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Nicholas Thompson

@nxthompson.bsky.social
6.5K followers 112 following 680 posts

CEO of The Atlantic. Going out of business soon, since 1857. Author of “The Running Ground: A father, a son, and the simplest of sports.”

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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
ICE officers were once expected to either reunite detained parents with their children before deporting them or ensure that there was an authorized caregiver. Then the administration weakened that rule, allowing deportations to move ahead even when children had no safe place to go. buff.ly/56a9nEV
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"The Situation Room connected the call. Biden jumped in. 'Bibi, man, what the fuck are you doing?' He gripped the phone tight. 'You think I’m Santa Claus? No Santa in Israel, pal.'" buff.ly/zdFfmmo
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How Biden Averted a War With Iran
In April 2024, the U.S. military helped avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East by working with Israel to defeat an Iranian missile attack.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
An irony at the center of Trump’s tirade against the press: buff.ly/Nu634VU
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Here’s some color on Umar Kremlev, the Russian oligarch who helped fund Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding: buff.ly/wA8G3m4
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Karl Rove's impersonation of Donald Trump at #TAF26 is ... terrific.
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Carrie Brown @brizzyc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"Reuters has counted at least 75 federal rulings that found that the Trump administration had “infringed on First-Amendment rights.” But Trump keeps on doing it.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The First Amendment as interpreted by Trump: "Conservatives can say what they want. Anything else Americans want to say, they say at their own risk." By @adamserwer.bsky.social, who is always so great on these issues. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Speak at Your Own Risk
Donald Trump’s attacks on the First Amendment
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I wrote about who is actually making America “poorer and dirtier.” It’s not immigrants. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Who is responsible for this terrible state of affairs? The opposition party and immigrants, apparently. Vance went on to say, “The Democrat legacy of the last few years was that they bankrupted our country and left us poor. They left our country weaker. They left our border wide open and our communities less safe.”

But this account represents a preposterous inversion. Almost every problem Vance lists, the Trump administration has made worse.

