Hands Off! A Day of Action and Protest on April 5.

On April 5th, a group of prominent national organizations (including 50501, Indivisible, Hands Off, MoveOn, and Women’s March) and many local organizations are all coming together for a day of nationwide action and protest. This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most…

A two-part online training event on the Fundamentals of Organizing. It kicked...

A two-part online training event on the Fundamentals of Organizing. It kicked off tonight at 5:30pm ET and part 2 is on April 8.

The record for the longest individual speech in the Senate belongs to...

The record for the longest individual speech in the Senate belongs to segregationist Strom Thurmond. He spoke for 24 hours & 18 minutes in a racist and futile attempt to prevent the Civil Rights Act of 1957 from passing.

Mercator Extreme is a fun tool that you can use to choose...

Mercator Extreme is a fun tool that you can use to choose any point on Earth as the pole and then view the resulting ultra-distorted Mercator map. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

With a headline this this, how can you resist? On the Best...

With a headline this this, how can you resist? On the Best (Worst) Best Man Speech Ever (at My Super Mario-Themed Wedding). “After he finished his speech, he received applause and cheers from one and a half tables and dead silence from the rest.” 💬 Join the…

“A fragile 13th century manuscript fragment, hidden in plain sight as the...

“A fragile 13th century manuscript fragment, hidden in plain sight as the binding of a 16th-century archival register, has been discovered in Cambridge and revealed to contain rare medieval stories of Merlin and King Arthur.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke…

No One Is Safe From America’s Abusive Immigration Authorities Anymore. “Immigration agents...

No One Is Safe From America’s Abusive Immigration Authorities Anymore. “Immigration agents are increasingly using the full statutory powers that they always had, choosing to detain, abuse, and deport these tourists & workers instead of working with them.”

Historian Heather Cox Richardson says that Facebook is removing her posts. Her...

Historian Heather Cox Richardson says that Facebook is removing her posts. Her two most recent posts, both critical of the Trump regime, are not on the platform anymore.

Here’s What Life Was Like Before the Affordable Care Act

From Aubrey Hirsch, It Could Be Much, Much Worse, an illustrated guide to what health care and insurance was like in the US before the ACA. You can also find this guide on Instagram. Tags: Aubrey Hirsch · comics · healthcare · politics 💬 Join the disc…

Of Course Trump Will Tank the Economy. It’s What Republicans Do. “They...

Of Course Trump Will Tank the Economy. It’s What Republicans Do. “They screw up the economy. Later down the line, Democrats get elected and have to fix everything.”

John Lithgow Reads 20 Lessons on Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

In this 10-minute video, John Lithgow reads each of the lessons from Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (Bookshop). Number two: defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not…

Tressie McMillan Cottom: AI is mid tech for mid tasks. “The use...

Tressie McMillan Cottom: AI is mid tech for mid tasks. “The use cases for artificial intelligence across every domain of work and life have started to get silly really fast.”

nikitonsky is being grumpy

nikitonsky: You can’t add regional format without also adding keyboard layout, even if you don’t need second English layout (who does?) Why? Because it’s not YOUR computer anymore. Thanks @rasie1 for the picture #Microsoft #Windows #KeyboardLayout #RegionalFormat #Languag…

Pentax 645DN: The Year the DSLR Returned

The Pentax 645DN is a medium format camera priced much lower than other competitors in the space. It had me interested in a test run not only because of the price point and sexy lure of more pixels (40 million), but also because I used to shoot with a medium format Mamiya in the…

The New Canon 5DN Has a Secret to Better Bokeh

For years, Canon was a bit behind on the megapixel wars--their highest range was in the 20's for a long time with both Sony and Nikon trailing ahead and offering higher resolution imagery in a full frame 35mm sensor. But this year, that changed. The company announced a 50MP beas…

Senator Cory Booker is holding the floor of the Senate and says...

Senator Cory Booker is holding the floor of the Senate and says he “will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis”.

Orogeny

If you need a distraction: 368 Chickens. Line up the chickens to...

If you need a distraction: 368 Chickens. Line up the chickens to rescue them. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

The United States Disappeared Tracker is “tracking persons politically arrested, detained, or...

The United States Disappeared Tracker is “tracking persons politically arrested, detained, or disappeared by the Trump regime since March 9, 2025”.

The view from Europe, courtesy of Zeit Online: Thanks America, That’ll Be...

The view from Europe, courtesy of Zeit Online: Thanks America, That’ll Be All. “Now that lunacy has installed itself in Washington for the next four years, the time has finally come for Europe to once again try its hand at hosting the spirit of the age.”

What Will America Look Like in 10 Years?

With the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and, especially, again in 2024, the adjacent possible of American society has shifted dramatically. For the Washington Post, Philip Bump asked a number of people who study systems of government and the erosion of democracy the following…

White House Correspondents’ Dinner Scraps Host In Favor Of Terrified Silence. “While...

White House Correspondents’ Dinner Scraps Host In Favor Of Terrified Silence. “While we respect the legacy of a presidential roast, if you so much as cough, you will be forcibly removed.” Please enjoy each autocratic shift equally.

A thread from Berkeley political science professor Omar Wasow about how protests...

A thread from Berkeley political science professor Omar Wasow about how protests are effective actually. Cites research about the Women’s March, BLM protests, the Muslim ban protests, etc.

The End of College Life?

I have one kid entering college this fall and one a few years away, so I’ve been thinking (with fury and sadness) about the effect that Trump’s authoritarian regime is having on American colleges and universities. They’re pulling funding from schools; schools are cancellin…

Help Us Get to 2,000 Subscribers!

Help us get to 2,000 subscribers! Capture One is discounted for members! The New Phoblographer membership is now based on our website. Yes, we moved away from the app. It was a bittersweet move — but what we’re offering you now is even better. Don’t worry — if you had a…

You Will Have to Wait For the Next Pentax Analog Camera

Ricoh Pentax proved how thinking differently can lead to success. The company launched its first film camera after a long hiatus in 2024, which catapulted it to immense fame among film photographers. This was because the device was unique in its own way, especially considering t…

DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and...

DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse. This will not work — ok, actually it will totally work to achieve the long-time conservative goal of gutting the US social safety net.

Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman are buying The Rumpus. “They are committed...

Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman are buying The Rumpus. “They are committed to staying true to the magazine’s core mission of publishing both emerging and established risk-taking writers and artists…” Gay was a founding editor of the magazine. 💬 Join the d…

“The federal government isn’t just pressuring universities over speech — it’s literally...

“The federal government isn’t just pressuring universities over speech — it’s literally disappearing students for their political expression. If you support actual free speech, now is the time to speak up.”

From the Center for Third World Organizing, an Organizing 101 bootcamp, “a...

From the Center for Third World Organizing, an Organizing 101 bootcamp, “a multi-day day intro to organizing training designed for organizers, activists and community leaders”.