[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, toots … you name it]
[Videos]
The Psychology of People Who Love Staying At Home
The Vanity (Completely) Fair Photoshoot | Josh Johnson
Cory Doctorow – Rescuing the Internet From “Enshittification” | The Daily Show
[Music]
De La Soul – EN EFF featuring Black Thought
[Podcasts]
Why Nicki Minaj Threw It All Away For Fascism | A Bit Fruity with Matt Bernstein [podbean] – “When Nicki Minaj stepped on stage in Phoenix, Arizona, with one hand clasping Erika Kirk and the other waving to a crowd of white supremacists, even I was shocked. We’ve known the Queen of Rap to be many unsavory things: an insecure egomaniac, a steadfast defender of predators, an obsessive poster (she has my solidarity on that one). But “fascist propagandist” I did not see coming.” The right podcast to treat this topic.
Bad Press: How the media manufactures consent in the age of COVID – “This episode tracks how the media has contributed to the alarming decline of public health and played a role in blocking meaningful understanding and action on COVID. What is reported and how it’s framed can have a huge impact on what people think and how they behave. And if public health leaders are the ones sending foggy messages through unquestioning journalists, it becomes difficult to address collective health threats—now and in the future.” Manufacturing consent to keep the capitalism machine purring, that’s the *job* of the media.
Health Fascism and the Anti-State State | Death Panel [.soundcloud.] – “Beatrice and Artie discuss the damage done by the first year of Trump’s agenda to “Make America Healthy Again,” how the state’s relationship to health is changing, and what it means for political movements today.” A fantastic episode, but so far only available as a teaser if you are not a patron.
Elon Musk | If Books Could Kill [podbean] – Looks at the soft ball biography of Musk by one, checks note, Douchebag Isaacson, part 2.
[Toot Threads]
[Pandemic Roundup]
Covid: December 25, 2025
Covid: December 18, 2025
Covid: December 11, 2025
Covid: December 4, 2025
A huge thank you to Violet Blue for another year of continued coverage on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
[The Must Read[s] This Month]
SARS-CoV-2 Leaves a Lasting Mark on the Immune System [john snow project] – “1. Stop pretending COVID is over
2. Air quality is immunology
3. Prioritise high-risk groups for monitoring and protection
4. Invest in Long Covid and infection-associated chronic illness research
5. Communicate honestly with the public”
As we have been saying … But it is of course great to have this groundbreaking study that proves beyond a doubt that COVID infections can leave lasting marks on our immune systems and our cognitive abilities and and and and and.
freiheit.exe – Utopien als Malware [media.ccc.de] – “”freiheit.exe“ ist eine Lecture über die ideologischen Rootkits des Silicon Valley. Sie schlägt den Bogen von den italienischen Futuristen zu den heutigen Tech-Feudalisten, vom Akzelerationismus zur Demokratieskepsis der Libertären, von Tolkien zur PayPal-Mafia. Basierend auf den Recherchen zu meinem Theaterstück “freiheit.exe. Utopien als Malware”, in dem journalistische Analyse auf performative Darstellung trifft.”
Persist, resist, stitch [media.ccc.de] – “What does knitting have to do with espionage? Can embroidery help your mental health? This talk shows how the skills to create textile art have enabled people to resist and to persist under oppressive regimes for centuries. And it offers ways to keep doing so.”
Digital Independence Day – “Jeden ersten Sonntag auf die gute Seite wechseln! Unser digitales Leben befindet sich in der Hand weniger Superreicher. Mit der Monopolstellung ihrer Unternehmen bestimmen Menschen wie Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos oder Mark Zuckerberg weltweit, wie wir uns online informieren, wie wir diskutieren, kommunizieren oder handeln.” The first DID is planned for January 4th 2026.
Cables of Resistance | Berlin, Germany | April 10-12, 2026 – Save the date for this conference on climate activism and antifascism in Berlin. “We are movements and anti-capitalist activists who practise various forms of resistance against big tech. We want to bring together interested people, activists and movements, network and connect local struggles.” Mark your calendars.
https://okstupid.lol/ – “Welcome to okstupid.lol, the only place where one person’s questionable life choices meet the tragicomic world of far-right online dating.” Kartoffel-Karte.
[Articles English]
Divestment December – “It started with this photo. The leaders of the world’s biggest tech companies, standing together at Trump’s inauguration. Waiting patiently and performatively for their chance to kiss the ring. It feels like looking at a black and white picture of Germany in the ‘30s. But I’m grateful for it: that picture woke me up. The fact that these fucking guys are chumming around at the dawn of the new dystopia they’ve aided and abetted? It was time to cut these fascist collaborators out of my life.” Jim Munroe describes how he got off Google, Spotify and more.
