Fiona Zerbst
@fionazerbst.bsky.social
Resisting the global rise of Fascism (my dad fought in Italy and Egypt during WWII). I mainly work in corporate social investment but I make some spare change from poetry, libretto and art. GenAI is a scourge. 🇿🇦
Pinned
Nuremberg was flawed, and hard to watch in parts (of course), but searingly relevant. Recommend.
February 8, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Nuremberg was flawed, and hard to watch in parts (of course), but searingly relevant. Recommend.
Knowledge is power. Started this today.
February 7, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Knowledge is power. Started this today.
Nothing we are currently living through is normal. Hustle culture isn't normal. Living on credit isn't normal. Tiny homes aren't normal. Algorothmic pricing isn't normal. Financialising human connection isn't normal. Time for mass revolt, people!
www.fairobserver.com/politics/a-f...
www.fairobserver.com/politics/a-f...
A Friendly Reminder of the Five Symptoms of Revolution
Historian Crane Brinton’s book, The Anatomy of Revolution, highlights five similarities between four historic revolutions.
www.fairobserver.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:03 AM
Nothing we are currently living through is normal. Hustle culture isn't normal. Living on credit isn't normal. Tiny homes aren't normal. Algorothmic pricing isn't normal. Financialising human connection isn't normal. Time for mass revolt, people!
www.fairobserver.com/politics/a-f...
www.fairobserver.com/politics/a-f...
Someone turns 4 tomorrow! In her kittenhood, she was apparently voted 'best in show' at a cat show (before I became her mom).
February 5, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Someone turns 4 tomorrow! In her kittenhood, she was apparently voted 'best in show' at a cat show (before I became her mom).
"I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period..." 'Entertainment operations' - dictators hate the arts. www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...
Trump plans to close Kennedy Center for two years for reconstruction work
Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he planned to close the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts for two years for reconstruction starting in July.…
www.dailymaverick.co.za
February 2, 2026 at 6:25 AM
"I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period..." 'Entertainment operations' - dictators hate the arts. www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
Breaking MS NOW:
The Trump admin is now eyeing Ohio for immigration enforcement operations that could begin as early as next week.
The operation is expected to target Haitian immigrants — with temporary protected status for Haiti expiring on Feb. 3.
The Trump admin is now eyeing Ohio for immigration enforcement operations that could begin as early as next week.
The operation is expected to target Haitian immigrants — with temporary protected status for Haiti expiring on Feb. 3.
ICE eyeing Ohio next, where it is expected to target Haitian immigrants
An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians live in Springfield, Ohio, a community that President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance targeted during the 2024 campaign, falsely accusing the community ...
www.ms.now
January 31, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Breaking MS NOW:
The Trump admin is now eyeing Ohio for immigration enforcement operations that could begin as early as next week.
The operation is expected to target Haitian immigrants — with temporary protected status for Haiti expiring on Feb. 3.
The Trump admin is now eyeing Ohio for immigration enforcement operations that could begin as early as next week.
The operation is expected to target Haitian immigrants — with temporary protected status for Haiti expiring on Feb. 3.
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
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.
Reading Plokhy's book, I learnt about Mildred Gillars, the original 'Axis Sally', a US citizen who broadcast Nazi propaganda on German State Radio and died unrepentant at the age of 87. The US sure churns 'em out. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred...
Mildred Gillars - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 1, 2026 at 6:52 AM
Reading Plokhy's book, I learnt about Mildred Gillars, the original 'Axis Sally', a US citizen who broadcast Nazi propaganda on German State Radio and died unrepentant at the age of 87. The US sure churns 'em out. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred...
Reading this. Love Plokhy's books.
January 31, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Reading this. Love Plokhy's books.
Proudly South African yet again. 😆 🇿🇦
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Melania Trump documentary not being shown in South African cinemas
No reason has been given but the decision follows a huge fall-out between South Africa and the US.
www.bbc.com
January 30, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Proudly South African yet again. 😆 🇿🇦
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
"Technology has stolen us from each other and in many ways from ourselves, and then tried to sell us substitutes." Marvellous essay.
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
What technology takes from us – and how to take it back | Rebecca Solnit
The long read: Decisions outsourced, chatbots for friends, the natural world an afterthought: Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out – but it’s going to take collectiv...
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:18 PM
"Technology has stolen us from each other and in many ways from ourselves, and then tried to sell us substitutes." Marvellous essay.
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
I have to say, I'm finding a lot of value in @richardjmurphy.bsky.social's videos.
The problem with AI is it just does not care www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/01...
The problem with AI is it just does not care
Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic and one of the most influential figures shaping the development of advanced artificial intelligence, has published an essay titled The Adolescence of Tec...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
January 29, 2026 at 10:36 AM
I have to say, I'm finding a lot of value in @richardjmurphy.bsky.social's videos.
The Trump regime doesn't want people to survive, never mind thrive. Trialling eugenics minus the camps. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
I’m an American relying on food stamps. This country has turned us into lab rats
I’m one of 41 million people who need Snap to make ends meet. For weeks, the administration has turned our survival into a game: will they eat, or won’t they?
