Nick Baumann
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nickbaumann.bsky.social
Nick Baumann
@nickbaumann.bsky.social
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Politics Editor at The Washington Post | Pats fan. Eagle Scout. Beer pong aficionado. | 202.630.2380 | Signal: nickbaumann.97 | Usual disclaimers
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nickbaumann.bsky.social
Nick Baumann @nickbaumann.bsky.social · Feb 2
Got a tip on what's going on in the federal government? Signal me: nickbaumann.97
Reposted by Nick Baumann
nicholasyee.bsky.social
And Penelope Cruz was born as The Odyssey
May 12, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
vornietom.bsky.social
FUN FACT: Helen Hunt is a stage name, her given name is The Iliad
May 12, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
drewharwell.com
Is it an AI bubble or
November 18, 2025 at 4:44 PM
nickbaumann.bsky.social
This is fun as a blind-item quote
November 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
joshchafetz.bsky.social
Look, I know this weaponization of male academic interest is the oldest story in the book, but it’s just so, so pernicious. It’s awful to the women directly involved, but it’s also awful to *all* women in the academy, who have to live in its shadow all the time.
November 17, 2025 at 3:03 AM
nickbaumann.bsky.social
Trump HIV prevention plan shuts out South Africa — the nation most affected www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Trump HIV prevention plan shuts out South Africa — the nation most affected
Administration officials say South Africa has “significant means” to fund a promising new drug, lenacapavir, on its own. Critics call the move self-defeating.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
faile.bsky.social
All I ask is that we let *at least* one live to warn the others.
November 18, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
scriban.bsky.social
Do you like bread?

Do you like circuses?

Well, brother…
November 18, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
there is no precedent for how many edible mascots we will kill this year
nauerbach.com Nicole Auerbach @nauerbach.com · 15h
BREAKING: We’re getting six (!) edible mascots at this year’s @poptartsbowl.com!

- six edible mascots, three on Team Sprinkles and three on Team Swirls

- fans get to vote on which mascot team to sacrifice to Mouth Heaven at game’s end, the biggest edible mascot sacrifice EVER
November 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
nickbaumann.bsky.social
This is really interesting: slowboring.com/p/i-dont-see...
I don’t see images in my mind and I feel fine about it
A New Yorker article on the “profound” consequences of aphantasia ignores the upsides
slowboring.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
themorrancave.bsky.social
NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House.

By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
oliverdarcy.bsky.social
Ben Shapiro is spending a lot of $$$ trying to win the inaugural Best Podcast award at the Golden Globes.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/ben-shapir...
Shapiro's Golden Spending Spree
Ben Shapiro is mounting an aggressive Golden Globes campaign, buying billboard space in Times Square and within Jay Penske’s media empire in a bid to win the inaugural Best Podcast award.
www.status.news
November 18, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
amybrown.xyz
incredibly day for the Nosy Bitches Who Live For Drama caucus
November 18, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
zacheverson.com
New: A site licensing Trump's name is selling merch with the presidential seal — including a $20 beer-pong set with “Presidential themed balls.”

Federal law says you can’t manufacture or sell likenesses of the seal without authorization.

