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Ashoka Mukpo

@shokes.bsky.social
1.8K followers 440 following 630 posts

Features Writer, @mongabay.bsky.social ☀️

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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The prediction I'm most confident about right now is that the anti-elite sentiment across western societies is going to shift towards the tech industry and it's going to be very, very intense. I think a lot of them expect this too.
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 24/09/2026
Following #USAID’s closure, a report by One Earth Partners reveals that critical environmental projects in fragile ecosystems have stalled or collapsed. Based on 150 interviews, the analysis includes a list of 100 key initiatives searching for new funding. @shokes.bsky.social reports.
mongabay.cc
New report reveals the environmental cost of USAID’s destruction
Nearly two years after U.S. President Trump’s decision to dismantle international development agency USAID removed nearly $1 billion from global conservation and environment funding, the agency’s…
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 22/09/2026
Researchers in Yellowstone National Park are using AI and bioacoustic recorders to decode "wolfish", the complex vocal language of wolf packs. By isolating over 8,000 hours of continuous wolf calls, the tech offers new insights for wildlife conservation & remote tracking. Justin Catanoso reports.
mongabay.cc
‘Don’t shoot. Listen’: The AI-aided quest to understand Yellowstone’s wolves
Jeff Reed wasn’t raised to hate wolves. But as a child he bought into the Little Red Riding Hood myth regarding their villainous nature. You see one, you shoot it. But not on a night on his Montana…
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
something I shouldn't admit but which is nonetheless true is that when PR people send me pitches with AI art, it makes me want to cover their stories *unfavorably*
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 08/09/2026
[Commentary] The idea that we must massively scale up mining for the clean energy transition is false, scholar Shaan Sood argues in an op-ed. Most "critical minerals" are actually used in industries unrelated to, or opposed to, clean energy, while extraction causes widespread harm.
mongabay.cc
On renewable energy, it’s time to debunk the ‘transition minerals’ narrative (commentary)
There is an insidious lie that has taken root in the energy transition narrative pushed by the world’s most powerful financial, political, and environmental institutions: we need to massively scale…
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 07/09/2026
Development banks are funding transition mineral mines linked to water pollution, deforestation, and human rights risks, per a new report. Nearly 75% of African projects analyzed showed evidence of harm as nations scramble for critical energy minerals. Learn more in this story by Elodie Toto.
mongabay.cc
Development banks are backing problematic mineral projects, report finds
“Development bank-backed transition minerals projects are frequently associated with significant environmental, social, and human rights risks.” This is the conclusion of the latest report by the…
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tamara nopper @tamaranopper.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I still appreciate this from Ta-Nehisi Coates. “I want to be a really decent person and a great writer. That’s what I want out of my life. And that’s not small… Like, being a decent person is not a small thing and it’s not an easy thing, by the way. It really, really isn’t.”
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Watching the rise of the far right in Europe partly on migration fears right as I'm re-reading about the late 19th century scramble for Africa. How do these people think we got this world? They shattered everyone else's.
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Hanno Hauenstein @hahauenstein.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
PART TWO of my interview with Eva von Redecker is now out on Substack. We speak at length about phantom possession, populism, and counterweights to the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt. hannohauenstein.substack.com/p/eva-von-re...
hannohauenstein.substack.com
Eva von Redecker: “Fascism Is Liberalism Broken Off to the Right” – PART 2
Political philosopher Eva von Redecker on how fantasies of possession and loss fuel fascism. This is *part two* of an in-depth interview.
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 05/09/2026
In Lagos, rapid development is stripping away natural flood buffers like mangroves and wetlands. As satellite data links declining vegetation to worsening flash floods, experts urge government action to strictly protect remaining coastal ecosystems. Fellow Kingsley Charles reports.
mongabay.cc
Rapid wetland loss and ‘real estate boom’ increasing flood risk in Lagos
In July, following relentless bursts of rainfall, flash floods covered pockets of Lagos, disrupting commerce and traffic in Nigeria’s commercial capital. Experts have found that the city now faces…
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Sally's reporting on migration routes and the people traveling them is the kind of thing that's going to be read and cited a hundred years from now, long after 99% of today's published output fades to dust.
