ALI BRELAND
@alibreland.bsky.social
writer, reporter at the atlantic
alibreland.com
alibreland.com
There is no right wing civil war. The groypers are just winning. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Nick Fuentes Spiral
The reckoning with the white-nationalist influencer’s rise is only getting messier.
www.theatlantic.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM
There is no right wing civil war. The groypers are just winning. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
HARK DAILY - Today's best podcast moments in one playlist, featuring:
- Trump echoes Biden's biggest mistake on the economy @vox.com
- How neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes went mainstream @alibreland.bsky.social
- Creating a new company using only A.I. @evrat.bsky.social
- Trump echoes Biden's biggest mistake on the economy @vox.com
- How neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes went mainstream @alibreland.bsky.social
- Creating a new company using only A.I. @evrat.bsky.social
Listen to November 13, 2025 on Hark
A playlist of podcast moments
share.harkaudio.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:15 PM
HARK DAILY - Today's best podcast moments in one playlist, featuring:
- Trump echoes Biden's biggest mistake on the economy @vox.com
- How neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes went mainstream @alibreland.bsky.social
- Creating a new company using only A.I. @evrat.bsky.social
- Trump echoes Biden's biggest mistake on the economy @vox.com
- How neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes went mainstream @alibreland.bsky.social
- Creating a new company using only A.I. @evrat.bsky.social
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
It was great to be on Canada’s @cbcnews.ca Front Burner podcast alongside @alibreland.bsky.social to discuss the mainstreaming of Nick Fuentes on the MAGA Right www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
Nick Fuentes and the mainstreaming of neo-Nazism | Front Burner | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
Nick Fuentes and his followers - Groypers - are working to push American conservatism and the MAGA movement into even more dangerous and reactionary territory. He started to gain a following in 2017 a...
www.cbc.ca
November 11, 2025 at 11:33 PM
It was great to be on Canada’s @cbcnews.ca Front Burner podcast alongside @alibreland.bsky.social to discuss the mainstreaming of Nick Fuentes on the MAGA Right www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
“The gap between Fuentes and the rest of the right is narrower than it has ever been,” @alibreland.bsky.social writes
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Firewall Against Nick Fuentes Is Crumbling
The white-supremacist influencer is entering the MAGA mainstream.
www.theatlantic.com
November 1, 2025 at 9:43 PM
“The gap between Fuentes and the rest of the right is narrower than it has ever been,” @alibreland.bsky.social writes
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
The gap between the white-supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes and the rest of the right is narrower than it has ever been, @alibreland.bsky.social argues.
Tucker Carlson Opens the Door for Nick Fuentes
The white-supremacist influencer is entering the MAGA mainstream.
bit.ly
October 31, 2025 at 10:23 PM
The gap between the white-supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes and the rest of the right is narrower than it has ever been, @alibreland.bsky.social argues.
We are nearing the end stage of the groyperfication project www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Tucker Carlson Opens the Door for Nick Fuentes
The white-supremacist influencer is entering the MAGA mainstream.
www.theatlantic.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:05 PM
We are nearing the end stage of the groyperfication project www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Dug into how Jack Posobiec of Pizzagate fame went from being a hoax posting troll to one of the most influential media figures within MAGA—he now has “almost immediate access to anybody he wants in the White House" and close relationships across the admin www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Jack Posobiec Is MAGA’s Most Important Influencer
Charlie Kirk’s death left a void on the right. Posobiec looks better positioned than anyone to fill it.
www.theatlantic.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Dug into how Jack Posobiec of Pizzagate fame went from being a hoax posting troll to one of the most influential media figures within MAGA—he now has “almost immediate access to anybody he wants in the White House" and close relationships across the admin www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
mildly interesting that "crash out" went from meaning recklessly doing life sentence level crimes (murder, grand theft auto with a screwdriver, etc.) to being a little too upset in public
October 19, 2025 at 3:32 PM
mildly interesting that "crash out" went from meaning recklessly doing life sentence level crimes (murder, grand theft auto with a screwdriver, etc.) to being a little too upset in public
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
Must-read @andykroll.bsky.social on Russ Vought www.propublica.org/article/russ...
Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President
From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...
www.propublica.org
October 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Must-read @andykroll.bsky.social on Russ Vought www.propublica.org/article/russ...
when america first, nick fuentes-acolyte, groypers took over local campus conservative clubs around 2020, it was notable and unprecedented enough, that it garnered a bunch of separate local media stories across the country each time it happened
there have been a lot of responses to this arguing that young Republicans were motivated by such feelings but didn't express them openly
and I think a crucial lesson of the Trump era is that there is great value in people not expressing these things openly! that's a big and decisive change!
and I think a crucial lesson of the Trump era is that there is great value in people not expressing these things openly! that's a big and decisive change!
