[Another month has passed and yet again i prepare my silly link list, this time despite a shooting pain in my back, and even though i am fully aware of the numbers. Almost no one is going to read or even bother to look at these lists. So why do i keep going? For the longest time i tried to convince myself that i keep these monthly lists as a sort of archive, a virtual Zettelkasten (according to Niklas Luhmann) if you’ll allow the pretentious take. But to be honest, as an archive this site is not very practical. To find old links here is a clunky endeavor at best. That task works better, thanks to tags, in a bookmarking site. At this point it is only my stubbornness that keeps me going. Combing through hundreds of feeds every morning has become a daily ritual of sorts, something to do, while my brain still sort of functions (and it’s going away fast). All told it is lesson in futility. Nothing i did in my life has made the slightest difference. What a waste. I need this misery to stop]
[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, toots … you name it]
[Videos]
Interview with George Monbiot on ME – Link to the corresponding article bellow.
How modern fascism works | End Times Fascism | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor – The video is terrible, but features well-chosen sound bytes by right-wing assholes. Despite this video i am reading the book, it’s quite good.
Can These Free Bricks Stop Wildfires, Fix Homelessness & Eradicate An Invasive Species? – "In this documentary, MAKE A BRICK, BUILD A WORLD, Tucson, Arizona adobe brick maker David Walker has a radical plan: to use buffelgrass (an invasive species that poses a serious fire risk) to make adobe bricks and in the process prevent wildfires, clean up the Santa Cruz River and create jobs. The finished adobes will be used to create homes for the unhoused" What a career. From media pranks to *checks notes* brick making.
[Music]
Guess which kid on the cover i am.
It’s available on vinyl again.
sea life
Yeah, uhm, not so much for the music.
[Podcasts]
The Heart of Education [emergence education] – "Story is the first school. Stories were the first school of humanity. Humans are storytellers and always have been. Before you had institutions, you had itinerant storytellers who would go around and tell stories, which were always teaching tools. Maybe there’s a need to go back toward that, because the modern world lacks a story." I am sure some people will wonder why i link to this podcast. Michael Meade proposes some strange ideas, some great ones too, and the interviewer is soft-balling it with his questions. But i just love this dude, his voice, his Brooklyn accent and his consistent worldview, even though i don’t agree with it anymore.
Trump’s New Red Scare w/ Vicky Osterweil – Last month i recommended it, despite being behind a paywall. Well, it’s available now
[Toot Threads]
[Pandemic Roundup]
Pandemic Roundup: September 24, 2026
Pandemic Roundup: September 17, 2026
Pandemic Roundup: September 10, 2026
Pandemic Roundup: September 3, 2026
[The Must Read[s] This Month]
Greenfield takes stock of viral attention: Businesses, officials weigh in after coverage of lesbian bar Last Ditch takes national spotlight [recorder] – This article is the only thing you need to read about the mask/lesbian bar debacle. Sadly many so-called left-wing pundits commenting on this story have showed their true, and ableist selves. It’s fine. It helped me weed out my feeds.
Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot [the guardian] – "Of course, as there is no effective treatment, it’s a difficult situation for doctors as well as patients. But even worse than no solutions is false solutions, and a dangerous, gaslighting, even punitive approach to a terrible disease. Across the decades, millions of people have been neglected, dismissed and mistreated, and still it goes on. We need to ask why so many patients have been abandoned, why discredited and dangerous treatments continue to be prescribed and why ignorance and neglect still dominate, in the health system and beyond." Look, this article isn’t great, and contains several mistakes. But at least Monbiot is someone who writes about us.
The killing of a black man [substack] – "Rather than a media pile-on, this was predatory propaganda. Fighting propaganda is not simply a matter of determining whether each individual claim is true or false. It is first and foremost a struggle over who has the power to define reality. That is what framing does: it places certain perspectives at the centre, relegates others to the margins, and determines what becomes visible, sayable and relevant." The most exhaustive analysis on Jordan Arday, written by Stephanie Lamy and published on Mediapart, translated here in English.
[Articles English]
Laurie Anderson: ‘I learned a lot through blunders. I’m not trying to live a perfect life’ [nerve] – "Your work is playful and peaceful. How do you resist anger? I like to think of the teacher [American nun] Pema Chödrön, who would say: analyse your anger. Go to the bottom up, to the roots of it, and you will always find the same thing at the root of anger: a broken heart. Try to look at what these forces are, and understand them, before you just fight them." My heart is beyond broken, it’s on the floor. My rage knows no bounds.
Losing Beck [vulture] – "A group of strangers were waiting for her in the living room. Some of them were in suits; others were in uniforms she recognized from her limited knowledge of the Church of Scientology: They were from the Sea Org, the church’s elite religious order." Excerpt of an upcoming book about Bek. For me, i have to say, that’s about all i need to know about this weirdo.
