John Rogers
@johnrogers.bsky.social
TV, comics and film writer. LEVERAGE, JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES, BLUE BEETLE, MARRY ME, a couple other things. Free newsletter of reviews, recommendations, and general oddities at https://buttondown.email/kungfumonkey
Well if there’s one good thing, we’ve learned over the last few decades that people always embrace the US and democracy after their leaders are removed by the US military. So this should work out — hold on, I’m getting an update …
January 3, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Well if there’s one good thing, we’ve learned over the last few decades that people always embrace the US and democracy after their leaders are removed by the US military. So this should work out — hold on, I’m getting an update …
Too bad Colin Powell is dead, he could’ve gone to Congress and held up a vial of fentanyl — oh shit, they’re not even bothering with that puppet show, are they.
January 3, 2026 at 9:03 AM
Too bad Colin Powell is dead, he could’ve gone to Congress and held up a vial of fentanyl — oh shit, they’re not even bothering with that puppet show, are they.
Reposted by John Rogers
An administration driven by greed, cruelty, and frankly a sort of empty-hearted boredom. The death of innocents so they can beat their chests and line their already fat wallets.
Whatever comes next has to at least look like justice. We cannot just turn the page for the sake of one party’s comfort.
Whatever comes next has to at least look like justice. We cannot just turn the page for the sake of one party’s comfort.
BREAKING: Venezuela’s government has accused the US of launching attacks on civilian and military installations across several states, rejecting what it described as a "military aggression," according to an official statement.
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/p3fqh2
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/p3fqh2
January 3, 2026 at 8:41 AM
An administration driven by greed, cruelty, and frankly a sort of empty-hearted boredom. The death of innocents so they can beat their chests and line their already fat wallets.
Whatever comes next has to at least look like justice. We cannot just turn the page for the sake of one party’s comfort.
Whatever comes next has to at least look like justice. We cannot just turn the page for the sake of one party’s comfort.
Reposted by John Rogers
Remember how appalled we all were in 2022 when Russia completely unprovoked attacked Ukraine? That is what we’re doing tonight with Venezuela. We are the bad guys here. Everyone who supports this is supporting unprovoked murder. Fuck every last one of them
January 3, 2026 at 6:49 AM
Remember how appalled we all were in 2022 when Russia completely unprovoked attacked Ukraine? That is what we’re doing tonight with Venezuela. We are the bad guys here. Everyone who supports this is supporting unprovoked murder. Fuck every last one of them
Reposted by John Rogers
Good for Reuters for changing their headline. Pressure works. Grok did not do this. Elon Musk did.
January 3, 2026 at 4:14 AM
Good for Reuters for changing their headline. Pressure works. Grok did not do this. Elon Musk did.
Reposted by John Rogers
New AIWeirdness post: ChatGPT will apologize for anything, including stuff that didn't happen. It's not reflecting on stuff it did wrong, it's improv.
www.aiweirdness.com/chatgpt-will...
www.aiweirdness.com/chatgpt-will...
August 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
New AIWeirdness post: ChatGPT will apologize for anything, including stuff that didn't happen. It's not reflecting on stuff it did wrong, it's improv.
www.aiweirdness.com/chatgpt-will...
www.aiweirdness.com/chatgpt-will...
Reposted by John Rogers
guys, "the judges at the ICC are being sanctioned by the USA and can't access their iphones or bank accounts" and "why aren't any countries banning twitter or prosecuting elon musk for owning a site that manufactures CSAM" stories are the same story
January 2, 2026 at 6:58 PM
guys, "the judges at the ICC are being sanctioned by the USA and can't access their iphones or bank accounts" and "why aren't any countries banning twitter or prosecuting elon musk for owning a site that manufactures CSAM" stories are the same story
Reposted by John Rogers
This is actually beyond comprehension
Brooklyn, home of 2.8-million people had 47 shooting drafts and 91 homicides overall.
For those of us anywhere in NYC during the 70s-90s this is like an urban legend in reverse. I think we’ve eliminated the CHUDs once and for all.
For those of us anywhere in NYC during the 70s-90s this is like an urban legend in reverse. I think we’ve eliminated the CHUDs once and for all.
