chris xu
@chrysaora.bsky.social
turnt tf up in the widening gyre
Reposted by chris xu
This is the key: AI (plus other things) are finally making tech workers feel precarious. Just as other industries have become in the past forty years.
We need to build solidarity both _in_ tech and _between_ tech and other fields that tech used to dismiss.
We need to build solidarity both _in_ tech and _between_ tech and other fields that tech used to dismiss.
Why does this matter. One, because I hope it actually helps more of us find solidarity with other workers. I'm still really pissed that the movement to unionize tech workers was mostly ineffectual. Because we didn't actually feel enough pain at that time. It didn't feel necessary. But here we are.
February 12, 2026 at 1:06 AM
This is the key: AI (plus other things) are finally making tech workers feel precarious. Just as other industries have become in the past forty years.
We need to build solidarity both _in_ tech and _between_ tech and other fields that tech used to dismiss.
We need to build solidarity both _in_ tech and _between_ tech and other fields that tech used to dismiss.
Reposted by chris xu
over a year ago, i gave a talk at the xoxo conference about a mural, a mcdonald’s, and a man. (but it was also secretly about life, and legacy, and meaning.)
finally, i’m blogging the full story, with behind-the-scenes details, and a video of the talk.
enjoy. cabel.com/wes-cook-and...
finally, i’m blogging the full story, with behind-the-scenes details, and a video of the talk.
enjoy. cabel.com/wes-cook-and...
Wes Cook and the Centralia McDonald's Mural
A personal story about discovering a mural in a McDonald's, an unknown artist named Wes Cook, saving the mural, and a conference talk about the whole thing.
cabel.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:04 PM
over a year ago, i gave a talk at the xoxo conference about a mural, a mcdonald’s, and a man. (but it was also secretly about life, and legacy, and meaning.)
finally, i’m blogging the full story, with behind-the-scenes details, and a video of the talk.
enjoy. cabel.com/wes-cook-and...
finally, i’m blogging the full story, with behind-the-scenes details, and a video of the talk.
enjoy. cabel.com/wes-cook-and...
Reposted by chris xu
ICYMI:
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:37 PM
ICYMI:
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
RTing this from day 6 of adenovirus?? or something else that fucks you up every 3rd day 😣
Our newest timeline tracks actions that hamper our ability to control the spread of infectious diseases, making the US and the rest of the world more susceptible to disease outbreaks, including global pandemics:
unbreaking.org/issues/infec...
unbreaking.org/issues/infec...
Infectious Disease Control & Prevention — Unbreaking
How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
unbreaking.org
February 6, 2026 at 10:38 PM
RTing this from day 6 of adenovirus?? or something else that fucks you up every 3rd day 😣
I just donated to the ProPublica Guild’s strike fund because their work is essential and I want them to win the rights they deserve.
(If you want to help them prepare, the union’s asking for donations to their strike fund: www.gofundme.com/f/support-pr...)
Donate to Support ProPublica Workers in Our Fight for a Fair Contract, organized by Eli Oberman
We are the unionized workers at ProPublica, and we’re ready to… Eli Oberman needs your support for Support ProPublica Workers in Our Fight for a Fair Contract
www.gofundme.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:04 PM
I just donated to the ProPublica Guild’s strike fund because their work is essential and I want them to win the rights they deserve.
Reposted by chris xu
So in short: thank the universe that Z's our mayor, but don't interpret his endorsement as a statement of values.
See it for what it is: the reality of his immense vulnerability to Hochul in protecting NYC from the governor's ability to impose austerity on NYC.
It's up to us to do what Z cannot.
See it for what it is: the reality of his immense vulnerability to Hochul in protecting NYC from the governor's ability to impose austerity on NYC.
It's up to us to do what Z cannot.
February 4, 2026 at 10:09 PM
So in short: thank the universe that Z's our mayor, but don't interpret his endorsement as a statement of values.
See it for what it is: the reality of his immense vulnerability to Hochul in protecting NYC from the governor's ability to impose austerity on NYC.