‘Planetary boundaries’ necessary for flourishing of life have been massively breached, scientists warn [the guardian] – "Of the nine “planetary boundaries” that help determine whether life can flourish on Earth, seven are being breached at their highest ever levels of transgression, according to the latest planetary health check, a process that was established in 2009. The seven key indicators in the danger zone include climate change, change in biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, modification of biogeochemical flows, introduction of novel entities and, for the first time last year, ocean acidification." Difficult not to feel doom.
Another way out: Those who won't fight power will fight each other | William C. Anderson [prism] – "Those who cannot or will not fight fascism openly turn on each other. Perhaps some are scared, but others seem much more invested in personal power grabs. While people are without power and food in major disasters, they’ll be online beefing. When families are being swept up into facilities and disappeared, they’ll be online beefing. When authorities are murdering people in the streets, at home or abroad, they’ll be online beefing. As the food system breaks down, they’ll be online beefing. As new fascist laws appear, they’ll be online beefing." As is the article feels a bit like a non-mention. I could have used some concrete examples.
COVID is disabling young women, not Tiktok | The Gauntlet [substack] – "It’s important for those nominally on the left to understand how questioning Long COVID patients’ illnesses, as well as disabled people’s illnesses and disabilities in general, serves the state. Creating an environment of doubt, vitriol, and surveillance in which fellow workers are negatively radicalized against sick people is the goal of the state; again, this is a “divide and conquer” tactic." Ignore the tiny, no sorry minuscule elephant (read: virus) in the room at your own peril.
The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor [the guardian] – "Our movement ancestors have left us maps to earthly Zions where everyone is welcome, to inclusive futures where peace and safety are core principles. Not the post-human future desired by end times fascists, but a post-capitalist and pro- (all of) life one. Deeply democratic, socialist, feminist, multiracial, multispecies, internationalist, generous, courageous and animate. Embodied and sensory, proudly earthbound." Yup, as mentioned above, i’m reading the book. Not exited. Great analysis, disappointing, nonsensical solutions (as per usual with Klein).
Baba Yaga’s Burlesque; Or, How a Random Naked Man on a Bike Ride Changed My Life – "I write because the love and rage inside me, connects me to the love and rage inside you, and I don’t want to forget we outnumber those who believe themselves all-powerful. I write because I want those who know this grief to feel seen. I write because I hope others will recognize there is probably a person in their life who’s survived the unsurvivable, and to give more grace, because we all deserve that. I write for everyone who’s been isolated, terrified, disbelieved, discarded, who has wanted to die and maybe even tried. I see you, and I love you." I read you, and i love you.
Monthly Global Climate Report | August 2026 [ncei] – "The global surface temperature in August 2026 was 1.32°C (2.38°F) above the 20th-century average—the warmest August in the 1850–2026 record, eclipsing the previous tied records set in 2023 and 2024 by 0.08°C (0.14°F). It marked the 48th-consecutive August with global temperatures above the 20th-century average (the last below-average August occurred in 1978). All 10 of the warmest Augusts on record have occurred since 2016, with the last four years (2023–2026) representing the four warmest. Notably, August 2026 was the fourth-consecutive August with a temperature departure exceeding +1.0°C (+1.8°F), ranking as the sixth-highest temperature departure for any month in the 2,120-month record." We are fucked. Sorry. So glad we didn’t put any children onto this planet.
911realtime.org – A multi-layered timeline of how the day unfolded, how the story was picked up by the media etc. I watched this on 9/11 in real time and i admit, i was shaken.
A Quick Service Post about the Election in Saxony-Anhalt | Adrian Daub [substack] – "The rightward tilt of German media is like the rightward tilt of Merz’s CDU: crushed candy desperately hoping to substitute for pure cocaine. The maladroit, mealy-mouthed, pouty racism of Friedrich Merz, as much as the sweaty, proviso-wracked racism of the Renés, Jürgens and Annettes in various publishing houses, is to them both affirming and ultimately pathetic. That is how center-right politicians and media create Nazis: by making them the real thing." I rarely quote the last sentences of an essay. It feels like a spoiler. But this one is so fabulous that i needed to do this. Sorry
Eight theses on Gloria Steinem, because goddamn | Sophie Lewis [patreon] – "It behooves all feminists to say “rest in peace” to Gloria Steinem—but not “rest in power,” which is a phrase that we Red feminists reserve for revolutionaries. In saying "rest in peace," I am channeling the gorgeous generosity of the sex workers who have come forward with nice things to say about Steinem this week even though the woman worked against the decriminalization of sex workers' labor her whole life." Instead of listing her as RIP bellow.
