iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

After my thirty-year marriage ended, I realized how little of the house looked like me. So I started with a painting—a five-foot-wide wave from a Goodwill auction. Vista: what I hung after the house went quiet. tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com/p/vista?r=bu...

tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com

Vista

What I hung after the house went quiet

010

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The Cut: What a game of gin taught me about trust, losing, and the rules of democracy—five weeks before the midterms. tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com/p/the-cut?r=...

tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com

The Cut

On losing, trust, and the rules of the next game—five weeks before the midterm elections

010

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

As the diesel shortage worsens and a Super El Niño threatens worldwide weather anomalies, a growing crisis may lie ahead. My new essay explores what that might mean for the food supply. https://tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com/p/839?r=buanz&utm_medium=ios

tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com

$8.39

The fuel most of us never buy—and all of us use

021

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I read this week that AI will lead to the end of humanity. I realized I didn't know how that could happen, so I did a deep dive. I'm sharing an essay here that outlines my findings: the vulnerabilities and dangers and why they're so hard for us to see. tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com/p/well-that-...

tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com

Well, That Sounds Bad

AI could kill us all. But how exactly?

001

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

My new essay is about what I saw in China/Tibet 7 yrs ago, and why the current debate over Flock cameras may be aimed at the wrong layer of surveillance. The consolidation of data behind the scenes is more worrisome than anything mounted on a pole. tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com/p/the-frog-i...

tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com

THE FROG IN THE POT

Surveillance, silence, and the database being built around us

010

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

New essay up on The Watershed. This one's about airports, urinals, and the quiet indignity of a body that no longer takes orders. The automatic flush sensor in the photo knows exactly what I mean. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

Aging Is Glamorous

On negotiating with a body that no longer takes orders

030

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The mainstreaming of corruption is challenging the incentives for playing by the rules. New essay on The Watershed. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

Rodeo Clown

Notes from the arena

030

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

I spent a summer in Washington writing for the first Native American U.S. senator — arguing against everything I believed. I never got to ask the questions I'd been carrying. Years later, I realized the most important question was one I should have asked myself. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

In the Senator’s Voice

On writing words I didn’t believe for a man I didn’t know

020

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

I write a lot about the American West, behavioral conditioning, and political evolution. But sometimes the essay just wants to be about your dad's medicine cabinet. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

Silent Permission

On fathers, bodies, and what goes unsaid

020

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

I found a bag of burned love letters in a fire pit fifteen years ago. I’ve carried them ever since, across state lines and through a divorce. Today I finally opened them. New essay. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

Someone Else’s Fire

Ashes that outlasted love

010

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

I was offered $1 million stake in a venture that would have resurrected my failed brand. Wealthy backers. Great concept. A second chance I needed. I turned it down. Not because the idea was flawed, but because I learned something about the partners - and myself. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

The Village That Almost Was

On the quiet negotiation between desperation and integrity

011

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

When I tell people I grew up next to a herd of bison, they look at me like I'm making it up. The world has changed so quickly that it's hard to believe the one we grew up in ever existed. This is a story about risk, luck, and the short cuts we took anyway. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

The Shortcut

On Risk, Luck, and the Roads We Chose Anyway

010

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

A few years ago, I accidentally taught myself to fear birds. This is the true story of how financial collapse, a simple ringtone change, and the basic mechanics of classical conditioning combined to ruin one of the more innocent sounds in the natural world. open.substack.com/pub/tomjohns...

open.substack.com

How I Ruined Birds

An unintended experiment in Pavlovian dread

011

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Here's a story I published today on Substack. It retraces my ongoing political awakening, with a detour through Cold War Eastern Europe. Hope you enjoy! The Orange substack.com/@tomjohnsonw...