The administration’s environmental policies have made American water and air dirtier. Its health-care, tariff, and tax policies have worsened inflation and increased the financial burden on most American households, even as incomes have grown. And its public-health policies have led to outbreaks of contagious disease.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“These people do not talk about spreading democracy, and don’t want to build long-term relationships. They don’t care about America’s reputation. They are deploying the tools of American diplomacy and government for their own purposes." From @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu: buff.ly/NX3U6kW
theatlantic.com
MAGA Is Making the World Safe for Corruption
Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
This is an important story from Toluse Olorunnipa on how election deniers have infiltrated local election systems. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
"President Trump began his midterm-convention address last night by casting his spell on the crowd in Dallas. 'This place is packed,' he announced from the stage, pointing to where everyone could see hundreds of empty seats." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
Trump’s Dream World in Dallas
At a midterm convention, Trump tries to defy the odds one last time.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“I was fired after I said in an appearance on CBS News that my personal red line would be if the Pentagon ever instructed me not to publish a perfectly accurate story. It is telling that I am being fired for describing the most anodyne of journalistic ethics." From Erik Slavin. buff.ly/lYHNOrQ
theatlantic.com
The Inside Story of What Happened at Stars and Stripes
For generations, the newspaper has served American military families. That work must continue. And it must remain editorially independent.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
@jonlemire.bsky.social on one of the best ways New York City has changed in the wake of 9/11. buff.ly/SpW4NRi
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
"Democrats don’t want Trump’s politics or even necessarily his all-out norm breaking. But they want his energy. They’re sick of a Democratic Party that does the functional equivalent of sending a strongly worded letter while democracy burns down around us."
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
"I suspect that over the next few years, because of our tendency to anthropomorphize, we will feel more affection than we should for our personal agents, while offering less admiration than we should to our fellow humans."
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
An excerpt from Gloria Steinem's forthcoming memoir, published today in @TheAtlantic. RIP. buff.ly/INsvOmG
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This is crazy. There’s apparently a Latvia-run operation paying people to turn pro-Republican videos into short clips and make them look like grassroots support. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
MAGA has been obsessed with proving an alleged plot by Biden officials, social-media companies, and researchers to suppress conservative speech. Jobs were lost, a center was closed, and reputations were tarnished. Now we know it was all a fiction. @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu. buff.ly/BaSs2Cr
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Wow. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"There have been many articles about how promiscuous use of AI will affect intellectual development, but I’m far more interested in its moral consequences...I’m aghast at so many young people seemingly habituating themselves to cheating as a way of life." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
A Society of Cheats
Students’ use of AI is teaching them to cut corners, disdain rules, and believe that integrity is for suckers and wimps.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A lot of people are arguing about the family that lost their child to measles in Philadelphia. A lot of people are assuming things. So Tom Bartlett went and actually talked to them ... www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
theatlantic.com
The Measles-Stricken Mother Who Lost Her Newborn Son
The family at the center of Pennsylvania’s measles controversy tells their story.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
"The FDNY lost 343 men on September 11; 65 of their sons and daughters now serve in the department." This story is incredible. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Man Who Refused to Sit on the Sidelines
Kevin Dowdell, a lieutenant in an elite FDNY rescue unit, taught his sons to take action. When he disappeared on 9/11, they went to Ground Zero to search for him.
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ian bremmer @ianbremmer.com · 20/08/2026
how do we reorient artificial intelligence to support democracy? what sort of catastrophe will it take to push world leaders to regulate ai? and how do recent grads navigate all of this unpredictable – but promising – change? with @nxthompson.bsky.social
youtu.be
Ian Bremmer on How AI Could Upend Global Politics
YouTube video by Nicholas Thompson
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
"Trump is fighting a trade war that very few Americans support, under leadership that most Americans reject, to achieve results that virtually all Americans would dismiss as pointless if not crazy." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
How to Lose a Trade War
Trump’s bullying of Canada is failing.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
There is the right way to address a cyberattack from a foreign adversary and then there’s this: www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This is a good question from @radiofreetom.bsky.social about Trump’s plane swap in Turkey. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A searing essay about race, class, and administrative cowardice at an elite college. It's going to go down as one of the defining pieces for this moment in academia. Read it all. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Why I Quit the Tenure Track
The insufferable hypocrisy of elite academia
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Wrote about the border search exception: a massive loophole in the Fourth Amendment that allows border officials to search through your phone without a warrant, the exception provides an easy pretext for the Trump administration to target its political enemies. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Trump Should Need a Warrant to See Your Phone
Federal officers can too easily comb through the most intimate details of your life.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
We don’t know why so many Moroccans swam to Ceuta. We do know that it was not a real path to Europe, that many migrants are dead, that almost everyone else has been sent home and that the far right weaponized it all. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Far Right Is Distorting Ceuta
