Timothy Noah
@timothynoah.bsky.social
Staff writer at the New Republic (third tour), former Politico, former Slate, former Wall Street Journal, former Newsweek, former Washington Monthly, former US News and World Report, plus some other places. (I get around.)
Reposted by Timothy Noah
This is a wonderful piece of reportage and data-illustration by @jacobbogage.bsky.social in battered WaPo.
-See @timothynoah.bsky.social's ongoing work on this theme, eg newrepublic.com/article/2042...
-Seeing our shrunken, barely-there print Sunday WaPo was poignant, artifact from "before."
-See @timothynoah.bsky.social's ongoing work on this theme, eg newrepublic.com/article/2042...
-Seeing our shrunken, barely-there print Sunday WaPo was poignant, artifact from "before."
February 8, 2026 at 4:18 PM
This is a wonderful piece of reportage and data-illustration by @jacobbogage.bsky.social in battered WaPo.
-See @timothynoah.bsky.social's ongoing work on this theme, eg newrepublic.com/article/2042...
-Seeing our shrunken, barely-there print Sunday WaPo was poignant, artifact from "before."
-See @timothynoah.bsky.social's ongoing work on this theme, eg newrepublic.com/article/2042...
-Seeing our shrunken, barely-there print Sunday WaPo was poignant, artifact from "before."
Reposted by Timothy Noah
Really important piece in today's @nytimes.com about possible, disastrous next target of MAGA wrecking ball:
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
H/t to my friend @timothynoah.bsky.social for pioneering on this story: newrepublic.com/article/2010...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
H/t to my friend @timothynoah.bsky.social for pioneering on this story: newrepublic.com/article/2010...
It’s Been Called the ‘Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.’ Don’t Destroy It.
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Really important piece in today's @nytimes.com about possible, disastrous next target of MAGA wrecking ball:
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
H/t to my friend @timothynoah.bsky.social for pioneering on this story: newrepublic.com/article/2010...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
H/t to my friend @timothynoah.bsky.social for pioneering on this story: newrepublic.com/article/2010...
Amen:
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/do-yo...
See also Jack Shafer’s “The New Vanity Press Moguls.” It’s from two decades ago but the only thing that’s changed is that all press moguls are now vanity press moguls.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/do-yo...
See also Jack Shafer’s “The New Vanity Press Moguls.” It’s from two decades ago but the only thing that’s changed is that all press moguls are now vanity press moguls.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
‘Do You Speak Billionaire?’ and Other Stories From the Fall of the Washington Post
I think I can say with little fear of contradiction that I...
talkingpointsmemo.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Amen:
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/do-yo...
See also Jack Shafer’s “The New Vanity Press Moguls.” It’s from two decades ago but the only thing that’s changed is that all press moguls are now vanity press moguls.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/do-yo...
See also Jack Shafer’s “The New Vanity Press Moguls.” It’s from two decades ago but the only thing that’s changed is that all press moguls are now vanity press moguls.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
The New York Times takes on the Cohen Building story. Hallelujah.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
If you want to know more, here’s my TNR piece that broke the story plus two detailed follow-ups:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
If you want to know more, here’s my TNR piece that broke the story plus two detailed follow-ups:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
It’s Been Called the ‘Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.’ Don’t Destroy It.
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:10 PM
The New York Times takes on the Cohen Building story. Hallelujah.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
If you want to know more, here’s my TNR piece that broke the story plus two detailed follow-ups:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
If you want to know more, here’s my TNR piece that broke the story plus two detailed follow-ups:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
"The newspaper’s publisher, Will Lewis, was nowhere to be seen as the grim news was unveiled."
Jeff Bezos said this when he bought the WaPo in 2013:
“I don’t think you can keep shrinking the business. You can be profitable and shrinking. And that’s a survival strategy, but it ultimately leads to irrelevance, at best. And, at worst, it leads to extinction.”
“I don’t think you can keep shrinking the business. You can be profitable and shrinking. And that’s a survival strategy, but it ultimately leads to irrelevance, at best. And, at worst, it leads to extinction.”
How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post
The Amazon founder bought the paper to save it. Instead, with a mass layoff, he’s forced it into severe decline.
www.newyorker.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:28 PM
"The newspaper’s publisher, Will Lewis, was nowhere to be seen as the grim news was unveiled."
Jeff Bezos said this when he bought the WaPo in 2013:
“I don’t think you can keep shrinking the business. You can be profitable and shrinking. And that’s a survival strategy, but it ultimately leads to irrelevance, at best. And, at worst, it leads to extinction.”
“I don’t think you can keep shrinking the business. You can be profitable and shrinking. And that’s a survival strategy, but it ultimately leads to irrelevance, at best. And, at worst, it leads to extinction.”