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Una Mullally @unamullally.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
"They had dreams in mind: Babylon, some called it. Europe, a continent where crushing poverty seemed possible to escape." More excellent reporting from @sallyhayd.bsky.social
irishtimes.com
‘It was day 13 or 14 when people started dying’: More than 200 set sail for Europe. Only 36 survived
A harrowing story of death and survival on the Atlantic migration route from west Africa, ‘the deadliest in the world’
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This is of niche interest but it's so revealing about what actually motivates Trump. In a conflict over control of West African iron ore exports, he picked a European/Indian company over a US/Canadian one. Why? Because they offered a bigger bag. www.africaintelligence.com/west-africa/...
africaintelligence.com
Liberia • How Donald Trump secretly backed ArcelorMittal in Monrovia
Despite losing exclusive use of its railway in favour of US firm Ivanhoe Atlantic, Lakshmi Mittal's conglomerate remains particularly influential in Liberia. That position has been helped by the US
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Jim Swift @jimswift.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The cruelty is the point. Shame on this administration and shame on the people who voted for this. www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/spring...
springfieldnewssun.com
Springfield Haitian student takes his own life after being fitted with ICE ankle monitor, advocates say
A 20-year-old Wright State student took his own life on Interstate 70 out of anguish over a required ICE ankle monitor, according to local community advocates.
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I don't think it should be controversial to say, "we will not provide financial or military assistance to a country where the Minister of National Security brags about popping people's dreams of 'food' and 'education' then sending them to a prison where they are starved."
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 28/08/2026
In southeastern Liberia, a cocoa boom threatens some of West Africa’s last intact rainforests. Journalist James Giahyue speaks with Mongabay's @shokes.bsky.social about how poverty and local political involvement drive the rapid deforestation in the remote region. Read the full interview. 👇️
mongabay.cc
‘They will do it legally or illegally’: Interview with James Giahyue on Liberia’s cocoa boom
In 2024, the price of cacao on world markets spiked dramatically, nearly quintupling from what it had been a year earlier. Prices have since dropped, but along with a land crunch in Côte d’Ivoire,…
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Restoring ecosystems doesn't only reverse nature loss, it's THE most powerful ally we could hope for against both climate collapse itself, and its consequences. As a further plus, it makes life SO much more beautiful!! Rewilding should be a global priority 🌍
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Hard to call it a "stain on the soul" when it's looking more like a verdict. This period isn't going to get washed away by an election or two, something has turned very rotten in America.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
We are a broken nation. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians were living and working legally, paying taxes, and contributing. Haiti remains wholly unsafe. But Trump hates Haitians, and the White House wanted videos of Black people in chains, so they stripped them of status and turned on the cameras.
Homeland Security 7
@DHSgov
X.com
Haiti TPS has been TERMINATED.
Those with terminated TPS are in our nation Illegally. They have two options: LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or be DEPORTED.
DHS.GOV/CBРНОМЕ

Underneath is a screenshot of a video showing two Haitian men in chains being led to the aircraft. I didn’t post the video, but it’s vile.
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Back during Trump 1 I wrote about the very difficult circumstances Liberian deportees faced in Monrovia. I can’t imagine how much worse it‘s going to be there for people with no connections to the country at all popula.com/2018/08/31/i...
popula.com
African Immigrants and Deportation in the Age of Trump
Immigrants from Africa and the iron gateways of mass deportation.
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 27/08/2026
Brazil's renewable energy boom is attracting massive data centers, but at a high cost. A joint investigation by Mongabay and @intercept.com.br reveals that nearly 80% of proposed sites overlap with traditional Quilombola and Indigenous lands, shifting industrial risks onto local communities. 🧵
mongabay.cc
Brazil’s unique data center boom rides on clean power despite social burden
Corporations benefit from wasted energy, while locals pay for grid upgrades and endure noise and water threats.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 26/08/2026
WHO says Ebola outbreak in Uganda over, as cases continue to rise in Congo reut.rs/45Ps8xi
reut.rs
WHO says Ebola outbreak in Uganda over, as cases continue to rise in Congo
The outbreak of the ​Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in ‌Uganda is over, a World Health Organization official said ​in a briefing ​on Wednesday, as she warned ⁠that cases continue to ​rise in Democratic Republic of ​Congo.
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Hanno Hauenstein @hahauenstein.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Stoked to finally share the latest episode of my interview podcast, Nullpunkt, in which I speak with @michaelbarenboim.bsky.social about Germany, Gaza, classical music, and more. youtu.be/xtmSZ4xDms0?...
youtu.be
Michael Barenboim: In Germany, Jews who reject Zionism are seen as not really Jewish
YouTube video by Nullpunkt – mit Hanno Hauenstein
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
bye dolly 😘. you were as real as real ones get youtu.be/yFzNje7wMlw?...
youtu.be
Dolly Parton 08 Living On Memories of You
YouTube video by littlesparrow185
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huck mason @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
genuinely cannot imagine anything like this ever happening again.
DSA •
@DemSocialists
X.com
Democratic Socialists of America extends our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Dolly Parton, a hero of the working-class and an inspiration to us all.Donald J. Trump
@reaDonald Trump
+
Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away. This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you. President DONALD J. TRUMP
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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I guess I'll add that Dolly Parton is up there with Fred Rogers in terms of truly achieving what I think a Christian living their faith in public life should be like.
