Mr. Dan Zak
@mrdanzak.com
Senior editor at The Atlantic.
Bio & work: www.mrdanzak.com
Author of ALMIGHTY, a book on the bomb: http://amzn.to/35PAusZ
Bio & work: www.mrdanzak.com
Author of ALMIGHTY, a book on the bomb: http://amzn.to/35PAusZ
Pinned
Mr. Dan Zak
@mrdanzak.com
· Mar 16
The hero
Rich Fierro fought in America’s war on terror. Then terror found him at home.
wapo.st
I wrote about the life of Rich Fierro, who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for 10 years, returned home and worked hard to put his life back together — only to have his family caught in a mass shooting, which turned them all into combat veterans. wapo.st/3vjxIsU
"One day, a woman wrote to me on Signal, asking me not to respond. She lived alone, she messaged, and planned to die that weekend. Before she did, she wanted at least one person to understand: Trump had unraveled the government, and with it, her life." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
I am The Post’s ‘federal government whisperer.’ It’s been brutal.
One reporter’s effort to show how Trump was transforming government brought her 1,168 new sources — and nearly broke her.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 24, 2025 at 6:15 PM
"One day, a woman wrote to me on Signal, asking me not to respond. She lived alone, she messaged, and planned to die that weekend. Before she did, she wanted at least one person to understand: Trump had unraveled the government, and with it, her life." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
“It’s like you’re sitting inside the four walls of your home, and someone is victimizing your child in the next room. And then you find out — it’s nobody?”
A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea: www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea: www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs.
A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 23, 2025 at 6:05 PM
“It’s like you’re sitting inside the four walls of your home, and someone is victimizing your child in the next room. And then you find out — it’s nobody?”
A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea: www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea: www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
HUGE NEWS from the new Epstein files:
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Epstein Files Include 1996 Child Porn Complaint That F.B.I. Ignored
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
HUGE NEWS from the new Epstein files:
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
"At a gathering at Mailer’s, Ginsberg accosted Podhoretz and called him a 'dumb fuckhead.'" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The ‘Filthy Little Slum Child’ Who Remade the American Right
The intellectual world that Norman Podhoretz created
www.theatlantic.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"At a gathering at Mailer’s, Ginsberg accosted Podhoretz and called him a 'dumb fuckhead.'" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
“This was not a holiday address from the leader of a great democracy to its citizens. This was a desperate, enraged tinpot, yelling into a microphone while cornered in his palace redoubt.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
This Is What Presidential Panic Looks Like
Donald Trump delivered a fear-drenched rant live from the White House.
www.theatlantic.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:45 AM
“This was not a holiday address from the leader of a great democracy to its citizens. This was a desperate, enraged tinpot, yelling into a microphone while cornered in his palace redoubt.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
More than 2,900 attorneys quit the Justice Department or were fired during the first 10 months of this year -- about triple the number who depart in a typical year. personnel records obtained by Reuters show.
December 17, 2025 at 11:45 AM
More than 2,900 attorneys quit the Justice Department or were fired during the first 10 months of this year -- about triple the number who depart in a typical year. personnel records obtained by Reuters show.
"This could be Donald Trump’s heaven, if only the world would cooperate. But instead everything he touches turns to brass. His pop turns to country; his Broadway turns to Christian rock; his disco turns to gospel."
Petri on the KenCen Honors: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Petri on the KenCen Honors: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Trump’s Very Weird Night at the Kennedy Center Honors
The president and I both got our heart’s desire. But something felt wrong.
www.theatlantic.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
"This could be Donald Trump’s heaven, if only the world would cooperate. But instead everything he touches turns to brass. His pop turns to country; his Broadway turns to Christian rock; his disco turns to gospel."
Petri on the KenCen Honors: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Petri on the KenCen Honors: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
I've waited nearly ten years to tell this story: In 2016, I developed a source in Iranian intelligence named Mohammad Hossein Tajik. He told me he came from a politically connected family. That he had led Iran's cyber army. And that he had secretly worked for the CIA. 🧵
December 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
I've waited nearly ten years to tell this story: In 2016, I developed a source in Iranian intelligence named Mohammad Hossein Tajik. He told me he came from a politically connected family. That he had led Iran's cyber army. And that he had secretly worked for the CIA. 🧵
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
An incredible story from @shaneharris.bsky.social - on the Iranian cyber officer he once knew.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
They Killed My Source
A man claiming to be an Iranian intelligence officer promised me he would reveal his country’s secrets. Then he disappeared.
www.theatlantic.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:23 AM
An incredible story from @shaneharris.bsky.social - on the Iranian cyber officer he once knew.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Regrettably, this overused music cue is somehow responsible for the best directorial choice in the movie while being, itself, the worst directorial choice. It totally took me out of what is otherwise a mesmerizing climax. www.indiewire.com/features/cra...
‘On the Nature of Daylight’ Changed the Ending of ‘Hamnet’ and It’s All Jessie Buckley’s Fault
Composer Max Richter tells IndieWire about putting little gracenotes into his powerful score for the Chloe Zhao film.
www.indiewire.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Regrettably, this overused music cue is somehow responsible for the best directorial choice in the movie while being, itself, the worst directorial choice. It totally took me out of what is otherwise a mesmerizing climax. www.indiewire.com/features/cra...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
Happening now: Texas leaders announcing a rollout of a statewide program to put TPUSA chapters in high schools and colleges across the state. Gov. Abbott adds that schools that stand in the way should be reported to the Texas Education Agency.
