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Maren McGowan

@marenmcgowan.bsky.social
339 followers 535 following 24 posts

Educator, Advocate, Feminist Interests: global social & climate justice; SSHL; neurodiversity; disability & chronic illness rights; folk, roots, & blues music; thrift stores; integrity in journalism; 🏳️‍🌈🇳🇴

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Maren McGowan
The Media and Democracy Project @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This is frightening and infuriating. The Ellisons were able to use other people’s money, crippling debt and MAGA-corrupted regulatory agencies: FTC, FCC and DoJ to complete this hostile takeover. Skydance is 49% owned by foreign investors (39% Saudi/Qatar/UAE). Media ownership is power.
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 06/10/2026
Wrongly indicted, charges dropped, and now we learn prosecutors allegedly knew the Reflecting Pool renovation was failing and they charged David Hearn anyway. I hope he sues their asses off.
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Trump administration refuses international election monitors for first time in over two decades The decision not to invite observers from the OSCE puts the U.S. alongside Russia and Belarus, while the Justice Department prepares to deploy its own poll monitors.
ms.now
Trump administration refuses international election monitors for first time in over 2 decades
The decision not to invite observers from the OSCE puts the U.S. alongside Russia and Belarus, while the Justice Department prepares to deploy its own poll monitors.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 05/10/2026
This is your occasional reminder that generative "AI" in particular could have been developed on public domain materials and/or licensed and compensated works but the major players intentionally, methodically and systemically chose to steal labor from working creative folks instead
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California Dreamin’… 😎 @jerasikehorn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, YET?! 👇 SURE HOPE SO. 😎🇺🇸✨
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The richest man owns X. The second richest man owns The Washington Post. The third and fifth richest men control Google. The sixth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. And the eighth richest man now owns both Paramount and Warner Bros. See the problem here?
bbc.com
Paramount takes over Warner Bros in $110bn Hollywood merger
The merger of two of Hollywood's biggest movie studios comes after months of legal disputes and concern over competition
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination. She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth. Because he’s a goddamned coward.
ms.now
Outgoing Sen. Tillis regrets pivotal vote for Hegseth: ‘He’s an actor. He’s not a manager’
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis spoke to MS NOW about regretting his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth and his strained relationship with Trump.
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geoffrey 💀 (scary now) @parsnip.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
very tired of being told it is the responsibility of urban democratic voters never to risk possibly maybe by chance seeming less than respectful of rural red state life and then watching thousands in nebraska cheer on the president joking about a nuclear strike on me and millions of my neighbors
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Pete Hegseth gave a speech in front of a backdrop that almost perfectly matches Nazi imagery. Meanwhile, Trump calls opponents “vermin” who he will “root out,” and says the blood of our country is being poisoned. We are far past left vs right. Our choice is democracy or fascism.
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Eric Pazdziora @ericpazdziora.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"Opera doesn't make money. Opera’s what you spend money *on*.” “But . . what do you get out of it?” “You get opera. You put money in, you see, and opera comes out,” said Salzella wearily. --Terry Pratchett, 'Maskerade'
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Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 06/10/2026
I think @amandamarcotte.bsky.social is really onto something here and that it's related to something @polphilpod.bsky.social has said in a few places; what collapsed was not liberalism, which in some ways is more strongly felt and committed to by more people than ever, but conservatism
liberalcurrents.com
Liberalism Did Not Fail, Conservatism Did
We are moving from an ideologically multipolar world, to a bipolar one.
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Plant Powered A-ron🌱🌎💙🌊 @plantpowered1971.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Holy shit...this is incredibly accurate!!
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Household debt at a record high. Student loan defaults at a record high. Credit card debt at a near record high. Meanwhile, corporate profits are the highest they’ve ever been. CEOs are paid 325x more than their typical workers. U.S. billionaire wealth is up 30% in a year. It's unsustainable.
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Chuck Schumer @schumer.senate.gov · 28/09/2026
He says this with a straight face as gas reaches $4.50/gal, diesel reaches $6.50/gal, mortgage rates soar over 7%, grocery costs are rising, and Americans’ sentiments towards the economy are the lowest they’ve been since the Great Recession.
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HELL Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 25/09/2026
My new favorite news photo. The ugliness of these people just leaps right out at you.
