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James Gleick

@around.com
3.6K followers 79 following 935 posts

Author. Chaos, The Information, Time Travel. Other work can be found at around.com. My new history of the telephone will appear in November. On the open social web I'm gleick@mas.to.

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James Gleick @around.com · 22/09/2026
More NYT strangeness. The correct phrasing would be: "Ms. Collins, who positions herself as a moderate, has long attempted to create the appearance of distance from Mr. Trump, while always doing his bidding when it matters."
Ms. Collins, a moderate, is not close to Mr. Trump and has often
sought to distance herself from some of his policies.
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/09/2026
The NY Times is matching a superb story from @propublica.org. This paragraph—strangely unattributed—is a lie: the investigation was shut down because Trump has ended all investigations into public corruption by Republicans and their donors. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/u...
The inquiry, which was earlier reported by ProPublica, was closed
under the Trump administration last year because senior bureau
officials questioned the veracity of Mr. Kao's account, which he
began offering around the time he pleaded guilty in 2022.
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James Gleick @around.com · 18/09/2026
In the government of the United States as now constituted, all officials and functionaries are routinely required to pose standing behind the seated tyrant to show obeisance and make him look important. Newspapers publish these photos without comment, as if it were normal.
A dozen cabinet members and other apparatchiks standing glumly behind a seated Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
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James Gleick @around.com · 08/09/2026
Another case (@nytimes.com) of carelessly implying that the AI models have agency. Humans are using them to do stuff, and stuff happens.
Original headline: A.I. Models Built a Computer Worm
Corrected: Humans Used A.I. Models to Build a Computer Worm
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James Gleick @around.com · 01/08/2026
"Gentler"??
NY Times headline:
Trump Administration Is Undoing Plans to Boost Workplace
Heat Protections 
The Biden administration took steps to shield workers from extreme temperatures. The Trump administration is taking a
gentler approach with employers.
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James Gleick @around.com · 25/07/2026
Just say it. Stop pretending you don't know. Say it each time.
NYT: "Fast-moving wildfires fuels by extreme heat and strong winds have forced some 200,000 people to flee or remain indoors this week in France and Spain ..."

Suggested edit: "a devastating manifestation of the human-caused climate change gripping the planet,"
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James Gleick @around.com · 01/07/2026
Clearer headline: Trump Used Crypto Scam To Fleece His Investors (This is an example of the Opaque Passive voice. “Crypto” didn't do anything. Trump did.)
NY Times headline:

Crypto Brought Trump a Huge Windfall, Even as Many
Investors Lost Big President Trump and his family reaped vast financial rewards from a memecoin that generated losses for hundreds of
thousands of investors.
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James Gleick @around.com · 14/06/2026
This is (as the law mandates) the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. But there's a coverup: a petty little man is using tarps to block the name. He can't handle the truth.
The grand facade of the Kennedy Center, with scaffolding and white tarpaulin obscuring its name. Photo by Rahmat Gul/Ap.
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James Gleick @around.com · 19/05/2026
This author—caught using AI to make up quotes for his book about the dangers of AI—has the gall to say it proves him right. You can't trust him, so you can't trust anyone. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...
In his statement, Mr. Rosenbaum said that if the episode "serves as a warning about the risks of A.I.-assisted research and verification,
that is why I wrote the book." "These A.I. errors do not, in fact, diminish the larger questions that the book raises about truth, trust and A.T. and its impact on society,
democracy and editorial," he added.
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James Gleick @around.com · 17/05/2026
I don't think this word means what you think it does.
From a NY Times article (last word underlined): 

