Michael Scherer
@michaelscherer.bsky.social
5.3K followers 710 following 230 posts
Staff Writer at The Atlantic. Previously at the Washington Post, TIME, Salon, others. Signal: michaelscherer.11 https://www.theatlantic.com/author/michael-scherer/
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Reposted by Michael Scherer
timdickinson.bsky.social
My Very Dear Ones,

I write to you from near the front lines of war ravaged Portland.
Twee fruit
michaelscherer.bsky.social
Does anyone use open ai’s products?
ftedit.ft.com
Many of the deals are circular and have given an immediate share price boost to the start-up’s partners. For example, Nvidia plans to invest $100bn in OpenAI over the next decade, providing OpenAI with cash to buy Nvidia’s chips.
Reposted by Michael Scherer
yasharali.bsky.social
We don’t learn until the last second of this video that Joseph Gordon Levitt’s wife was a board member at OpenAI.

Kind of think they should have put that disclaimer towards the beginning.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Meta's A.I.
Chatbot Is Dangerous for Kids
Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for how A.I. could be used in Meta's universe. But the actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt is here to point out a flaw in the technologv: an apparent lack of guardrails
michaelscherer.bsky.social
Orwell more helpful on the term in a political context.
Reposted by Michael Scherer
davidgilbert.bsky.social
NEW

WIRED led the way in reporting on Elon Musk's efforts to dismantle the US government. My colleagues and I spoke to 100s of employees at dozens of agencies to understand what happened.

This is the definitive story of DOGE as told by those who experienced it

www.wired.com/story/oral-h...
The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers
WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as the Department of Government Efficiency tore through their offices.
www.wired.com
Reposted by Michael Scherer
nxthompson.bsky.social
Social media tried to keep us infinitely engaged through their algorithms. Chatbots are now trying through asking infinite questions and nudging us to stay engaged. It's now called "chatbait," it's taking over the Internet, and there's a lot that can go wrong.
Chatbait Is Taking Over the Internet
How chatbots keep you talking
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Michael Scherer
jsweetli.bsky.social
Feds ask to dismiss another DC case — this is the woman accused of spitting at an officer at the zoo and then mistakenly held in jail for a week.

www.cbsnews.com/news/after-f...
Reposted by Michael Scherer
frogandtoadbot.bsky.social
They swam all afternoon. Frog swam fast and made big splashes. Toad swam slowly and made smaller splashes.
Reposted by Michael Scherer
mamassian.bsky.social
A nice shift in perceived colour between central and peripheral vision. The fixated disc looks purple while the others look blue.

The effect presumably comes from the absence of S-cones in the fovea.

From Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt:
arxiv.org/pdf/2509.115...
An array of 9 purple discs on a blue background. Figure from Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt.
Reposted by Michael Scherer
Reposted by Michael Scherer
Reposted by Michael Scherer
atrupar.com
Not a denial
acyn.bsky.social
Ingraham: They said you took $50,000 in cash in a bag from an undercover FBI agent…

Homan: I did nothing criminal or illegal.
Reposted by Michael Scherer
josepagliery.bsky.social
So, about that team of public integrity prosecutors who investigated Tom Homan, the guy who accepted a $50k bribe in a sting operation last year...

The Trump DOJ has cut it down to 2 lawyers: a boss who oversees a single attorney.

@notus.com exclusive:

www.notus.org/courts/doj-p...
The Justice Department Had 36 Lawyers Fighting Corruption Full-Time. Under Trump, It’s Down to Two.
The Public Integrity Section is the latest casualty in the administration’s attacks on Nixon-era good-government reforms.
www.notus.org
Reposted by Michael Scherer
Reposted by Michael Scherer
noupside.bsky.social
Douthat moderated a panel I was on w/Walter Kirn and sat there like a log while Kirn literally pulled out his phone on stage & read Taibbi Twitter Files tweets accusing me of censoring *22M tweets*. He lost control of the panel in the first 5min and apparently is still not interested in the facts.😂
Ross Douthat
@DouthatNYT • Sep 19
Replying to @DouthatNYT
It would be extremely healthy for a figure like Obama to acknowledge what became obvious in 2019-2021 - that a distributed, public-private form of speech policing can actually feel as oppressive as any FCC warning. That would actually be a useful intervention right now.
Reposted by Michael Scherer
walthickey.bsky.social
had a ton of fun working on this poll with @today.yougov.com about the songs that everybody knows the lyrics to, the generational anthems are super neat

www.numlock.com/p/numlock-su...
Reposted by Michael Scherer
matthewjdowd.bsky.social
I would love to be part of the conversation on MSNBC related to the Kimmel story and it's chilling effects on first amendment, but unfortunately I was terminated by MSNBC for stating that "hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which lead to hateful actions".
Reposted by Michael Scherer
ericlipton.nytimes.com
WSJ editorial: "Using Charlie's murder to justify retaliation against political rivals is wrong and dangerous. It will further divide and embitter our country. No good thing will come of it."

www.wsj.com/opinion/they...
Opinion | ‘They’ Didn’t Kill Charlie Kirk
It insults his memory to blame political opponents for one man’s heinous act.
www.wsj.com
michaelscherer.bsky.social
Start with James Comey. Work back.
atrupar.com
CROCKETT: When I say that you are the least qualified FBI director in the history of the FBI, that is real, because you are the only one that never even served with the FBI

PATEL: That's false

CROCKETT: I didn't ask you a question