Brooklyn Finishes 2025 with Fewest Murders, Shootings, Shooting Victims and Shooting Homicides in Recorded History – The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office
brooklynda.org
January 2, 2026 at 9:07 PM
This is actually beyond comprehension
Reposted by John Rogers
Dan Davies's @dsquareddigest.bsky.social
concept of an "accountability sink" comes to mind
concept of an "accountability sink" comes to mind
Parker's piece nails why this matters. "Tech companies... would rather not answer for their products’ failures. Every headline that says “Grok apologizes” or “Grok admits” or “Grok says” creates a world where the chatbot takes the fall while Musk and his executives face no scrutiny whatsoever."
I wrote about Grok's CSAM problem and how journalists keep fumbling the story
www.readtpa.com/p/grok-cant-...
www.readtpa.com/p/grok-cant-...
January 2, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Dan Davies's @dsquareddigest.bsky.social
concept of an "accountability sink" comes to mind
concept of an "accountability sink" comes to mind
Reposted by John Rogers
This is why they want us talking about day care centers and $500 boots.
January 2, 2026 at 7:37 PM
This is why they want us talking about day care centers and $500 boots.
Reposted by John Rogers
When I've talked to deepfake victims, both public figures and everyday people, I've heard horror stories about police laughing them out the door, girls getting expelled for reporting their classmates, and lawyers advising them that suing would just make it worse. This is abuse culture in action.
January 2, 2026 at 7:55 PM
When I've talked to deepfake victims, both public figures and everyday people, I've heard horror stories about police laughing them out the door, girls getting expelled for reporting their classmates, and lawyers advising them that suing would just make it worse. This is abuse culture in action.
Reposted by John Rogers
I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
How Grok's sexual abuse hit a tipping point
Nonconsensual deepfakes on X are nothing new, but now it's built into the platform.
spitfirenews.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:47 PM
I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
Woof. Just did the year wrap on 2025, so I leafed through reading the weekly summaries and intermittent daily entries - we were fucking IN IT January through June, eh? Time dulls it naturally, but the sheer volume and intensity of that shit was amazing. No wonder everybody is Like That.
January 2, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Woof. Just did the year wrap on 2025, so I leafed through reading the weekly summaries and intermittent daily entries - we were fucking IN IT January through June, eh? Time dulls it naturally, but the sheer volume and intensity of that shit was amazing. No wonder everybody is Like That.
Reposted by John Rogers
there are endless headlines about "grok apologizes" or "grok says it will be fixed" after it generated CSAM using pictures of minors and zero headlines about "grok being shut down" or "musk and xAI in big legal trouble" and I think something fundamental has broken here
January 2, 2026 at 6:59 PM
there are endless headlines about "grok apologizes" or "grok says it will be fixed" after it generated CSAM using pictures of minors and zero headlines about "grok being shut down" or "musk and xAI in big legal trouble" and I think something fundamental has broken here
Reposted by John Rogers
That’s one of the reason I strongly recommend any designer to try to streamline their games to fit on a single piece of paper (or 2 max!) before going all in on the book
Cognitive load is one sneaky thing when playing TTRPGs
farirpgs.com/posts/how-to...
Cognitive load is one sneaky thing when playing TTRPGs
farirpgs.com/posts/how-to...
January 2, 2026 at 6:32 PM
That’s one of the reason I strongly recommend any designer to try to streamline their games to fit on a single piece of paper (or 2 max!) before going all in on the book
Cognitive load is one sneaky thing when playing TTRPGs
farirpgs.com/posts/how-to...
Cognitive load is one sneaky thing when playing TTRPGs
farirpgs.com/posts/how-to...
Thread. One of the head fakes of selling genAI as “intelligent” is being able to lay agency on it and away from the humans who build and maintain the algorithms that drive it. It doesn’t “think”! It echoes. Which could be intermittently useful, but does not absolve its creators of responsibility.
Yes, Twitter and Musk themselves aren’t even attempting to apologize for “Grok creating CSAM” - but this too is an example of allowing a machine to take blame!
Who CREATED the machine that’s apologizing for its actions in a fashion that shifts blame to itself and not to its actual human creators?
Who CREATED the machine that’s apologizing for its actions in a fashion that shifts blame to itself and not to its actual human creators?