It's up to us to do what Z cannot.
See it for what it is: the reality of his immense vulnerability to Hochul in protecting NYC from the governor's ability to impose austerity on NYC.
It's up to us to do what Z cannot.
Reposted by chris xu
In short:
• Zohran did what he could by running for mayor on a platform that centered raising taxes on the rich and popularizing it while running.
• As mayor, Z is now subject to gubernatorial retaliation, meaning he has lost basically most of his power to rally the people against the governor.
• Zohran did what he could by running for mayor on a platform that centered raising taxes on the rich and popularizing it while running.
• As mayor, Z is now subject to gubernatorial retaliation, meaning he has lost basically most of his power to rally the people against the governor.
February 4, 2026 at 10:09 PM
In short:
• Zohran did what he could by running for mayor on a platform that centered raising taxes on the rich and popularizing it while running.
• As mayor, Z is now subject to gubernatorial retaliation, meaning he has lost basically most of his power to rally the people against the governor.
• Zohran did what he could by running for mayor on a platform that centered raising taxes on the rich and popularizing it while running.
• As mayor, Z is now subject to gubernatorial retaliation, meaning he has lost basically most of his power to rally the people against the governor.
Reposted by chris xu
I usually avoid sharing what feels like "inside baseball" political analysis here, but this merits an exception because of the stakes + scale involved.
Zohran isn't "wrong" to endorse Hochul; he has no choice. But for primary voters to back Hochul would definitely be unwise. Let me explain why. 🧵
Zohran isn't "wrong" to endorse Hochul; he has no choice. But for primary voters to back Hochul would definitely be unwise. Let me explain why. 🧵
NEW: Mayor Mamdani is set to endorse Gov. Hochul’s reelection run this week, providing her a critical inroad with progressive voters, per four sources.
It deals a near fatal blow to Antonio Delgado's campaign.
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
It deals a near fatal blow to Antonio Delgado's campaign.
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to endorse Gov. Kathy Hochul
The endorsement, expected this week, gives Hochul a critical inroad with left-leaning voters.
www.politico.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:09 PM
I usually avoid sharing what feels like "inside baseball" political analysis here, but this merits an exception because of the stakes + scale involved.
Zohran isn't "wrong" to endorse Hochul; he has no choice. But for primary voters to back Hochul would definitely be unwise. Let me explain why. 🧵
Zohran isn't "wrong" to endorse Hochul; he has no choice. But for primary voters to back Hochul would definitely be unwise. Let me explain why. 🧵
Reposted by chris xu
Lizzie covered the Paradise, CA fires when she was at the San Francisco Chronicle. She is an amazing reporter and writer. This is unfathomable.
Lizzie Johnson posted that she's been laid off while on location in Ukraine. Pretty cold.
February 4, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Lizzie covered the Paradise, CA fires when she was at the San Francisco Chronicle. She is an amazing reporter and writer. This is unfathomable.
Reposted by chris xu
Wrote a little intro to this excerpt from @yilingliu95.bsky.social's new book, reflecting on Chinese hip-hop's strange decade and the tendency for "cultural freeze frames" in English writing on non-western contemporary culture.
An excerpt from Yi-Ling Liu ’s "The Wall Dancers”, about how the internet made — and then unmade — Chinese hip-hop: “Kafe once aspired to be like Kendrick Lamar, who was commercially popular but also spoke truth to power. That would no longer be possible.“
Have Money Daddy • EQUATOR
Kafe Hu was a pioneer in the underground scene that made Chengdu into China's hip-hop capital. But what happens when the counterculture blows up?
www.equator.org
February 4, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Wrote a little intro to this excerpt from @yilingliu95.bsky.social's new book, reflecting on Chinese hip-hop's strange decade and the tendency for "cultural freeze frames" in English writing on non-western contemporary culture.