The story of how the firm tried and ultimately failed to diminish Mr. Epstein from her public profile represented an all-out effort to mute the immutable.
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/04/2026
No need to attribute this to Abbas Araghchi. A blockade is, in point of fact, an act of war. If its aim is to cause civilian suffering, it is also a war crime. (Cf. Cuba.)
Even as he extended the cease-fire, Mr. Trump said the U.S. blockade on ships heading to and from Iranian ports would continue. Iran has demanded that U.S. forces allow its vessels free passage, and on Tuesday, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi,
called the blockade "an act of war."
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James Gleick @around.com · 12/04/2026
Paid agents of the US government arrested this woman and this girl, Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar and her daughter, Milena. Their crimes? None. Dr. Bolivar, born in Venezuela, in an emergency-care physician in McAllen, Texas, an impoverished place desperate for doctors.
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James Gleick @around.com · 07/04/2026
Call it what it is.
Corrected headline: Trump Threatens Genocide as Hormuz Deadline Draws Closer
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James Gleick @around.com · 05/04/2026
When even Marjorie Taylor Greene can see the truth, who does Trump have left?
In a lengthy post on X, which came after the US president again threatened Iran's infrastructure if the strait of Hormuz remains closed, the former congresswoman wrote:
14 I know all of you and him and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit. I'm not defending Iran but let's be honest about all of this.
The Strait is closed because the US and Israel started the unprovoked war against Iran based on the same nuclear lies they've been telling for decades, that any moment Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.
You know who has nuclear weapons? Israel. They are more than capable of' defending themselves without the US having to fight their wars, kill innocent people and children, and pay for it. Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing.
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James Gleick @around.com · 05/04/2026
"Experts are dubious."
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James Gleick @around.com · 04/04/2026
The NY Times has a blockbuster story here: Epstein got valuable inside information from the first Trump administration and fed it to a wealthy foreign customer of his sex-trafficking racket. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/w...
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James Gleick @around.com · 27/03/2026
In other words, Every Country in the World?
Headline: Rubio Meets Today With Countries That Haven't Sent Warships to Strait
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James Gleick @around.com · 12/03/2026
The word is "cover up." The Times has found email proof that Kash Patel's FBI combed the Epstein files to protect Trump and 14 others.
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James Gleick @around.com · 09/03/2026
Launched an unprovoked war that is murdering civilians, throwing the world economy into chaos, wreaking destruction with no limits and no known purpose, and ... he's at his private golf course.
President Trump just announced he would be holding a news conference at his golf property in Miami at "approximately" 5:30
p.m. He did not specify its focus.President Trump just announced he would be holding a news conference at his golf property in Miami at "approximately" 5:30
p.m. He did not specify its focus.
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James Gleick @around.com · 05/03/2026
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James Gleick @around.com · 24/02/2026
At the New York Historical Society.
Bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln at the stone steps to the New York Historical Society. On his head is a giant cylindrical hat of snow.
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James Gleick @around.com · 19/02/2026
Grift, self-aggrandizement, and self-dealing. Democrats must rise up and make clear that they will never approve this daylight robbery of taxpayer money.
New York Times: "Trump just said the United States would pay $10 billion into the Board of Peace, which he created and leads."
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James Gleick @around.com · 31/01/2026
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery finds that Trump and his apparachiks are demonstrating “the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty”; that they “know no bounds and are bereft of human decency.” And adds, “the rule of law be damned.” He attaches a photograph to his ruling.
A five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a blue winter hat and Spider-Man backpack, seized by ICE in Minnesota and transported to Texas.
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James Gleick @around.com · 28/01/2026
Why is this always so hard, NY Times?
NYT headline: Domestic Terrorism Has a Legal Definition. The White House Uses Its Own.

Suggested edit: replace the last three words with "Lies."
0116
James Gleick @around.com · 15/01/2026
Fixed it for you, New York Times.
New York Times headline: Under Trump, a Shift Toward ‘Absolute Immunity’ for ICE