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:56 AM
The Trump regime doesn't want people to survive, never mind thrive. Trialling eugenics minus the camps. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
Mobilisation au Bataclan pour les sept mois de détention de Christophe Gleizes en Algérie
Mobilisation au Bataclan pour les sept mois de détention de Christophe Gleizes en Algérie
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) organise jeudi à Paris une soirée de soutien au journaliste sportif Christophe Gleizes, détenu en Algérie depuis sept mois. Des personnalités du monde du sport et des artistes se succéderont sur la scène du Bataclan.
f24.my
January 28, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Mobilisation au Bataclan pour les sept mois de détention de Christophe Gleizes en Algérie
Richard calls for a politics of care, not a politics of might. Excellent video.
Neoliberalism is dying: Mark Carney’s Davos speech confirmed it youtu.be/AMTQNI3BV90?... What's next?
Neoliberalism is dying: Mark Carney’s Davos speech confirmed it
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Richard calls for a politics of care, not a politics of might. Excellent video.
Putin sees Africans as cannon fodder. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
‘I didn’t know how to shoot’: how African men have been tricked into fighting for Russia
Exclusive: Lured by false job adverts, they are unknowingly enlisted on arrival and put in mortal danger
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Putin sees Africans as cannon fodder. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
Or which CNN reporter or producer has turned their job over to ChatGPT.
Now I want to know which CNN reporter or producer doesn't know the word "sycophant."
January 26, 2026 at 7:50 PM
Or which CNN reporter or producer has turned their job over to ChatGPT.
When narcissists try to remake the world in their own image. This should end well. 👀
January 27, 2026 at 4:45 AM
When narcissists try to remake the world in their own image. This should end well. 👀
Some companies that embraced AI agents to downsize their workforces quickly realized that the agents they weren’t anywhere near good enough to replace the outgoing humans, perhaps because they hallucinated so much and could barely complete any of the tasks given to them. futurism.com/artificial-i...
AI Agents Are Mathematically Incapable of Doing Functional Work, Paper Finds
A paper claims to mathematically prove that AI agents have a hard ceiling to their capabilities that they will never surpass.
futurism.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Some companies that embraced AI agents to downsize their workforces quickly realized that the agents they weren’t anywhere near good enough to replace the outgoing humans, perhaps because they hallucinated so much and could barely complete any of the tasks given to them. futurism.com/artificial-i...
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
Your Guardian AI criti-hype for the day appears to be a thing nobody's heard of, promoted by a company doing PR, and the thing they're talking about is actually a cryptocurrency scam
archive.is/t7LjO
archive.is/t7LjO
January 25, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Your Guardian AI criti-hype for the day appears to be a thing nobody's heard of, promoted by a company doing PR, and the thing they're talking about is actually a cryptocurrency scam
archive.is/t7LjO
archive.is/t7LjO
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
A bunch of trolls mocked a mildly cringe anti-radicalization video game, and Britain’s right-wing press joined in. But why did they all ignore the *actual* far-right extremists pushing Amelia memes?
thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/amelia-the...
thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/amelia-the...
Amelia: The far-right’s new waifu thirst trap mascot
Alt-right types mock a cringey online game and deny they're extremists... while posting racist memes exhorting men to do violence
thedayofreckoning.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:48 AM
A bunch of trolls mocked a mildly cringe anti-radicalization video game, and Britain’s right-wing press joined in. But why did they all ignore the *actual* far-right extremists pushing Amelia memes?
thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/amelia-the...
thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/amelia-the...
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
Just got off the phone with a Haitian friend and he remarked how much the execution that we watched in Minneapolis today reminded him of the murders carried out by the irregular forces that supported the army and police back in his home country in the 1990s.
January 24, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Just got off the phone with a Haitian friend and he remarked how much the execution that we watched in Minneapolis today reminded him of the murders carried out by the irregular forces that supported the army and police back in his home country in the 1990s.
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
My thoughts on the regime's latest atrocity. michaeldeibert.substack.com/p/murder-in-...
Murder in Minneapolis
The masked agents of a tyrannical regime murder yet another American.
michaeldeibert.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 11:52 PM
My thoughts on the regime's latest atrocity. michaeldeibert.substack.com/p/murder-in-...
Censoring artists is not a good look, Gayton. www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...
The shameless career politician Gayton McKenzie is the last thing the arts need at the helm
It’s as we feared.While some might have reserved some hope at first with Gayton McKenzie’s appointment as culture head, it has since been depleted.Part of culture’s function is to defend itself and fi
www.dailymaverick.co.za
January 25, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Censoring artists is not a good look, Gayton. www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...
Reposted by Fiona Zerbst
This is how fascism comes to America. It’s the endless events, day after day, until one day you wake up in a different country. Anti-immigrant rhetoric, censorship, attacks on universities, masked terror squads murdering people in the streets, enemy lists, denaturalization, camps
January 24, 2026 at 7:24 PM
This is how fascism comes to America. It’s the endless events, day after day, until one day you wake up in a different country. Anti-immigrant rhetoric, censorship, attacks on universities, masked terror squads murdering people in the streets, enemy lists, denaturalization, camps