Reposted by chris xu
Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
A Day for Gaza
Today, The Nation is turning over its website exclusively to stories from Gaza and its people. This is why.
www.thenation.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
Reposted by chris xu
ICE was stealing equipment from the Islip Long Island fire department and a Islip Forward member documented it. ICE tried to arrest the community member but the firemen said “I don’t think so” www.islipforward.org
February 2, 2026 at 5:32 PM
ICE was stealing equipment from the Islip Long Island fire department and a Islip Forward member documented it. ICE tried to arrest the community member but the firemen said “I don’t think so” www.islipforward.org
Reposted by chris xu
Send a letter to local, state, and federal politicians telling them ICE Out of New York: mhvdsa.org/stop-ice
February 2, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Send a letter to local, state, and federal politicians telling them ICE Out of New York: mhvdsa.org/stop-ice
Reposted by chris xu
In memorandum of my 4 beautiful years curaring @nyugamecenter.bsky.social's annual No Quarter exhibition I've pulled together an archive of each of the 4 cohorts & the 16 weird & wonderful works they brought into the world
www.goodafternoon.uk/four-quarters
Four Quarters. — Good Afternoon
NYU's No Quarter Exhibition and commissioning series 2022 - 2025
www.goodafternoon.uk
February 2, 2026 at 3:08 PM
In memorandum of my 4 beautiful years curaring @nyugamecenter.bsky.social's annual No Quarter exhibition I've pulled together an archive of each of the 4 cohorts & the 16 weird & wonderful works they brought into the world
www.goodafternoon.uk/four-quarters
Reposted by chris xu
I am so happy that Liam is home!!!
@comixaction.com put out the call and @ethansacks.bsky.social gave me inspiration and the words — a good community is everything 💫 #Comics4Liam / comics4liam.com
FREE ALL THE CHILDREN caged in these horrifying detention centers… ABOLISH ICE!
@comixaction.com put out the call and @ethansacks.bsky.social gave me inspiration and the words — a good community is everything 💫 #Comics4Liam / comics4liam.com
FREE ALL THE CHILDREN caged in these horrifying detention centers… ABOLISH ICE!
February 1, 2026 at 9:32 PM
I am so happy that Liam is home!!!
@comixaction.com put out the call and @ethansacks.bsky.social gave me inspiration and the words — a good community is everything 💫 #Comics4Liam / comics4liam.com
FREE ALL THE CHILDREN caged in these horrifying detention centers… ABOLISH ICE!
@comixaction.com put out the call and @ethansacks.bsky.social gave me inspiration and the words — a good community is everything 💫 #Comics4Liam / comics4liam.com
FREE ALL THE CHILDREN caged in these horrifying detention centers… ABOLISH ICE!
Reposted by chris xu
a woman reached out to donate 500,000 delta skymiles to get people home to MN as they are released from custody in TX.
we're getting flights booked today. it should be enough to get at least 15 people home.
delta should be doing for free since they take ICE money.
we're getting flights booked today. it should be enough to get at least 15 people home.
delta should be doing for free since they take ICE money.
February 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
a woman reached out to donate 500,000 delta skymiles to get people home to MN as they are released from custody in TX.
we're getting flights booked today. it should be enough to get at least 15 people home.
delta should be doing for free since they take ICE money.
we're getting flights booked today. it should be enough to get at least 15 people home.
delta should be doing for free since they take ICE money.
i cannot explain it but dishwasher explainer guy saying ABOLISH ICE (and much more) with his full chest is really doing something for me 🥺
I managed to piss off way fewer people by directly saying "stop voting for republicans" than I did by making a video on the PlayStation's clever copy protection system.
94.9% likes now.
91.5% on the PS1 video.
94.9% likes now.
91.5% on the PS1 video.
February 1, 2026 at 6:20 PM
i cannot explain it but dishwasher explainer guy saying ABOLISH ICE (and much more) with his full chest is really doing something for me 🥺
Reposted by chris xu
Haiti accepted Jewish refugees during WWII before the US would.
February 1, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Haiti accepted Jewish refugees during WWII before the US would.
Reposted by chris xu
I don't need all the folks working in facial recognition tech who told me I as being ridiculous and overly paranoid when asking about how these tools will be used to track, identify and harm people to apologize. But I do need them to actually *do something* about their work being used this way.
