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On the Media

@onthemedia.bsky.social
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A weekly radio show and podcast on all things media produced and distributed by WNYC Studios — onthemedia.org Hosted by @brookegladstone.bsky.social & @micahloewinger.bsky.social

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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 1h
The NYT created the new role of 'canon editor' to compile “definitive catalogs of culture.” @markkrotov.bsky.social says that the new gig points to a critical culture more equipped to “repackage and consecrate than to keep new talents warm." lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
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On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Joseph Lorenzo Hall, PhD @josephhall.org · 7h
Do not miss this: the incomparable @rickhasen.bsky.social, interviewed by the incomparable @micahloewinger.bsky.social for @onthemedia.bsky.social: “Trump’s Guide to Stealing an Election.” www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...
wnycstudios.org
Trump's Guide to Stealing an Election | On the Media | WNYC Studios
The Supreme Court has denied a bid by the Trump administration to restrict mail-in voting. On this week’s On the Media, hear about the attempts, successful and not, to turn election c...
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 11h
“If agents are as important as authors make them out to be, then they should have had some impact on the way that books have been published and bought and sold and consequently the books that we read.” – @lbmcgrath.bsky.social on the influence of the literary agent lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Micah Loewinger @micahloewinger.bsky.social · 14h
Ruh roh they put my face on a mug onthemedia.org/donate
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 14h
On this week’s show, hear @markkrotov.bsky.social from @nplusonemag.com muse on why old books are having a moment, and what it reveals about the state of the publishing industry… lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 16h
The Trump administration has been trying to turn election conspiracies into policy. But @rickhasen.bsky.social says not all the headlines warrant panic lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Laura McGrath @lbmcgrath.bsky.social · 17h
Had a great time talking about agents and other literary gatekeepers on @onthemedia.bsky.social! Give a listen! @princetonupress.bsky.social
wnycstudios.org
Trump's Guide to Stealing an Election | On the Media | WNYC Studios
The Supreme Court has denied a bid by the Trump administration to restrict mail-in voting. On this week’s On the Media, hear about the attempts, successful and not, to turn election c...
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
📻 Show’s up! Featuring @rickhasen.bsky.social, @markkrotov.bsky.social, and @lbmcgrath.bsky.social: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
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Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Announcing the merger with Titanic footage is an incredible bit
David Ellison • @ellisonskyd... 2h
What once was the peak, is now just the beginning.
Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture. By combining them, we aren't rewriting history — we're equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine. Together, we are Skydance: a creative-first ho Show
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Micah Loewinger @micahloewinger.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
@mollyfication.bsky.social's first @onthemedia.bsky.social TikTok is fascinating!
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Has your kid ever told you about a new friend at school, only for you to later find out they’d been talking to an AI chatbot? OTM Producer Molly Rosen spoke with The New Yorker’s Jessica Winter about how Big Tech companies have infiltrated classrooms.
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
And the WHCA says wut?
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Run don’t walk to the @npr.org Embedded feed to listen to their latest series “Where Is Austin Tice?” The reporting is edge-of-your-seat, gripping and revelatory. Bravo to everyone involved in this project! Here’s episode one to get you started pca.st/episode/bffd...
pca.st
Where Is Austin Tice?
American journalist Austin Tice vanished in Syria 14 years ago. A secret lead suggests he may still be alive. This week we're sharing the first episode of Where Is Austin Tice? NPR's…
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Nick Sousanis @nsousanis.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Listening to this episode of @onthemedia.bsky.social on bike ride to class and while I should be long from stunned by what comes out of his mouth at this point, trump saying, they can write what they want but I don’t have to let them into the people’s house. If irony weren’t long dead…
podcasts.apple.com
The White House on Mute
Podcast Episode · On the Media · September 25 · 50m
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Dan of the Year @downwithdan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
When you have no concept of how people engage with music
nicksaraev ~
@nicksaraev
X.com
I am not joking when I say this.
Spotify, Apple Music, and streaming in general is over.
Al music is now very, very good. You just don't know yet because all Al music circulating today is from ~2-3 generations ago.
