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
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
The administration is shooting people and then lying about them www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
When Trump Officials’ Claims About Shootings Unravel in Court
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:19 PM
The administration is shooting people and then lying about them www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Tina Brown rightly puts Fred Ryan's name in the mix of what went wrong; the N.Y. Times has omitted him in recent coverage. open.substack.com/pub/tinabrow...
Bafflement with Bezos
The whole debacle of the Washington Post brand hara-kiri last week dispatched the myth that a tech billionaire could save serious journalism.
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:35 AM
Tina Brown rightly puts Fred Ryan's name in the mix of what went wrong; the N.Y. Times has omitted him in recent coverage. open.substack.com/pub/tinabrow...
Incredible sentence:
"Elections officials told us they are now getting ready for interference from both foreign adversaries and the White House." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"Elections officials told us they are now getting ready for interference from both foreign adversaries and the White House." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
‘The Trust Has Been Absolutely Destroyed’
Some state election officials say they no longer trust their federal partners.
www.theatlantic.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Incredible sentence:
"Elections officials told us they are now getting ready for interference from both foreign adversaries and the White House." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"Elections officials told us they are now getting ready for interference from both foreign adversaries and the White House." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"Instead of the 'ICE out' show, this was the joy-as-resistance show ... We need towering mountains, endless fields, bottomless pits of joy to resist the violence our government is doling out right now."
Chris Richards, newly liberated from The Post, on Bad Bunny: open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...
Chris Richards, newly liberated from The Post, on Bad Bunny: open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...
An end zone dance in the shape of infinity
Notes on Bad Bunny’s halftime show in the middle of a national crisis
open.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:35 PM
"Instead of the 'ICE out' show, this was the joy-as-resistance show ... We need towering mountains, endless fields, bottomless pits of joy to resist the violence our government is doling out right now."
Chris Richards, newly liberated from The Post, on Bad Bunny: open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...
Chris Richards, newly liberated from The Post, on Bad Bunny: open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
This is 18-mo-old Amalia waving to me when she was detained.
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
This is 18-mo-old Amalia waving to me when she was detained.
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
NEW: ProPublica went inside the detention center for immigrant families in Dilley, Texas.
Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of what comes next.
Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of what comes next.
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM
NEW: ProPublica went inside the detention center for immigrant families in Dilley, Texas.
Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of what comes next.
Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of what comes next.
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
👀 What if I told you there was a hidden art gallery scattered across the country?
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
The disappearing art gallery in your post office
The U.S. Postal Service is home to thousands of historic works of art in post offices nationwide. Hundreds have been lost, sold or destroyed.
wapo.st
February 8, 2026 at 2:08 PM
👀 What if I told you there was a hidden art gallery scattered across the country?
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
Wide Boy’s Options Narrow
February 8, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Wide Boy’s Options Narrow
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
Please take the time to read this superb @jamellebouie.net column. It establishes a baseline of truth for anyone who wants to think, talk, and write honestly about Trump. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/o...
February 7, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Please take the time to read this superb @jamellebouie.net column. It establishes a baseline of truth for anyone who wants to think, talk, and write honestly about Trump. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/o...
This man deserves as much heat as Bezos.
February 6, 2026 at 3:59 PM
This man deserves as much heat as Bezos.
I left The Washington Post last year, but wrote my love letter in the middle of my time there, in 2015.
Everything changed, over my 1st decade there. Then everything changed again, in the decade after this was written. But there were 2 constants: the work & the people. www.mrdanzak.com/blog/10years
Everything changed, over my 1st decade there. Then everything changed again, in the decade after this was written. But there were 2 constants: the work & the people. www.mrdanzak.com/blog/10years
A good shot at the facts — Mr. Dan Zak
Ten years ago today I first reported for work at The Washington Post. Deep Throat had come out a couple days earlier. I might have been wearing a tie. My pants sure as shit didn't fit.
www.mrdanzak.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:56 PM
I left The Washington Post last year, but wrote my love letter in the middle of my time there, in 2015.
Everything changed, over my 1st decade there. Then everything changed again, in the decade after this was written. But there were 2 constants: the work & the people. www.mrdanzak.com/blog/10years
Everything changed, over my 1st decade there. Then everything changed again, in the decade after this was written. But there were 2 constants: the work & the people. www.mrdanzak.com/blog/10years
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
Here's who the Washington Post just laid off.
February 4, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Here's who the Washington Post just laid off.
Chris Richards is of the greatest Post writers of all time, & the best music critic in the country.
You want Chris’s words in your life, & I am going to keep them in mine.
I have never before recommended a Substack. His brand new one has my immense endorsement: thefutureisourstomake.substack.com
You want Chris’s words in your life, & I am going to keep them in mine.
I have never before recommended a Substack. His brand new one has my immense endorsement: thefutureisourstomake.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Chris Richards is of the greatest Post writers of all time, & the best music critic in the country.
You want Chris’s words in your life, & I am going to keep them in mine.
I have never before recommended a Substack. His brand new one has my immense endorsement: thefutureisourstomake.substack.com
You want Chris’s words in your life, & I am going to keep them in mine.
I have never before recommended a Substack. His brand new one has my immense endorsement: thefutureisourstomake.substack.com
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
A paper is always defined more by its staff than its management. The hundreds of journalists who lost their jobs today covered every subject imaginable, at times risking their safety and well-being to get out the news. Please consider donating: www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
www.gofundme.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:20 PM
A paper is always defined more by its staff than its management. The hundreds of journalists who lost their jobs today covered every subject imaginable, at times risking their safety and well-being to get out the news. Please consider donating: www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
starting to think more people should have cancelled their amazon prime accounts instead of their post subscriptions.