me, for @forbes.com

1/
Trump-Licensed Presidential Seal Beer Pong Set Could Violate Federal Law
A site affiliated with Lee Greenwood sells merchandise with the seal—such as a $20 beer pong set with “Presidential themed balls”—and pays licensing fees to a Trump LLC.
www.forbes.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:05 PM
nickbaumann.bsky.social
Judge finds that the government's prosecution of James Comey may not, uh, have been entirely above board: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Federal judge blasts potential ‘government misconduct’ in Comey case
A federal magistrate judge excoriated the government’s handling of the case against former FBI director James B. Comey.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
lebassett.bsky.social
I will not read the worm paragraph
November 17, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
sorenspicknall.bsky.social
Easy choice if you're a deer deciding where to buy a house
A map showing a town called Deer Park next to a town called Kildeer
November 17, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
cpaxton.bsky.social
We're upping our rates for the third time. Do you like to pay $29.99 per month or let your parents truly die forever
November 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
cpaxton.bsky.social
Nightmarish idea for a startup tbh
November 13, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
jwherrman.bsky.social
not too hard to imagine a comprehensively gambling-obsessed political media, maybe soon nymag.com/intelligence...
Max Read notes that these companies are posting in a familiar style. "If you still spend time on X.com, you will recognize here precisely the same clipped, decontextualized, link-free, moronically breathless style of tweeting deployed by 'financial news for low-trust illiterates' accounts like Unusual Whales or ZeroHedge (or, for that matter, in a slightly different arena, PopCrave)," he writes. To be slightly more generous about it, accounts like this have, on a platform where outside links barely exist, mainstream media brands are no longer visible, and commentary crowds out timely updates, stepped in to fill a market need, as strange and distorted as it may be. As Read points out, Kalshi and Polymarket are also speaking the language of their most devoted users - "epistemically captured right-wing hobbyist gamblers and speculators — and meeting them where they are, on X, which is another way of saying it's just good marketing. But, in the spirit of prediction, I think material like this will soon be more than a sideshow and already sketches an outline of a new, betting-centric political media. Gambling took over sports coverage, after all. Why won't it take over everything else? If more people put more money into markets like Kalshi, it's easy enough to imagine how a sportslike media transformation might unfold through sponsorships, normalization in existing media, constant metacoverage of prediction odds, and content produced by the prediction platforms themselves. Aside from its posting habits, Polymarket already has a podcast; on the websites of shrinking newspapers around the country, you can already find aggregated articles sharing the current betting odds for the 2028 election. (J.D. Vance +225, Gavin Newsom +350, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez +900 in case you were curious and know what that means.) Why wouldn't fast-growing companies in a wildly lucrative but competitive industry hire or sponsor some influencers to make some content, draw some attention, and convert some customers? Why shouldn't they convene, say, a Jubilee in which participants argue about their bets on polities rather than politics as such? I've got $5,000 on J.D. Vance 2028. Change my mind.
November 13, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
rusty.todayintabs.com
This is the most cursed idea I’ve ever seen and it’s immediately obvious that this is where we’re headed
jwherrman.bsky.social John Herrman @jwherrman.bsky.social · 5d
not too hard to imagine a comprehensively gambling-obsessed political media, maybe soon nymag.com/intelligence...
Max Read notes that these companies are posting in a familiar style. "If you still spend time on X.com, you will recognize here precisely the same clipped, decontextualized, link-free, moronically breathless style of tweeting deployed by 'financial news for low-trust illiterates' accounts like Unusual Whales or ZeroHedge (or, for that matter, in a slightly different arena, PopCrave)," he writes. To be slightly more generous about it, accounts like this have, on a platform where outside links barely exist, mainstream media brands are no longer visible, and commentary crowds out timely updates, stepped in to fill a market need, as strange and distorted as it may be. As Read points out, Kalshi and Polymarket are also speaking the language of their most devoted users - "epistemically captured right-wing hobbyist gamblers and speculators — and meeting them where they are, on X, which is another way of saying it's just good marketing. But, in the spirit of prediction, I think material like this will soon be more than a sideshow and already sketches an outline of a new, betting-centric political media. Gambling took over sports coverage, after all. Why won't it take over everything else? If more people put more money into markets like Kalshi, it's easy enough to imagine how a sportslike media transformation might unfold through sponsorships, normalization in existing media, constant metacoverage of prediction odds, and content produced by the prediction platforms themselves. Aside from its posting habits, Polymarket already has a podcast; on the websites of shrinking newspapers around the country, you can already find aggregated articles sharing the current betting odds for the 2028 election. (J.D. Vance +225, Gavin Newsom +350, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez +900 in case you were curious and know what that means.) Why wouldn't fast-growing companies in a wildly lucrative but competitive industry hire or sponsor some influencers to make some content, draw some attention, and convert some customers? Why shouldn't they convene, say, a Jubilee in which participants argue about their bets on polities rather than politics as such? I've got $5,000 on J.D. Vance 2028. Change my mind.
November 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
nickbaumann.bsky.social
"Whatever your gripes with Girlboss feminism, to be a Girlboss is to steadfastly believe that hard work, professional excellence, and success could lead to gender equality," writes @jerusalem.bsky.social: www.theargumentmag.com/p/karine-jea...
Karine Jean-Pierre is not a #GirlBoss
A qualified defense of feminism's oft-maligned strivers
www.theargumentmag.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
caylen.bsky.social
a “Space Force”, if you will
dieworkwear.bsky.social derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 6d
we need a department of kerning
The Department of War's seal hangs on a wall. The kerning appears to be off.
November 13, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
jessicasidman.bsky.social
BREAKING: The Inn at Little Washington has lost a Michelin star.

It was the only 3-star restaurant in the DC region. The announcement comes ahead of Michelin's star ceremony next Tuesday.

washingtonian.com/2025/11/12/t...
The Inn at Little Washington Loses a Michelin Star
It joins Alinea and Masa in being downgraded from three to two stars.
washingtonian.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Nick Baumann
aferaldavid.bsky.social
Horses and humans share a special bond because we are both half centaurs
November 12, 2025 at 9:37 PM