How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post
The Amazon founder bought the paper to save it. Instead, with a mass layoff, he’s forced it into severe decline.
www.newyorker.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Jeff Bezos said this when he bought the WaPo in 2013:
“I don’t think you can keep shrinking the business. You can be profitable and shrinking. And that’s a survival strategy, but it ultimately leads to irrelevance, at best. And, at worst, it leads to extinction.”
“I don’t think you can keep shrinking the business. You can be profitable and shrinking. And that’s a survival strategy, but it ultimately leads to irrelevance, at best. And, at worst, it leads to extinction.”
Pro tip: If you have Peter Thiel over to dinner don't ask in advance for his dietary restrictions.
From the Epstein files via Wired (not clear this meeting ever took place; Thiel's dietary restrictions certainly provided ample justification for canceling):
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
From the Epstein files via Wired (not clear this meeting ever took place; Thiel's dietary restrictions certainly provided ample justification for canceling):
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
www.justice.gov
February 3, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Pro tip: If you have Peter Thiel over to dinner don't ask in advance for his dietary restrictions.
From the Epstein files via Wired (not clear this meeting ever took place; Thiel's dietary restrictions certainly provided ample justification for canceling):
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
From the Epstein files via Wired (not clear this meeting ever took place; Thiel's dietary restrictions certainly provided ample justification for canceling):
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Psst. Trump is starting to lose the white working class.
Trump's Base Is Tiring of Him at a Bad Time
Cracks are opening in the foundation of President Donald Trump’s coalition: working-class White voters. That could be crucial in November’s midterm elections. For Democrats, improving their performanc...
www.bloomberg.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Psst. Trump is starting to lose the white working class.
This is now without question the biggest politico-financial scandal in United States history. Teapot Dome was trivial in comparison.
I was a little late to catch up with this WSJ kleptocracy story. We already knew Sheikh Tahnoon dropped $2b on World Liberty Financial to get Trump to let UAE import advanced chips. Now we learn Tahnoon also purchased 49 percent of World Liberty Financial.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
‘Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company
$500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before U.A.E. won access to tightly guarded American AI chips.
www.wsj.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:21 PM
This is now without question the biggest politico-financial scandal in United States history. Teapot Dome was trivial in comparison.
I was a little late to catch up with this WSJ kleptocracy story. We already knew Sheikh Tahnoon dropped $2b on World Liberty Financial to get Trump to let UAE import advanced chips. Now we learn Tahnoon also purchased 49 percent of World Liberty Financial.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
‘Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company
$500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before U.A.E. won access to tightly guarded American AI chips.
www.wsj.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:19 PM
I was a little late to catch up with this WSJ kleptocracy story. We already knew Sheikh Tahnoon dropped $2b on World Liberty Financial to get Trump to let UAE import advanced chips. Now we learn Tahnoon also purchased 49 percent of World Liberty Financial.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
I forgot in my TNR piece to mention that Trump's claim that he filed his IRS lawsuit within the two-year statute of limitations is provably false because HIS OWN LAWYER represented Trump at Charles Littlejohn's plea hearing in OCTOBER 2023. More here:
timothynoah.substack.com/p/trump-isnt...
timothynoah.substack.com/p/trump-isnt...
February 2, 2026 at 5:11 PM
I forgot in my TNR piece to mention that Trump's claim that he filed his IRS lawsuit within the two-year statute of limitations is provably false because HIS OWN LAWYER represented Trump at Charles Littlejohn's plea hearing in OCTOBER 2023. More here:
timothynoah.substack.com/p/trump-isnt...
timothynoah.substack.com/p/trump-isnt...
Not turning up in the DOJ files on the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—not a single mention!—makes me feel like a total loser. Why can’t I be disgraced too? When the most gregarious sex offender the world has ever seen snubs you, that hurts.
February 2, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Not turning up in the DOJ files on the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—not a single mention!—makes me feel like a total loser. Why can’t I be disgraced too? When the most gregarious sex offender the world has ever seen snubs you, that hurts.
Often an outrageous news story is less outrageous on close inspection. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS is not such an example. In my latest, I answer your questions about the deeply stupid venture.
Trump’s Lawsuit Against the IRS Is Even More Outrageous Than It Seems
You don’t know the half of it.
newrepublic.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Often an outrageous news story is less outrageous on close inspection. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS is not such an example. In my latest, I answer your questions about the deeply stupid venture.
I’m gratified that the mainstream press is (finally!) following up on my New Republic stories about Trump’s plans to sell and/or demolish the “Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.”
Here are my 3 pieces:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Here are my 3 pieces:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
The New Deal Masterpieces Threatened by Trump’s D.C. Downsizing
Your great-grandparents paid Ben Shahn and Philip Guston to create gorgeous public murals. Next year they could be rubble.
newrepublic.com
January 31, 2026 at 5:05 PM
I’m gratified that the mainstream press is (finally!) following up on my New Republic stories about Trump’s plans to sell and/or demolish the “Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.”