The Understory Toolkit [organizingmythoughts] – "We wanted to create a place where we could process some of those realities together. We also wanted room to reflect on the ideas, relationships, ecosystems, traditions, and ways of being that gave our work meaning. We wanted to ask what people with our politics considered sacred—not in the sense of religious doctrine, but in the sense of what we felt called to honor, protect, practice, and keep alive." We always love us a toolkit.
When do infections lead to long COVID? Scientists close in on triggers and treatments for post-viral syndromes [nature] – "The relative importance of various mechanisms could provide a way to group people into subsets: those with autoantibodies, say, or signs of viral persistence. This means that it’s unlikely that any one treatment will benefit everybody, although some might work for several diseases." This is key. Please avoid promoting or looking for one-size-fits-all explanations or even cures.
[Articles German/French]
Mediapart: Nos révélations sur Jordan Bardella
Appel à contribution pour un recueil de fictions anarchiste et anti-autoritaire [renverse.co] – “Cet appel est destiné à n’importe qui partageant des idées anarchistes et anti-autoritaires, que tu écrives des romans ou des nouvelles depuis des annés ou depuis hier, que t’aies jamais rien écrit mais que t’aies plein d’idée et que tes yeux brillent d’envie de les partager, que tu lises tout les jours ou juste un zine de temps en temps.” Do i know any anarchist fiction writers?
Eine Kollegin lacht neben ihm auf – in seinem Kopf explodiert der Schmerz wie ein Stromschlag [bund] – "Schätzungsweise acht bis zwölf Prozent der Schweizer Bevölkerung leiden unter einer sogenannten Hyperakusis, wie die erhöhte Lärmempfindlichkeit in der medizinischen Fachsprache genannt wird. Bei dieser können bereits normale Alltagsgeräusche starkes Unbehagen, Angstzustände oder Schmerzen auslösen. Wirklich schwer betroffen, sodass sie medizinische Hilfe aufsuchen, sind ein bis zwei Prozent, das sind dennoch rund 90’000 bis 180’000 Personen." With such a percentage of people affected by hyperacusis, this issue should be treated as a structural as well as a social problem, one that demands better accommodation for sufferers or at least better communication among neighbors. Yet all the solutions that get proposed only focus on the individual level. Neoliberal inclusivity theater.
Wie Betroffenheit (nicht) anerkannt wird: Zur Struktur medizinischer Gewalt bei ME/CFS und Long COVID [widersprüche] – "Soziale Arbeit darf sich folglich weder mit den eigenen theoretischen Leerstellen noch mit der strukturellen Nichtversorgung dieser Krankheiten abfinden. Ebenso wenig darf sie in Resignation angesichts ihrer vielfältigen Herausforderungen verfallen. Durch solidarische Interessenvertretung könnte die Soziale Arbeit die Perspektiven der Betroffenen stärken und ihren Beitrag zu einer gewaltfreien und gerechteren Gesundheitsversorgung leisten. Von Kritik an struktureller medizinischer Gewalt und psychosomatischen Hegemonien in und um die Medizin würden zugleich Betroffene weiterer Erkrankungen profitieren, da sich Analysen psychosomatischer (Um-)Deutungen ausweiten ließen (Sloan et al. 2025)." An appeal to social workers to think about post-viral disease and sufferers.
Essay: Hungern müssen wir allein [woz] – "Hier rächt sich auch der halbverdaute Grundsatz aus der Body-Positivity-Bewegung, über die Körper der anderen nicht zu sprechen: Es passiert etwas vor unser aller Augen, und wir haben keine Ahnung, wie wir darüber reden sollen. Weil wir zwar erfolgreich die hasserfüllte Sprache aus unseren Kreisen getilgt, aber uns nie darum gekümmert haben, ein anderes, freundlicheres, nichtmoralisches Sprechen und Denken darüber zu entwickeln." I lost my beautiful, kind sister to this horrendous disease. Riot. Don’t diet.
[Older articles, still great]
Zosia Brom: Anarchism in the Mainstream [autonomies] – "We live in a perma-crisis world, where states continue to prove themselves to be utterly useless as forms of organisation, unable to adapt to situations that aren’t just business as usual, and unable to respond to actual community problems—instead enhancing these problems while serving capital and those who try to divide us. This is both a precarious and often tragic predicament and an opportunity for movements such as ours to use what we preach in practice and demonstrate that what is being presented to us as impossible is indeed very much possible. But we can’t do it without working in cooperation with other groups, and this will involve compromise and flexibility on our side. Politics, baby!" Yay for anarchism (if only the scene wasn’t such a magnet for complete assholes, and i count myself among them).
R.I.P.
Way to many in Gaza and the West Bank, Iran, Ukraine, Sudan, refugees in boats and in ICE custody. This Must Stop!
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Header Photo: A person is sipping tea, behind them a bronze statue of a dragon, the view of the Lac Leman with some mountains and clouds