Suno v6 pro et al has solved infinite personalized music.
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mollyfication.bsky.social @mollyfication.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cool event tomorrow in NYC with @mariakuznetsova.bsky.social and @storyevtime.bsky.social talking about their new book, How to Survive Authoritarianism. kvartirabooks.org/etn/book-pre...
kvartirabooks.org
Book Presentation. How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian’s Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America – Kvartira Books
Join us at Kvartira Books for the presentation of How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian's Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America, with authors Maria Kuznetsova and Dan Storyev. America is not th...
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David Greene @davidgreene.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Win! CA Court of Appeal rules that the First Amendment protects to republish legally obtained police records even if they had been ordered sealed, affirms anti-SLAPP motion. law.justia.com/cases/califo... We @eff.org represented Jack Poulson who reported on the domestic violence arrest of a tech CEO
law.justia.com
Blackman v. Substack, A173244 (Cal. Ct. App. 2026)
Blackman v. Substack, California Court of Appeals 2026
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The Daily Montanan @dailymontanan.com · 30/09/2026
Did you see an ad featuring President Donald Trump recently? It might have included the phrase, "This is the final battle." You may not know that you paid for that ad. dailymontanan.com/2026/09/29/r...
dailymontanan.com
Trump TV ads paid for with $20M in Homeland Security funds, Dems find • Daily Montanan
President Donald Trump is tapping $20 million in Homeland Security funding to pay for TV ads that heavily feature him ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats said Tuesday as the promos critics call…
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If a sentence in your newscast starts with “President Trump says…” you’re failing your audience.
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Allen Orr @allenorr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Three men. Three states. Twenty-four hours. ICE calls two of the dead “collaterals.” They were fathers, partners and human beings. #immigration @urbanviewradio.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Three deaths, three states, 24 hours: one day in ICE’s quiet but ‘gruesome’ surge
These men in Maine, Georgia and Florida shared no ties – until they became casualties in Trump’s anti-immigration campaign
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
i was really happy to go on @onthemedia.bsky.social to discuss how brands and politicians are manipulating AI chatbots by spamming reddit, spinning up low-effort websites, and otherwise deploying Generative Engine Optimization strategies www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...
wnycstudios.org
How Extinction Entered the AI Debate | On the Media | WNYC Studios
AI researchers are warning that the technology they’re creating could kill us all. On this week’s On the Media, unpacking the feverish debate over the dangers of artificial intelligen...
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“ We're at a great risk of people simply choosing not to speak or not to publish things they have a constitutional right to say or to publish.” – @sonjawest.bsky.social chats to Brooke about the legality of Trump’s press ban: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
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On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Journalists get different kinds of access depending on where they are at the White House – from the Brady Briefing Room to the Oval Office. .@rparloff.bsky.social explains why it’s relevant to the showdown between Trump and the press. lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This week we saw a rare coming together of the White House press corps with the press pool boycott. Brooke and Micah get together to trade theories about why *this* was the moment they chose to band together. lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 27/09/2026
If only there were a more concise word for “an overtly political campaign advertisement paid for by the government.” If only there were a roomful of writers and editors one could consult…
Eric Lipton NYT
@ericlipton.nytimes.com
What an odd moment in United States history.
A U.S. president is running an overtly political camaign advertisement, right before midterm elections, paid for by the U.S. government.
Trump appears to believe he is immune from any kind of legal limit.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A legal dispute over a press pass 50 years ago could shape the fight for White House press access today. Hear about The Nation reporter who sued for his press access back in the 70s, and more from @sonjawest.bsky.social. lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
See my post called, "Send the Interns," from January of 2017. pressthink.org/2017/01/send...
