iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Tom Philpott

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 16/09/2026

Here's this week's Better Offline: I'm joined by Cal Newport and @adambecker.bsky.social to get the word out that the narrative about existential risk from AI is driven by a religious cult of effective altruists and rationalists. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oVS... linktr.ee/betteroffline

youtube.com

Stopping The AI Safety Cult ft. Adam Becker & Cal Newport | Better Offline

YouTube video by Better Offline

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Robert Hirschfeld @rfhirschfeld.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Frustration with corn-soy-CAFO ag—and its vast pollution problem—is boiling over in Iowa before Illinois. In Iowa there's no hiding from it; it's everywhere. But Chicago insulates Illinois’ political & economic center; our leaders can keep pretending “we’re feeding the world.”

politico.com

‘Cancer Doesn't Care What Party You Belong To’: Poisoned Water Is Turning This Rural State Bluer

Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water.

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

roald dahl's grandson is a former london-based journalist who once freelanced for the daily dot and then married princess raiyah of jordan during covid but then got divorced and moved to the US where he became a cop in south carolina and just married an american tiktoker

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ansel @ansel.lundberg.com · 10/07/2026

Just finished this one by @tomphilpott.bsky.social. As a CA water guy, I can confirm that it’s actually really good and I appreciate how he doesnt just fall back on some “small is beautiful“ drivel as most US food system critics tend to. www.bloomsbury.com/us/perilous-...

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Robert Hirschfeld @rfhirschfeld.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

My complaining about Illinois aside, great piece about how so many across the political divide are getting sick of (sometimes literally!) the corn-soy-CAFO-ethanol pollution. Written by @tomphilpott.bsky.social and @ninaelkadi.com

politico.com

‘Cancer Doesn't Care What Party You Belong To’: Poisoned Water Is Turning This Rural State Bluer

Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

This year, the corn is sweating for a different reason. @ninaelkadi.com and @tomphilpott.bsky.social profile the one and only Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social.

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Politico @politico.com · 20/07/2026

This week's POLITICO Magazine cover story: Poisoned water is turning this rural state bluer. “Cancer doesn’t care what party you belong to. Republicans don’t like drinking poisonous water any more than Democrats do." 🔗 politi.co/4bSaHiN Also in this issue 🧵👇

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Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future @livablefuture.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Fellowship highlight: ’25 fellow Nina Elkadi @ninaelkadi.com & CLF’s Tom Philpott @tomphilpott.bsky.social co-authored a @politico.com story on how Iowa’s water quality crisis is becoming a public health and fairness issue with political consequences. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

politico.com

‘Cancer Doesn't Care What Party You Belong To’: Poisoned Water Is Turning This Rural State Bluer

Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water.

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FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

If we want clean water, we need to take on Big Ag. Nowhere illustrates this better than Iowa, where concerns about ag pollution, cancer, and water are taking center stage this election cycle. Insightful reporting out of Iowa by @ninaelkadi.com & @tomphilpott.bsky.social buff.ly/egKgxFx

politico.com

‘Cancer Doesn't Care What Party You Belong To’: Poisoned Water Is Turning This Rural State Bluer

Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water.

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Emily Johnston @enjohnston.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

“While vehicle safety is critical, blaming larger vehicles for pedestrian deaths overlooks systemic issues.” No, you shill—it IS a systemic issue. We need to limit hood height and charge based on vehicle weight (as in Paris).

nytimes.com

The Deadly Rise of Giant Trucks and S.U.V.s (Gift Article)

The vehicles on American roads have grown larger — and they are killing thousands more pedestrians, a Times investigation found.