January 30, 2026 at 2:55 PM
I don't need all the folks working in facial recognition tech who told me I as being ridiculous and overly paranoid when asking about how these tools will be used to track, identify and harm people to apologize. But I do need them to actually *do something* about their work being used this way.
Reposted by chris xu
New from 404 Media: here is the user guide for ELITE, the tool Palantir made for ICE. A map shows people on a map; ICE clicks them, brings up their dossier. ICE uses to find which neighborhoods to target. We obtained it, you can now read the document for yourself: www.404media.co/here-is-the-...
Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE
404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.
www.404media.co
January 30, 2026 at 2:51 PM
New from 404 Media: here is the user guide for ELITE, the tool Palantir made for ICE. A map shows people on a map; ICE clicks them, brings up their dossier. ICE uses to find which neighborhoods to target. We obtained it, you can now read the document for yourself: www.404media.co/here-is-the-...
Reposted by chris xu
This interview really does have everything: townie critiques of news coverage (2.5 miles is not that close in MPLS!) to handing the mic over to real people, to how to do arts coverage under siege, to what they've learned from war correspondents. www.coyotemedia.org/how-racket-m...
How Racket, Minneapolis’s Worker-Owned Newsroom, Is Covering Its Hometown Fascist Invasion
“This is the worst fucking time. But watching people’s response to ICE has been the most affirming thing in the world.”
www.coyotemedia.org
January 29, 2026 at 4:00 PM
This interview really does have everything: townie critiques of news coverage (2.5 miles is not that close in MPLS!) to handing the mic over to real people, to how to do arts coverage under siege, to what they've learned from war correspondents. www.coyotemedia.org/how-racket-m...
this is just an incredible work and you should read it
me, emotionally writing an essay on the use of force by federal agents: ok but what if i packaged this in the most insane way possible www.theverge.com/policy/86857...
Best gas masks
“How did these people go out and get gas masks?” AG Bondi asked.
www.theverge.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:41 PM
this is just an incredible work and you should read it
Reposted by chris xu
I didn't know what Stephen Miller's actual job title is and it's vague enough that I have concluded his actual job basically Jafar from Aladdin
January 29, 2026 at 12:48 PM
I didn't know what Stephen Miller's actual job title is and it's vague enough that I have concluded his actual job basically Jafar from Aladdin
Reposted by chris xu
ICE are alllll over Harlem right now, 116 & Frederick Douglass, checking IDs and targeting the area’s African community. Multiple people have been detained.
Community members are advising folks to carry citizenship documents - or stay away if they are at risk
Community members are advising folks to carry citizenship documents - or stay away if they are at risk
January 28, 2026 at 5:48 PM
ICE are alllll over Harlem right now, 116 & Frederick Douglass, checking IDs and targeting the area’s African community. Multiple people have been detained.
Community members are advising folks to carry citizenship documents - or stay away if they are at risk
Community members are advising folks to carry citizenship documents - or stay away if they are at risk
Reposted by chris xu
This record of the Twin Cities' Day of Truth and Freedom last Friday has something for everyone: for those of us who watched from afar, a substantive account from the ground; for those who were there, a memento of their herculean efforts; and for students of strikes, a word on how this one was done.
ICYMI: Icicles hung from the beards of men in union beanies. The lobbies of large commercial buildings in downtown Minneapolis opened to the public for respite filled with people rubbing each other’s sore feet. labornotes.org/2026/01/twin...
In The Twin Cities, A Massive Strike Against ICE
Icicles hung from the beards of men in union beanies. The lobbies of large commercial buildings in downtown Minneapolis opened to the public for respite filled with people rubbing each other’s sore fe...
labornotes.org
January 28, 2026 at 1:44 PM
This record of the Twin Cities' Day of Truth and Freedom last Friday has something for everyone: for those of us who watched from afar, a substantive account from the ground; for those who were there, a memento of their herculean efforts; and for students of strikes, a word on how this one was done.