Everyone in the World Wants to Fix Facebook. Here’s Why No One Can.
Abaca Press / AP While the US holds congressional hearings to listen to tech giants explain they want to do better, other countries are passing and promising new laws that aim to take action against the virulent spread of disinformation, violence, and hate speech. Last week, British Prime Minister Theresa May unrolled a proposal that outlines…
Conspiracy Theories Have Been Around Forever. In a New Book, Anna Merlan Explains Why They’re Getting More Powerful.
David Reinert holds up a large “Q” sign while waiting in line to see President Donald J. Trump on August 2, 2018 at a rally Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. Rick Loomis/Getty Images In many ways, this moment we’re in feels like the age of the conspiracy theory—one in which “wellness” schemes are the grift that keeps…
Lead and Crime in Honduras
I get questions: @kdrum Given that Honduras only ended leaded gasoline in 1996, and had the worst concentration of lead in its gasoline in the world, can you devote a post to lead poisoning’s role in this horrific violence? — Melissa Payton (@Melissa70601) April 15, 2019 Happy to help! However, there’s not a lot to…
This Trump Official Mocked Rep. Omar’s Death Threats on Instagram. It Led to More Death Threats.
Lynne PattonKathy Willens/AP Over the weekend, Lynne Patton, a regional administrator at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the highest-ranking black woman in the Trump administration, used her personal social media account and added to the torrent of death threats that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the first Muslim woman elected to Congress, has…
The Trump Tax Cut Did Bubkes for the Working Class
Republicans are unhappy about public perceptions of their tax cut. What happened was simple: they paid lots of attention to the business tax cuts and lots of attention to the tax cuts for this rich, but not so much attenton to the tax cuts for the working and middle classes. The middle classes, of course,…
Trump Doubles Down on Plan to Release Migrants in Sanctuary Cities
Immigrant families and activists rally outside the Tennessee State Capitol against a bill to prohibit sanctuary city policies in the state in May.Drew Angerer/Getty Two days after President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States has the “absolute legal right” to send detained migrants to sanctuary cites, he appeared to double down Monday, tweeting that…