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Matthew Hughes @matthewhughes.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

New newsletter: Generative AI is becoming the new crypto and multi-level marketing scam, promising non-techies that they can vibe-code their way to prosperity, without being candid about the costs and risks. www.whatwelo.st/p/generative...

whatwelo.st

Generative AI Is Having Its Herbalife Moment

How predatory vibe coding startups are selling false hope to young people

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 19/06/2026

Had @author-calnewport.bsky.social on Better Offline to talk about AI companies “doom-trolling” consumers using scary stories about conscious computers, and how we need to make fun of those leading the scare-mongering. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b... Linktr.ee/betteroffline

podcasts.apple.com

The AI Industry Must Stop Doom Trolling w/ Cal Newport

Podcast Episode · Better Offline · June 19 · 1h 2m

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Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

"An Indiana University instructor who showed a graphic in class that listed the “Make America Great Again” slogan as covert white supremacy has lost her job." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/u...

nytimes.com

Indiana Professor Who Taught Anti-White Supremacy Lesson Loses Job

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ProPublica Guild @propublicaguild.org · 23/06/2026

“I have heard from our managers at ProPublica that they don’t intend to replace us with AI. And that’s great. But we’re gonna need that in writing.” This is why we’re fighting for protections against artificial intelligence:

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404 Media @404media.co · 23/06/2026

The news shows that Madison Square Garden, operated by Jim Dolan, is not only deploying controversial facial recognition technology but keeping track of specific people who take issue with it. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Story by @josephcox.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/madison-squa...

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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

ICYMI, this is the next milestone in the criminalization of dissent. If you thought DHS was trying to be lowkey post-Minnesota, they were just buying time for cases like this. Subscribe to FOREVER WARS for journalism like this — what you need to know to stay free.

forever-wars.com

The Next Step in Criminalizing ICE Protests Is Here

First came Prairieland. Now an indictment treats mutual aid and road-blocking as a criminal conspiracy

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Tom Philpott @tomphilpott.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

New episode of @livablefuture.bsky.social‬ Unconfined podcast up! I interview the great journalist Ted Genoways on how some of the world's most vulnerable people stood up to global meatpacking goliath JBS at a beef plant in Greeley, Colo. clf.jhsph.edu/unconfined-p...

clf.jhsph.edu

Fight the Power

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Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future @livablefuture.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

New episode of Unconfined: journalist Ted Genoways tells the unlikely story of how some of the world’s most vulnerable people took on a giant meatpacking company in Greeley, Colorado. clf.jhsph.edu/unconfined-p...

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Tom Philpott @tomphilpott.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

More reason to root against OpenAi: if they fail, the Ellison empire plunges into ruin.

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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

This is the largest oil supply shock in history in mb/d The enemy gets a vote. Iran is now delivering pain to Trump via multiple paths (1) Gulf Kings (2) Financial meltdown (3) AI tech oligarchs (4) Fuel, fertilizer, food disruptions Read our Polycrisis Dispatch: buttondown.com/polycrisisdi...

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

I suspect the Pope sounds "woke" to many Christian conservatives because the US is steeped in prosperity theology, where the point of worship is to deliver health and wealth to believers. Thus, "feed the hungry" and "show mercy for the poor" sounds needlessly political and "woke."

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Ryan Haas @ryanjhaas.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

For more than a week, Amazon has managed to keep a death at its Troutdale, Oregon, facility out of public view. Workers I spoke to are pissed.

thewesternedge.media

‘Everyone is Replaceable’: Death Rattles Oregon Amazon Facility

A worker died at Amazon’s Troutdale warehouse last week. Employees were told to look away.

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

imagine arguing with your devout catholic grandma and shouting "the pope is WEAK on crime"

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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

ICE agents shot another driver -- on Tues. He had just asked to call his wife. They shot him six times. One bullet his jaw. Now he can't speak and has been mostly unconscious. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/u...

nytimes.com

Victim in ICE Shooting Suffered at Least Six Wounds, His Lawyer Says

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Tom Philpott @tomphilpott.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Amazing if true. I’d read a piece about this. Cc @motherjones.com

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April Verrett @seiupres.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Using your debt, your search history, and your private data to decide how much you’re worth? Hell no. This is what happens when technology is built to serve profit instead of people. This is why every worker needs a union.

