The Social Security surplus, intentionally built up since 1982, is being depleted sooner than they thought back then because of income inequality. Because no person making more than $182,000 pays another penny in Social Security.

SNAP helped 42 million people afford groceries each month in 2024. They each got about $6 a day. Take a look at this economy. Does it really make sense that we just took $6 a day away from 3.5 million people to give billionaires more tax breaks?

Freedom of the press is a pillar of a free society. What else will Paramount Skydance refuse to air as it consolidates more control over the media? theguardian.com/us-news/2026…

Free flash fiction anthology. Download Ellipsis Zine: Three from our website here: ellipsis-zine.com/publicatio… 45 pieces of micro fiction. 300 words or fewer.

But…but you all said when the AI companies were stealing our creations for training without our consent that this was finally going to democratize writing, music, and art. When we pointed out how this was financially ruining us, you said we should just deal with it. You said we’d been using our talent and the time we put into it to gatekeep the process. We saw this coming. How didn’t you?

Reposting my #MSWL for #amquerying writers. I am open to all ages! Check it out to see if you’re a good fit! Top things I’m looking for are an adult paranormal romcom, a mystery set in a fantasy world, and/or a college setting. I still have more specifics on the new bird app 👀

After locals pushed back, a data center proposal in Edgerton, Kansas, was rejected by the city's planning commission. By the way: the data center was proposed by President Trump's billionaire Emerati business partner's company, DAMAC. kshb.com/news/local-news/kan…

Compressing your plot shouldn't flatten it. Join literary agent Donovan Levine (Neighborhood Literary) on 18th June for a FREE live session on synopsis & comps. Learn to choose comps that show an agent exactly who your book is for. Link in comment below #amquerying

#BREAKING: Psaki: “Now, the origin story of how we got here is very worth remembering because part of the reason Elon Musk’s companies were able to become so successful in the first place, is because they received a ton of government subsidies, investments, and contracts, and that money was especially crucial to Musk’s companies in their earliest days, when their success was far from a sure bet. Without a critical taxpayer funded investment during a very precarious time for Tesla, it may not have survived at all. And likewise, the financing and contracts that SpaceX received from the federal government in its early years, were absolutely VITAL to making it the company it has now become. So the federal government that Musk took his chainsaw to, was the SAME federal government that enabled that guy to become the world’s richest man by the massive margin we see today.” 🤔

The madness of AI... I wondered whether I could use ChatGPT to get access to website traffic of literary magazines. It comes up with 5k-25k monthly visitors to the "American Quarterly Review" - a magazine which (according to ChatGPT) ceased publication in 1837! 🤣

DOE Sec. Chris Wright said that his agency did not aim to punish states that Trump lost the 2024 election in when it canceled clean energy projects in them. BUT his lawyers said otherwise—causing a judge to order the grants be restored. washingtonpost.com/business/…

De Niro: I hate to say it, but loving our country is starting to sound like an abused spouse saying they love their abuser. I can’t love a country that starts stupid and inhumane wars, killing thousands of innocents and indirectly causing the deaths and suffering of millions more. I can’t love a country that takes healthcare away from millions of people and uses that money to enrich their pals in the Trump-Epstein class. I can’t love a country that sends out masked militias to shoot citizens in the streets, torture our neighbors, and separate families. I can’t love a country that’s led by a racist, misogynist, xenophobic tyrant. And let me just say it: I can’t love a country that’s led by Donald Trump and his sycophant Congress.

France taxes Google, Meta, Amazon, and Apple 3 percent on their French revenue. Brought in about $700 million last year. Trump's response: eliminate the tax or face 100 percent tariffs on all French wine exports to the United States. All four Silicon Valley companies being protected here publicly backed Trump's return to the White House. Musk just became the world's first trillionaire off the SpaceX IPO the same week BLS reported energy prices wiped out 18 months of American wage gains. A 100 percent wine tariff doesn't hurt Zuckerberg. It hits the American importer, the American distributor, the American restaurant owner trying to hold their margins, and eventually the customer staring at a menu in Fort Wayne wondering why the house Bordeaux costs what it costs now. The G7 is supposed to be a summit of industrialized democracies coordinating on trade and security. Trump arrived threatening the host country's flagship export to defend the domestic tax obligations of his biggest campaign donors. That's the trip. That's the agenda.

For those of you still lurking here: I'm now a deputy editor of the Long Read at the Guardian. Very excited to be at the home of such consistently excellent long-form reportage and essays. To journalists and other writers who'd like to contribute: pitch me!

A small public service announcement from the Department of Things That You Should Know… It has not “peeked” your interest. Nor has it “peaked” your interest. …It has piqued your interest. You are not “phased” by something. You are fazed by it. If you’ve had a long day, you are weary. If you suspect someone is an idiot, you are wary. It is “due course”, not “do course”. “Per se”, not “per say”. And while we’re here, it’s “could have”, not “could of”, but that particular battle may already be lost. Thank you for your attention during this brief outbreak of grammatical housekeeping. This has been a @LairdofthManor announcement.🎩💙

🚨 Absolute madness in the US right now as the Uruguay national team gets pulled to the side of the road and treated like straight-up suspects. ​They literally just landed for the World Cup and security is already ripping their luggage open on the tarmac with sniffer dogs everywhere ​Qatar and Russia hosted without this level of paranoia but the "land of the free" is handing out pure humiliation to Global South athletes before a single match is even played, the double standards are screaming.

Hachi is brilliant. Don’t miss this chance!

Submissions for The 2026 Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence are now open. Check out the website for more details on entry and guidelines. ex-puritan.ca/news/the-2026-…

Last day to enter the 2026 Moon City Press Moon City Poetry Award competition! mooncitypress.submittable.co…

Are you telling me my tax dollars are being sent to rebuild all the shit that Pete Hegseth blew up also with my tax dollars