@mattwheeland
Environmental journalist – mostly editing, minimal writing. Operations director @ Civil Eats. Food policy, food systems, climate change, community-building, resilience, and general nerdery. Opinions mine. He / him. East Bay, CA.
Screenshot of "your ai slop bores me," a site where you can larp as an llm to answer other people's prompts. I asked "please draw me a horse that's also a cowboy" and someone did a shitty ms paint drawing of a horse in a cowboy hat. 10/10
This is the greatest website ever made.
youraislopbores.me
If you want to stand up against fascism, then you have to defend trans rights. It’s nonnegotiable. We all lose otherwise.
If you can please consider donating to the ACLU of Kansas as they’re currently trying to fight this.
action.aclu.org/give/support...
I have spent the past several months studying the cutting-edge research on modern democracies that have defeated authoritarian leaders.
I've learned that the conventional wisdom on the topic is wrong — in ways that have clear implications for the US going forward
THREAD www.vox.com/politics/479...
"The purveyors of modern fascism are so scared of other people, and so full of hatred for humanity, that they’re even outsourcing the thing they like best—literally doing fascism—to computers." - read @andreagrimes.com 's latest below!
I wanna keep doing this work, in any form (podcast! newsletter! movie? AI literacy class!). Pls msg me on Signal at nitasha.10 if you need someone who’s well-sourced in AI & SV, worked hard to understand the technology + ideas + players, cares about getting it right and informing the public
Update: In the past week we've learned ICE has secured property to build human warehouses in Merrimack, NH and Williamsport, MD *as well as* Surprise, AZ; Upper Bern, PA; and Tremont, PA.
Facts that bear repeating.
HAPPY MONDAY!! Time to take advantage of the #Grammys algorithm! First up, @nicolefroio.bsky.social's review of THE ALBUM OF THE YEAR, Bad Bunny's DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS:
www.theflytrapmedia.com/deb-tirar-m-...
Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale
Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus
Resharing my @theflytrapmedia.com reporting about evil ghoul Kristie Noem, just for funsies.
hey, y'all. my name is madi and i'm a reporter for the minnesota reformer. i cover the trump administration's impact on minnesotans, which means i've been out on the streets covering ICE in the twin cities. let me walk you through how we got here:
Tom Cox consistently elevates alt-text to art
We do not accept payment for whistles, and will ship anywhere between 100 and 1000. If you know someone with an org that needs even more than that, they can reach out and we can work with them!
Do not be afraid to ask for 100 whistles if you just want to radicalize your PTA group. WE WANT THAT! 💓
1. Did you know that Girl Scouts has, for a long time, accepted trans girls and nonbinary scouts?
Trans kids are under attack. Every year, I make a thread of trans and nonbinary girl scouts you can get your cookies from.
Lets get our cookies from them this year in solidarity!
When I wrote about microplastics in November 2024, the scientists I spoke to were clear that research is at a frustratingly early stage - but also that microplastics are likely to be bad, so we should reduce our exposure www.ft.com/content/2433...
Interesting to see the Guardian's @dpcarrington.bsky.social weighing in on this. My take, as someone covering microplastics heavily for the past year (and currently sitting at a 200+ person conference with many of the scientists in question):
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
That heaviness you feel after events like yesterday is real. We've all accumulated a lot of mental and emotional weight in the first year of Trump's disastrous presidency. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-physic...
January 6 in History
Wrote this two years ago: “If the insurrectionist-in-chief returns to power without ever facing any real consequences and while explicitly declaring his intent to establish a vindictive autocracy, then January 6 will have been successful.”
And here we are.
Also, pay to support The Flytrap and other independent journalism - you won't find stuff like this anywhere else!
The latest @theflytrapmedia.com post from @sesmith.lol is an absolutely gem of insights and wisdom - they put the ubiquitous use of algospeak terms into historical context as well as rightly noting the more sinister implications of it being everywhere: www.theflytrapmedia.com/algospeak-wi...
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
It is important to promise, now, that whatever Trump builds at the White House will be torn down as soon as he leaves.
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/if-he-buil...
We’re joining 5 other Climate News Task Force newsrooms to offer a shared place to sign up for all our newsletters. It’s a new way to make climate coverage easier to find — and to support the reporting that holds powerful industries accountable.
Bracket showing the 32 names in the Worst Person in Tech 2025
🚨 THE BATTLE BEGINS 🚨
Your favorite year-end contest is back. It’s time to choose who will be this year’s Worst Person In Tech for 2025!
Each day of this week new matchups will drop until we choose the winner on Friday.
🗳️ Cast your ballot: twsu.forms.app/worst-person...
Things we learn:
1. Bovino's existence is the result of chain migration, which MAGA wants to ban
2. His family arrived legally under an immigration law MAGA wants to repeal
3. His father killed a woman while driving drunk, a crime for which MAGA aims to deport immigrants
And much more. Read it.
Recently, Instagram viewers got a glimpse of Embassy Chef Eilif #behindthescenes, #cooking up some delicious treats!
We are excited to introduce him to our BlueSky audience! Check out his first video of a classic #grilledcheese with Norwegian #Jarlsberg (@JarlsbergUSA).
UPDATE: We went to court to get the antitrust complaint against Pepsi, implicating Walmart, unsealed. (The Trump FTC dropped the case just before it was to be made public.) The judge just ruled in our favor. Pending a potential appeal, we should get a look at the details of the scheme next week.
“Fantastic.” “Original.” “Best thing in my inbox.”
People are loving the California Sun.
www.californiasun.co
friends! @coyotemedia.org is dropping our paywall for December so you can see what we’ve been up to even if you have none dollars. All of our posts are currently free to read.
Come check us out & spread the word? www.coyotemedia.org