Reuters photo (I checked that it's real) showing Trump glaring belligerently at the camera, with Melania behind him looking like she'd like to rip the photographers throat out, and Xi watching them both with a mild bemused expression.
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Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Trump's never been anything but who he is. He's always been corrupt, incompetent, deeply incurious, ravenous for power, & wholly lacking empathy, ethics, or manners. A rapist, racist, liar, cheat, & bully. His age & behavior may suggest recent mental decline, but the above has always been true. 2/
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 22/09/2026
Some live reporting of my comrade Yusra’s presentation on the work of our Keep Minnesota Housed coalition and efforts to pay the rent during Operation Metro Surge This research really would not have been possible without Yusra’s amazing foresight around data collection
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Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
If Trump doesn’t “take care”of the Kennedy Center, it will “get ripped down.” That is the talk of a lifelong abuser.
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Greg Greene (he/him/his) @greene.haus · 18/09/2026
Yep. International confidence can't be won back, after MAGA, just by electing the most affable centrist with the cleverest poll-tested nostrums. Only structural reforms — that rein in the presidency and reduce the skew of our electoral systems toward autocrats — can do that.
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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
HUGE: Elizabeth Warren, AOC, and other members of Congress have introduced a bill to push private equity out of healthcare. The Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act would make it illegal for private equity, insurance companies, and for-profit corporations to own or control medical practices.
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Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.” -Elie Wiesel
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Michael Harriot @michaelharriot.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Notice how those “apolitical” people ALWAYS end up siding with the oppressors
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The ultra-wealthy keep trying to pit the rest of us against each other with scare tactics ("communists!" "men in the ladies room!!" "brown people!!!" "drag queens!!!!") to keep us from noticing that our real problem is THEM. They want us to fight *any* war—except a class war. Happy Labor Day.
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actwithcourage.bsky.social @actwithcourage.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Elected Officials UNDERSTAND THIS We don't care what Party you belong to We don't care about your Religion or Origins We don't care how Wealthy or Connected you are If you don't stand up to DJT and Co, You are COMPLICIT You'll be held to Account by Voters Your Reputations and Futures are at Stake
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James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I met a grandmother in Houston. Augusta works 10-hour shifts at the airport, but her wages don’t cover her basic expenses. Now she and her 5-year-old grandson are facing eviction. In the United States Senate, we’re going to have Augusta’s back.
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Hell-a Bambust 🏳️‍⚧️ (alleged transsexual)(spooky) @ela-bambust.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I try so hard not to be a cynical dickhead but then the Germans get too many refugees and immediately respond by giving fascism another go and I find it really hard to believe people are fundamentally decent or whatever
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Don’t believe the lies you hear about immigrant and undocumented workers. The real villains are the powerful corporations that want workers fighting one another while they rake in record profits at their expense.
youtube.com
Trump’s Lies About Immigrant Workers, Debunked
Don’t believe the lies you hear about immigrant and undocumented workers.The real villains are the greedy corporations t
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4fuxake @blueheartedly1.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I wish the media had the same urgency about the state of Mitch McConnell as they did for Kamala's W-2 from McDonald's in the 80s.
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Peter Morley ♿️ @petermorley.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I'm going to KEEP talking about how Senator Rick Scott, the RICHEST man in all of Congress, DEFRAUDED Medicare & is trying to CUT Social Security. Will you join me?🤚
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Federal minimum wage in: 2009: $7.25 2010: $7.25 2011: $7.25 2012: $7.25 2013: $7.25 2014: $7.25 2015: $7.25 2016: $7.25 2017: $7.25 2018: $7.25 2019: $7.25 2020: $7.25 2021: $7.25 2022: $7.25 2023: $7.25 2024: $7.25 2025: $7.25 2026: $7.25 Folks, it's time to raise the damn wage already.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Huge corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and Uber are among the top employers of SNAP and Medicaid recipients. Meanwhile, their CEOs are raking in multi-million dollar pay packages. How is this not a bigger scandal?