We’ve seen this before.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
From Missy Ryan and Nancy A. Youssef: Pete Hegseth fired or reassigned almost every Pentagon staffer who worked on reducing civilian harm. After the deadly school strike in Iran, the Pentagon may rehire many of them. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
@dgraham.bsky.social on the Todd Blanche situation: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
“Blanche’s day job may no longer involve working as President Trump’s private attorney, but his conduct at the top of the Justice Department has left little doubt that his primary loyalty is not to the United States or the Constitution but to the man in the White House.” buff.ly/8AcL40D
theatlantic.com
The Biggest Takeaway From Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Hearing
The once-cherished ideal of dispensing impartial justice has all but disappeared.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Wow. John Ratcliffe says Ukraine’s AI drones are so effective that the average Russian soldier is now dying within 30 minutes of reaching the battlefield. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
This is an amazing quote from Lindsey Graham about when he realized how politics works. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
A new CIA survey shows officers are worried about telling the truth if it cuts against the Trump admin's POV. This could have severe consequences—especially if our intelligence strategy is influenced by Laura Loomer's blog. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
We recently published a remarkable piece from @rosehorowitch.bsky.social on The End of Reading. It's about what's happened to literacy in this country and where we're heading—and includes some bonkers studies. Obviously, you should read the whole thing! But here are a few details that stand out. 1/
theatlantic.com
The End of Reading Is Here
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Thrilled to announce the launch of our first narrative game: Lemony Snicket’s Suspicious Incident in Dubious Park. You're an investigator trying to solve the murder of a famous socialite. It's fun and challenging in all the best ways. Please play and share with your friends: theatlantic.com/play
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
"Trump is cultural heroin. He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it." - JD Vance, ten years ago today. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
theatlantic.com
Opioid of the Masses (From 2016)
To many, Donald Trump feels good, but he can’t fix America’s growing social and cultural crisis, and the eventual comedown will be harsh.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
The last paragraph of @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu piece on what patriotism means ahead of our 250th Independence Day. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Hegseth, Rubio, and other top Trump officials kept using Signal after Signalgate—with some messages set to auto-delete. This may not be entirely in line with federal laws requiring the preservation of government records. buff.ly/kFmZKYS
theatlantic.com
Hegseth, Rubio, and Caine Had an Auto-Deleting Signal Chat
New records reveal that officials kept using the app, even after the president suggested they stop.
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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 26/06/2026
CEO of @theatlantic.com @nxthompson.bsky.social had our own @eli.bsky.social on his podcast “The Most Interesting Thing in AI” to talk about our “After The Feeds” deck. (Timestamped links below!) They covered a lot of ground, including but not limited to:
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John Robinson @jrobin.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I’ve written my GOP congressmen about Trump’s abuse of his pardoning power and their response is basically to shrug and say, “Gee, what can you do?” No criticism, no outrage, no allegiance to anyone but the one.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
"'It is general knowledge in our practice that for $2 million, you can have a pardon,' one prominent white-collar defense attorney told me." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
The White House Considers Granting 250 Pardons for the Nation’s Birthday
The idea has set off a frenzy of appeals for clemency.
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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 26/06/2026
🤖 Where are AI agents going to interrupt the digital town square and where are they not? “In places where we're consuming information, trying to make buying decisions, we're going to see a lot of disruption … On the other hand, I do not want my friend's agent replying to me in the group chat.”
youtu.be
Will AI Agents Kill Social Media—Or Save It? - New_ Public's Eli Pariser
YouTube video by Nicholas Thompson
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
@radiofreetom.bsky.social on Trump’s appearance at the Great American State Fair last night. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Bill Pulte might not have the authority to make the changes he's already begun making—because he may not be eligible for the job in the first place. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
“‘It’s interesting that the guy who says he wants to bring back the warrior culture is expunging the biggest warriors in the Army ranks,’ one retired Army officer told us. ‘This is not a war on woke. This is a war on warriors.’” From Nancy A. Youssef and Missy Ryan: buff.ly/WA7m4ID
theatlantic.com
Another Top General Is Out at the Pentagon
C. D. Donahue, the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan, is the latest in a long line of military departures.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
"The Reflecting Pool episode captures most of Trump’s governing pathologies (corruption, incompetence, authoritarian menace, absurd lies) without any of the normal attendant consequences. It is pure, meaningless fun." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Reflecting Pool Water’s Fine
It’s easy being green.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
These numbers on the popularity of Trump’s Iran deal are rough: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
@eli.bsky.social is one of the smartest people I've talked to about digital spaces. He often sees how tech is going to influence human interaction before it actually does. On my podcast, he laid out the case for why AI is about to change social media in profound ways. Here are a few key points. 1/
youtube.com
Will AI Agents Kill Social Media—Or Save It? - Upworthy founder Eli Pariser
YouTube video by Nicholas Thompson
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