I’m trying a new thing. Well, it’s really an old thing, but it’s new for me. About six billion years ago, people used blogs to share links they thought were cool. Then social media killed blogs and people started sharing links on Twitter. Now, social media is unbearable so I’m sharing them here.

Journalist Mario Guevara, a resident of Atlanta for over two decades — and while not a citizen, did have a work authorization to be in the U.S. — was detained by ICE in June. He wrote about the cruel and ugly treatment he’s received during his months behind bars

I don’t know why ICE wants to continue treating me like a criminal. It pains me to know that I have been denied every privilege and the right to be free when I have never committed any crime.

This New York Mag story is framed as a profile of Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former 2016 campaign manager and now one of Kristi Noem’s top lieutenants at the Department of Homeland Security, though it’s a bit light on details about precisely what he does. An interesting piece regardless:

Lewandowski has been integral to Noem’s rise, her right hand as they run roughshod over the rule of law and, like so many in Trump’s Cabinet, position themselves for a post-Trump future. Lewandowski is not only surreptitiously co-leading DHS without congressional approval but has brought Trumpworld’s manically pugnacious style to the department and drawn out some of Noem’s own pugnacious predilections, too. After all, Trump’s immigration policies, while broadly unpopular with those who oppose masked men snatching people off the streets and spiriting them away to brutal foreign prisons, remain popular among Republicans. Frank Luntz, the veteran political consultant, thinks this is at least partly owed to Noem, who adds the necessary stage presence to Lewandowski’s muscle and Miller’s brain. “She is probably the administration’s best spokeswoman,” he told me. “The only thing that bothers me is that her name is not mentioned as a potential 2028 Republican Party leader. She’s underestimated.”

A related note: I remain baffled by the fact that so many reporters continue to quote Frank Luntz, a famous architect of spin and disinformation campaigns, as a credible, neutral source.

Also, I’ve started collecting hostile responses to reporters’ requests for comment. I mean, on the one hand it’s concerning that so many public officials and public figures feel comfortable saying (and in many cases publicly posting on Twitter) ugly comments about journalists. On the other hand, I appreciate when reporters publish these remarks verbatim:

In response to a request for comment, Lewandowski wrote, “Instead of reviewing the newest wine bar in Chelsea the New York Magazine has degraded itself.”

And:

In response to a list of questions about Noem, DHS said, “This NYMag hit piece reads like a preteen rage-scrolling, then prompting ChatGPT for a screed on misogyny — complete with zero substance and maximum bullshit.”

Here’s Jay Caspian Kang on the proliferation of images of violence, including but not limited to videos of Charlie Kirk’s killing, and what it might mean for kids growing up in a media landscape awash with such visuals. It’s much more thoughtful than the normal, knee-jerk “images be bad for kids” discourse:

As long as the majority of kids above the age of twelve have internet access and a screen in their pockets, they’re going to watch far more snuff films than anyone else in the history of the world. And, as long as those videos are posted within seconds of the act, there will probably be no meaningful way to stop them from being shared. These children, as a result, may have a much clearer idea of what happens when one of those missiles—which looked almost beautiful, white trails of smoke against a black sky—actually hits its target. Death and trauma of all types will not be as abstract for them as they were for us. Will our children resist violence more than we did? Or will they fall into the nihilism of those who have seen too much history happen in their lifetimes?