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Matt Bai

@mattbaidc.bsky.social
3.4K followers 475 following 41 posts

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity." National Affairs Columnist at @RollingStone.com. MBai@rollingstone.com

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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 11/09/2026
It’s Been 25 Years Since 9/11. Did the Terrorists Win? We are more divided, the world is less secure, and many of our bedrock principles and ideals are eroding. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 03/09/2026
In a new interview with @mattbaidc.bsky.social, Rahm Emanuel talked about Israel and American Jews, the Democratic Party, hard career choices, life in a bizarrely high-achieving family, and much more. Read it here ⬇️
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Rahm Emanuel: 'You Don't Like My Ideas? Show Me Yours'
Rahm Emanuel wants to take on Republicans and Democrats from the "pragmatic center." He talks Israel, the DSA, a possible run for president and more.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Sean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
NEW from @mattbaidc.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Trump Is Doing Elite Colleges a Huge Favor
President Trump's attacks on Ivys and other elite colleges have turned academia into a noble victim: commentary.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 11/08/2026
What the Fauci Fixation Reveals About Our Political System America’s most reviled immunologist made some questionable calls. But he was never the decider. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Sean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social on the Dems vs DSA www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Does the Socialist Surge Doom Democrats?
Democratic Socialists of America candidates are winning elections across the country. Do they hurt Democrats' chances of taking back the White House?
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 10/07/2026
Trump Is Turning D.C. Into a Theme Park for the American Century The president erects monuments to the nation's greatness at home, while undermining it all over the world. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 05/06/2026
When discussing the various indictments he has faced during Trump’s second term, Comey says: “I think [Trump’s] approach to me and to many others is… I need to get even with people.” Read more of @mattbaidc.bsky.social's interview with @jamescomey.bsky.social: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 04/05/2026
While Donald Trump threatens, repeatedly, to obliterate the Iranian state, he seems increasingly inclined toward creating his own theocratic republic right here at home. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Sean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The American Ayatollah from @mattbaidc.bsky.social with a classic illustration from Victor Juhasz www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Donald Trump: The American Ayatollah
Iran is the world's only functioning theocratic republic. Donald Trump wants to turn the United States into one.
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
My latest Rolling Stone essay, with terrific art. (Limited time gift link.) www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Donald Trump's Incompetence Is Costing Him the Country
Donald Trump has led us to chaos — war with Iran, spiking gas prices, unstable markets — that may lose him the Republican party and the nation.
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Neil Turkewitz @neilturkewitz.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Fantastic piece. Bravo to all involved in getting this out, and especially to @mattbaidc.bsky.social A perfect description of Brendan Carr— “a cultural claims adjuster, a pasty-faced, soft-spoken agent of Trump's retribution.”
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Sean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the man leading Donald Trump’s media vendetta, is a brown-nosing bureaucrat. And that what makes him so dangerous. Commentary from @mattbaidc.bsky.social rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Brendan Carr, the FCC, and the Banality of Evil
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is a brown-nosing bureaucrat, which is why he's so dangerous as Donald Trump's media minion.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 17/03/2026
"If you were going to single out the most dangerous functionary in Trump’s little circle of Hell, you’d have plenty of candidates from which to choose. ... But don’t sleep on Brendan Carr. His legacy of awfulness may yet prove more durable." Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social on Trump's FCC chair ⬇️
rollingstone.com
Brendan Carr, the FCC, and the Banality of Evil
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is a brown-nosing bureaucrat, which is why he's so dangerous as Donald Trump's media minion.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 08/03/2026
Interventionism is more like physics than biology — every action sparks unpredictable reactions. The costs of war with Iran are only beginning. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social full analysis: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Sean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Regime Change Is Never Painless: "The costs of regime change won’t be clear for some time. That there are always costs, ­always unforeseen, is the last century’s inescapable truth." From @mattbaidc.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Regime Change Is Never Painless
Donald Trump's war against Iran is the latest in a long line of American attempts to topple foreign regimes, all leaving have left in their wake.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 21/02/2026
“Years of tortured rationalization had created, in the end, a party of hypocrites.”
 @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes about Democrats’ decades-long relationship with Bill Clinton, and why they’re finally filing for divorce www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Democrats Are Divorcing Bill Clinton
Democrats are finally divorcing Bill Clinton, with party lawmakers voting to force his testimony as part of the GOP's farcical Epstein investigation.
