iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

My friend Scott Detrow has Pope Leo’s delightful backstory. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Sometimes it’s hard to confront inconvenient facts. An example: 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Sometimes the person silencing you is you. That was true in “Woke 1” for many progressives and true in Trump 2 for many conservatives.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The wars after 9/11 brought long-term costs for America and the world. My reflections on covering 9/11 and the years afterward. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

A book about 1861 argues that unstable times may not work out as badly as they seem.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

This NYT story is another sign of an uncomfortable truth about Trump’s immigration policy. Some who support Trump clearly don’t like to be informed of this: open.substack.com/pub/steveins...

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

If you have your doubts about the plan for UFC fights on the White House lawn, so does the UFC’s Dana White. He talked about it in an NPR interview that also touched on the immigrants and refugees who are among UFC fighters; the risks they take; and how UFC fans vote. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

I was sent this image from 16th Street in DC. Even from blocks away, on the opposite side of the building, you can see the UFC set looming over the White House. NPR talked with UFC chief Dana White about the setup and his sport—link in next post. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

It's hard to stop looking at images like this from AP. Dana White, the UFC chief preparing the fights on the White House lawn, told NPR he has his reservations about the outdoor space. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

This is the most useful angle to show the scale.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

As the UFC outdoor arena goes up on the White House lawn, we’ve published some annotations on the NPR video interview with UFC chief Dana White. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

On NPR, Rep. Tom Supzzi outlines how he would like to force Republican leaders in Congress to allow a vote on a bill that will block Trump’s fund of $1.776 billion taxpayer dollars to pay his supporters.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Over the weekend, the UFC announced this rendering of what MMA cage matches on the White House lawn should look like on June 14. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Why is the Pope talking about AI as a form of colonialism?

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

One of the events of this coming summer is a series of UFC fights on the White House lawn June 14. What does the sport reveal about America in 2026? And what does the White House event reveal about Trump? We talked it over with UFC head Dana White. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Who is supposed to get the $1.776 billion in taxpayer funds that Trump commanded the government to pay his supporters? Administration officials have tried to blur the issue but Jan. 6 rioters are happily lining up for their share.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Dana White is making news in MMA circles with his discussion of head injuries on NPR’s Newsmakers:

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

In all fairness, the profanity in this episode is mine and not the guest’s. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

The UFC, which will stage fights on the White House lawn, counts many immigrants and foreign citizens among its fighters, and the lightweight champion came from a refugee family. From NPR’s Newsmakers:

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Dana White made the UFC into something bigger than a sport - and on June 14 his friend President Trump will host a UFC event at the White House. He spoke about this on NPR’s Newsmakers.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Today is the start of the WNBA season, and every player has multiplied her salary from the season before. The lowest-paid player this year makes more than the highest-paid last year. I had a talk with Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, a star on the court and a presence off the court. 1/3

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Wes Moore, veteran of the 82nd Airborne, says President Trump failed to take some necessary steps before deploying his old unit to the Middle East. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

One big question for Democrats in 2026 and 2028 is the story they have to tell. Can they express an idea of America that speaks to Americans’ hopes (or fears)? The question hung in the air as we spoke with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for the NPR program “Newsmakers.”

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

In his video interview for NPR’s “Newsmakers,” Maryland’s Wes Moore says Democrats need to start with the understanding that the political system was broken for a lot of people.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

“We are a nation at war,” says Maryland Gov. and 82nd Airborne veteran Wes Moore. But, he says, the president doesn’t act like it. He spoke with me for the NPR program Newsmakers:

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Moore spoke on camera in an NPR interview for our new program Newsmakers. He says he’s not running for president, but has thought a lot about the job—and about curbing presidential power he says Trump has abused.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore served in the 82nd Airborne, which now has been ordered to the Middle East. Moore says President Trump failed them—by using force before he had to and failing to rally the country behind the war.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

From Paul Kane’s last article for WaPo, an argument that Congress stopped doing its job, is drifting toward irrelevance—and within recent memory, a Republican Congress was willing to probe a Republican administration for corruption. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, diagnosed with terminal cancer, started a podcast in which he - among other things - makes jokes about his predicament. He says his wife suggested calling the podcast “Dead Man Talking.”

