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Gal Beckerman

@galbeckerman.bsky.social
16K followers 136 following 97 posts

Staff writer at The Atlantic, formerly NYTBR, and author of the forthcoming “How to Be a Dissident.”

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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 5h
NAZA, a provocative Israeli documentary, should make viewers think about their own moral parameters—instead, it distances them from the war in Gaza, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes.
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Nazi Analogies Rarely Help
NAZA, a provocative Israeli documentary, should make viewers think about their own moral parameters. Instead, it distances them from the war.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 20/09/2026
At The Atlantic Festival, @galbeckerman.bsky.social spoke with the translator Emily Wilson about the pleasures and blind spots of translation, and the backlash to her review of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey.”
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Emily Wilson Can’t Let ‘The Odyssey’ Go
The translator spoke about her desire to retranslate the epic—and her harsh review of the recent film.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 19/09/2026
At The Atlantic Festival, @galbeckerman.bsky.social spoke with the translator Emily Wilson about the pleasures and blind spots of translation, and the backlash to her review of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey.”
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Emily Wilson Can’t Let ‘The Odyssey’ Go
The translator spoke about her desire to retranslate the epic—and her harsh review of the recent film.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 18/09/2026
Play today’s Rabbithole, which begins with this question from @galbeckerman.bsky.social’s article on presidential self-reflection. theatln.tc/hUtzCnw1
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 15/09/2026
Trump’s recent Truth Social barrage of fake images reflects the dangers that the AI mirror presents to all of us, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues.
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What Trump’s Bizarre Posts Are Teaching Us About AI
The president’s recent Truth Social barrage of fake images reflects the dangers—for all of us—of virtual self-aggrandizement.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 10/09/2026
Francis Fukuyama wants you to know that he was never a naive triumphalist, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes. Beckerman on Fukuyama’s new memoir and why the end of history is so miserable:
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Why the End of History Is So Miserable
Francis Fukuyama has long been considered a naive triumphalist. He now wants to set the record straight.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 09/09/2026
Francis Fukuyama wants you to know that he was never a naive triumphalist, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes. Beckerman on Fukuyama’s new memoir and why the end of history is so miserable:
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Why the End of History Is So Miserable
Francis Fukuyama has long been considered a naive triumphalist. He now wants to set the record straight.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 31/08/2026
Many tech billionaires who grew up on science fiction are intent on building dystopian technology, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues. He writes about a new book by Jill Lepore that explores how they took the wrong lessons from their favorite novels:
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We Are Living in the Fantasy World of 13-Year-Old Boys
Many of the tech billionaires who built our world have taken the wrong lessons from their favorite science fiction.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"What one gathers from these misreadings is not so much that science fiction itself is nefarious, but that arrested development might be": @galbeckerman.bsky.social on the new Jill Lepore book and the teen-boy mind-set driving the takeover of ... everything: www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
We Are Living in the Fantasy World of 13-Year-Old Boys
Many of the tech billionaires who built our world have taken the wrong lessons from their favorite science fiction.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 25/08/2026
Born into a period of optimism, “bicentennial babies” such as @galbeckerman.bsky.social have seen life follow “a distinct arc over the past 50 years: one of disillusionment,” he writes.
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What a Bicentennial Baby Knows
When I was born, the moniker carried a sheen of optimism. So much feels different now.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 24/08/2026
Born into a period of optimism, “bicentennial babies” such as @galbeckerman.bsky.social have seen life follow “a distinct arc over the past 50 years: one of disillusionment,” he writes.
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What a Bicentennial Baby Knows
When I was born, the moniker carried a sheen of optimism. So much feels different now.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
De Dépendance @dedependance.eu · 24/08/2026
Tue 6 Oct: Atlantic staff writer @galbeckerman.bsky.social joins us to discuss his new book, How to Be a Dissident — part philosophy, part history, part manual for living with integrity in an age of authoritarian drift. 🧵
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Erin Keane @erinkeane.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
This essay by @galbeckerman.bsky.social hit me hard as a fellow "bicentennial baby" (the secret handshake, as he puts it, that opens no doors). www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
theatlantic.com
What a Bicentennial Baby Knows
When I was born, the moniker carried a sheen of optimism. So much feels different now.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. Julie Norman, Mark Earls and Alexis Self on Oman's emergence as a mediation hub and the day's other stuff, plus @galbeckerman.bsky.social on his terrific new book "How To Be A Dissident". monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
How Oman has turned mediation into part of its foreign-policy identity
Iran’s foreign ministry is discussing a new Strait of Hormuz shipping route with Oman. Julie Norman and Mark Earls explore...
