iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

My Political Origin Story: How a Social Justice Nun Got Me Started I got started in politics when a social justice nun sent me to the McGovern campaign office to get her a button and a young field organizer put me to work. What's your origin story? willrobinson.substack.com/p/my-politic...

willrobinson.substack.com

My Political Origin Story: How a Social Justice Nun Got Me Started

A Nun, a McGovern Button, and a Lifetime in Politics

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Democracy University’s goal: train organizers, develop leaders, and help people build careers—not start over after every election. Interested in training, mentoring, or sharing materials? Learn more and share your feedback: democracy.university democracyuniversity.substack.com/p/democracy-...

democracyuniversity.substack.com

Democracy University: Building Organizing and Leadership Capacity That Lasts Beyond the Next Election

Please tell us what you think—and what we’re missing. We need your ideas, experience, and help to build the training, mentorship, and support that will sustain this work for the long haul.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

You can’t debunk what you never see. @timchambers.bsky.social and I wrote a Substack on prebunking - helping people spot manipulation before the next lie lands. Don’t just chase the last lie. Prepare for the next one. Read and share: willrobinson.substack.com/p/you-cant-d...

willrobinson.substack.com

You Can't Debunk What You Never See

Scott Goodstein is right that we won't spot the next attack in time. There is a defense that doesn't require spotting it.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

This is a very important post and Tim and his team continue to do amazing work in this space.

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Reposted by Will Robinson

Page S. Gardner @pagegardner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

These findings could not be more important in the last few weeks before the midterms and in preparation for 2028. The report provides current data, recent evidence and best practices for upcoming initiatives. Register for our webinar on Sept 14 to learn more: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

us02web.zoom.us

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: PSG Consulting Webinar | Countering Misinformation: What New Research Tells Us About Inoculation. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email a...

Misinformation and disinformation are increasingly sophisticated—and organizations can no longer afford to simply react after falsehoods have taken hold. New research from Innovating for the Public Go...

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Happy Labor Day! Remember whose day this is. Workers deserve fair pay, good benefits, safety and a voice not just an “essential” label. Buy union. Defend the right to organize. The next union member you meet may save your life. Celebrate labor today. Stand with labor all year.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Labor Day should be more than a three-day weekend. It is a day to recognize the people whose work keeps this country running - and one small way to do that is to buy union-made products for your barbecue. aflcio.org/barbecue

aflcio.org

Union-Made in America Barbecue | AFL-CIO

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

100 Newsletters In: What I Got Right—and Missed I saw the right’s disinformation machine, but I missed the AI machines now thinking for us. “I explained the right’s media war. I didn’t expect the referee to join it.” The link is below: willrobinson.substack.com/p/what-i-got...

willrobinson.substack.com

What I Got Wrong About Disinformation: Newsletter #100

I’ve written the phrase “firehose of falsehood” seventeen times this year. I was describing something real. I was also describing it wrong.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Are you starting your shopping for Labor Day Weekend? Here are some union made products. Let me know what I'm missing...

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I’m listening to Bill Gates’s warnings about artificial intelligence. I am. But when one of the architects of the digital age tells us the next wave of technology could destroy society, it has a faint one fox warning the chickens about another fox vibe. willrobinson.substack.com/p/is-this-ju...

willrobinson.substack.com

Is This Just One Fox Warning Us Chickens About Another Fox?

Bill Gates may be a complicated messenger. His warning about artificial intelligence is still worth hearing.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Maine Republican gubernatorial nominee Bobby Charles said that he plans to ask White House border czar Tom Homan to send ICE agents and U.S. Marshals to polling places in the state ahead of the November midterms, according to audio obtained by the Associated Press. www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...

msn.com

MSN

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Authoritarian Alert: This attack on voting by mail follows Trump’s authoritarian playbook: push power grabs, keep what survives, and regroup when courts intervene. The ruling does not make his order lawful - but every delay normalizes interference in our elections. apnews.com/article/elec...

apnews.com

Nothing changes yet with the Supreme Court's order on elections. But it could open door to 'chaos'

The Supreme Court's decision clearing one obstacle to the enactment of President Donald Trump's order on mail voting may not mean the order ultimately takes effect for November's elections.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Amy Pritchard and I are building Democracy University to teach the enduring craft of organizing alongside the new tools - and rebuild the leadership ladder before 2028. What do you think we need to teach or discuss? willrobinson.substack.com/p/why-were-b...

willrobinson.substack.com

Why We’re Building Democracy University

I started organizing with index cards in shoeboxes. The tools have changed. The need for organizers - and leaders - has not.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I’m a media consultant who tells clients to spend less on broadcast television... I’m like a car thief who brings the car back. This Substack is about a simple reality: the audience moved. Campaigns need to move with it. Please read and share... willrobinson.substack.com/p/im-a-media...

willrobinson.substack.com

I’m a media consultant who tells clients to spend less on broadcast television...

