Soraya Nadia McDonald
@sorayanadiamcdonald.com
criticism senior editor for @therumpus.net
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Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- harris@slate.com or dm me.
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
November 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- harris@slate.com or dm me.
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
Today I wrote about Zohran Mamdani's historic win, the energizing power of holding to shared principles of decency, and a taxonomy of the endlessly intertwined relationship between shame and vision. www.the-reframe.com/the-extraord...
The Extraordinary Power of Standing For Something
Winning by creating vision in the positive space of shared standards, and expertly negotiating the negative space of shame.
www.the-reframe.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Today I wrote about Zohran Mamdani's historic win, the energizing power of holding to shared principles of decency, and a taxonomy of the endlessly intertwined relationship between shame and vision. www.the-reframe.com/the-extraord...
"Common Crawl’s executive director, Rich Skrenta, has publicly made the case that AI models should be able to access anything on the internet. 'The robots are people too,' he told me."
bitch no they not
bitch no they not
The Company Quietly Funneling Paywalled Articles to AI Developers
“You shouldn’t have put your content on the internet if you didn’t want it to be on the internet,” Common Crawl’s executive director says.
www.theatlantic.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:50 PM
"Common Crawl’s executive director, Rich Skrenta, has publicly made the case that AI models should be able to access anything on the internet. 'The robots are people too,' he told me."
bitch no they not
bitch no they not
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
I'm hard-pressed to think of a non-Jewish Democratic politician who has spoken to Jews with more respect and empathy than Mamdani. The fact that many Jewish establishment orgs are going after him while staying relatively mum on resurgent Nazism is a disaster, both for American Jews and in general.
November 5, 2025 at 11:49 PM
I'm hard-pressed to think of a non-Jewish Democratic politician who has spoken to Jews with more respect and empathy than Mamdani. The fact that many Jewish establishment orgs are going after him while staying relatively mum on resurgent Nazism is a disaster, both for American Jews and in general.
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
Friends— here it is. Updated & expanded thanks to the space afforded to me in the @therumpus.net & the guidance of the brilliant @roxanegay.bsky.social’s edits. The win centers Muslims humanity — but what does that mean in a country that rejects that?
therumpus.net/2025/11/05/z...
therumpus.net/2025/11/05/z...
November 5, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Friends— here it is. Updated & expanded thanks to the space afforded to me in the @therumpus.net & the guidance of the brilliant @roxanegay.bsky.social’s edits. The win centers Muslims humanity — but what does that mean in a country that rejects that?
therumpus.net/2025/11/05/z...
therumpus.net/2025/11/05/z...
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
this truly is the thing that brings me real joy because this is the piece that’s replicable everywhere. if enough of us show up, their millions of dollars in dark money, bribes and attack ads accomplish nothing. Mamdani is clearly a generational talent but he won’t be the only one we find if we look
The oligarchy came out in full force against Zohran Mamdani's fight for a more affordable NYC.
It didn't matter.
Let his victory in the face of Big Money serve as a reminder that people have the power.
It didn't matter.
Let his victory in the face of Big Money serve as a reminder that people have the power.
November 5, 2025 at 11:23 PM
this truly is the thing that brings me real joy because this is the piece that’s replicable everywhere. if enough of us show up, their millions of dollars in dark money, bribes and attack ads accomplish nothing. Mamdani is clearly a generational talent but he won’t be the only one we find if we look
Zohran Mamdani is mayor-elect.
Kara Young is the queen of Broadway.
The Studio Museum 'bout to reopen in its shiny brand new building.
What a time to be a New Yorker!
Kara Young is the queen of Broadway.
The Studio Museum 'bout to reopen in its shiny brand new building.
What a time to be a New Yorker!
November 5, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Zohran Mamdani is mayor-elect.
Kara Young is the queen of Broadway.
The Studio Museum 'bout to reopen in its shiny brand new building.
What a time to be a New Yorker!
Kara Young is the queen of Broadway.
The Studio Museum 'bout to reopen in its shiny brand new building.
What a time to be a New Yorker!