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
.@rparloff.bsky.social explains the Trump administration's (shaky) legal argument for keeping Politico, MSNow, and CNN out of the White House. Listen up: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Micah Loewinger @micahloewinger.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This week, Brooke and I did something we rarely do on @onthemedia.bsky.social... we spoke to each other on mic! We're hoping to make our banter a more common element of the show :)
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
During the first Trump admin, critic @jayrosen.bsky.social called for journalists to query the norms that had guided their work in a different political era. And with the press pool boycott this week, they've finally heeded that call. But why did it take this long? lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Roger Parloff @rparloff.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Trump's ousting @cnn.com from Air Force 1 was foreseeable, because a 2-1 panel of the DC Circuit let him do that to the AP, after it refused to switch to “Gulf of America” in its stylebook. But that was an “unpublished” stay order—not binding precedent. … 1/4 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/b...
nytimes.com
White House Blocks CNN From Air Force One (Gift Article)
CNN won’t be able to join President Trump on a Saturday trip to Tennessee. He had banned CNN and two other news outlets from the White House, but a court order on Thursday restored their access.
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Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pathetic collapse of journalistic solidarity. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/business…
nytimes.com
TV Networks to Resume Trump Coverage, Even as White House Excludes CNN (Gift Article)
The White House TV pool went dark this past week amid a standoff between CNN and the president. Network leaders, however, believe an indefinite suspension may be untenable.
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Rob Myers 🍵 @robmyers.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A very nice review of Trump’s relationship with the press over the years, and how utterly stupid he’s made himself look because of it. Thank you @onthemedia.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...
podcasts.apple.com
The White House on Mute
Podcast Episode · On the Media · September 25 · 50m
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
An obscure case from 1977 has found new relevance since Trump’s latest press ban. @sonjawest.bsky.social explains how it could shape the legal fight between Politico, CNN, MS Now and Trump. lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
“I think in the end [Trump] is saying, ‘The White House is my castle, and I can let in who I want, and I can throw out who I want… without consulting anybody.’” – @rparloff.bsky.social on Trump’s motivations for the White House press ban lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Sonja West @sonjawest.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Enjoyed getting to talk with Brooke Gladstone on one of my favorite shows, “On the Media,” about Trump’s press ban.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
What’s most striking about the president's latest attack on the press corps isn't so much the extreme nature of it. It was the press corps’ reaction *to* it. This week we break format to hear Brooke and Micah chat about why the press finally took collective action. lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
lnk.to
On the Media
The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Trump is raging at news orgs for refusing to cover his reception of Xi after he banned three from the White House. The real lesson here: When institutions join together to resist his abuses of power it actually works, sending him into a helpless fury. New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2158...
newrepublic.com
Trump’s Angry Tirade Over Failing Press Ban Reveals His Achilles’ Heel
Trump is furious that news organizations are fighting back against his vile efforts to punish their colleagues—because collective resistance to his authoritarianism actually works.
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Richard Miller @richardmiller.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Nailed it.
Glinda the good witch: “you had the power all along”
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Roger Parloff @rparloff.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Many thanks to @brookegladstone.bsky.social & producer Molly Rosen for including me in this great show.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
📻 Show’s up! Featuring @rparloff.bsky.social and @sonjawest.bsky.social: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
On the show this week, @micahloewinger.bsky.social and @brookegladstone.bsky.social break format to discuss why it took the White House press corps so long to stand up to Trump’s attacks on the media.
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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 08/05/2026
Preprinted! Been working on this for ~1 year w wonderful coauthors Nancy & Mark: > Understanding Artificial Neural Networks: Mysterianism about Known Mechanism is Mysticism doi.org/10.5281/zeno... Have you noticed many experts say they don't understand AI? What's going on? 🤯 Let us tell you... 1/
Understanding Artificial Neural Networks:
Mysterianism about Known Mechanism is Mysticism
Olivia Guest1,2, Nancy Abigail Nuñez Hernández3, and Mark Blokpoel1,2
1Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Radboud University, The Netherlands
2Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
3Facultad de Estudios Superiores Acatlán-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Mysterianism is the idea that human cognition, mind, cannot be understood. Taking this
concept and applying it to known mechanism — such that claims are made that we do not
know how engineered systems, such as artificial neural networks (ANNs), work, or that they
constitute black boxes that we can only open with difficulty — is inappropriate at best and
malicious at worst. We do know the mechanistic structure of such models because we designed
and built them. We also do know their functional role (what they are for) as well as the
mathematical function they are asked to approximate (map inputs to target outputs). Because
mysterianist beliefs about known systems, such as ANNs, are often expressed, scientists need
to sit up and take notice. We provide an error theory as to what is going on to help unpick
this metatheoretical blunder. Ultimately, the problem is that ‘understanding’ is not a technical
term in these cases: the word is co-opted for a specific narrative to sell ‘artificial intelligence’
through mystification. All computational systems, from pendulums to databases, will behave
in ways we cannot predict or control — this is not a unique property of ANNs — and experts
do indeed grasp the computational properties of these systems nonetheless.
