Benjamin Rahn
@brahn.bsky.social
Dad. Product engineer. Ex-Stripe.
Co-founded ActBlue. Erstwhile physicist.
Co-founded ActBlue. Erstwhile physicist.
Pinned
Benjamin Rahn
@brahn.bsky.social
· Apr 8
i think it's worse than this. the Republican Party as an institution has thoroughly discredited itself as either interested in or capable of being trustworthy with respect to basic democratic governance
One man just wiped out $10 trillion in wealth, is destroying centuries-old legal protections, and seems determined to unravel humanity’s greatest public health achievement. In 3 months.
I don’t know how we get out of this. But if we do, one person can never have that kind of power again.
I don’t know how we get out of this. But if we do, one person can never have that kind of power again.
We now have rebuttals to every Republican claim of legitimacy.
* No, Republicans can't be trusted with the economy. Given the opportunity they wrecked it.
* No, they aren't tough on crime. They shut down investigations of their thieving buddies, and pardoned violent insurgents.
1/?
* No, Republicans can't be trusted with the economy. Given the opportunity they wrecked it.
* No, they aren't tough on crime. They shut down investigations of their thieving buddies, and pardoned violent insurgents.
1/?
Nice mental model for tech's so-called "rightward shift": when the tech labor market is hot, CEOs act progressive to attract employees. When the labor market cools, the CEOs stop doing so.
But @zamosta.bsky.social omits tech folks' individual and collective agency in this implicit negotiation.
But @zamosta.bsky.social omits tech folks' individual and collective agency in this implicit negotiation.
I'm also not above posting for attention in the hope that @jamellebouie.net @adamserwer.bsky.social or @cwarzel.bsky.social read it and tell me what they think.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o...
Opinion | The Real Reason Silicon Valley Won’t Stand Up to Trump
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Nice mental model for tech's so-called "rightward shift": when the tech labor market is hot, CEOs act progressive to attract employees. When the labor market cools, the CEOs stop doing so.
But @zamosta.bsky.social omits tech folks' individual and collective agency in this implicit negotiation.
But @zamosta.bsky.social omits tech folks' individual and collective agency in this implicit negotiation.
Second paragraph is Will Lewis subtweeting his contempt for copywriters
Breaking — Will Lewis out at the Washington Post. He just sent this email to staff (shared with me by staffer):
February 8, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Second paragraph is Will Lewis subtweeting his contempt for copywriters
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
Blue wave watch: Democrat flips Trump +17 Texas Senate seat in 32-point swing
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/blue-wave-...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/blue-wave-...
February 1, 2026 at 6:16 AM
Blue wave watch: Democrat flips Trump +17 Texas Senate seat in 32-point swing
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/blue-wave-...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/blue-wave-...
maybe Elon just wanted to know when it'd be quieter 🤪
OK, so Musk was planning to go to Epstein's island, but it's not like he went there with the intent to go to a wild party or something, it was probably just some business. Excuse me, an email just came in.
*Reads:* "What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?"
*Reads:* "What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?"
January 30, 2026 at 10:05 PM
maybe Elon just wanted to know when it'd be quieter 🤪
Genuinley curious if this arises from writers carelessly using LLMs (rather than political agendas) -- Because unless user stops them, LLMs are inclined to fill in missing details from "typical" stories, plot arcs, tropes regardless of whether they apply.
Even by AXIOS "standard" the propaganda here is something special saying Homan "struck a cooperative tone" and "calm voice of de-escalation." 🙃
AYKM with this?
www.axios.com/newsletters/...
AYKM with this?
www.axios.com/newsletters/...
January 29, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Genuinley curious if this arises from writers carelessly using LLMs (rather than political agendas) -- Because unless user stops them, LLMs are inclined to fill in missing details from "typical" stories, plot arcs, tropes regardless of whether they apply.
Get in front of it with full-court press / ad blitz:
** Trump and the GOP: SOFT ON CRIME **
* Pardoning fraudsters and crime lords
* Putting murderous masked thugs in our streets
* Hiding the Epstein files
* Trump is a 34-time felon.
