Reposted by Steve Mullis
Cannot overstate how, from my perch as a national-security reporter, this would have been an earth-shattering scandal in a prior era.
Billionaire Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, pardoned by Donald Trump, has been accused of facilitating millions of dollars’ worth of payments to Hamas in the wake of its attack on Israel on October 7 2023. Zhao also financed the Trump family's entrance into the cryptocurrency market.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao accused of facilitating payments to Hamas
Crypto tycoon pardoned by Donald Trump faces US court complaint from families of victims of October 7 attack
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Cannot overstate how, from my perch as a national-security reporter, this would have been an earth-shattering scandal in a prior era.
Constantly making "who is the richest boy" a headline every time the stock market shuffles the deck of richest boys is one of the reasons these megalomaniacs focus so much energy on accumulating wealth. It's a game, and they want to get the highest score and win.
The Google parent’s stock has accelerated over the last week and is now valued more than Microsoft.
Larry Page Becomes No. 2 Richest—Bumping Larry Ellison—As Alphabet Shares Rally
The Google parent’s stock has accelerated over the last week and is now valued more than Microsoft.
www.forbes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Constantly making "who is the richest boy" a headline every time the stock market shuffles the deck of richest boys is one of the reasons these megalomaniacs focus so much energy on accumulating wealth. It's a game, and they want to get the highest score and win.
Reposted by Steve Mullis
The @sltrib.com has budgeted nearly zero subscription income in 2026 because of its plans to drop its paywall and adopt a membership model.
How The Salt Lake Tribune spent 2025 preparing for a 2026 without subscription revenue
Personally, my favorite form of journalistic impact is when the reporting becomes a central plot point on a Real Housewives franchise. In the Season 6 premiere of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake…
www.niemanlab.org
November 24, 2025 at 10:04 PM
The @sltrib.com has budgeted nearly zero subscription income in 2026 because of its plans to drop its paywall and adopt a membership model.
Reposted by Steve Mullis
Many nonprofit newsrooms worry that selling ads could jeopardize their tax-exempt status. But IRS records show that rarely happens. buff.ly/6tdMPny
Nonprofit news outlets are often scared that selling ads could jeopardize their tax-exempt status, but IRS records show that’s been rare
Nonprofit news outlets face pressure to find new sources of revenue from their funders.
theconversation.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Many nonprofit newsrooms worry that selling ads could jeopardize their tax-exempt status. But IRS records show that rarely happens. buff.ly/6tdMPny
Reposted by Steve Mullis
Utterly ludicrous framing from @nytimes.com here, treating Pete Hegseth's arguments as if they're legitimate. The casual reader will be left with no inkling whatsoever of how unusual and corrupt an abuse of the process this truly is:
November 24, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Utterly ludicrous framing from @nytimes.com here, treating Pete Hegseth's arguments as if they're legitimate. The casual reader will be left with no inkling whatsoever of how unusual and corrupt an abuse of the process this truly is:
Reposted by Steve Mullis
The story told here--one where anecdata suggests agency and autonomy have run amok and nameless activists are to blame--certainly rhymes with the NYT's disastrous panic about trans kids. Then you realize it's literally being written by the same author.
Autism rates have increased in recent decades, but the reasons are more complicated than what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has presented. Hear more on today's episode of "The Daily." nyti.ms/480eqtm
The Autism Diagnosis Problem
Autism rates have increased in recent decades, but the reasons are more complicated than what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has presented.
nyti.ms
November 24, 2025 at 9:36 PM
The story told here--one where anecdata suggests agency and autonomy have run amok and nameless activists are to blame--certainly rhymes with the NYT's disastrous panic about trans kids. Then you realize it's literally being written by the same author.
Reposted by Steve Mullis
NEW: Senators have called for an investigation after a ProPublica story revealed that Kristi Noem-connected firm the Strategy Group was secretly hired as a subcontractor on a $220 million DHS ad campaign.
Lawmakers Call for Probe of How Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Got Piece of $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts
The demands for an investigation come after a ProPublica story revealed that the Noem-connected Strategy Group was secretly a subcontractor on the ad campaign.
www.propublica.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:38 PM
NEW: Senators have called for an investigation after a ProPublica story revealed that Kristi Noem-connected firm the Strategy Group was secretly hired as a subcontractor on a $220 million DHS ad campaign.
For all of the folks fawning over those two paragraphs of the Carville NYT essay, I urge you to read the rest of the essay
November 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
For all of the folks fawning over those two paragraphs of the Carville NYT essay, I urge you to read the rest of the essay
Turning a decommissioned ferry into a massive houseboat would be awesome. Or maybe something more charitable, like a floating soup kitchen that visits each port.
The vessels are lingering on the market as Washington State Ferries scrutinizes potential buyers. Past purchases haven’t always ended well.
For sale: Two retired state ferries. Dreamers need not apply
If you have ever wanted to own an iconic Washington state ferry, now may be your last chance to buy one until the 2030s. There are two sizes available with no minimum bid — the decommissioned 144-car ...
www.kuow.org
November 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Turning a decommissioned ferry into a massive houseboat would be awesome. Or maybe something more charitable, like a floating soup kitchen that visits each port.
The person coming up to take a selfie is so wonderful
One of my favorite things is getting to tell friends who are new to NYC that the subway "stand clear of the closing doors please" voice is a trans woman named Bernie Wagenblast and she's amazing.
November 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
The person coming up to take a selfie is so wonderful
Can’t get away from this shit …
November 24, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Can’t get away from this shit …
Reposted by Steve Mullis
NEW: A Discord community with nearly 200 members serves as a support group for people whose minds and lives have been upended by episodes of AI delusion and psychosis.
In some cases, members say, the group has helped people climb out of their destructive AI "spirals."
futurism.com/artificial-i...
In some cases, members say, the group has helped people climb out of their destructive AI "spirals."
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Meet the Group Breaking People Out of AI Delusions
In this Discord server, people impacted by AI delusions and psychosis share their experiences — and even help users out of delusional spells.
futurism.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:23 PM
NEW: A Discord community with nearly 200 members serves as a support group for people whose minds and lives have been upended by episodes of AI delusion and psychosis.
In some cases, members say, the group has helped people climb out of their destructive AI "spirals."
futurism.com/artificial-i...
In some cases, members say, the group has helped people climb out of their destructive AI "spirals."
futurism.com/artificial-i...