Hey Jon Stewart, Jokes About Wearing Masks Aren’t Funny [motherjones] – “First of all, asking people why they are masking is invasive behavior. No one randomly owes you information about their health, their loved one’s health, or, understandably, just wanting to avoid Covid, which is the only way to prevent Long Covid.” Fuck this guy, no seriously, fuck Jon Stewart. What a cynical asshole he has turned into
At the Turning of the Tide : How to Fight Our Way out of the Trump Era [crimethinc] – Now also a zine. (See bellow)
Something gnawed your oak tree? Sink hole in your road? How Zurich’s beaver hotline is reassuring residents [the guardian] – Loved this article on the beaver hotline in Zürich, Switzerland. But it omits the important context that the Swiss federal council permits beavers to get shoot down, just like wolfs. And that the commendable hotline exists in one canton only (of 26).
Paid Informant and Social Media Posts Lead to ‘Turtle Island Liberation Front’ Arrests [unicorn riot] – “Federal agents made a series of arrests last week that revealed targeted surveillance of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, a leftist organization based in southern California. Through an informant, at least one undercover agent, and online and physical surveillance the FBI tracked the group before intervening in what it calls a conspiracy.” Entrapment machine FBI.
Hanukkah 5786: Making Diasporic Room for Ourselves in a City with Few Jews | Cindy Milstein [outside the circle] – “It should be such a simple thing: to light Chanuka candles facing outward—bright beacons to show we are still here, still creating sacred spaces of life against death machines, still fighting whatever fascisms rear their ugly heads. It should be such a simple and sweet thing: to commune together outside for Xanuka in temporary, do-it-ourselves “temples” that feel more holy than any fixed building—with stars above mirroring our candles below, with songs leaving our lips to fill the night sky.” Beautiful yet upsetting descriptions of how a few anarchist Jews celebrated Hannukah in Athens.
Antifa Everywhere | Alberto Toscano [in these times] – “Putting antifascist solidarity at the core of opposition to Trump and his cronies can make explicit how the fight against the politics of fear, hierarchy, privilege and domination is always grounded in an alternative vision and practice of collective life — one in which our security and well-being is not based on the insecurity and deprivation of others.” It’s a possibility that our solidarity can mount an opposition. But they hold all the guns and all the surveillance tools.
Why Palantir is becoming a risky bet for Switzerland [swissinfo.ch] – “Zurich serves as a hub for US tech company Palantir’s business relations. The Swiss foreign ministry now has the company in its sights, because of its controversial role in Gaza.” A shorter write-up of the longer reports on Republik, see bellow.
At the Turning of the Tide : How to Fight Our Way out of the Trump Era [crimethInc] – “Countless people on the receiving end of Trump’s policies experience a daily emotional reality of rage restrained by terror, in which the fear of state violence mounts at a pace that only barely keeps up with their fears for the future. Should cracks appear in Trump’s control—for example, if a movement emerges that can consistently outmaneuver his forces—it could unleash a tremendous amount of pent-up energy. Whoever can bring people together on that basis will open a path that millions will rush to tread.” Fight. And don’t listen to me, a despairing old fart
Giddyup, artists, there’s no time to waste | Andiliano Bichlbauma [substack] – “Figuring out how to join up with others to make needed change will put you in truly excellent company, and will help you to find lifelong community, artistic and otherwise. It’s going to be a very interesting few years, during which huge changes will happen, and it’s going to be a great privilege to be part of making those changes a good thing.” I loved this speech by one of the yesmen. But also wondered if it is cultural appropriation. Which says more about me and the times we live in that about anything else.
#sgtpepper2025 – It’s a lot this year
Russia’s justice ministry brands Pussy Riot ‘Extremist Organization’ [artnews] – ““If you’re labeled an extremist in Russia, your property is seized by the state. Sometimes your family’s property is seized as well,” Tolokonnikova said. “Russia has no issue evicting elderly parents from their homes or opening criminal cases against your friends for being in contact with you. Most active Pussy Riot members are now outside Russia, but we spent most of our lives there, and we have people we care about back home. Now they are under serious threat.”” Free Pussy Riot!
Surrealism Against Fascism | Naomi Klein [equator] – “Fascism is roaring back in the twenty-first century and, in a sickening twist, it is rhetorically claiming that mass censorship, high-tech surveillance and extra-judicial detention are necessary to protect the victims of twentieth-century fascism. Until, of course, even that flimsy façade is dropped in favour of a purer white nationalism with no need for Jewish cover. That evolution is already well underway, with unreconstructed antisemites on the far right – such as Nick Fuentes, helpfully amplified by Tucker Carlson – seizing upon widespread revulsion at Israel’s carnage, and the suppression of voices opposing it, to open the floodgates of Jew hatred, updating the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for the Jeffrey Epstein era.” [https://archive.ph/UcuCm#selection-267.0-271.29] A bit of a stretch. But fine.