“Shift Toward” deleted and replaced with “Despotic Claim of”
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James Gleick @around.com · 26/12/2025
Readers of the New York Times might think this is a picture of Trump announcing an attack in Nigeria. Actually, Trump didn't bother to get out of bed. His “announcement” was an incoherent social media post. This is a file picture (Trump announcing an imaginary warship that will never be built).
NY Times home page, "U.S. Strikes ISIS in Nigeria."
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James Gleick @around.com · 23/12/2025
Today crazy gramps says “I want to play admiral!” So all the other inmates dress up and make pictures and put on a little party. What will crazy gramps want to play tomorrow?
Donald Trump all dressed up , standingin a gilded room next to a gilded picture of an imaginary warship labeled TRUMP CLASS DEFIANT.
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James Gleick @around.com · 21/12/2025
Epstein-Trump photos "disappear." It's a mystery! Whatever could have happened? Or: Justice Department Flouts Law, Suppresses Evidence Of Trump-Epstein Collusion
Epstein Files Photos Disappear From Government Website, Including One
of Trump 
A total of 16 photos were taken down at some point on Saturday from the website that the Justice Department created. One featured an open drawer containing other photos, including at
least one of President Trump.
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James Gleick @around.com · 19/12/2025
These are workers removing the signage for Adolf Hitler street in 1945. This seems like a good day to remember.
Man on a ladder, wearing a hat and a white trenchcoat, passing down a sign that says "Adolf Hitler Str."
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James Gleick @around.com · 15/12/2025
The worst person in the world.
Donald J. Trump
A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven
people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps
like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!
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James Gleick @around.com · 10/12/2025
Today in the Kleptocracy: the "Trump" gold and platinum cards. Can someone explain how Trump claims the authority to waive US taxes for the benefit of foreign oligarchs and money launderers? They will happily pay a "gift" of $5 million to avoid paying hundreds of millions in taxes.
Trump
Platinum Card
Coming Soon
Foreign nationals can sign up now and secure their places on the waiting list for the Trump Platinum Card. When launched, and upon receipt of a $15,000 DHS processing fee and $5 million contribution, they will have the ability to spend up to 270 days in the United States without being
subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.
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James Gleick @around.com · 07/12/2025
It's December 2025, the Trump regime is engaged in a vicious and lawless pogrom, destroying the lives of immigrants and children of immigrants, creating a reign of terror and cruelty, and the New York Times assails ... Biden. For not being tough enough on immigrants. I won't link to it.
How Biden Ignored Warnings and Lost Americans' Faith in
Immigration
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James Gleick @around.com · 05/12/2025
I imagine Judge Currie gnashing her teeth at this framing in the NY Times. She ruled with utter clarity that Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed as US Attorney and “has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025.”
But while that decision, by Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, who was brought in from a district in South Carolina to handle the question, found Ms. Halligan's appointment invalid, it did not expressly order her removed from the office.
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James Gleick @around.com · 02/11/2025
At this point the NY Times is just doing self-parody.
Even for Some Mamdani Supporters, His Thin Résumé Is Cause for Concern Many voters struggle with a fundamental question about Zohran Mamdani's candidacy: Is a 34-year-old state assemblyman ready to lead the
nation's largest city?
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James Gleick @around.com · 27/10/2025
Words matter. When the NY Times says Trump is "float[ing] the possibility of finding a way to circumvent the 22nd Amendment," they are saying it's just a small matter. No biggie. In fact, he is threatening to FLOUT, VIOLATE, or DEFY the 22nd Amendment. It's an emergency.
President Trump said that he underwent magnetic resonance imaging earlier this month, telling reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday that the results had been "perfect" but declining to say
why his doctors had ordered the scan. Mr. Trump also reiterated that he was interested in serving a third term, saying that he "would love to do it" because of his popularity with his supporters. Mr. Trump, who spoke to journalists for about 30 minutes on a flight to Tokyo from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during his almost weeklong trip to Asia, seemed intent on
presenting himself as fit to lead, if not run for the presidency again.
The Constitution sets a two-term limit for presidents, but Mr. Trump and his supporters have increasingly floated the possibility of finding a way to circumvent the 22nd Amendment, which states that "no person shall be elected to the office of the president more
than twice," regardless of whether the terms are consecutive.
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James Gleick @around.com · 23/10/2025
Two headlines. One is news (WaPo). The other is shameful (NY Times).
Pentagon announces a new right-wing press corps after
mass walkoutPentagon announces a new right-wing press corps after
mass walkout
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James Gleick @around.com · 06/10/2025
Here, for instance, you know very well that there are no protesters in Portland engaging in insurrection. And you know equally well that federal forces are attacking protesters without provocation. So don't be lazy. Tell your readers what you know.
As the legal battles intensified, both sides engaged in an increasingly caustic war of words, with administration officials accusing protesters in Portland of engaging in insurrection, and officials in Chicago accusing federal forces of attacking demonstrators without provocation.
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James Gleick @around.com · 27/09/2025
Imagine if some lunatic hacked into the official account of the President of the United States and used it to broadcast false and dangerous medical advice. That would be a big story.
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Pregnant Women, DON'T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON'T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN
5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS! President DJT
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James Gleick @around.com · 24/09/2025
No. Trump and his press secretary set off the conspiracy theories. Trump's own videographer triggered the safety mechanism.
Escalator Malfunction at U.N. Sets
Off Conspiracy Theories A sudden stop just as President Trump stepped on the stairs may have been caused by the triggering of a safety mechanism, the
U.N. said.
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James Gleick @around.com · 15/09/2025
This is what we've come to. Inciting hatred of Blacks, Jews, and gays is, according to the New York Times, merely “brash right-wing spin.” Did they think about this at all? Is it a considered policy choice?
He quickly became a fixture in the Trumpian media sphere. He tweeted relentlessly with a brash right-wing spin, including
inflammatory comments about Jewish, gay and Black people.
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James Gleick @around.com · 10/09/2025
English mavens: How did "dated" become the euphemism?
NY Times headline:
Trump, Epstein, a Suggestive Check and a Woman They Both Dated
A photo in Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book shows the financier holding a novelty check with a signature of "DJ TRUMP" alongside a woman who dated both men.
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James Gleick @around.com · 07/09/2025
American journalism today.
[from the feckless New York TImes]
“I think I've gotten peace because of the fact that we're strong," he said. (Mr. Trump claims to have solved at least seven wars, a statement that requires context.)