I’m like a car thief who brings the car back.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

The Real Ratings Shocker All three network newscasts together draw about 18.8 million viewers, fewer than Walter Cronkite’s broadcast alone once reached. But ABC’s World News still outdraws nearly every non-sports prime-time show on broadcast television. willrobinson.substack.com/p/the-real-r...

willrobinson.substack.com

The Real Ratings Shocker

We No Longer Watch the News Together

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Someone asked about the hog pin Peggy Flanagan wears. It goes back to Walter Mondale’s 1984 campaign: The chicken is involved. The hog is committed. I wrote about what that pin means and how Peggy is carrying that organizing tradition into a new generation. willrobinson.substack.com/p/someone-as...

willrobinson.substack.com

Someone asked me what the little hog pin was on Peggy Flanagan’s jacket on primary night.

I knew exactly what it was.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Giving ICE agents electric-shock gloves is not providing a legitimate law-enforcement tool - it is giving them a way to punish people without meaningful supervision or accountability. www.npr.org/2026/08/12/n...

npr.org

ICE plans to outfit officers with electric shock gloves

The company that makes the gloves, Compliant Technologies, says they're a nonlethal tool to make individuals compliant during arrests.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Over the past two weeks, the oil industry’s biggest players have announced eye-popping spring-quarter profits: ExxonMobil brought in $14.5 billion, Chevron posted a record $12 billion, and Shell earned $9.8 billion - more than double what it made during the same period last year.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

We’ve seen how “wobbly” primary polling has been around the country - but after all the drama, general-election polling in Maine shows Troy Jackson maintains a narrow lead over Susan Collins. The Democrats’ path to taking back the Senate runs through Maine. wgme.com/news/local/t...

wgme.com

Troy Jackson edges Susan Collins in new Maine Senate poll

In the race for Senate, another new poll finds Democrat Troy Jackson is holding the slight lead against Senator Susan Collins.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Remember, sometimes the good guys do win.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

So when was the last time you sat down at 9 p.m. to watch a prime-time show on NBC, CBS, ABC or Fox? Or ANY live broadcast TV that’s not sports? Yeah - Me neither. The audience moved. Our strategy has to move with it. willrobinson.substack.com/p/so-when-wa...

willrobinson.substack.com

So when was the last time you sat down at 9 p.m. to watch a prime-time show on NBC, CBS, ABC or Fox? Yeah... me neither.

The Broadcast TV Audience has left, but Democrats are still holding their money for it.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Danger Will Robinson! Time to dust off Asimov’s Laws of Robotics. (Don't harm people) Meta’s AI “inadvertently” hacked another company—joining OpenAI and Anthropic in losing control during testing. Funny line. Dangerous reality: we’re deploying AI faster than we can control it.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Authoritarians attack doctors who know the facts, clergy who answer to conscience, and academics who remember the history—because each represents an authority beyond the leader’s control.

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Reposted by Will Robinson

Epolitics (Colin Delany) @epolitics.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Republicans are outraising the Democratic party committees, but individual candidates are raising big bucks. The difference? Grassroots fundraising. epolitics.substack.com/p/will-grass...

epolitics.substack.com

Will Grassroots Democrats Save Us from the DNC?

Small donors to the rescue?

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I watched a show on Pompeii and learned about alarm fatigue: repeated warnings teach us not to react as danger grows. Pompeii’s residents lived with tremors until they no longer felt like warnings. That’s the authoritarian strategy. Don't get used to the tremors. open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

The Authoritarian Advantage of Exhaustion

How alarm fatigue becomes democratic disaster fatigue - and turns attacks on rights into background noise

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I am not a native Mainer - I am "from away" - but I know the real deal when I see it. National Democrats need to understand that Troy is what an authentic Mainer looks like and acts like. Opportunities like this don't come along often, and we cannot afford to let this one slip away.