For those tempted to say Young Republicans have always been this way, they really have not. When I worked on campus and did bipartisan college events after, they were very much not like this.
That’s why groups like YCT and eventually TPUSA formed — because Young Republicans weren’t radical enough.
That’s why groups like YCT and eventually TPUSA formed — because Young Republicans weren’t radical enough.
October 15, 2025 at 9:45 PM
when america first, nick fuentes-acolyte, groypers took over local campus conservative clubs around 2020, it was notable and unprecedented enough, that it garnered a bunch of separate local media stories across the country each time it happened
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
For those tempted to say Young Republicans have always been this way, they really have not. When I worked on campus and did bipartisan college events after, they were very much not like this.
That’s why groups like YCT and eventually TPUSA formed — because Young Republicans weren’t radical enough.
That’s why groups like YCT and eventually TPUSA formed — because Young Republicans weren’t radical enough.
EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.
Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
www.politico.com
October 14, 2025 at 11:01 PM
For those tempted to say Young Republicans have always been this way, they really have not. When I worked on campus and did bipartisan college events after, they were very much not like this.
That’s why groups like YCT and eventually TPUSA formed — because Young Republicans weren’t radical enough.
That’s why groups like YCT and eventually TPUSA formed — because Young Republicans weren’t radical enough.
"the only true insight seems to be that interest rates and cheap rent determine everything."
nemesisglobal.substack.com/p/emily-in-b...
nemesisglobal.substack.com/p/emily-in-b...
EMILY IN BERLIN
A zeitgeist update
nemesisglobal.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:50 PM
"the only true insight seems to be that interest rates and cheap rent determine everything."
nemesisglobal.substack.com/p/emily-in-b...
nemesisglobal.substack.com/p/emily-in-b...
October 15, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
The nativist right keeps talking about “heritage Americans.” It's a buzzword engineered to move the goalposts on immigration even further, argues @alibreland.bsky.social. https://theatln.tc/bLRZoopN
October 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
The nativist right keeps talking about “heritage Americans.” It's a buzzword engineered to move the goalposts on immigration even further, argues @alibreland.bsky.social. https://theatln.tc/bLRZoopN
Wrote about the new attempt to reimagine America as a sort of ethnonationalist blood and soil state that's starting to catch traction www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Are You a ‘Heritage American’?
Why some on the right want to know if your ancestors were here during the Civil War
www.theatlantic.com
October 7, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Wrote about the new attempt to reimagine America as a sort of ethnonationalist blood and soil state that's starting to catch traction www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
Taking a brief break from sporadically posting photos of my pitbull to shout this into the void:
I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about the Antichrist, and now those thoughts are published over at @wired.com.
www.wired.com/story/the-re...
I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about the Antichrist, and now those thoughts are published over at @wired.com.
www.wired.com/story/the-re...
The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession
Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They’ve been a road map for the billionaire ever since.
www.wired.com
September 30, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Taking a brief break from sporadically posting photos of my pitbull to shout this into the void:
I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about the Antichrist, and now those thoughts are published over at @wired.com.
www.wired.com/story/the-re...
I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about the Antichrist, and now those thoughts are published over at @wired.com.
www.wired.com/story/the-re...
Wrote about the right-wing reversal on "cancel culture," extremists attempting to capitalize on Kirk's death, and talked to the Proud Boys and Hasan Piker about the former's attempts to get the latter banned from Twitch. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio: MAGA Has Figured Out How to ‘Play Dirty’
Inside the far-right network that is working to get people fired for what they say about Charlie Kirk
www.theatlantic.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Wrote about the right-wing reversal on "cancel culture," extremists attempting to capitalize on Kirk's death, and talked to the Proud Boys and Hasan Piker about the former's attempts to get the latter banned from Twitch. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
“Tarrio told me that he and other Proud Boys have teamed up in a group chat with other right-wingers who all want to get Piker kicked off Twitch by running a bigger and more sustained version of their other active mass-firing campaign”
We’re just at the beginning.
by @alibreland.bsky.social
We’re just at the beginning.
by @alibreland.bsky.social
Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio: MAGA Has Figured Out How to ‘Play Dirty’
Inside the far-right network that is working to get people fired for what they say about Charlie Kirk
www.theatlantic.com
September 18, 2025 at 12:50 AM
“Tarrio told me that he and other Proud Boys have teamed up in a group chat with other right-wingers who all want to get Piker kicked off Twitch by running a bigger and more sustained version of their other active mass-firing campaign”
We’re just at the beginning.
by @alibreland.bsky.social
We’re just at the beginning.
by @alibreland.bsky.social
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
The Atlantic's @alibreland.bsky.social talked to Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys.
Tarrio told him that cancel culture “sucked for us. I always said I wouldn’t do it back to anybody... I’m in a different mindset right now. An eye for an eye right now.”