Enjoying an especially hearty laugh at those who kept trying to convince people "Dimes Square" was A Thing
November 5, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Enjoying an especially hearty laugh at those who kept trying to convince people "Dimes Square" was A Thing
a trans bar, conveniently located between two mountains, called Valley of the Dolls, is a bar I want to exist
November 5, 2025 at 7:31 PM
a trans bar, conveniently located between two mountains, called Valley of the Dolls, is a bar I want to exist
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
It’s almost like if people tell you that to win you have to turn your back on poor people, or Muslims, or trans people, or immigrants, you can just say, “no, that’s immoral, we’re not doing that,” and keep doing good old fashioned organizing and campaigning and things will be ok
November 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
It’s almost like if people tell you that to win you have to turn your back on poor people, or Muslims, or trans people, or immigrants, you can just say, “no, that’s immoral, we’re not doing that,” and keep doing good old fashioned organizing and campaigning and things will be ok
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
It would be wrong to call Greenblatt a kapo. The kapos — as justly hated as they were after the Holocaust — often were acting under direct duress. Greenblatt, the self-appointed and self-important functionary-minder of American Jewry, has no such excuse. He's simply a rank bigot
The Anti-Defamation League is launching an "initiative to track and monitor Mamdani administration policies." They did not do this when the Heritage Foundation, which is directly staffing and writing policies for the Trump administration, defended neo-Nazis.
November 5, 2025 at 6:26 PM
It would be wrong to call Greenblatt a kapo. The kapos — as justly hated as they were after the Holocaust — often were acting under direct duress. Greenblatt, the self-appointed and self-important functionary-minder of American Jewry, has no such excuse. He's simply a rank bigot
Apparently "America First" was just Imperialism, But With More Corruption And Gold Leaf
November 5, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Apparently "America First" was just Imperialism, But With More Corruption And Gold Leaf
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
He eats rice with his hands; he calls a genocide a genocide; he gleefully mocks Islamophobes by calling them "habibi" (a particularly pointed choice: he's not Arab.)
And this is ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING to people who are used to seeing Indians as their well-tamed pets in the game of white supremacy.
And this is ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING to people who are used to seeing Indians as their well-tamed pets in the game of white supremacy.
November 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
He eats rice with his hands; he calls a genocide a genocide; he gleefully mocks Islamophobes by calling them "habibi" (a particularly pointed choice: he's not Arab.)
And this is ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING to people who are used to seeing Indians as their well-tamed pets in the game of white supremacy.
And this is ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING to people who are used to seeing Indians as their well-tamed pets in the game of white supremacy.
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
None of this is going to happen and the halal carts in nyc are already there and amazing, but this is the id of MAGA politics, "we can won so we can force everyone to do what we want" projected onto people who don't think that and wouldn't try. bsky.app/profile/stac...
November 5, 2025 at 6:27 PM
None of this is going to happen and the halal carts in nyc are already there and amazing, but this is the id of MAGA politics, "we can won so we can force everyone to do what we want" projected onto people who don't think that and wouldn't try. bsky.app/profile/stac...
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
Last night was utterly different, not foreseen but foreseeable (and somehow I've made it my job to keep people from giving up--from obeying in advance, from forgetting we have power, and that everything changes). I do like my job. In an overly optimistic indomitable society I'd have a different one.
November 5, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Last night was utterly different, not foreseen but foreseeable (and somehow I've made it my job to keep people from giving up--from obeying in advance, from forgetting we have power, and that everything changes). I do like my job. In an overly optimistic indomitable society I'd have a different one.
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
I'm glad I don't tie my sense of "safety" as a Jew to some perceived right never to encounter opinions about Israel that I disagree with.
November 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I'm glad I don't tie my sense of "safety" as a Jew to some perceived right never to encounter opinions about Israel that I disagree with.
Anyway.
Don't waste time with straw men. Respond to the real world, and do good work.
Everything else is bullshit.
Don't waste time with straw men. Respond to the real world, and do good work.
Everything else is bullshit.
November 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Anyway.
Don't waste time with straw men. Respond to the real world, and do good work.
Everything else is bullshit.
Don't waste time with straw men. Respond to the real world, and do good work.
Everything else is bullshit.
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
"Mamdani is not a warning shot; he is a sign of things to come. Dem voters everywhere want transformative change. They’re furious at party’s leaders and suspicious of candidates backed by an establishment that gets everything wrong," writes @alexshephard.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2027...
The Democratic Tea Party Is Here
The party’s base is energized and mad as hell. And their rage isn’t just aimed at Donald Trump.
newrepublic.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:13 PM
"Mamdani is not a warning shot; he is a sign of things to come. Dem voters everywhere want transformative change. They’re furious at party’s leaders and suspicious of candidates backed by an establishment that gets everything wrong," writes @alexshephard.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2027...