Monthly Climate Reports [ncei] – “November 2025 ranked as the third-warmest November in NOAA’s 176-year record, with a global surface temperature 1.18°C (2.12°F) above the 20th-century average. The ten warmest Novembers have all occurred since 2015, with the most recent three years (2023, 2024, and 2025) comprising the top three. This month marked the 49th-consecutive November with above-average temperatures.” The reports are back. For now.
A fentanyl vaccine is about to get its first major test [arstechnica] – “Fifty times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, fentanyl was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1968 as an intravenous pain reliever and anesthetic. Its potential for abuse was recognized even then […] Cheap to make and incredibly addictive, fentanyl is now found in street drugs and counterfeit pills, because it boosts their potency and cuts costs. The drug is the biggest driver of overdose deaths in the United States and the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45.” Fuck Fentanyl, heroin’s bastard child.
Ready for War Is – Nick Fuentes the successor to Charlie Kirk? [thebaffler] – “Since Kirk’s death in September, the New York Times has run more than half a dozen news stories and opinion pieces on Fuentes and his followers, including a piece by Michelle Goldberg that positions him as the clear successor to Kirk. In a Times profile, Trump administration officials refused to comment on Fuentes “out of fear, they said, of inviting online attacks from him and his zealous followers.” He now commands a viewership of over half a million—and his reach is only growing.” Fuck Nick Fuentes (boy, am i constructive this month)
Was the Pentecostal Boom in Latin America a CIA Psyop? | Colten Barnaby [substack] – “What makes all of this chilling is that it worked. By the 1990s, liberation theology had been sharply weakened. The Vatican, under pressure from conservative factions and geopolitical concerns, disciplined liberation theologians. Meanwhile, Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity had become the fastest-growing religious movement in Latin America. Today, Pentecostals form one of the strongest voting blocs for right-wing and authoritarian politicians across the continent.” For this very reason I absolutely hate it every time i see these Brazilian footballers showboating their faith on camera.
[Articles German/French]
Ungerechtfertigter und exzessiver Einsatz von Polizeigewalt [amnesty] – “Auf der Grundlage von Zeug*innenaussagen und eigenen Beobachtungen hat Amnesty International Schweiz einen ungerechtfertigten und übermässigen Einsatz polizeilicher Gewalt gegen die Gaza-Kundgebung am 11. Oktober in Bern dokumentiert, auch gegen friedliche Demonstrant*innen. Eine verhältnismässige Polizeintervention hätte durch die Gewalthandlungen einer Minderheit der Teilnehmer*innen gerechtfertigt werden können, Amnesty Schweiz ist jedoch besorgt über den strafenden Charakter des Polizeieinsatzes und fordert eine unabhängige Untersuchung.”
Wie hartnäckig Palantir die Schweiz umwarb [republik] – “Das umstrittene Tech-Unternehmen Palantir liefert Überwachungstechnologie an Militär und Geheimdienste. Bei hiesigen Behörden und der Armee aber blitzte es ab. Interne Dokumente zeigen nun weshalb.” Part 2.
[Older articles, still great]
Become an Anarchist or Forever Hold Your Peace [crimethinc] – “Anarchists propose to build our collective capacity to act on a horizontal and decentralized basis, rather than entrusting our agency to leaders. We seek to create a lattice of overlapping participatory and voluntary associations that can meet people’s material and spiritual needs. Rather than hoarding resources for ourselves the way the billionaires do, we seek to abolish all of the mechanisms that impose artificial scarcity, to create commons that benefit everyone. We seek to generate abundance, not profit” Now available as a zine
20 Theses For Liberation [znetwork] -“This is a place for all who strive for the wellbeing of people & planet to come together around a unifying & dynamic organizing strategy towards mutual aims & collective action. We invite you to consider the 20 Theses for Liberation as a living document to engage with in a continued, collective process.” In the wake of the Epstein files and the unflattering role Chomsky plays in it, the 20 theses were circulated again. They still make sense.
Framework for managing the response to pandemic diseases [nhs england] – “it will not be possible to halt the spread of a new pandemic virus, and it would be a waste of public health resources and capacity to attempt to do so” There you have it. We’re on our own.
Let Them Eat Plague! [the red clarion] – “This is not simple negligence on the part of those who govern and shape our society. It amounts to social murder: the establishment of policies that place large numbers of people on the path to an early and unnatural death. You have the right to health, and that right is being deliberately stripped away from you with a policy of mass infection.” It is so unreal what we are going to, abandoned by everybody, even the “health” care system.
R.I.P.
Not that blonde French fascist in St. Tropez *champagne*
Too many in all the wars
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Header Photo: That sky looks like doomsday