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Marshall Herskovitz

@mherskovitz.bsky.social
16K followers 893 following 1.5K posts

Writer, producer, director - thirtysomething, Last Samurai, My So-Called Life, Dangerous Beauty. Let's build a future for our children - and their children. LA, PDX

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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 1h
“The ghoul administration.” Brilliant.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 5h
If I were a member of Congress and cared about my country, I would be screaming at the top of my lungs that recess must end RIGHT NOW. Anyone running for office who is not calling for immediate regulation of AI is either stupid or corrupt. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
OpenAI safety leader quits, warning AI company’s culture is ‘broken’
David Robinson joins other insiders in urging industry to take more care over rapidly developing technology
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
So interesting that @nytimes.com only tells us about the terrible tempers and abusive behavior of female Democrats in Congress. I guess the Republicans who support ICE shootings, black-hole deportations, and taking healthcare from millions are just nicer people. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...
nytimes.com
Mary Peltola’s Campaign in Alaska Senate Race Is Rocked by Tumult, With Angry Outbursts and Slurs (Gift Article)
Democrats hope that Mary Peltola can flip a Republican Senate seat in Alaska. Former aides describe a campaign and congressional office marked by chaos.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
2) message, only you know a lot more about it than I do! I'm about to start a podcast to lay out principles for how Dems can win an enduring majority instead of squeaking by or losing with the usual 48%. Would love to discuss what we're both up to. Please DM if interested. Thanks! Marshall
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
1) Nick, you might know my work - thirtysomething, Last Samurai, etc. Excited to have just been introduced to yours. After 8 years trying to help Dem messaging I accepted that a real Democratic vision will have to come from outside the party. What I've been working on is remarkably similar to your--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
3) to believe it "was the dumbest idea in the world." Democrats will never unite behind socialism, but they can, and must, unite behind the eradication of neoliberalism, which caused the greatest transfer of wealth in history - $70 trillion - from the middle class to the super rich.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
2) of profit and shareholder value" with no regard for the common good. As Kaufman notes, even many builders of the neoliberal project now admit it has gone too far. Welch, who invented mass layoffs, came--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
1) Jonathan Kaufman comprehensively deconstructs the terrible damage done by neoliberalism, which GE CEO Jack Welch essentially defined in 2009 as the "single-minded pursuit-- www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Blame Ronald Reagan (Gift Article)
We are suffering the consequences of the conservative revolution that began in the 1980s.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Perfect irony: After spending 100's of billions in a race to eliminate American jobs and pollute the American landscape, the sociopaths running our giant AI companies will now see their own jobs eliminated by cheaper AI from China. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/t...
nytimes.com
Corporate America Is Getting Hooked on Open-Source A.I. (Gift Article)
Companies like AT&T are increasingly using cheap, freely available artificial intelligence models over expensive ones from Anthropic and OpenAI.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Great Conversation Live with The Intellectualist today, covering everything from My So-Called Life to income inequality to World War III! Thank you, Brian! Please watch! theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/live-with-...
theintellectualistofficial.substack.com
Live with The Intellectualist
A recording from The Intellectualist's live video
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Story that got WAY too little attention last week: Todd Blanche on a call with faith leaders assured them DOJ and WH are “working hand-in-hand" to make sure the "DOBBS DECISION BECOMES PERMANENT IN EVERY SINGLE STATE.” thehill.com/policy/healt...
thehill.com
Blanche pledges to make Dobbs decision ‘permanent’ in every state
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told faith leaders he is planning to roll back abortion access even in states that have laws protecting it.  On a private call last week hosted by the Whit…
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Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych @nick-carmody.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
As Ed Elson & @justinwolfers.bsky.social point out on @profgalloway.com's Prof G Markets... ...disordered psychological thinking underpins the failures of both the tariffs & the Iran war. As I wrote on page 128 of @bandylee.bsky.social's, "The MUCH more dangerous case of Donald Trump"... 1/
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
5) of the Democratic Party that only socialists have had the courage to embrace solutions at the size of the problem. But their solutions are misguided, and will only create more misery. We need to destroy neoliberalism, not capitalism. And it will take a vast movement of reform to accomplish it.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
4) of the firm had been so hollowed out that its loyalty to big money now exceeded its century-old values. This is America today. We have a values problem more than an economic one. Profit without responsibility to the common good is a cancer. And it is a failure--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
3) enough. So the firm moved into private equity, neoliberalism's dark heart, where no values or politics can get in the way of making millions. And when Trump was re-elected and came after them, the culture--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
2) "did well by doing good." Its partners made an average of $2.5 million a year, putting them among less than a tenth of one percent of all earners. Capitalism at its best. But in the neoliberal world we now inhabit $2.5 million a year for doing what you love is shameful, not nearly--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
1) The moral collapse of the great law firm Paul Weiss perfectly illustrates the fatal difference between capitalism and neoliberalism. Famous for decades for its groundbreaking pro-bono, pro-social victories, the firm-- www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/u...