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 01/08/2026
Anthony Fauci's diaries are deeply embarrassing—and surprisingly instructive, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues. theatln.tc/9A629gho 🎨: Jonelle Afurong / The Atlantic. Source: Peter Dazeley.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Kettering Foundation @kettering.org · 31/07/2026
In the latest episode of #TheContext, author @galbeckerman.bsky.social challenges us to think about the choices we make when something feels wrong. Tune in and subscribe: bit.ly/GetTheContext
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Kettering Foundation @kettering.org · 28/07/2026
New episode of #TheContext with @galbeckerman.bsky.social "The Making of a Dissident" out now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G7gYQY0xow
youtube.com
The Making of a Dissident
YouTube video by Kettering Foundation
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Lisa Bellamy @lisalbellamy.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Essential reading - bookshop.org/p/books/how-...
bookshop.org
How to Be a Dissident
An invigorating guide to fighting back—part philosophy, part history, and part manual for living with integrity in an age of conformity and authoritarian driftHow do we push back in a world where poli...
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Adrienne LaFrance @adriennelaf.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Looking for a great read today? I still think about this @galbeckerman.bsky.social essay all the time. What if our ancestors didn't feel anything like we do? A deep look at the historians who want to know how past humans experienced love, anger, fear, and sorrow. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
What if Our Ancestors Didn’t Feel Anything Like We Do?
The historians who want to know how our ancestors experienced love, anger, fear, and sorrow
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Damon Beres @damonberes.com · 17/07/2026
"The randomness and unpredictability of existence, the mindless violence of it, necessitated myth. This early religion was a kind of technology, an attempt to make order out of chaos." @galbeckerman.bsky.social
theatlantic.com
The Odyssey Was Never About the Gods
Christopher Nolan’s largely deity-free blockbuster adaptation only highlights the humanity of the original.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Englewood Review of Books @erbks.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This week's feature review is of HOW TO BE A DISSIDENT by Gal Beckerman. Read here: twp.ai/4hsfjx
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 17/07/2026
Christopher Nolan’s largely god-free blockbuster adaptation of "The Odyssey" highlights the humanity of the original, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes:
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The Odyssey Was Never About the Gods
Christopher Nolan’s largely deity-free blockbuster adaptation only highlights the humanity of the original.
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Gal Beckerman @galbeckerman.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I wrote about the Odyssey, and why the absence of gods in the film actually helped capture something essential about the poem. www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Odyssey Was Never About the Gods
Christopher Nolan’s largely deity-free blockbuster adaptation only highlights the humanity of the original.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 15/07/2026
Modern vocabulary for describing emotions can be limited and vague. An emerging field of history that investigates how our forebears experienced feelings could allow people to better understand the emotions of the past—and present. @galbeckerman.bsky.social reported in our January issue.
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You Had to Be There
An emerging field of history asks if we can ever really understand how our forebears experienced love, anger, fear, and sorrow.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Adrienne LaFrance @adriennelaf.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
“It should go without saying, though maybe it needs to be said, that it would be meaningless to have free-speech organizations if they defended only speech they agreed with.” www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
A Free-Speech Meltdown
PEN America’s president resigned over an article detailing the isolation and exclusion that many Israeli and Jewish writers feel after October 7.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12/07/2026
PEN America’s president resigned after the organization published an article cataloging the ways Jewish and Israeli writers have felt excluded. The resignation reveals the precarity of free-speech principles, @galbeckerman.bsky.social reports.
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A New Test for Free Expression
PEN America’s president resigned over an article detailing the isolation and exclusion that many Israeli and Jewish writers feel after October 7.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12/07/2026
PEN America’s president resigned after the organization published an article cataloging the ways Jewish and Israeli writers have felt excluded. The resignation reveals the precarity of free-speech principles, @galbeckerman.bsky.social reports.
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A New Test for Free Expression
PEN America’s president resigned over an article detailing the isolation and exclusion that many Israeli and Jewish writers feel after October 7.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Adrienne LaFrance @adriennelaf.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
This is wild. Good piece from @galbeckerman.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
A New Test for Free Expression
PEN America’s president resigned over an article detailing the isolation and exclusion that many Israeli and Jewish writers feel after October 7.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Francesca Rheannon @writersvoice.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
You can hear Gal's terrific conversation with me here tinyurl.com/WVGalB
tinyurl.com
How to Be a Dissident, Lessons from Resistance Then and Now
What makes an ordinary person become a dissident? Gal Beckerman explores moral courage through figures like Alexei Navalny, Osip Mandelstam and Etty Hillesum. Then Buzzy Jackson revisits the story …
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Francesca Rheannon @writersvoice.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
What makes an ordinary person become a dissident? @galbeckerman.bsky.social explores moral courage through figures like Alexei Navalny, Osip Mandelstam and Etty Hillesum. Then Buzzy Jackson revisits the story of Dutch Resistance fighter Hannie Schaft. Listen www.writersvoice.net
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 02/07/2026
A new chronicle of Trump’s second term achieved stratospheric sales for a nonfiction book. Gal Beckerman explores what the success of “Regime Change” might mean for the president:
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The Surprising Return of the Blockbuster Trump Book
What the wild success of Regime Change, after a long slump in newsy nonfiction, might say about the state of the presidency.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Gill Wildman @wildwoman.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
My holiday reading is superb. Thanks so much @galbeckerman.bsky.social for this bloody hopeful book and massive thanks @anandwrites.bsky.social for pointing us to it from your brilliant writing! Anchors, both of you, to where to look for the fire to act.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 22/06/2026
@boriskachka.bsky.social speaks with @galbeckerman.bsky.social about the philosophers whose thinking helps explain the symbolic importance of the UFC fight staged in front of the White House. Read more in The Atlantic’s Books Briefing.
