Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Alex Shephard

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1h

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

110 1.4K 3.9K

Reposted by Alex Shephard

Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 19h

Weiss very intentionally does not describe herself as a conservative or Republican and wraps her politics in terms like "free press." That makes more useful at advancing Trumpism than explicitly right-wing figures. newrepublic.com/article/2014...

MAGA Lite: What “Bari Weiss Conservatism” Is, and Why It’s Dangerous

The new CBS executive isn’t exactly MAGA. But her polite Trumpism will still help destroy America as we know it.

newrepublic.com

8 74 340

Reposted by Alex Shephard

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 15h

these people worship the devil

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 16h

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

11 34 250

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 15h

ironically this sounds like the kinds of things a fake new yorker would say

7 3 41

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 1d

extremely strong Pete Hegseth energy here

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 1d

Bari Weiss introduced herself to CBS News staff today on the network's 9AM call, saying she wants to "win," which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: "Let's do the fucking news."

3 2 24

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 2d

Bills and Liverpool lose… gonna be listening to a lot of audiobooks this week

1

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 4d

it’s so great in part because it’s just on the precipice of “prestige” stuff (and as a result has lots of goofy shots, lousy blocking etc)… it’s real tv

1

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 4d

congress should have drawn and quartered John Adams when he came back from Europe

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 4d

i am one of “these people”

2 5

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 4d

the Nobel going to a guy who wrote a book called "Eurotrash" would be very funny

1

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 5d

surprisingly vicious Wikipedia paragraph about the downfall of textile merchants in the late Renaissance

1 10

Reposted by Alex Shephard

Timothy Noah @timothynoah.bsky.social · 5d

Nobody else is writing about this, so please re-post my two-part series about the imminent sale of what one expert calls “the Sistine Chapel of New Deal art.” Preservationists need to move fast.

Part one:

newrepublic.com/article/2010...

Part two:

newrepublic.com/article/2010...

The New Deal Masterpieces Threatened by Trump’s D.C. Downsizing

Your great-grandparents paid Ben Shahn and Philip Guston to create gorgeous public murals. Next year they could be rubble.

newrepublic.com

4 40 69

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 5d

There just aren't very many large, well-resourced newsrooms left in this country. Bari Weiss controlling one of them is a catastrophe

14 98

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 5d

this almost makes me want to cancel my trip to the renaissance faire

1

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 5d

that's... not very much money?

3 3 24

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 5d

I talked to the CBC about the shutdown, which I think is going to last a long time, and Pete Hegseth's TED Talk open.spotify.com/episode/1vUq...

U.S. politics! Government shutdown, military pep talk

open.spotify.com

4

Reposted by Alex Shephard

Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 5d

This is great shoe-leather reporting by Jared Olson.

But it isn't easy.

How do you find out if U.S. Army factory-made ammunition is fueling drug violence in Mexico? You go and examine the shell casings after a cartel gunfight.

Don't sleep on this one!

The Intercept @theintercept.com · 5d

If the U.S. military does confront drug cartels in Mexico, it will find itself facing battle with its own weapons.

Trump Calls Cartel Members “Terrorists.” They’re Armed With Bullets From a U.S. Army Factory.

The president blames Mexico for the flow of drugs into the U.S. — while enabling the flow of guns into Mexico by slashing federal regulators.

interc.pt

1 25 71

Reposted by Alex Shephard

sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 6d

Let's be clear: Trump's attacks on "antifa" are an attack on America. www.theverge.com/policy/79051...

Everything is terrorism in Trump’s America

But don’t call that fascism. That would be bad.

www.theverge.com

16 270 1K

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 6d

the worst Madame Tussaud's exhibit ever

6 5 93

Reposted by Alex Shephard

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 6d

In the new NYT poll, 58% of independents disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy. He's in a really weakened state. Dems, hold the line.

In this discussion, @alexshephard.bsky.social and I make the case for standing firm:

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 6d

Trump just admitted his tariffs screwed farmers. He vows to pay them off w/tariff revenues, a sign of political weakness. New ADP report shows more job losses.

On the pod @alexshephard.bsky.social on why Ds should see his weakness as reason to stand firm on shutdown:
newrepublic.com/article/2012...

Trump Accidentally Admits He Screwed MAGA Voters as Economy Dips Again

As Trump reveals that his policies are killing MAGA country even as job losses mount, a writer who’s tracking the government shutdown explains why all this bad news should embolden Dems to hang tough.

newrepublic.com

5 85 280

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 6d

the funniest part of the latest entry in the "Barron Trump, super stud" storyline is that it reveals he has transferred to NYU's DC campus so he can... continue to live at home with his mother slate.com/life/2025/10...

Barron Trump Is 6’7”. He Is 19. He Is an NYU Kid. He Certainly Is Not This.

The 19-year-old scion's love life has made another alarming incursion into the press.

slate.com

3 2 16

Reposted by Alex Shephard

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 6d

Trump just admitted his tariffs screwed farmers. He vows to pay them off w/tariff revenues, a sign of political weakness. New ADP report shows more job losses.

On the pod @alexshephard.bsky.social on why Ds should see his weakness as reason to stand firm on shutdown:
newrepublic.com/article/2012...

Trump Accidentally Admits He Screwed MAGA Voters as Economy Dips Again

As Trump reveals that his policies are killing MAGA country even as job losses mount, a writer who’s tracking the government shutdown explains why all this bad news should embolden Dems to hang tough.

newrepublic.com

24 110 280

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 6d

i love visiting the president's social media platform

10 2 29

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 7d

tbh I think the off ramp is pretty easy now—they'll fold if they get ACA premium subsidies restored and if Trump could give it to them if he spent two hours on the phone. He just doesn't want to

1

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 7d

"This shutdown marks the first time that the Democratic Party has thrown itself against the Trump administration in any meaningful way."

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 7d

I wrote about the shutdown newrepublic.com/article/2011...

The Democrats Finally Grew a Spine

By daring Trump and the Republicans to shut down the government, the party is taking a stand six months after it should have.

newrepublic.com

4 9