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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
1. Rick Steves has spent $2 million of his own money to rescue a single-screen theater in Edmonds, WA. This is part of a multi-million-dollar effort he has made to invest in community properties in order to preserve local institutions and keep them serving the communities they were built for.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I’ve known many other defense secretaries, starting with Cap Weinberger, who served as defense secretary under Reagan. I can say without fear of contradiction that Pete Hegseth is the stupidest and least qualified of them all.
robertreich.substack.com
Hegseth Must Go
If Trump won’t fire him, Congress must impeach him
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Jacqui @jamelle33.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
ANALYSIS: 'Lake America' makes one thing clear: we can’t trust U.S. tech companies The president’s decree is dumb. Why is anyone going along with it?
tvo.org
ANALYSIS: 'Lake America' makes one thing clear: we can’t trust U.S. tech companies | TVO Today
The president’s decree is dumb. Why is anyone going along with it?
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California Dreamin’… 😎 @jerasikehorn.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The same people who think Trump, who dodged the draft five times yet knows how to win a war — also think Trump, who declared bankruptcy six times, knows how to run the economy… That's what Trump Derangement Syndrome actually looks like. Any Questions?! 😎✨
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mmothnadine.bsky.social @mmothnadine.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
🤔 The Supreme Court had one job and one job only = PROTECT DEMOCRACY by preserving our Constitution through interpreting it justly, but they chose instead to protect only one political party and in doing so made one man a King and destroyed our entire country!
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 03/09/2026
Any sweeping systemic change you want to make in the United States has to begin with adding seats to the Supreme Court in 2029. No major reform bill will survive the current court. No civil rights law, no anti-corruption law, no wealth tax, nothing.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Goes without saying but the president directing the fcc to “punish” nbc because a poll made him mad would have consumed basically any other White House in endless scandal
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
When did sandwiches become “hand helds”…and why?
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Boo!-per Lund @cooperlund.online · 31/08/2026
The Lake America thing really drives home that the fundamental divide in this country isn’t left or right, it’s who sees the world and acts like an adult, and who wants to still be a child, throwing tantrums when they don’t get their way. It just happens to map well onto a partisan axis these days.
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Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 01/09/2026
Honestly “what if Ebenezer Scrooge was actually right” really does sound exactly like the sort of movie an abuser would make
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Fine. I’ll update with a word count when I start writing again. @legalminimum.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Someone inside Google has the authority to say “actually, we’re going to move off US sources for a while”. That person is probably a GM, maybe even a VP. At this point in 2026 I suspect nobody lower than a VP is putting their name on this decision. But note that word: it is a decision.
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Fine. I’ll update with a word count when I start writing again. @legalminimum.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Yes, I suspect Google has a system where they pick up info from a third party service and that’s where “Lake America” comes from. But the decision not to override it is, wait for it: a decision. I don’t blame the poor low-level PM who oversees the function but that’s who most of you are so angry at.
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Joy-Ann Reid @joyannreid.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
All of this tracks. Most white journalists cant conceive of white nationalism as anything but fringe, so they report the open white supremacy of the MAGA movement as something else (economic anxiety!) as they did with the tea party. Tough to admit that it's just the same old basic white nationalism.
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David Rothschild @davmicrot.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Corporate Media: every Democratic candidate must distance themselves from every comment made by every left-of-center streamer or we will destroy them Also Corporate Media: Republicans’ biggest donor is also leading a worldwide white supremacy movement, but we will not ask any of them about it.
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Benjamin Wittes @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org · 28/08/2026
I would just like to reiterate:
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johnedwinmason @johnedwinmason.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
One more great thing about Dolly. She was a paid-up union member — American Federation of Musicians, Local 257, Nashville. And she had been for 58 years. www.afm.org/2026/08/afm-...
afm.org
AFM Statement on the Passing of Dolly Parton
Today, the entire community of professional musicians mourns the loss of an irreplaceable icon and a generous heart: Dolly Parton. While the world knows her as a global superstar and philanthropist…
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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Jeffries came out against Medicare For All, a policy that would fundamentally transform the material reality of every single person in this country, but especially black folks who are disproportionately suffering under the current healthcare system. Clearly, Hakeem’s race is incidental TO HIM.
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Congressman Greg Casar @repcasar.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
ICE just arrested a 5-year-old on his way to a soccer game in Austin. His name is Liam, just like the little boy from Minnesota. He should be in kindergarten this week. Instead he's in a trailer prison in the desert. Release Liam. Release these kids. Close the Dilley children’s prison.
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