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Many presidents have sent troops into action without waiting for Congress to declare war, but Trump’s attack on Iran is a particularly stark case.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Ann Godoff, who published and edited authors from Ron Chernow to Zadie Smith to Salman Rushdie, died this week at 76. She was also my publisher and editor. Once we disagreed and she let me have my way. I decided later that she had been right, and just did what she said after that.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Remembering Ann Godoff, the legendary publisher who has died at 76.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

This is the amazing part: OK Gov. Kevin Stitt, a critic of Trump’s immigration policy, was so on board just 14 months ago that he was preparing to help on Day One. Now, as seen in an NPR video, he is among the Republicans who say Trump is going too far. Before and after:

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, in talking about the future of the Republican Party, says: “We have to get back to integrity.” In an NPR video, Stitt says it’s “un-American” to cancel economic projects “based on our political views.” Also opposes politicizing the Justice Dept.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

My NPR colleague Rachel Treisman is at the Olympics, and her newsletter marked Friday the 13th by asking “what kind of rituals and superstitions this year's crop of Olympians brought to the Games.” One involves cat pictures! You can sign up here: npr.org/wintergames

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Federal immigration agents keep saying they need access to inmates in the Minnesota prison system who may have deportation orders. Yet Minnesota keeps saying they are already doing this. They offered receipts this weekend.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Here is some thinking that guides the questions I ask, on NPR and elsewhere.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Rahm Emanuel—who is talking up a possible future presidential bid—is urging Democrats to compete for every seat this year, from Senate to school board. In his NPR video interview he argued that there are elements for a D wave. 2/3

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Per Politico, the president has launched his 2026 campaigning, beginning with Iowa, a state that is surprisingly vulnerable for R’s this fall… and… important in 2028. It’s an interesting choice—because Democrats have been eyeing possible gains even in that red state. Read on. 1/3

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Yesterday, when the government used taxpayer dollars to blast a full-volume narrative about the man federal agents had shot on the street, I remembered a quote from Lincoln. He said that if you attack someone’s character without knowing if it’s true, that is the same as a lie.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

The National Rifle Association is also criticizing the administration for its evidence-free descriptions of a legal gun owner standing in the street with a phone.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Trump is unpopular, but how do Democrats frame their arguments for a comeback? Two veteran politicos, Rahm Emanuel and Gretchen Whitmer, have thoughts In NPR video interviews. Worth watching on a snowy day.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

In NPR interveiws, Rahm Emanuel and Gretchen Whitmer critique Trump—but some of the most interesting parts are when they wrestle with their own party’s shortcomings and disappointments. A guide to the video interviews is in the next post. 1/2

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In an NPR interview, Rahm Emanuel has a fierce critique of the Trump administration—and also of the progressive wing of his party.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Thursday on NPR’s Morning Edition: Rahm Emanuel.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Gretchen Whitmer warns in an NPR video that it’s not “paranoia” to fear immigration agents interfering in the 2026 elections. Her remark exposes a longstanding link between the immigration debate and election results. Read it here or watch at the link below.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Here is why Gretchen Whitmer predicts efforts “to compromise the election” and says it’s not “paranoia” to guard against the possibility of DHS getting involved:

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Gretchen Whitmer, the second woman elected governor of Michigan, is thinking about male voters—men who drifted away from Democrats in 2024, and some of whom are “falling behind their fathers and grandfathers.” From an NPR video:

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

In an NPR interview, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she expects further efforts to disrupt voting in her swing state and that Democrats have been discussing how to respond. She even says it’s not “paranoia” to think the government will use DHS to interfere.

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Steve Inskeep @steveinskeep.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

You learn more about an incident day by day. Today, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune offers initial details about the woman shot by ICE — identified as Renee Nicole Good, 37.

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