020

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

In 1967, Star Trek imagined a war fought entirely by computer — where citizens willingly reported to disintegration chambers because the algorithm said they'd been killed. That episode feels different this week. My first essay for The Watershed: tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com/p/the-war-th...

tomjohnsonwriter.substack.com

The War That Doesn’t Feel Like War

What Star Trek Tried to Tell Us About AI, Abstraction, and the Bombs Falling on Tehran

010

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

A visual reminder of how long Ukraine has been under siege. This flag hangs in front of a house in San Luis Obispo, California. The homeowner told me today that he's replaced it five times in the four years since Putin's invasion.

000

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

I deleted TikTok today. The new TOS are too much (see attached samples). TikTok has officially entered the Larry Ellison/Silverlake/sovereign wealth era. Bittersweet. I enjoyed the news coverage and commentary. I have not visited Bluesky in months, but I will now. I need a new home (again).

020

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

He could see it coming a mile away. Amazing it took 100 years.

010

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Donald Trump is “a president who so fundamentally miscalculates his own country’s interests.” economist.com/leaders/2025... from The Economist

economist.com

The lesson from Trump’s Ukrainian weapons freeze

And the grim choice facing Volodymyr Zelensky

2018655

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

What happened to Little Marco?

27016666511866

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Developing: USAID to spend $40 million on condoms for Elon Musk.

4063543664

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

If you’re not confirmed by the Senate then you have no business meddling in the lives of MILLIONS of Americans We are suing DOGE for violating the constitution & illegally seizing power I’ll discuss tonight @ 8PM ET on @insidewithpsaki.msnbc.com 👇 statedemocracydefenders.org/fund/new-law...

11824465210199

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Yes, the Trump-Vance administration just told Germany it should make nice with a far-right political party with a history of using Nazi rhetoric and accepting racists and antisemites. And no Republican will complain. This is neo-fascism. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/w...

nytimes.com

Vance Tells Europeans to Stop Shunning Parties Deemed Extreme

His comments shocked attendees at the Munich Security Conference and seemed to target efforts to sideline the hard-right party the Alternative for Germany.

1171754571

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Hey NYTimes — *now* you’re lighting the beacons? NOW?!? After months of “Sauron: Avatar Of Evil… Or Extreme Uniter?” thumbsucker reporting you’re screaming what we’ve known since 2015? Fuck all the way off.

30719296515656

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Of course it’s a coup. Miss the obvious, lose your republic. open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

open.substack.com

Of course it’s a coup

Miss the obvious, lose your republic

5822813210728

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

So much for his Hippocratic oath.

1462269835132

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 04/02/2025

In 2016 the NYT ran multiple front page stories page about the grave national security risk of Hillary Clinton's server. Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding

1473309009469

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Here are the options on the table (which are not mutually exclusive): 1. House Dems bring articles of impeachment* 2. Senate Dems play constitutional hardball and obstruct everything 3. State AGs litigate (and prosecute) everything they can 4. Citizens march en mass

46885982116012

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

As chilling a meme as I have seen. But I agree.

9895302110096

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

What moron at @cnn.com thought it was a brilliant idea to keep Scott Jennings on the network while pushing Jim Acosta to leave?

1873308064664

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

"To any who dare to defy the American Golden Age, heed this warning: you will lose. Toe the line or we will run you down. The gloves are off and we're not playing around this time. For now, it's tariffs, but trust me, we can and will do so much worse." - Eric Trump, from his Shining City on the Hill

000

tomjohnsonwriter @tomjohnsonwriter.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Many Americans are watching their own funeral and have no idea who died.

000

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Janette Moser @mjmoser.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

It’s been ten years since Monday.

3467854

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

MM 🦋 @adgirlmm.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

These are strange days when the American people are more concerned about what the White House will do to America than terrorists or foreign enemies.

1725660

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Oh, honey . . . you weren't ostracized for being a Republican, you were ostracized for being a relentlessly tedious nepo jerk.

52969021021

Reposted by tomjohnsonwriter

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Other symptoms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD): Inappropriate social behavior. Loss of empathy. Lack of judgment. Loss of inhibition. Increasing trouble using and understanding written and spoken language. Trouble naming things.

1157132123880