nytimes.com
How a Top Law Firm Went From Standing Up to Trump to Bending the Knee (Gift Article)
Paul Weiss was a progressive stalwart for decades and led the legal resistance against President Trump in his first term. Then it surrendered without a fight. This is the inside story of its transform...
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
🎯 @repwalkinshaw.bsky.social : “Any senator who votes to confirm Todd Blanche should know — you’re now part of the cover-up. You’re complicit in the cover-up if you vote to confirm the Todd Blanche for attorney general, who has led the cover-up of the Epstein Files.”
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Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych @nick-carmody.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
As seen throughout his life, JD Vance is a shapeshifting sociopath. Here, he pathetically mimics not just Trump's persecution complex, but also Trump's cadence and inflection when speaking in the 1st person about himself: "JD" ...and when he says, "...and the media didn't care about that." 1/
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Atticus Finch (of Georgia) @atticus59914029.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
This man, who I understand to be a 17 year veteran, likely just threw away his military career. He is a patriot of the first order.
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Atticus Finch (of Georgia) @atticus59914029.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
static.klipy.com
Nuke It: Nuclear Mushroom Cloud
ALT: Nuke It: Nuclear Mushroom Cloud
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
2) at a pro-trans rally - over his stance on Gaza! It would be laughable if it were not such a direct echo of Stalinist Russia.) If Democrats do not forcefully reject this kind of extremism, America will reject Democrats. And liberal democracy will be over.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
1) Further evidence that a growing part of the Democratic coalition has disconnected from reality. The activist screaming in Wiener's face crossed the line from political speech to physical threat. (A threat against a pro-trans candidate-- www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/u...
nytimes.com
Pro-Transgender Candidate Is Chased From a Trans Rights Event Over Gaza
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
2) or just live in delusion. Abolishing prisons is delusion: "Avila Chevalier said she opposed all deportations, even those of violent criminals. A prison abolitionist, she either couldn’t or wouldn’t answer repeated questions about whether murderers should be incarcerated."
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
1) A righteous and necessary Democratic populist economic movement is in danger of being hijacked by extremists who espouse insanity already rejected by 90% of Americans. Dems must decide if they're willing to do the hard work of saving America-- www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Democrats Are Done With Caution
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Once in a great while the news is not all bad: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Trump administration reverses decision to scrap ocean monitoring system
Move to dismantle $368m sea observatory initiative faced opposition from experts and lawmakers
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
4) what is the trance of helplessness, the incapability, that has allowed authoritarianism to grow in our own beloved country, and so quickly, as quickly as D-Day was mounted, dismantle so much of America’s greatness.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
3) planes, hundreds of millions of tons of supplies. This was America 82 years ago. Capable of rising to any task. So this is also a day to look in the mirror and ask--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
2) of American men and women - with their Allied counterparts - had only fifteen months to mount the largest invasion, some say the largest endeavor period, in human history. Millions of soldiers, tens of thousands of ships and--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
1) Today is a day to teach and remember. First and foremost the heroism of those - many our fathers and grandfathers - who waded into hell in order to save freedom from the forces of tyranny. But we must also teach and remember that millions--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
4) became its guiding philosophy. Capitalism has freed more people from poverty than any economic system in history. The cancer of neoliberalism, which has provoked unprecedented rage across political parties, may very well lead to its destruction.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
3) silently transformed into a new Feudalism, with worker-serfs owing fealty to their aristocratic lords. None of this was how capitalism worked before neoliberalism (defined by its originators as the pursuit of profit without regard for the common good)--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
2) what workers made. Also not noted: for every CEO making today's average of $39 million, there are now at least five tiers below - one tier making $20 million, the next $10, then $5, then $2 - making $1 million or more. Corporate America has been--
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
1) Piece notes today's average CEO pay is 465 times what workers make. Not noted is that in 1965 - during America's greatest period of growth, when the world's greatest middle class was built - average CEO pay was only 30 times-- www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/b...