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The Thinkers Who Explain This Baffling Era
These philosophers are less arcane—and more relevant—than some readers might think.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 19/06/2026
@boriskachka.bsky.social speaks with @galbeckerman.bsky.social about the philosophers whose thinking helps explain the symbolic importance of the UFC fight staged in front of the White House. Read more in The Atlantic’s Books Briefing.
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The Thinkers Who Explain This Baffling Era
These philosophers are less arcane—and more relevant—than some readers might think.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 15/06/2026
For his 80th birthday, Donald Trump threw America a UFC fight—and one particular book can help you understand how this "spectacle of excess" expresses Trump's worldview, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes:
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The French Theory That Explains the UFC Fight
By staging a “spectacle of excess” on the White House lawn, Trump expressed the violent essence of his worldview.
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Gal Beckerman @galbeckerman.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I watched the UFC fights last night and I can promise you this is the only piece that brought Roland Barthes into the Octagon.
theatlantic.com
The French Theory That Explains the UFC Fight
By staging a ‘spectacle of excess’ on the White House lawn, Trump expressed the violent essence of his worldview.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 09/06/2026
As our nation turns 250, it’s worth asking what form patriotism should take, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues. A new book about American pride prompted him to ponder what it means to love an unfinished country:
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The Two Kinds of American Patriotism
As our nation turns 250, it’s worth asking how best to love one’s country.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
Asher Black @asherblack.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This exalted patriotism, a “still-religious intuition that we have already arrived.” It has left festering injustices unattended, “dumb wars,” and a perpetual red-white-and-blue fireworks display that distracts from difficult truths about the country’s failings. www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Two Kinds of American Patriotism
As our nation turns 250, it’s worth asking how best to love one’s country.
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Gal Beckerman @galbeckerman.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I laid out in @theatlantic.com a few different ways to love America when you're not on board with Pete Hegseth's idea of patriotism.
theatlantic.com
The Two Kinds of American Patriotism
As our nation turns 250, it’s worth asking how best to love one’s country.
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Neil Turkewitz @neilturkewitz.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
“Erdozain’s argument is that, again and again, the myth of America allowed its leaders to act in ways that violated the founding ethos, that the country was ‘an idea trapped in its own publicity’.” An idea trapped in its own publicity. Brilliant! @galbeckerman.bsky.social
theatlantic.com
The Two Kinds of American Patriotism
As our nation turns 250, it’s worth asking how best to love one’s country.
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
tam @damntam.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
@galbeckerman.bsky.social and @wajali.bsky.social I was on the waitlist for weeks to get this from my library, but worth the wait 🤓 thanks so much for writing it ❤️
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Kristofer Goldsmith @krisgoldsmith85.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
@galbeckerman.bsky.social’s new book “How To Be A Dissident” is the latest addition to the Antifascist Book Club reading list. Check out @onoffensepod wherever you get your podcasts for my conversation with Gal. Links in thread 👇 #antifascistbookclub #bookclub #howtobeadissident #readinglist
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 27/05/2026
With his new encyclical, Pope Leo XIV makes a case for resisting AI on grounds far beyond religion; he argues for the importance of human fallibility and struggle, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes:
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The Pope Is Now the World’s Most Famous Humanist
Leo XIV’s encyclical about artificial intelligence makes a strong argument in favor of human fallibility.
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Jóska Takács @joskatakacs.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Read it. Learn it. Know it. Live it.
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Jóska Takács @joskatakacs.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
“[Sisyphus] is happy because he understands that this kind of thing — trudging up and down, up and down — is not a punishment, actually, but what all humans have done for all time.” ~ Gal Beckerman, “How To Be A Dissident”
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Reposted by Gal Beckerman
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 16/05/2026
If you’re heading out for a summer vacation, The Atlantic’s writers and editors have suggested some page-turners to bring along. Our staff writer @galbeckerman.bsky.social chose “The Silver Bone.” See more selections here: theatln.tc/eUSwrLje
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Boris Dralyuk @bdralyuk.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
A killer recommendation from @galbeckerman.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com Summer Reads special—the first of Andrey Kurkov’s Kyiv Mysteries. Samson Kolechko just unraveled his third case for @harpercollins.bsky.social and @quercusbooks.bsky.social, so you had better catch up!
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PEN America @penamerica.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
In this week’s PEN Ten interview, we speak to @galbeckerman.bsky.social about How to Be a Dissident (Crown Publishing Group, 2026). The book teaches readers to fight back by adopting 10 qualities. Among them: Be funny. Be reckless. Be immortal. Check it out: pen.org/gal-beckerman-the-pen-ten
pen.org
Gal Beckerman, Author of ‘How to Be a Dissident,’ Was His Own Intended Audience
In this PEN Ten interview, Gal Beckerman discusses How to Be a Dissident, which seeks to teach readers how to fight back.
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Gal Beckerman @galbeckerman.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
This is today! At noon! Click to watch live.
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