February 4, 2026 at 5:28 PM
starting to think more people should have cancelled their amazon prime accounts instead of their post subscriptions.
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
If you ever want to feel like you live in “the ruins of a once great civilization,” then read a local daily paper from the middle of last century — our predecessors had more and better knowledge of their neighbors, their societies, and their local democracies than we do about our own.
February 4, 2026 at 3:26 PM
If you ever want to feel like you live in “the ruins of a once great civilization,” then read a local daily paper from the middle of last century — our predecessors had more and better knowledge of their neighbors, their societies, and their local democracies than we do about our own.
Style section matriarch Myra MacPherson has died.
“When I sought my first newspaper job, there were no women covering anything but society news, fashion. I fought my way out of that niche..." www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
“When I sought my first newspaper job, there were no women covering anything but society news, fashion. I fought my way out of that niche..." www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
Myra MacPherson, trailblazing Washington Post journalist, dies at 91
The longtime Style section reporter defied gender stereotypes, covering current affairs and writing books about the Vietnam War and power-couple marriages.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 3, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Style section matriarch Myra MacPherson has died.
“When I sought my first newspaper job, there were no women covering anything but society news, fashion. I fought my way out of that niche..." www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
“When I sought my first newspaper job, there were no women covering anything but society news, fashion. I fought my way out of that niche..." www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
A version of what’s happening in Fulton Co. happened in Maricopa Co. five years ago.
Back then, it was a private company breaking the chain of vote custody, at the behest of Trump. Now Trump is making the FBI & DNI do it.
We called it an “adminsurrection” back then: wapo.st/4rsjY6H
Back then, it was a private company breaking the chain of vote custody, at the behest of Trump. Now Trump is making the FBI & DNI do it.
We called it an “adminsurrection” back then: wapo.st/4rsjY6H
The mess in Maricopa
Votes are still being counted in Arizona. It won’t change the winner. But it might change America.
wapo.st
February 3, 2026 at 2:31 PM
A version of what’s happening in Fulton Co. happened in Maricopa Co. five years ago.
Back then, it was a private company breaking the chain of vote custody, at the behest of Trump. Now Trump is making the FBI & DNI do it.
We called it an “adminsurrection” back then: wapo.st/4rsjY6H
Back then, it was a private company breaking the chain of vote custody, at the behest of Trump. Now Trump is making the FBI & DNI do it.
We called it an “adminsurrection” back then: wapo.st/4rsjY6H
Amid all that’s going on, our nuke treaty with Russia expires Thursday, and both countries will be free to begin a new arms race — “a needless competition that both nations have managed to avert for decades.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The End of the Nuclear-Arms-Control Era
The last significant treaty is about to expire, and Trump isn’t putting anything in its place.
www.theatlantic.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Amid all that’s going on, our nuke treaty with Russia expires Thursday, and both countries will be free to begin a new arms race — “a needless competition that both nations have managed to avert for decades.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
NEW: In January, the White House promised to crack down on fraud. Weeks later, it has become weaponized, as President Trump uses claims of taxpayer theft to penalize Democrats, all the while he pardons his allies connected to the loss of millions in federal benefits
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/u...
In Trump’s Fraud Crackdown, Political Foes Face Harshest Scrutiny
www.nytimes.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:55 PM
NEW: In January, the White House promised to crack down on fraud. Weeks later, it has become weaponized, as President Trump uses claims of taxpayer theft to penalize Democrats, all the while he pardons his allies connected to the loss of millions in federal benefits
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/u...
A man sent an email to a prosecutor, arguing for mercy for a defendant. Then the government went after him, with Google’s participation.
“You don’t have to lock somebody up to make them reticent to make their voice heard.”
Spooky as heck: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
“You don’t have to lock somebody up to make them reticent to make their voice heard.”
Spooky as heck: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon
Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:56 PM
A man sent an email to a prosecutor, arguing for mercy for a defendant. Then the government went after him, with Google’s participation.
“You don’t have to lock somebody up to make them reticent to make their voice heard.”
Spooky as heck: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
“You don’t have to lock somebody up to make them reticent to make their voice heard.”
Spooky as heck: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Mr. Dan Zak
Quite the contrast:
In one part of the Epstein files, DOJ published unredacted nude images of women and potentially minors.
In another part, officials redacted President Trump’s face from a news image that was shared in a text exchange.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
In one part of the Epstein files, DOJ published unredacted nude images of women and potentially minors.
In another part, officials redacted President Trump’s face from a news image that was shared in a text exchange.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
February 2, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Quite the contrast:
In one part of the Epstein files, DOJ published unredacted nude images of women and potentially minors.
In another part, officials redacted President Trump’s face from a news image that was shared in a text exchange.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
In one part of the Epstein files, DOJ published unredacted nude images of women and potentially minors.
In another part, officials redacted President Trump’s face from a news image that was shared in a text exchange.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
Kennedy Center staffer: “This is a self-inflicted crisis created by Trump and Ric Grenell, for which they bear full responsibility.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
‘Crisis’: The fallout from Trump’s surprise plan to close Kennedy Center
The president’s announcement shocked artists and staff. A letter obtained by The Washington Post brought the National Symphony Orchestra’s future into focus.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Kennedy Center staffer: “This is a self-inflicted crisis created by Trump and Ric Grenell, for which they bear full responsibility.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
"Rather than going to senior department or F.B.I. officials, Mr. Trump spoke directly to the frontline agents doing the granular work of a politically sensitive investigation in which he has a large personal stake." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
Trump Had Unusual Call With F.B.I. Agents After Election Center Search
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2026 at 6:39 PM
"Rather than going to senior department or F.B.I. officials, Mr. Trump spoke directly to the frontline agents doing the granular work of a politically sensitive investigation in which he has a large personal stake." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...