Ooh look, we’re seeing the “let’s attempt to deflect blame to the artificial construct that is The Demon Machine instead of the actual, breathing, fallible humans who made the Demon Machine” maneuver play out in real time!
January 2, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Thread. One of the head fakes of selling genAI as “intelligent” is being able to lay agency on it and away from the humans who build and maintain the algorithms that drive it. It doesn’t “think”! It echoes. Which could be intermittently useful, but does not absolve its creators of responsibility.
Reposted by John Rogers
Corrupt tech billionaires are buying power to tilt the world in their favor.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
January 2, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Corrupt tech billionaires are buying power to tilt the world in their favor.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
Even the co-founder of Y Combinator is saying it. ⬇️
The radical death cult rising from Silicon Valley venture capital is metastasizing rapidly.
It's an existential threat to democracy and humanity.
Reposted by John Rogers
I was told electing a progressive prosecutor would inevitably lead to a rise in crime.
share.inquirer.com/gjgwFN
share.inquirer.com/gjgwFN
Philadelphia records the fewest homicides in 60 years, plus other insights to 2025’s crime
The drop in homicides to 222 mirrors a national reduction in violence and follows years of sustained declines after Philadelphia’s homicide rate peaked during the pandemic.
share.inquirer.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:25 PM
I was told electing a progressive prosecutor would inevitably lead to a rise in crime.
share.inquirer.com/gjgwFN
share.inquirer.com/gjgwFN
Reposted by John Rogers
This stupid broken tech is killing people and is going to continue to kill and injure people until we finally have the courage to shut it down and throw it away.
Not in the sea, I like the sea.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Not in the sea, I like the sea.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Google AI Overviews put people at risk of harm with misleading health advice
Exclusive: Inaccurate information presented in summaries, Guardian investigation finds
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:32 PM
This stupid broken tech is killing people and is going to continue to kill and injure people until we finally have the courage to shut it down and throw it away.
Not in the sea, I like the sea.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Not in the sea, I like the sea.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by John Rogers
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry
In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...
transnews.network
January 1, 2026 at 6:32 PM
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
Reposted by John Rogers
This is a really good thread:
What I think gets lost in the writing to market discussion is the definition of the market.
There are 2 markets:
1. the general market of readers. Who is the biggest pool that spends money and what do they read
2. your ideal readers and what they like about YOUR work in particular.
2/
There are 2 markets:
1. the general market of readers. Who is the biggest pool that spends money and what do they read
2. your ideal readers and what they like about YOUR work in particular.
2/
January 2, 2026 at 4:19 PM
This is a really good thread:
Reposted by John Rogers
Thinking this is wrong is not radical.
Thinking it isn’t is.
Thinking it isn’t is.
January 1, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Thinking this is wrong is not radical.
Thinking it isn’t is.
Thinking it isn’t is.
Reposted by John Rogers
Grok can't apologize. Grok can, when prompted, generate a word sequence that is statistically similar to the colloquial phrases we think of as "apologies," but Grok cannot actually apologize because Grok isn't sentient. But we all have a lot of trouble with this because we assume sentience IS speech
January 2, 2026 at 3:24 AM
Grok can't apologize. Grok can, when prompted, generate a word sequence that is statistically similar to the colloquial phrases we think of as "apologies," but Grok cannot actually apologize because Grok isn't sentient. But we all have a lot of trouble with this because we assume sentience IS speech
Reposted by John Rogers
Child exploitation content on X/Twitter sharply increased under Musk, who not only abruptly disbanded the group of volunteer experts advising the platform on child safety, image exploitation, and other abuses in 2022, but tried to blame them for the company's CSAM problem www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1...
January 2, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Child exploitation content on X/Twitter sharply increased under Musk, who not only abruptly disbanded the group of volunteer experts advising the platform on child safety, image exploitation, and other abuses in 2022, but tried to blame them for the company's CSAM problem www.npr.org/2022/12/12/1...
Reposted by John Rogers
This administration is captured by Moscow and pose a national security threat to the United States.
NYT: Hegseth demanded the resignation of the commander of U.S. forces in Europe and NATO, General Christopher Cavoli, who stated in a declaration submitted to the Senate committee in April that Russia poses a "chronic" and "growing" threat
January 2, 2026 at 5:25 AM
This administration is captured by Moscow and pose a national security threat to the United States.