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
- shit on other minorities (this one is important)
- accept a constant stream of tiny humiliations
- perform diversity in a few small acceptable ways like making specific appropriate Indian dishes (with the spices toned down of course)
- and of course, most importantly, always defer to white people
- accept a constant stream of tiny humiliations
- perform diversity in a few small acceptable ways like making specific appropriate Indian dishes (with the spices toned down of course)
- and of course, most importantly, always defer to white people
November 5, 2025 at 6:13 PM
- shit on other minorities (this one is important)
- accept a constant stream of tiny humiliations
- perform diversity in a few small acceptable ways like making specific appropriate Indian dishes (with the spices toned down of course)
- and of course, most importantly, always defer to white people
- accept a constant stream of tiny humiliations
- perform diversity in a few small acceptable ways like making specific appropriate Indian dishes (with the spices toned down of course)
- and of course, most importantly, always defer to white people
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
Bigotry against Indians is different. Indians are a market-dominant minority. We're overtly treated pretty well, provided we:
- talk "correctly"
- eat "correctly"
- always smile
- always be charming
- be smart but not too smart
- be hot but not too hot
- be successful but not too successful
- talk "correctly"
- eat "correctly"
- always smile
- always be charming
- be smart but not too smart
- be hot but not too hot
- be successful but not too successful
November 5, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Bigotry against Indians is different. Indians are a market-dominant minority. We're overtly treated pretty well, provided we:
- talk "correctly"
- eat "correctly"
- always smile
- always be charming
- be smart but not too smart
- be hot but not too hot
- be successful but not too successful
- talk "correctly"
- eat "correctly"
- always smile
- always be charming
- be smart but not too smart
- be hot but not too hot
- be successful but not too successful
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
here is my story about how Zohran's focus on community amid the loneliness epidemic helped young people connect their politics to an organizing infrastructure, that interviewed ZM, and does not use the NYT's framing of "they don't know how to make friends" :-) and also ran 4 days before NYT's lol
Zohran Mamdani's Establishment-Fighting Campaign Built Community for Young People
“What Mamdani has done is not only inspire and mobilize young people, but he has exposed the establishment and some of their calcified views of participation and inclusion.”
www.teenvogue.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:14 PM
here is my story about how Zohran's focus on community amid the loneliness epidemic helped young people connect their politics to an organizing infrastructure, that interviewed ZM, and does not use the NYT's framing of "they don't know how to make friends" :-) and also ran 4 days before NYT's lol
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
I saw this figure, and I’m not sure where I’d be classified here. I’m culturally/ethnically Jewish, I identify as Jewish, but I have no religious practice and am an atheist. This describes a lot of Jews in NYC, but I don’t know where we are in this chart!
This is a stunning political realignment--Mamdani lost Jews, Catholics, and Protestants but won by sweeping "Other" and "None."
As a Jewish voter in the 33% I hope my neighbors (literally) in the 63%, who were flooded with dishonest mailers, social media, and texts, will now keep an open mind.
As a Jewish voter in the 33% I hope my neighbors (literally) in the 63%, who were flooded with dishonest mailers, social media, and texts, will now keep an open mind.
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
I saw this figure, and I’m not sure where I’d be classified here. I’m culturally/ethnically Jewish, I identify as Jewish, but I have no religious practice and am an atheist. This describes a lot of Jews in NYC, but I don’t know where we are in this chart!
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
Cuomo on his way to Florida taking the NYPD with him
November 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Cuomo on his way to Florida taking the NYPD with him
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
At the Unisphere!
"The Mamdani campaign has used iconic New York City landmarks as backdrops throughout the campaign, and it chose another one this morning. The mayor-elect will speak below the Unisphere, the symbol of the 1964 World’s Fair. It was designed as a sign of global interdependence."
"The Mamdani campaign has used iconic New York City landmarks as backdrops throughout the campaign, and it chose another one this morning. The mayor-elect will speak below the Unisphere, the symbol of the 1964 World’s Fair. It was designed as a sign of global interdependence."
November 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
At the Unisphere!
"The Mamdani campaign has used iconic New York City landmarks as backdrops throughout the campaign, and it chose another one this morning. The mayor-elect will speak below the Unisphere, the symbol of the 1964 World’s Fair. It was designed as a sign of global interdependence."
"The Mamdani campaign has used iconic New York City landmarks as backdrops throughout the campaign, and it chose another one this morning. The mayor-elect will speak below the Unisphere, the symbol of the 1964 World’s Fair. It was designed as a sign of global interdependence."
Reposted by Soraya Nadia McDonald
Since Trump took office, virtually all CFPB investigations have ground to a halt, including three probes into Andreessen-backed companies, according to the records and the people familiar with the cases. www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off for Silicon Valley.
The Trump administration’s gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been good for venture capitalists like Andreessen, who previously accused the agency of “terrorizing” fintech startup...
www.propublica.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Since Trump took office, virtually all CFPB investigations have ground to a halt, including three probes into Andreessen-backed companies, according to the records and the people familiar with the cases. www.propublica.org/article/trum...