=> GOP can't say "crime" without reminding people of these ads
** Trump and the GOP: SOFT ON CRIME **
* Pardoning fraudsters and crime lords
* Putting murderous masked thugs in our streets
* Hiding the Epstein files
* Trump is a 34-time felon.
=> GOP can't say "crime" without reminding people of these ads
the thing is, the party that is protecting the agents who we all saw shoot to kill is going to run nonstop ads all fall accusing their opponents of being ‘soft on crime’
January 29, 2026 at 5:08 AM
Get in front of it with full-court press / ad blitz:
** Trump and the GOP: SOFT ON CRIME **
* Pardoning fraudsters and crime lords
* Putting murderous masked thugs in our streets
* Hiding the Epstein files
* Trump is a 34-time felon.
=> GOP can't say "crime" without reminding people of these ads
** Trump and the GOP: SOFT ON CRIME **
* Pardoning fraudsters and crime lords
* Putting murderous masked thugs in our streets
* Hiding the Epstein files
* Trump is a 34-time felon.
=> GOP can't say "crime" without reminding people of these ads
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
We are determined to make it so. The @unbreaking.org team has been working since the beginning to stand up a page focused on Archives & History. Our timeline (unbreaking.org/issues/archi...) and debrief (unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...) were just published today.
January 23, 2026 at 6:32 AM
We are determined to make it so. The @unbreaking.org team has been working since the beginning to stand up a page focused on Archives & History. Our timeline (unbreaking.org/issues/archi...) and debrief (unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...) were just published today.
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
This is really, really good. I had been waiting until I had time to watch it, but now there is a transcript!
Remarkable speech from Mark Carney today at Davos, worth reading in full. Thanks to Paul Wells for transcribing (and translating the French portion): paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:31 AM
This is really, really good. I had been waiting until I had time to watch it, but now there is a transcript!
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
Clear, simple, direct, no hedging. What we call "strong leadership" is someone who is effective at creating patterns in voters brains. And patterns are contagious. At this rate he's going to have Trump on board with abolish ICE by like April.
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
January 20, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Clear, simple, direct, no hedging. What we call "strong leadership" is someone who is effective at creating patterns in voters brains. And patterns are contagious. At this rate he's going to have Trump on board with abolish ICE by like April.
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
Folks saying this is just as bad, I need you to reread about reconstruction. Not holding people accountable is how we get into this position. Removing people who colluded with the administration in an authoritarian takeover of higher ed from their position is the most reasonable thing to do.
January 17, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Folks saying this is just as bad, I need you to reread about reconstruction. Not holding people accountable is how we get into this position. Removing people who colluded with the administration in an authoritarian takeover of higher ed from their position is the most reasonable thing to do.
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
Holy hell, what an obituary
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Holy hell, what an obituary
In case someone in your life needs a tasty ego boost:
shop.nobelpeacecenter.org/product/ny-n...
shop.nobelpeacecenter.org/product/ny-n...
January 16, 2026 at 2:03 AM
In case someone in your life needs a tasty ego boost:
shop.nobelpeacecenter.org/product/ny-n...
shop.nobelpeacecenter.org/product/ny-n...
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
America has always been an argument. An argument between a wealthy white few ready to kill or control the rest to seize more money & power and the bravest possible people determined to make the promise of life, liberty & yes happiness apply to all, no exceptions.
On the ground here in Minnesota, it’s hard to reconcile the immense bonds of community that have been built in a week with the fact that we live in a country whose government appropriated billions of dollars to an unaccountable paramilitary force whose sole purpose is ethnic cleansing.
January 15, 2026 at 4:03 PM
America has always been an argument. An argument between a wealthy white few ready to kill or control the rest to seize more money & power and the bravest possible people determined to make the promise of life, liberty & yes happiness apply to all, no exceptions.
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
I wrote about ICE, Silicon Valley's response (or lack of) to ICE flooding US streets, and why "business as usual" for CEOs doesn't really apply in a politically unstable climate www.wired.com/story/backla...
Tech Workers Are Condemning ICE Even as Their CEOs Stay Quiet
The killing of George Floyd in 2020 prompted a wave of statements from tech companies and CEOs. Today, pushback against ICE is largely coming from employees, not executives.
www.wired.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:03 PM
I wrote about ICE, Silicon Valley's response (or lack of) to ICE flooding US streets, and why "business as usual" for CEOs doesn't really apply in a politically unstable climate www.wired.com/story/backla...