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
My latest Rolling Stone column, on Bill Clinton and the left. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Democrats Are Divorcing Bill Clinton
Democrats are finally divorcing Bill Clinton, with party lawmakers voting to force his testimony as part of the GOP's farcical Epstein investigation.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 03/02/2026
How a forgotten Norman Mailer story explains why the president needs to own the Arctic wilderness, and so much more. Commentary by @mattbaidc.bsky.social: bit.ly/4qYrpmn
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Brian Hiatt @hiattb.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Timely new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
rollingstone.com
From Bruce Springsteen on Minneapolis to CSNY on Kent State — a History of Instant Protest Songs
We look back at rapid-response songs -- from Woody Guthrie and Nina Simone to Bruce Springsteen's quick turnaround on 'Streets of Minneapolis'
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 02/02/2026
@mattbaidc.bsky.social explores how Trump’s Arctic strategy mirrors Norman Mailer’s ‘Why Are We in Vietnam?’ "Greenland is Trump’s feral grizzly, and it must be subdued" to reestablish a "natural order" of white male dominance. Commentary: bit.ly/4qYrpmn
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 02/02/2026
How a forgotten Norman Mailer story explains why the president needs to own the Arctic wilderness, and so much more. Commentary by @mattbaidc.bsky.social: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Sean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social on Why We Are in Greenland www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Trump's Greenland Strategy: Manifest Masculinity
Donald Trump's push for Greenland can be understood in part by looking to the forgotten Norman Mailer novel "Why Are We in Vietnam?"
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Sean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social debut in RS: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Trump's 'Year Zero' Is Over. Now Comes the Reckoning
TK
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
My first @rollingstone.com column is now live! Thanks for reading and reposting, and please consider subscribing if you don’t already. (Piece also available on Apple News.) www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Trump's 'Year Zero' Is Over. Now Comes the Reckoning
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Wow, that Google AI is pretty good.
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
20-odd years ago, I was fired from my dream job at Rolling Stone before I could publish anything. So let's try this again! Thanks to all who read me in the Post these past 6 years - hope you'll follow the next chapter.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
"Trump and his acolytes in Congress can live under a delusion of their massive popularity and stride around like Caesar and his guards, but voters who get to decide these things are largely repulsed," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/3JkGRZz
wapo.st
Opinion | Be afraid, Republicans. Be very afraid.
Democrats don’t agree on their message or who should deliver it. They won everywhere anyway.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
"It’s a rare glimpse of bluer skies for Democrats since last year’s presidential election," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "But if their plan on immigration is to rely on Trump’s overreach, then they’ll be making the same mistake they made at the start of the Biden administration."
wapo.st
Opinion | Trump’s immigration tactics repel voters. Can Democrats attract them?
If their plan is just to rely on Trump’s overreach, then they’ll be repeating Biden’s mistakes.
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Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
"As much as you insist that the shutdown is about delivering health insurance to ordinary Americans, that gets lost in the noise," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/4o67zUo
wapo.st
Opinion | The shutdown is only proving Trump’s point
The president argues that the federal bureaucracy is useless. Shutdowns tend to reinforce that view.
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Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
"Rarely has the corrosion of social media been so plainly exposed as it has been since last week, after the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk." The latest from @mattbaidc.bsky.social:
wapo.st
Opinion | The real enemy of democracy sneaked up on me
I used to be a cautious optimist, but social media has changed our politics for the worse.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
"I can’t stop thinking about the giant banners of Trump that keep appearing on the front of our national buildings," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/3Vrj5NX
wapo.st
Opinion | Is Trump an autocrat, or does he just play one on TV?
Here’s why I am so bothered by the giant banners of Trump’s face on government buildings.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
"That we have often failed to apply freedoms equally — and can acknowledge that fact — isn’t an indictment of America, as Trump believes it to be; it is the story of Americans striving toward enlightenment," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/4oTa65v
wapo.st
Opinion | What the Smithsonian taught me about Trumpism
Trying to sanitize the American story is the antithesis of what makes the country exceptional.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
"As long as Trump is seen by a healthy plurality as the flawed but tolerable instrument of their anti-elite, anti-government rage, then we shouldn’t expect other institutions to keep him in check," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "That’s not their brief. It’s ours."
wapo.st
Opinion | Our institutions aren’t failing. We are.
It is the American people who must hold the president accountable, and we’re failing spectacularly.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Kamala Harris made the right decision to skip the governor’s race, because she clearly wasn’t dying to do the job, @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "She should make the same call on the presidency — even if that’s the job she wants."
wapo.st
Opinion | Does Kamala Harris really scare anybody?