nytimes.com
Led by Elon Musk, C.E.O. Pay Heads Toward the Stars
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
The only reason I would care about a Totenkopf tattoo is if Platner is now or ever was a Nazi or Nazi sympathizer. He was not. He was in a particularly lethal Marine squad that lionized "warrior culture" (Platner's words). I don't expect him as a Marine to have had any understanding of SS history.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Sebastian Junger is a brilliant writer, a serious person with very penetrating things to say about everyone and everything surrounding the Graham Platner phenomenon. Read this. I JUST HAD BREAKFAST WITH GRAHAM PLATNER open.substack.com/pub/sebastia...
open.substack.com
I JUST HAD BREAKFAST WITH GRAHAM PLATNER
Here is what you need to know.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Remarkable piece by David French should be the basis of a mandatory course in every high school and college in America. If you can't see behind the paywall, the most important sentence is Santayana's: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Fire of Stupidity Cannot Be Contained
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Fwiw I do think they have morals, but in recent years they’ve been rendered so powerless by the amoral people controlling our country that their own morals seemed useless or even self-defeating.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Many lessons can be learned from how Hungary finally defeated Orban. This is perhaps the most important: "They were united by a sense of moral outrage." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/o...
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T.J. Stiles @tj-stiles.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
The tech bros gave us crypto currency that isn’t currency, artificial intelligence that isn’t intelligence, and prediction markets that are inside-trader scams. On the other hand, they have given us gigantic data centers that employ no one and destroy communities. So there’s that.
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Eye of Mysterioso @mysteriphoto.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Dune (1965) Frank Herbert
Kaleidoscopic image of Frank Herbert’s Dune
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
You have to actually read it to understand how corrupt this administration really is:
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Once again @washingtonpost.com shows how shamefully captured it is by tech self-interest. See below the substance of Trump's EO, perhaps the most reasonable he's ever contemplated, reminiscent of safeguards against nuclear accidents. To WaPo it is unendurable government intrusion. wapo.st/4varGo1
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Dreyer never mentions that as an authoritarian state, China's people accept universal surveillance as a normal part of life. Americans don't, and shouldn't. And they're just learning that every time you use AI you're helping to create a universal surveillance state. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Why China Is So Much Less Scared of A.I.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
The secret to understanding AI is simple: the sociopaths creating it are the aliens in Rod Serling's 1962 masterpiece "To Serve Man." youtu.be/Zp_EhjlLGkQ?...
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Yes, this is exactly what I’m saying!! America was built on ambition, that’s why millions came here, that’s why people have always wanted their children to do better than they did. Socialism has never offered - or delivered - upward mobility. The key is to take back capitalism for the people.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
3) wasn’t just redistributive but also made structural room for ambitious, hard-working Americans to get ahead - training, investment, ability to compete, protection from monopoly and oligopoly, regulation of AI - would be enormously popular across the board. Populist anger channeled positively.
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
2) neoliberalism - profit without regard to the common good - not capitalism. Capitalism though never pretty can be made to serve the common good as it did from 1946-1970. But neoliberal money has corrupted our govt so that laws and regulations now only serve the .1%. A Democratic platform that—
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
1) Great points. Good to see you on here - haven’t been seeing your posts for a while! I think Democrats need to do something really difficult: mount a populist economic campaign that is still pro-capitalist. This is where AOC, Bernie, et al. fail. Those of us old enough know the problem now is—
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Marshall Herskovitz @mherskovitz.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
4) AI decimating the economy is a choice. Made by billionaires and a government in thrall to big money. The level of economic rage in America is already at the tipping point. This insane march off a cliff will lead to widespread violence and deaths of despair.
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