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Reposted by Will Robinson

Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 24/07/2026

Some interesting provocations here...

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Tim is an amazing thought partner. Please read and share

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

If someone handed me $100 million, I wouldn’t burn most of it in the final 3 weeks before Election Day. I’d build permanent local media, trusted messengers, organizing, and AI information infrastructure. The right never stops campaigning. We keep starting over. open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

If I Had $100 Million, I Wouldn’t Spend It on Campaigns

The infrastructure progressives need is not the infrastructure we fund.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

This Fourth of July, I went back to the Journals of the Continental Congress - the daily record where independence moved from argument to action - behind those minutes was extraordinary courage in the face of war and personal danger. (Substack Below) open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

The Courage of the Founders

Reading the actual Journals of The Continental Congress for July 2nd and 4th, 1776

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Resisting is an American tradition.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

First Amendment Alert: While we are all paying attention to Trump’s antics at the Kennedy Center and the DC Mall, the FCC is threatening eight ABC affiliates. open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

First Amendment Alert:

While we are all paying attention to Trump’s antics at the Kennedy Center and the DC Mall, the FCC is threatening eight ABC affiliates.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

The New York primary is being treated as another chapter in the endless left-versus-right debate. I agree 100% that's the wrong story. The bigger story is that voters are increasingly looking for candidates who take on concentrated corporate economic power... subs.tack.com/home/post/p-...

substack.com

Bad News for Trump

New York primary results indicate deep public distrust of the corporate establishment

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A lesson and warning from the Scottish elections

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A lesson and warning from the Scottish elections.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

The Internet Has Crossed a Line For the history of the internet, there was an assumption hiding beneath everything: There were people on the other side. Bots account for between 51% - 57% of all internet activity. Humans are no longer the majority users of the web. open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

The Internet Has Crossed a Line

For most of the history of the internet, there was an assumption hiding beneath everything: There were people on the other side.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

I know there were huge mistakes made by Democrats in 2024, starting with age… but I just wrote a Substack on the leaked DNC autopsy, and the bigger structural communication problems Democrats still haven’t solved. willrobinson.substack.com/p/the-dnc-au... open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

The DNC Autopsy Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

The leaked DNC autopsy is messy, unfinished, and in places factually shaky. But buried inside it is a truth many of us have been saying for years.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Democrats are making the same mistake again: Assuming Republicans will collapse on their own. The pendulum swing to the Democrats isn't automatic. The Republicans and Right Wing are pushing back. The election is already happening. Democrats need to start NOW! open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

Losing Elections Has Consequences.

But Some Democrats Still Believe 2026 Will Take Care of Itself.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

AI isn’t rewriting political persuasion—it’s exposing who actually built power and who didn’t. If you’ve built trust, audiences, and a system that shows up consistently, AI will make you stronger. If you haven’t, it won’t save you—it’ll just make you lose faster. open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

AI Isn't Rewriting Politics

It’s Exposing What Already Matters.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Are you going to America Votes next week in DC? I'm not speaking, but I have a few things to share, and I have ears to hear. Please find me or DM me here. Will

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Ohio Is the Test - Not the Exception There’s a tendency in Democratic politics right now to treat places like Ohio as gone. Too red. Too far gone. Not worth the investment. That’s not strategy. That’s retreat. That’s why Mike Lux and I wrote the Substack below. open.substack.com/pub/soulofth...

open.substack.com

The central importance of Ohio in the 2026 election cycle

Yes because of Sherrod Brown, but for other big reasons as well

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

After No Kings: What Comes Next Is the Real Test The march is the signal - but what you do after is what builds power. Please share with people who are figuring out what to do next. open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

After No Kings: What Comes Next Is the Real Test

The march is the signal - but what you do after is what builds power.

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Will Robinson @willrobinson1776.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

After the march is what matters. If it’s a moment, it fades. If it’s a practice, it builds power. “In America, the law is king.” — Thomas Paine open.substack.com/pub/willrobi...

open.substack.com

No Kings Is Not a Moment. It’s a Practice

“In America, the law is king.” - Thomas Paine

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