December 8, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Happening now: Texas leaders announcing a rollout of a statewide program to put TPUSA chapters in high schools and colleges across the state. Gov. Abbott adds that schools that stand in the way should be reported to the Texas Education Agency.
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
NEW:
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing ...
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
NEW:
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
The Signalgate report showed that Hegseth risked American lives. Instead of taking responsibility, his sniveling responses were the worst kind of bureaucratic ass-covering.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Pete Hegseth’s Weak Excuses
His evasive responses to Signalgate are shameful nonsense.
www.theatlantic.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:56 AM
The Signalgate report showed that Hegseth risked American lives. Instead of taking responsibility, his sniveling responses were the worst kind of bureaucratic ass-covering.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
“The people that sent me to Iraq & Afghanistan are still the people in charge. Fucking Chuck Schumer can’t be an oyster farmer. Susan Collins isn’t going to fix outboard engines. By trying to destroy me, they’ve now forced everybody to maybe listen...” www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Graham Platner Really Might Be Doomed. Pay Attention to Him Anyway.
The candidate embodies a quarter-century of raw American frustration. It’s the source of his strength — and potentially his downfall.
www.politico.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM
“The people that sent me to Iraq & Afghanistan are still the people in charge. Fucking Chuck Schumer can’t be an oyster farmer. Susan Collins isn’t going to fix outboard engines. By trying to destroy me, they’ve now forced everybody to maybe listen...” www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Hegseth’s actions “created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots,” according to the Pentagon’s own inspector general. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
‘Signalgate’ report contradicts Hegseth’s claim of ‘total exoneration’
The defense secretary’s actions “created a risk to operational security,” according to an independent assessment by the Pentagon’s inspector general.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Hegseth’s actions “created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots,” according to the Pentagon’s own inspector general. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“…he had been lonely living in Maine and was not getting adequate health care. After visiting him there, she invited him to move to Normandy.
For several years, Mr. Shay performed a sage-burning ceremony overlooking Omaha Beach in honor of the dead.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
For several years, Mr. Shay performed a sage-burning ceremony overlooking Omaha Beach in honor of the dead.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Charles Norman Shay, Tribal Elder and World War II Hero, Dies at 101
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM
“…he had been lonely living in Maine and was not getting adequate health care. After visiting him there, she invited him to move to Normandy.
For several years, Mr. Shay performed a sage-burning ceremony overlooking Omaha Beach in honor of the dead.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
For several years, Mr. Shay performed a sage-burning ceremony overlooking Omaha Beach in honor of the dead.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
“The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | A sickening moral slum of an administration
Regarding Venezuela, Ukraine and much more, Trump and his acolytes are worse than simply incompetent.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:15 PM
“The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Trump pardons cocaine kingpin who once boasted that he would flood America with drugs, who accepted a $1 million bribe from El Chapo, and who ran a vast trafficking conspiracy that enriched cartels while impoverishing Honduras. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Trump pardons cocaine kingpin who once boasted that he would flood America with drugs, who accepted a $1 million bribe from El Chapo, and who ran a vast trafficking conspiracy that enriched cartels while impoverishing Honduras. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
His greatest line may have been the opening one to his Oscar acceptance speech. “I’m behaving like Roberto Benigni, underneath.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/t...
Tom Stoppard, Award-Winning Playwright of Witty Drama, Dies at 88
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:43 PM
His greatest line may have been the opening one to his Oscar acceptance speech. “I’m behaving like Roberto Benigni, underneath.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/t...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
If the U.S. was at war, Pete Hegseth's order would be a war crime, a military lawyer said. Instead, it might just be murder. wapo.st/49KbUJ1
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:07 PM
If the U.S. was at war, Pete Hegseth's order would be a war crime, a military lawyer said. Instead, it might just be murder. wapo.st/49KbUJ1
"No one is coming to collect all the useless pennies. And no one is explaining how to get along without them. The government, in other words, is treating the pennies the way it has for decades: by making them Americans’ problem." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Pennies Are Trash Now
The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies.
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:39 PM
"No one is coming to collect all the useless pennies. And no one is explaining how to get along without them. The government, in other words, is treating the pennies the way it has for decades: by making them Americans’ problem." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
RFK Jr "oversees one 1 of every 4 dollars in the federal budget & regulates about 17% of the economy. How, I asked him, did he explain going from scorned activist to the boss of the public-health apparatus?"
“I would say in one word: providential,” Kennedy said. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
“I would say in one word: providential,” Kennedy said. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?
How an outsider, once ignored by the public-health establishment, became the most powerful man in science
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
RFK Jr "oversees one 1 of every 4 dollars in the federal budget & regulates about 17% of the economy. How, I asked him, did he explain going from scorned activist to the boss of the public-health apparatus?"
“I would say in one word: providential,” Kennedy said. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
“I would say in one word: providential,” Kennedy said. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"The fact that many men believe they no longer even have to pretend to respect women in order to participate in public life makes it unlikely that anything will change anytime soon. The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
President Piggy
This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:36 PM
"The fact that many men believe they no longer even have to pretend to respect women in order to participate in public life makes it unlikely that anything will change anytime soon. The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...