Keywords: artificial neural networks; mechanism; black box; epistemology; artificial
intelligence; understanding4 GUEST, NUÑEZ HERNÁNDEZ, & BLOKPOEL≈
ANNs are equiva-
lent to or inspired
by humans.
α
≡
ANNs are a black
box or unknowable,
even if opened.
β
≡
Humans are a black
box or unknowable.
γ
Figure 1
Three co-occurring (latent) assertions in the context of con-
temporary reasoning on AI and cognition. While they may
appear to hang together in “reflective equilibrium” (Elgin 2017),
their metatheoretical examination brings their contradictions to
light. Starting from the top, and moving clockwise: 𝛼) represents
the typical assertion of so-called cognitive, neural, or otherwise
biological plausibility or inspiration presented for ANNs; 𝛽) is
the claim we tackle head on here — both in terms of analysing
the constituent terms and in how it relates to the other two
assumptions; and 𝛾) exemplifies a type of mysterianism, which
while not always explicitly expressed, plays a background role
and importantly comes into conflict with the other two claims
in important waysMYSTERIANISM ABOUT KNOWN MECHANISM IS MYSTICISM 11World
?Di
Data?Si
ANN
Figure 3
Not all systems, 𝑆𝑖 relate to their relevant data, 𝐷𝑖 and world
phenomena this way, but ANN models (as many inferential
statistical models) do when used without scientific understand-
ing of the data-generating process or without verbal or formal
theory to match (Guest and Martin 2025b, 2021, 2023). As we
move from left to right above, we move from full understanding
of engineered systems, 𝑆𝑖 to less or even possibly none of the
data, 𝐷𝑖 to the world which can be thought of as the set of
phenomena to be understood.
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@dreid63 @dreid63.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is a must listen. Integrity and bravery doesn't begin to cover it. @onthemedia.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com
The New Rules Of War Are There Are No Rules
Podcast Episode · On the Media · September 23 · 30m
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 24/09/2026
lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
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Adam A. Marshall @a-marshall-plan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Breaking: CNN, MS Now, Politico have moved for an emergency hearing before Judge Kelly, noting reporters for their orgs were turned away from WH this morning
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
BREAKING: Judge Timothy Kelly grants CNN, MS NOW, and Politico’s TRO against the Trump administration, ordering that the reporters affected “immediately” have their White House hard passes reinstated. The TRO is in effect for 14 days. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
For all these reasons, it is hereby ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order, ECF No. 2, is GRANTED.
2. It is further ORDERED that Defendants (except for President Trump) and their agents, representatives, and all persons or entities acting in concert with them shall immedi-
ately return, reinstate, and restore the White House "hard pass" press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO that were revoked on or about September 18, 2026, until further Order of the Court or the expiration of this Temporary
Restraining Order.
3. It is further ORDERED that this Temporary Restraining Order shall remain in effect for 14 days.
4. It is further ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall post a $1.00 bond in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c) by October 1, 2026.
SO ORDERED.
Is/ Timothy J. Kelly
TIMOTHY J. KELLY
United States District Judge
Date: September 24, 2026
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Faith K. Falkner @faithfalkner.com · 23/09/2026
Everyone should be listening to @onthemedia.bsky.social.
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Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Trump's Justice Department says "the president has found that plaintiffs have engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security." But when Trump announced the ban, he didn't say anything about "national security," he complained about negativity.
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