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
January 14, 2026 at 2:06 AM
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
This is a beautifully written, powerful and *almost* optimistic piece about American democracy.
And btw, thank you @adambonica.bsky.social for taking parental leave, and discussing it publicly. That is one of the most feminist actions fathers can take!
open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...
And btw, thank you @adambonica.bsky.social for taking parental leave, and discussing it publicly. That is one of the most feminist actions fathers can take!
open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...
The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls
On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:11 PM
This is a beautifully written, powerful and *almost* optimistic piece about American democracy.
And btw, thank you @adambonica.bsky.social for taking parental leave, and discussing it publicly. That is one of the most feminist actions fathers can take!
open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...
And btw, thank you @adambonica.bsky.social for taking parental leave, and discussing it publicly. That is one of the most feminist actions fathers can take!
open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
I wrote this almost 11 years ago theweek.com/articles/444...
January 10, 2026 at 2:14 AM
I wrote this almost 11 years ago theweek.com/articles/444...
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
Some folks I trust are organizing this petition of tech workers who oppose ICE.
Please sign: ICEout.tech
Please sign: ICEout.tech
Tech demands ICE out of our cities
We are tech industry employees in the United States.
Yesterday, we all witnessed ICE brutally kill a US citizen on the streets of Minneapolis. Then, the Trump administration brazenly lied about what h...
ICEout.tech
January 9, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Some folks I trust are organizing this petition of tech workers who oppose ICE.
Please sign: ICEout.tech
Please sign: ICEout.tech
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
Before we succumb to the amnesia of Trump’s Upside Down World, let’s take a moment to remember what happened five years ago.
Because the shame of that day endures, and its consequences are all around us.
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
Because the shame of that day endures, and its consequences are all around us.
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
A Reminder: Donald Trump is the January 6 President
Never Forget.
open.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Before we succumb to the amnesia of Trump’s Upside Down World, let’s take a moment to remember what happened five years ago.
Because the shame of that day endures, and its consequences are all around us.
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
Because the shame of that day endures, and its consequences are all around us.
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
speaking as someone who talked to a lot of press about this in early 2025 my experience was that most reporters only take seriously the big show of force and do not know/care how to assess the signs of building grassroots strength that are necessary to pull off the show of force
January 1, 2026 at 2:36 PM
speaking as someone who talked to a lot of press about this in early 2025 my experience was that most reporters only take seriously the big show of force and do not know/care how to assess the signs of building grassroots strength that are necessary to pull off the show of force
Math teachers!! If your ears are tingling right now, this is why (see Lutnick side of the interview)
FOX: If you cut something by 100%, the cost goes down to 0. If you cut it by 600%, the drug companies are actually paying you
LUTNICK: What he's saying is if a drug was $100 and you bring it down to $13, it's down 7 times
F: Not a 600% cut
L: But it's 700% higher price before. It's down 700% now
LUTNICK: What he's saying is if a drug was $100 and you bring it down to $13, it's down 7 times
F: Not a 600% cut
L: But it's 700% higher price before. It's down 700% now
December 18, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Math teachers!! If your ears are tingling right now, this is why (see Lutnick side of the interview)
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
the defensiveness and incredulity of a good chunk of the commentary class toward arguments about trump’s racism is, imho, downstream of the same impulse behind the endless trump voter safaris and self-flagellation about being out of touch with the heartland
Thinking back to how people were "hysterical" for calling trump white supremacist and now he's doing nordic theory on the campaign trail
December 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
the defensiveness and incredulity of a good chunk of the commentary class toward arguments about trump’s racism is, imho, downstream of the same impulse behind the endless trump voter safaris and self-flagellation about being out of touch with the heartland
Reposted by Benjamin Rahn
My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, “Science isn’t going to be a priority in the US in the future…I don’t want a job where I’ll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.”
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
December 7, 2025 at 1:23 AM
My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, “Science isn’t going to be a priority in the US in the future…I don’t want a job where I’ll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.”
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?