Author | Lightnews

Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Mar 27

New interview: I talked to NYC mayoral hopeful @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social about making New York livable again, balancing safety and justice, Cuomo after #MeToo, AOC 2028, if he'd fight ICE raids, and whether he will rap again.

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WATCH: Zohran wants a new New York

Mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani on making New York livable again, balancing safety and justice, Cuomo after #MeToo, AOC in 2028, how he would fight ICE raids, and whether he will rap again

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Mar 4

Welcome to the Trump economy.

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Mar 4

I asked a prominent congressional Democrat if the party needs new leadership. His answer surprised me: “It’s a fair point,” he said.

Is it a crack in the edifice?

the.ink/p/watch-do-d...

WATCH: Do Dems need new leaders? "Fair point," Ro Khanna says

I ask the California congressman about the Trump slump in the markets, why Democrats seem so spineless, how the donor class sabotaged his party, and what his vision for a comeback looks like

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 28

Why have you voted for any Trump nominees during an autocratic hostile takeover of our institutions by illegal means?

Senator Amy Klobuchar @klobuchar.senate.gov · Feb 28

It’s not cute to accidentally cancel Ebola prevention — a virus with a 50% fatality rate.

It’s even less acceptable when it turns out you didn’t “restore” the prevention for Ebola like you claimed.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Feb 26

Elon Musk: "We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect ... so for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was ebola prevention."

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 27

Peter Baker at The New York Times is doing something a lot of the mainstream press is not, and it deserves to be noticed.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...

In Trump’s Washington, a Moscow-Like Chill Takes Hold

A new administration’s efforts to pressure the news media, punish political opponents and tame the nation’s tycoons evoke the early days of President Vladimir V. Putin’s reign in Russia.

www.nytimes.com

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 26

Cancel your Washington Post subscription and join The Ink.

We’re made it easy to do here.

Support kneepad-free journalism.

the.ink/p/bezos-just...

Bezos just obeyed. We never will

Cancel your Washington Post subscription. Join us instead

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 26

I was surprised to learn that these were Bezos’s two favorite things.

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 26

Let it be said. Our government and the people who work for it are not a waste or a fraud. They are a modern goddamn miracle.

If Elon Musk doesn’t like a government that serves all the people, he is welcome to build a time travel machine and return to Apartheid South Africa.

the.ink/p/government...

Government is a miracle

Why DOGE's attack on "waste" is really an attack on an entire century of progress

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

I didn’t think he’d be able to work the Jews in as well, but he was very efficient in a short space.

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

Really appreciate viewer feedback

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

Not one vote. What are these people doing?

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

Call it what it is. A hostile takeover by bullies and billionaires.

youtu.be/bamSK_gEdUA?...

Anand Giridharadas: America is living through a hostile takeover by billionaires and bullies

YouTube video by MSNBC

youtu.be

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

If only there were a word for this

Zack Stanton @zackstanton.bsky.social · Feb 25

A group of prominent military contractors, including former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, has pitched the Trump White House on a proposal to carry out mass deportations through a network of “processing camps” on military bases and a “small army” of private citizens empowered to make arrests.

Documents reveal how military contractors want to take over mass deportations

The group, led by Blackwater veteran Erik Prince, has close Trump ties.

www.politico.com

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

Well, I tried to warn everybody about oligarchs a few years ago, and fortunately everyone listened, and now everything is fine

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

Sadly, it turns out my mother only gets one vote.

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

I said what I said. I’m sorry, but politeness and deference are gonna cause us to lose the Republic.

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 25

America today is living through a hostile takeover by bullies and billionaires.

It is rampaging unopposed because leading Democrats don't know how to fight.

Step up, own the failing, and change -- or make way for the fighters in your ranks.

FULL VIDEO: the.ink/p/milquetoas...

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Reposted by Anand Giridharadas

Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · Feb 20

Always an honor, and a treat, to talk to @anandwrites.bsky.social about how to fabulously fight fascism:
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WATCH: An *actual* plan to beat fascism

A masterclass from political sage Anat Shenker-Osorio on how you can fight back against Trump II, create "social proof," mobilize your community, stop waiting for Democrats, and start getting it DONE

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 20

The month of moping ends now.

Here is an incredibly practical plan for fighting fascism. And it involves you acting, not waiting for Democratic spinal growth.

Let’s go. Watch and share Anat Shenker-Osorio’s brilliance.

open.substack.com/pub/anandwri...

WATCH: An *actual* plan to beat fascism

A masterclass from political sage Anat Shenker-Osorio on how you can fight back against Trump II, create "social proof," mobilize your community, stop waiting for Democrats, and start getting it DONE

open.substack.com

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 19

No surprise for a guy with more incarnations than a Hindu god, but JD Vance — once the media darling who tried to paulrevere about Trump’s Hitlerian potential — has become the concubine in a governing triumvirate that wants to jail U.S. reporters and free German neo-Nazis.

the.ink/p/free-speec...

Jail the reporters. Free the neo-Nazis

What explains the confounding Trump-Musk(-Vance) view of "free speech"?

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 18

New interview: Senator @chrismurphyct.bsky.social told me U.S. may be "months" from "irreversible" destruction of democracy; "most serious moment since the Civil War.”

We had a blunt talk about how Dems need to wake up and change approach fast and what you can do.

the.ink/p/watch-dem-...

WATCH: Dem Senator warns U.S. may be "months" from "irreversible" destruction of democracy

In an interview, Sen. Chris Murphy issued a grave warning about the country's most "serious moment" since the Civil War and answered questions about how Democrats must change their ways fast

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 18

20,000!!!

Amanda Litman @amandalitman.bsky.social · Feb 18

This week's @runforsomething.net feel-good update: 20,000 new potential candidates since Election Day. RFS alum fighting to build more housing + lower utility costs. So much good stuff I could barely squeeze it into on email. Seriously. rfsfeelgoodupdates.substack.com/p/rfs-feel-g...

RFS feel-good update (2/18): 20,000+ since Election Day

The people we recruit today are the people who run in 2026.

rfsfeelgoodupdates.substack.com

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 18

We are learning that, at the commanding heights of American life, there is little courage. But courage is rising from below. And it is only that that will save us.

I talked about yesterday‘s 50501 protests, which should not be ignored.

FULL ESSAY: the.ink/p/essay-home...

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 18

I wrote about “Democratic legislators and leaders who have no lack of courage when asking you for $5 via text message, but who ghost harder than single men in their 20s when the time comes for us to reap our investment in them.”

the.ink/p/essay-home...

ESSAY: Home of the brave? Really?

Who will stand up for democracy?

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Anand Giridharadas @anandwrites.bsky.social · Feb 18

It’s time to take back our country. Not only from this authoritarian nightmare, but also from the collaborators too insipid and weak and chickenshit — too skinless and boneless — to stand up for us.

the.ink/p/essay-home...

ESSAY: Home of the brave? Really?

Who will stand up for democracy?

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