Here are my 3 pieces:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Here are my 3 pieces:
newrepublic.com/article/2010...
newrepublic.com/article/2012...
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
As Mel Brooks’s 100th birthday approaches, here is his greatest film. On a per-second basis it has the most laughs, and it’s the only Brooks film that ever won an Oscar for Best (short) Picture. Plus you can watch it free of charge.
Click on this and tell me I’m wrong:
Click on this and tell me I’m wrong:
Mel Brooks - The Critic (1963)
YouTube video by ados4k
youtu.be
January 31, 2026 at 3:08 PM
As Mel Brooks’s 100th birthday approaches, here is his greatest film. On a per-second basis it has the most laughs, and it’s the only Brooks film that ever won an Oscar for Best (short) Picture. Plus you can watch it free of charge.
Click on this and tell me I’m wrong:
Click on this and tell me I’m wrong:
Suzannah Lessard, RIP. A wonderful essayist at the Washington Monthly and, later, at the New Yorker, and author of “The Architect of Desire,” about her great grandfather Stanford White.
Here’s a 1970 dispatch by Suki about the early gay rights movement:
washingtonmonthly.com/1970/12/01/g...
Here’s a 1970 dispatch by Suki about the early gay rights movement:
washingtonmonthly.com/1970/12/01/g...
Gay Is Good for Us All
Oh no, not the fairies too!” said a woman watching the Gay Liberation Movement march up Sixth Avenue last June, with a quizzical, good-humored expression on her face, as though they were so many puppi...
washingtonmonthly.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:29 AM
Suzannah Lessard, RIP. A wonderful essayist at the Washington Monthly and, later, at the New Yorker, and author of “The Architect of Desire,” about her great grandfather Stanford White.
Here’s a 1970 dispatch by Suki about the early gay rights movement:
washingtonmonthly.com/1970/12/01/g...
Here’s a 1970 dispatch by Suki about the early gay rights movement:
washingtonmonthly.com/1970/12/01/g...
Why did Trump appoint an inflation hawk to succeed Jerome Powell at the Fed? My latest.
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Is Kevin Warsh Really the Fed Chair of Trump’s Dreams?
Has the president’s pick to run the central bank decided to renounce his previous views? Or does he just like fighting with his appointees?
newrepublic.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Why did Trump appoint an inflation hawk to succeed Jerome Powell at the Fed? My latest.
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Raise your hand if you think it’s a good idea for President Donald Trump to charter himself a bank.
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Trump’s First National Bank of Scams Is Coming
The kleptocratic nightmare we’re all living in is about to get worse.
newrepublic.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Raise your hand if you think it’s a good idea for President Donald Trump to charter himself a bank.
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
European fascists find Trump too extremist.
How Trump Became a Liability for Europe’s Far Right
www.nytimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:20 PM
European fascists find Trump too extremist.
The Living New Deal will hold a webinar on saving the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, the "Sistine Chapel of the New Deal," on Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. EST.
www.eventbrite.com/x/preservati...?
www.eventbrite.com/x/preservati...?
Online Event Page | Eventbrite
Eventbrite brings people together through live experiences. Discover events that match your passions, or create your own with online ticketing tools.
www.eventbrite.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:30 PM
The Living New Deal will hold a webinar on saving the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, the "Sistine Chapel of the New Deal," on Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. EST.
www.eventbrite.com/x/preservati...?
www.eventbrite.com/x/preservati...?
The GSA is conducting a series of tours of endangered murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, and others at the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building.
www.eventbrite.com/o/gsa-art-to...
www.eventbrite.com/o/gsa-art-to...
GSA Art Tours
The U.S. General Services Administration cares for the nation's largest public art collection, which spans more than 170 years of American creativity and talent, and includes major holdings of New De...
www.eventbrite.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:01 PM
The GSA is conducting a series of tours of endangered murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, and others at the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building.
www.eventbrite.com/o/gsa-art-to...
www.eventbrite.com/o/gsa-art-to...
"Bomb cyclone."
It may bypass DC and NYC. But still, is it my imagination or has climate change prompted a terrifying turn in our weather vocabulary?
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...
It may bypass DC and NYC. But still, is it my imagination or has climate change prompted a terrifying turn in our weather vocabulary?
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...
Where a nor’easter will bring heavy snow, strong winds and waves this weekend
A potent system will bring the potential for blizzard-like conditions and coastal flooding from parts of the Southeast to New England.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 5:34 PM
"Bomb cyclone."
It may bypass DC and NYC. But still, is it my imagination or has climate change prompted a terrifying turn in our weather vocabulary?
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...
It may bypass DC and NYC. But still, is it my imagination or has climate change prompted a terrifying turn in our weather vocabulary?
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...