After skipping the California governor’s race, she should make the same call on the presidency.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
"In keeping with his generally nostalgic worldview, Trump seems to harbor the ideal of a country that produces most of its own goods, and mostly for its own citizens." The latest from @mattbaidc.bsky.social: wapo.st/4o18Lcx
wapo.st
Opinion | Trump wants you to have your choice of Cokes — and not much else
Mexican Coke, now made in America. But the rest of his agenda is taking us in the opposite direction.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
The last time Democrats went through an existential crisis over how to rebrand themselves, the main agitators were outsiders with little or no governing experience, @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "Now, a similar upheaval is underway." wapo.st/3TJEUY1
wapo.st
Opinion | Democrats have only one escape route
Unifying behind platitudes isn’t the way out of irrelevance. Making voters choose is.
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Reposted by Matt Bai
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
"CVS and other pharmacies have been struggling to contain a rise in thefts by gangs of fast-moving thieves," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "Unfortunately for CVS, the solution might be worse for business than the organized shoplifting."
wapo.st
Opinion | CVS was so worried about shoplifting that it stole its own soul
My local pharmacy’s products are now encased in glass, and the whole thing makes me very nervous.
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Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
"My issue here really has nothing to do with whether EV owners should pay more to use the roads," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "It’s entirely about how they’re being asked to pay." wapo.st/3G4F4pz
wapo.st
Opinion | This tax testifies to the utter corruption of conservative thought
Congress is coming for your EV — and what’s left of conservatism.
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
“If you’re looking for a party to check the expansion of federal taxing power into new and previously unimagined terrain, you’ve come to the wrong city.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | This tax testifies to the utter corruption of conservative thought
Congress is coming for your EV — and what’s left of conservatism.
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
“By sending troops into California and challenging the sovereignty of states, Trump seems poised to do for Democrats what they can’t do for themselves, which is to provide a national hearing for a pretty deep bench of governors.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Trump is doing Democrats a favor by elevating Newsom
The Democrats will be stronger if their opposition to Trump comes from outside Washington.
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
“You’re supposed to be this great, visionary, hyperloopy guy, and this is all you’ve got? A re-org plan? The Cat in the Hat arrived with more sophisticated tricks.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Washington didn’t wreck DOGE. Elon Musk did.
He failed not because his ambitions were too grand, but because they were so pathetically small.
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Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
"No longer is Springsteen lamenting that long walk home to the America we used to know," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "Now, he’s begging us to turn around and take it."
wapo.st
Opinion | In Springsteen’s protest, a fitting Memorial Day plea
His lyrics echo a nation’s slow descent from hope to distrust — and hint at redemption.
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
“No university that’s true to its values ought to attempt to censor a student’s remarks, let alone treat extemporaneous speechmaking as a crime. What is this, the Democratic National Convention?” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Graduates speak their minds. Universities freak out.
In punishing students who make pro-Palestinian commencement speeches, schools lose their way.
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Jill Lawrence @jilldlawrence.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
I've touched on this in a couple of pieces, but here's a worthwhile big dig into Elon Musk's global Starlink dealmaking and the ethics laws/rules nobody seems to care about anymore. By @mattbaidc.bsky.social in, yes, @washingtonpost.com. GIFT LINK (part of my end-of-month sale) wapo.st/3YV66G2
wapo.st
Opinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.
Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals?
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Senator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Interesting that right as Trump is holding countries hostage to make new trade deals, a lot of them seem to be feeling the pressure to make deals with Elon Musk’s companies! www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.
Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals?
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Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
India, Vietnam, Bangladesh — Starlink's flurry of expansion comes as most of the world views Elon Musk as the second most powerful man in D.C., @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "So it raises some obvious questions." wapo.st/3Gz2qUf
wapo.st
Opinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.
Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals?
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Spent the last couple of months trying to figure out the connection between Starlink and US trade policy. Here’s what I learned. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.
Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals?
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Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
"We’re running out of bulwarks, and American Jews shouldn’t feel good about that just because the white nationalist arrow hasn’t yet spun in their direction." Thanks for reading.
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | If the ADL thinks Trump’s thuggery is protecting Jews, it’s wrong
The Anti-Defamation League should loudly oppose the unlawful roundup of pro-Palestinian activists.
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Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
"Find me a moment in history when Jews anywhere benefited from a mix of rampant nationalism and repression," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "You’ll be looking awhile." wapo.st/3E6gELt
wapo.st
Opinion | If the ADL thinks Trump’s thuggery is protecting Jews, it’s wrong
The Anti-Defamation League should loudly oppose the unlawful roundup of pro-Palestinian activists.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 12/03/2025
“Here is the unavoidable truth: the Washington Post I joined, the one I came to love, is not the Washington Post I left.” @ruthmarcus.bsky.social writes about her decision to resign from the paper in the wake of editorial changes made by its owner, Jeff Bezos.
newyorker.com
Why I Left the Washington Post
Owner Jeff Bezos wants to transform the Opinions section of the paper, where I worked for forty years. After the publisher killed my column disagreeing with that move—it appears here in full—I decided...
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