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Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
RIP to one of the most gifted songwriters to ever pick up a pen and a guitar. youtu.be/FkUB5XPXXZg?
youtu.be
Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind
YouTube video by Dolly Parton - Topic
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
In this essay Cofnas makes an *explicit* argument for using contract review as a method of removing academics on ideological grounds sooo 🤷🏻
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Siddhartha Mitter @siddharthamitter.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Natasha Cloud for president.
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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 23/08/2026
Yesterday I went down the rabbit hole of figuring out what letter signers said about Palestine. One US sociologist who signed in defense of Cofnas had written an article for the Manhattan Institute defending their university’s choice to call the cops on Palestine activists.
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Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
The single most impactful social/cultural development over the last decade (that virtually no retrospectives of "woke" have engaged in) is the new elite consensus that moral judgement is itself inherently illegitimate.
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
I'm sure all these names appear on a similar letter about the Trump Administration's attempt to put Columbia's middle eastern & african studies department into receivership, yes?
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Among the greatest wishes of the crowd in charge of the US right now would be to have the power to at-will fire journalists
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
We are unquestionably sending people to their deaths, all because the President and his appointees are making policy based on pure racism and bigotry.
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The American Prospect @prospect.org · 20/08/2026
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flight landed in Liberia today, likely carrying immigrants with no ties to the country, marking Liberia’s entrance into the Trump administration’s network of countries taking so-called third-country nationals. buff.ly/43SshI5
prospect.org
Liberia Joins Trump’s ‘Third-Country Deportation’ Network - The American Prospect
The African republic says it will take up to 1,200 noncitizen deportees beginning with the flight on Thursday.
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Love doing Liberian radio shows www.facebook.com/share/v/18QS...
facebook.com
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
denied access, researchers and journalists are increasingly turning to open-source intelligence to document atrocities
wired.me
The Open-Source Investigators Reconstructing the Middle East’s Wars
As journalists are shut out of conflict zones, investigators are using satellite imagery, social media and 3D modelling to document atrocities. But evidence alone cannot deliver accountability.
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A lot of white centrists seem fine with admitting flat-out demons into the room as long it helps them cathartically indulge their resentment of black influence in society bylinetimes.com/2026/08/18/t...
bylinetimes.com
The Peter Thiel-Linked Race Science Network that Penetrated Cambridge University and Targeted Jason Arday
The media's coverage of the academic's life was fuelled by the campaign of an established far-right network
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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Went through one of Berlin‘s main squares today and the majority of campaign posters belonged to the far-right AfD. That would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Times are changing, at light speed.
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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The ag lobby really, really, really, really, really, really, really wants you to think AI is the reason reservoirs are going empty. It's not. It's agriculture.
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Siddhartha Mitter @siddharthamitter.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
“A system that covers everyone, costs $1 trillion less, and averts more than 100,000 deaths annually requires no new discovery to implement, only enactment,” they wrote.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Plenty to reflect about re: the Arday affair, but I'm going to repeat this one thing. The playbook the right used here is effective even though it's not especially sophisticated, as it relies on the audience to do the dirty work. I've been calling it "Trojan horse propaganda", let's go with that. 1/
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Governance by Daily Mail comment section
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
There is no middle ground with these people. They are not a “counterweight to woke” or whatever these idiot journalists are talking themselves into, theyre sadist mediocrities looking to hurt people.
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Random Restaurant Bot @restaurant-bot.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Family Restaurant; FJ9R+F7X, Cham Lam Rd, Thimphu, Bhutan www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&q…
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Siddhartha Mitter @siddharthamitter.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Lagos to Abidjan! One of the great road trips (bring patience, sense of humor, small bills, and a good appetite). A great feature that efficiently covers a lot of thematic as well as geographic ground, by Emmanuel Akinwotu apps.npr.org/west-africa-...
apps.npr.org
In West Africa, one road could change a continent — and the world
A 600-mile journey along the shores of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast reveals one of the world's most consequential transformations.
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Hanno Hauenstein @hahauenstein.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Breaking: The Center for Constitutional Rights, alongside Human Rights Watch and other organizations, is suing the Trump administration over its sanctions against the ICC, arguing they are illegal and fundamentally undermine human rights work in Palestine and around the world.
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Ashoka Mukpo @shokes.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
my theory on gen z fashion is that they had to come up with something that youth obsessed millennials wouldn't swag jack and they succeeded tremendously www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Incomprehensible Fashion Statements of Gen Z
It used to be that you could tell goths from preps by the look of them.
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Molly Crabapple @mollycrabapple.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Fascists try to force their victims to look like the criminals they imagine them to be. This is such sick, disgusting humiliation. I think people who have never been around ankle monitors don't realize how painful they are, how difficult they render daily life
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Rico Charges @nochorus.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
bsky.app/profile/plea...
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