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Tarrio told him that cancel culture “sucked for us. I always said I wouldn’t do it back to anybody... I’m in a different mindset right now. An eye for an eye right now.”
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio: MAGA Has Figured Out How to ‘Play Dirty’
Inside the far-right network that is working to get people fired for what they say about Charlie Kirk
www.theatlantic.com
September 18, 2025 at 12:54 AM
The Atlantic's @alibreland.bsky.social talked to Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys.
Tarrio told him that cancel culture “sucked for us. I always said I wouldn’t do it back to anybody... I’m in a different mindset right now. An eye for an eye right now.”
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Tarrio told him that cancel culture “sucked for us. I always said I wouldn’t do it back to anybody... I’m in a different mindset right now. An eye for an eye right now.”
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
ben is right. it’s still premature with the info we have to confidently assert that he was a groyper at this point. it’s possible, but the gopnik/squatting slav meme and all of the other memes robinson reffed are general deeply online memes that are not signature groyper tells
The speculation that the charlie kirk suspect is a groyper is based on very loose aesthetic observations and circumstantial evidence.
Definitely not out of the question… but people confidently asserting that he was a groyper are making the same jumps in logic as people asserting he was antifa imo
Definitely not out of the question… but people confidently asserting that he was a groyper are making the same jumps in logic as people asserting he was antifa imo
"But he did a Groyper meme"
That's the "Slav squat," not groyper-specific www.economist.com/1843/2019/09...
"The song is on a groyper playlist"
It's just some random guy's playlist. The Spotify account has 5 followers
And none of these reference trans issues at all
That's the "Slav squat," not groyper-specific www.economist.com/1843/2019/09...
"The song is on a groyper playlist"
It's just some random guy's playlist. The Spotify account has 5 followers
And none of these reference trans issues at all
September 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
ben is right. it’s still premature with the info we have to confidently assert that he was a groyper at this point. it’s possible, but the gopnik/squatting slav meme and all of the other memes robinson reffed are general deeply online memes that are not signature groyper tells
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
it’s early but it seems like maybe this is relevant again (wrote it last week fml)
September 12, 2025 at 2:37 PM
it’s early but it seems like maybe this is relevant again (wrote it last week fml)
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
Grateful to have spoken w brilliant colleagues on the immediate weaponization of Kirk's killing.
1. My excellent colleague @akelalacy.bsky.social hosted @alibreland.bsky.social and me on @theintercept.com podcast. including dangers of hagiographies like Ezra Klein's theintercept.com/2025/09/12/b...
1. My excellent colleague @akelalacy.bsky.social hosted @alibreland.bsky.social and me on @theintercept.com podcast. including dangers of hagiographies like Ezra Klein's theintercept.com/2025/09/12/b...
The Real Charlie Kirk
Akela Lacy, Natasha Lennard, and Ali Breland on the weaponization of Charlie Kirk’s murder and increasing political violence.
theintercept.com
September 12, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Grateful to have spoken w brilliant colleagues on the immediate weaponization of Kirk's killing.
1. My excellent colleague @akelalacy.bsky.social hosted @alibreland.bsky.social and me on @theintercept.com podcast. including dangers of hagiographies like Ezra Klein's theintercept.com/2025/09/12/b...
1. My excellent colleague @akelalacy.bsky.social hosted @alibreland.bsky.social and me on @theintercept.com podcast. including dangers of hagiographies like Ezra Klein's theintercept.com/2025/09/12/b...
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
NEW 🎧 POD: After the shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, many influential voices were falling over themselves to valorize his legacy. But who was the real Charlie Kirk? @natashalennard.bsky.social & @alibreland.bsky.social help me break it all down podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Real Charlie Kirk
Podcast Episode · The Intercept Briefing · 09/12/2025 · 26m
podcasts.apple.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM
NEW 🎧 POD: After the shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, many influential voices were falling over themselves to valorize his legacy. But who was the real Charlie Kirk? @natashalennard.bsky.social & @alibreland.bsky.social help me break it all down podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Reposted by ALI BRELAND
I'm proud to share a new project that @alexreisner.bsky.social and I launched at @theatlantic.com today! It's called AI Watchdog, and it's our new home for all of the investigations into training data sets, such as LibGen, Books3, and OpenSubtitles. www.theatlantic.com/category/ai-...
September 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I'm proud to share a new project that @alexreisner.bsky.social and I launched at @theatlantic.com today! It's called AI Watchdog, and it's our new home for all of the investigations into training data sets, such as LibGen, Books3, and OpenSubtitles. www.theatlantic.com/category/ai-...
notable tidbit from a chris rufo column today
September 9, 2025 at 10:31 PM
notable tidbit from a chris rufo column today