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 10/04/2026

People seem to like listening to the show on YouTube, so here's the Better Offline @ronanfarrow.bsky.social/Andrew Marantz interview with a spinning skull logo youtu.be/U-Y52_xlkNU?...

youtu.be

Investigating Altman With Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz | Better Offline

YouTube video by Better Offline

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

ICYMI: “.. Almost half of the US data centers planned for this year are expected to be delayed or canceled. One big reason is the shortage of electrical equipment, such as transformers, switchgear and batteries.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

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Hadas Thier @hadasthier.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Trump's White House pushed crypto to unprecedented heights. But it's collapsing anyway. My latest for @jacobinmag.bsky.social + A good time to mention! I just submitted my "Crypto-Capitalism: The New Financial Dystopia" manuscript to @haymarketbooks.org So more to come! jacobin.com/2026/04/cryp...

jacobin.com

Crypto Is Flailing

Donald Trump used the White House to pump crypto to unprecedented highs. It’s still collapsing.

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Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

I wrote about third-country deportations and how Trump is using bribes, threats, and rewards to create an expanding international network of concentration camps to go along with the domestic one.

degenerateart.beehiiv.com

Planet of the camps

The U.S. is imposing an international network of concentration camps on the world.

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Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

"Kahanists – the ideological disciples of the Brooklyn-born fascist-theocratic Rabbi Meir Kahane – are no longer fringe. Their representatives are [Israeli} government ministers; their most radical proposals set the country's legislative agenda." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

haaretz.com

The death penalty law reflects the total Kahanization of Israel's right

The Passing of the Death Penalty Law Reflects the Normalization of Kahanist Ideology and Betrays the Values on Which the State Was Founded. It Sets Israel on a Suicidal Path

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Global Alliance for the Future of Food @futureoffood.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

What affects the land, affects the sea 🌊 We’re sharing two new #BeaconsOfHope stories from 🇦🇺 and 🇨🇦. From reclaiming Aboriginal "sea country" to #FirstNations leading the fight for #WildSalmon, those closest to the struggle hold the solutions: story.futureoffood.org/beacons/land…

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 16/03/2026

Right now, unfolding around us on a global scale, is a rich and unambiguous lesson on the dangers of fossil fuel dependence. The most obvious solution is for the affected countries to reduce their dependence through clean energy. Are you seeing that message in media?

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Trump’s claims to have destroyed ‘100% of Iranian military capacity’ and his requests for Chinese/European/Japanese/Korean naval assistance seem hard to square. Until you remember he also believes he has reduced drug prices by 800%.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

What a paragraph. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

“Over the weekend, Donald Trump and top US officials spent much of their time begging American allies (and also Trump’s good pal Xi in China) to bail him out of the economic fiasco he created with his illegal war. The amount of begging was jarring and unbecoming, even for them.”

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CJ Fogler @cjzero.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

"No to war... and free Palestine" Javier Bardem

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Niko Bowie @nikobowie.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

The lane is open for a 2028 candidate to pledge to accept jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12/03/2026

it took just over a year to get from "I'll lower costs on day one" to "I'm raising prices and it's good, actually"

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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 12/03/2026

“Maybe you could actually unilaterally change the world— without having to constantly convince people...who are never going to agree with you—through technological means. And this is where I think technology is this incredible alternative to politics.” Peter Thiel, 2010

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Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Apart from the moral repugnance, this is so revealing of how ignorant conservatives are about poverty. Poor people have to think about money ALL THE TIME. They worry constantly about what everything costs, how to substitute one purchase for another, what bill can be put off until payday, etc.

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 07/03/2026

I think we need people to start listening to new experts that said this many years ago

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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

The incompetence of the Iran War rollout is just stunning. Rubio says "Israel dragged us into this war! We had no choice!" Trump says "I dragged Israel into this war! Regime change! Iranian people, rise up!" Just bonkers.

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