Suggested edit: delete the last four words and replace them with “lie.”
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James Gleick @around.com · 07/09/2025
But at the NY Times, everything has two side. “Tensions escalated." As if Illinois leaders share the blame.
Tensions between President Trump and Illinois leaders escalated on Saturday when the White House posted an image on social media depicting Mr. Trump with helicopters, billowing flames and
the Chicago skyline.
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James Gleick @around.com · 19/08/2025
Needed: thought bubbles for Zelensky and Macron.
Trump showing Zelensky and Macron a collection of MAGA hats and other tatty merchandise with which he is desecrating the people’s White House.
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James Gleick @around.com · 11/08/2025
Consider this weaselly framing by the New York Times. The reality: Trump is telling a blatant lie about violent crime in DC in order to militarize its streets. He is inventing a nonexistent crime wave. So what’s this extra clause? Some “youth crime” still exists? It hasn’t been totally eradicated?
from the NY Times: "Mr. Trump has said that crime in Washington is spiraling out of control. While statistics show that violent crime in the city hit a 30-year low last year and is down another 26 percent so far this year, youth crime has been a persistent problem for city officials."
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James Gleick @around.com · 07/08/2025
The Vice President, the White House chief of staff, the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, and the FBI Director convene for a dramatic evening meeting at the Vice President's residence. What urgent matter of national security can it be, to require such top-level attention?
Tweet from Alayna Treene:
NEW: White House chief Susie Wiles, JD
Vance, AG Pam Bondi, FBI Dir Kash Patel & Deputy AG Todd Blanche are expected to meet Wed evening at Vance's residence to discuss the Trump admin's strategy relating to Epstein case
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James Gleick @around.com · 02/08/2025
Sex offender? What sex offender?
Melania Knauss, Donald Trump, Ghislaine Maxwell
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James Gleick @around.com · 27/07/2025
Breaking: The president of the United States demands the prosecution of four individuals: •Beyoncé •Oprah Winfrey •Al Sharpton •Kamala Harris “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Donald J. Trump
+
@realDonald Trump
I'm looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the Presidential Election, and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!), Three Million Dollars for "expenses," to Oprah, Six Hundred Thousand Dollars to very low rated TV "anchor," Al Sharpton (a total lightweight!), and others to be named for doing, absolutely NOTHING! These ridiculous fees were incorrectly stated in the books and records. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO. Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out! Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
73 ReTruths 246 Likes
7/26/25, 4:45 PM
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James Gleick @around.com · 25/07/2025
Official U.S. Government email from Medicare. gov promotes quack cure TV huckster. The grifters are in charge now.
Bold-faced banner: "Medicare.gov"

Flashy blue and red logo: "Stay Healthy with Dr. Oz"

Photo of smiling quack TV huckster Mehmet Oz
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James Gleick @around.com · 23/07/2025
Look at this one astounding sentence in the NY Times. It says so much about their failure to rise to the current moment. 1. Todd Blanche is of course a Trump crony and fixer, but the Times can't say that. Let's just say he was Trump's personal lawyer.
"he will have to walk a careful line, balancing his current responsibility to pursue the public good by getting what he can out of Ms. Maxwell against his erstwhile responsibility to defend Mr. Trump against any possibly embarrassing information that she might eventually provide."
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