The Verge Editor-In-Chief Nilay Patel breathes fire on Elon Musk and Donald Trump's Big Tech enablers
America now has an unelected defense contractor sitting in the White House doing ketamine and twiddling the algorithmic knobs of an influential right-wing echo chamber while fulminating against traditional standards-based journalism, threatening to revoke network broadcast licenses, and suing advertisers who don’t want to spend their money on his dwindling user base. What could go wrong?
On top of that, Trump’s most likely FCC Chairman is Brendan Carr, who was tasked in the first Trump government to crack down on platform moderation by taking control of Section 230, literally wrote the Project 2025 chapter laying out a plan to do so, and is now begging to punish NBC for having Kamala Harris on “SNL.”
To be as clear as I can be, the second Trump administration with Elon Musk embedded within it represents the most direct and sustained threat to the First Amendment and the freedom of the press any of us will ever experience. If you’re a media executive or editorial leader and you haven’t met with your legal team to understand the current landscape of First Amendment threats, let alone the ones to come, you’re already behind. Get on it.
Regarding Big Tech leaders congratulating Trump on his victory:
All of these men are now hopelessly trapped in a problem their own platforms and algorithms created: they have to manipulate Trump’s narcissism to secure tariff exceptions and regulatory largesse, while knowing that the vast majority of their employees and half of their customers will see any engagement as moral bankruptcy.
Trump names Brendan Carr as his FCC leader. Carr has threatened to use the FCC to regulate speech that conservatives disagree with.
Facebook is changing its primary metric to ‘views’.
Like other methods of measurement created by tech companies, “views,” “impressions,” and other metrics are arbitrary, and as any influencer knows, they can change at the drop of a hat — platforms update and encourage users to prioritize different metrics based on what’s good for the business. And right now, Meta just wants you to keep scrolling.
Stephen King quit Twitter and joined Threads. His last tweet: “I’m leaving Twitter. Tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic. Follow me on Threads, if you like.” Here he is on Threads.
What’s the Deal With Pete Hegseth’s Crusader Tattoos? His body is covered in symbols celebrating violent Christian nationalism.
Why do so many people, including liberals, now hold Democrats in contempt?
I have been distinctly uncomfortable with the whole “we must find ourselves a Joe Rogan” [—] a guy’s guy who can talk to the men who we desperately need to appease in order to win elections. [Certainly, liberals and progressives do] need to adapt themselves to a new media landscape and claim some of that territory for ourselves. This is a new world and the old so-called liberal media is dysfunctional. But the canonization of the dumbshit bro talk as the the only way to do it strikes me as wishful thinking on the part of a whole lot of lefties (you know who you are) who really relate to that stuff and think the whole “girlification” of the Democrats is a drag.
These liberals think it’s a liability that “the majority of Democrats are women… Good to know.”
There needs to be some creativity here, people. Running with stupid (or pretending to) isn’t going to get it done. Looking down on the Democratic party for not being the kind of people you want to have a beer with is well… stupid. This isn’t about your social life.
And Digby quotes Josh Marshall: “Voters often want new leaders. But things are always a bit out of joint when it’s leaders who want new voters.”
Related: On Threads yesterday, journalist Taylor Lorenz asked male podcast listeners to recommend favorite podcasts that aren’t as big as Joe Rogan yet.
“Who are some of the up and coming men in the male podcast space that bros are listening to?” she asked.
I recommended Ezra Klein, Dan Savage, Everett Rummage (Age of Napoleon), John Green, Dan Carlin (Hardcore History), Tyler Cowen, Nilay Patel and David Pierce (Vergecast), Gilbert Gottfried, Casey Newton and Kevin Roose (Hard Fork), Jonathan Goldstein (Heavyweight), PJ Vogt, Ryan Broderick, Dominick Sandbrook and Tom Holland (The Rest is History), John Gruber and Ira Glass.
I was kinda trolling Lorenz a bit — because I am not a bro. I am a fucking grown-ass man. And none of those podcasters are bros. Bros are children with car keys and liquor; I want nothing to do with them.
The latest Jesus movie mixes Christianity with MMA fighting. The Forward, a Jewish publication, criticizes a movie about Jesus as a mixed martial artist for being unrealistic and historically inaccurate.
I’m Jewish myself, and I read the Forward regularly. I’m baffled why they chose to run this review of this movie. I read it, and I’m now sharing it, so maybe that’s my answer.
Tulsi Gabbard’s Nomination Is a National-Security Risk. She has vehemently and often spoken in support of Syria and Russia against the United States.
Kevin Smith's "Dogma" turns 25
“Dogma” is one of Smith’s best movies. It’s surprisingly thoughtful as well as crudely funny.
Smith is Catholic, or at least was raised in the religion. He clearly respects Catholicism and is wrestling with it.
Kevin E. G. Perry at The Independent:
"It’s a funny, funny flick, and it makes you think," said Smith. “You walk out of the movie and maybe you think about your own faith or your own spirituality, or maybe not, [but] at least you’ve been entertained.”
Also: “I always felt that – with her infinite patience – God had to be both a woman and Canadian.”
Good news for fans: Smith says there are plans to re-release the film in 2025. “Dogma” has been unavailable on streaming, and the last physical release was a Blu-Ray in 2008, because the rights are owned by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob.