Jon Fasman
@jonfasman.bsky.social
Senior culture correspondent, The Economist. Podcaster: "The Intelligence", "Checks and Balance". Ex-DC, Singapore, Atlanta, London, Moscow, Providence. Author: "The Geographer's Library," "The Unpossessed City," "We See It All".
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Trump's pardon of allies who helped him try to subvert the 2020 election is important. It's a permission slip--no, it's an encouragement, even an order--to allies to be ready to try to subvert the elections in 2026, and 2028.
politi.co/3WN7A3T
politi.co/3WN7A3T
Trump pardons top allies who aided bid to subvert the 2020 election
Pardon recipients include Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and dozens more.
politi.co
November 10, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Trump's pardon of allies who helped him try to subvert the 2020 election is important. It's a permission slip--no, it's an encouragement, even an order--to allies to be ready to try to subvert the elections in 2026, and 2028.
politi.co/3WN7A3T
politi.co/3WN7A3T
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/n... It’s great to see New York’s best borough getting its moment in the Sun
With a Mayor From Queens, the Borough Is Having a Moment
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/n... It’s great to see New York’s best borough getting its moment in the Sun
Reposted by Jon Fasman
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
Reposted by Jon Fasman
The Heritage Foundation, which is staffing the US presidential administration, has spent the past two weeks mainstreaming actual neo-Nazis into American public life, and much of the American Jewish establishment is panicking about a Muslim mayor of New York City.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
The Heritage Foundation, which is staffing the US presidential administration, has spent the past two weeks mainstreaming actual neo-Nazis into American public life, and much of the American Jewish establishment is panicking about a Muslim mayor of New York City.
Reposted by Jon Fasman
One underappreciated aspect of the Sicilian mafia is how wildly hard it was for mafiosi to work together and trust each other, especially after the Corleonesi began their takeover bid. The relevant bits from my first book on trust (also the only bits non-specialists might want to read)
November 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
One underappreciated aspect of the Sicilian mafia is how wildly hard it was for mafiosi to work together and trust each other, especially after the Corleonesi began their takeover bid. The relevant bits from my first book on trust (also the only bits non-specialists might want to read)
Reposted by Jon Fasman
In the name of protecting Jews, Jews have their funding cancelled, get kicked out of seminars, and are removed from leadership positions in Jewish Studies to be replaced by non-Jews.
Latest write-up about outrageous administrative over reach at IU. www.jta.org/2025/11/07/u...
In Indiana, a vaunted Jewish studies program is upended by red-state politics over Israel and speech - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A leadership shakeup, a defunded graduate student and political pressure from above have turned a storied program into a flashpoint for Trump-era campus politics.
www.jta.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:58 AM
In the name of protecting Jews, Jews have their funding cancelled, get kicked out of seminars, and are removed from leadership positions in Jewish Studies to be replaced by non-Jews.
Reposted by Jon Fasman
His first major text describes protecting the climate, welcoming migrants and pursuing economic justice as sacred obligations. To admirers Pope Leo XIV is a compassionate reformer; to critics, the “commie” or “woke pope” econ.st/4omn3Ea
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
November 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM
His first major text describes protecting the climate, welcoming migrants and pursuing economic justice as sacred obligations. To admirers Pope Leo XIV is a compassionate reformer; to critics, the “commie” or “woke pope” econ.st/4omn3Ea
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Reposted by Jon Fasman
A cool thing that didn't really hit me until I moved here is Bangkok as a city is almost younger than the US (1782) and was largely populated by a massive wave of migration from southeast China contemporaneous and analogous to the wave of European migration that created modern New York City
November 8, 2025 at 7:20 AM
A cool thing that didn't really hit me until I moved here is Bangkok as a city is almost younger than the US (1782) and was largely populated by a massive wave of migration from southeast China contemporaneous and analogous to the wave of European migration that created modern New York City
Reposted by Jon Fasman
This has not gotten much attention, but it should.
Virginia under Youngkin returned to an insanely harsh system where people convicted of any felony lose their voting rights FOR LIFE.
Dems' win this week mean they'll get to advance a constitutional amendment to end lifetime disenfranchisement.
Virginia under Youngkin returned to an insanely harsh system where people convicted of any felony lose their voting rights FOR LIFE.
Dems' win this week mean they'll get to advance a constitutional amendment to end lifetime disenfranchisement.
November 7, 2025 at 8:59 PM
This has not gotten much attention, but it should.
Virginia under Youngkin returned to an insanely harsh system where people convicted of any felony lose their voting rights FOR LIFE.
Dems' win this week mean they'll get to advance a constitutional amendment to end lifetime disenfranchisement.
Virginia under Youngkin returned to an insanely harsh system where people convicted of any felony lose their voting rights FOR LIFE.
Dems' win this week mean they'll get to advance a constitutional amendment to end lifetime disenfranchisement.
Best authors to read on long flights, ranked: 1) a tie among PG Wodehouse, Lee Child and Elmore Leonard, 4) a tie among everyone else
November 8, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Best authors to read on long flights, ranked: 1) a tie among PG Wodehouse, Lee Child and Elmore Leonard, 4) a tie among everyone else
Reposted by Jon Fasman
AP reporter Regina Garcia Cano looked into a few of the men killed in Trump's extrajudicial strikes on Caribbean boats.
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced
One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet.
apnews.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:05 PM
AP reporter Regina Garcia Cano looked into a few of the men killed in Trump's extrajudicial strikes on Caribbean boats.
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Chris Rufo/Ron DeSantis overhauled New College and made it "the most financially inefficient school in the university system"
Degree yield is 19%, 2nd-worst in Fla.
Operating funds per student at New College: $83,207
Same category at Univ of Florida: $45,765
www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/e...
Degree yield is 19%, 2nd-worst in Fla.
Operating funds per student at New College: $83,207
Same category at Univ of Florida: $45,765
www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/e...
New College of Florida shows soaring expenses as state targets 'woke waste'
A report by Florida DOGE found that Sarasota's New College is the most financially inefficient school in the university system.
www.heraldtribune.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Chris Rufo/Ron DeSantis overhauled New College and made it "the most financially inefficient school in the university system"
Degree yield is 19%, 2nd-worst in Fla.
Operating funds per student at New College: $83,207
Same category at Univ of Florida: $45,765
www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/e...
Degree yield is 19%, 2nd-worst in Fla.
Operating funds per student at New College: $83,207
Same category at Univ of Florida: $45,765
www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/e...
Hero Hero Beats Pirro www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
Jurors Find Sandwich Hurler Not Guilty of Assault
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Hero Hero Beats Pirro www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/m... Grippinng story, brilliantly and bravely reported.
A Harrowing Escape From the Drone-Infested Hellscape of Ukraine’s Front Lines
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:54 AM
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/m... Grippinng story, brilliantly and bravely reported.
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Humour matters to Sir Salman Rushdie.
“Humourlessness is a characteristic of narrow-mindedness; there are very few humorous dictators. Also, humour gets up people’s noses further than anything else”
“Humourlessness is a characteristic of narrow-mindedness; there are very few humorous dictators. Also, humour gets up people’s noses further than anything else”
Salman Rushdie: stabbed 15 times but still laughing
A long-persecuted author on humour, charlatans and death
econ.st
November 6, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Humour matters to Sir Salman Rushdie.
“Humourlessness is a characteristic of narrow-mindedness; there are very few humorous dictators. Also, humour gets up people’s noses further than anything else”
“Humourlessness is a characteristic of narrow-mindedness; there are very few humorous dictators. Also, humour gets up people’s noses further than anything else”
Reposted by Jon Fasman
We wrote this week on Golden Dome, about which we still know relatively little. What's clear is that cost will be sensitive to the number of space-based interceptors. And that depends on the basic question: what scope of threat is this meant to tackle?
www.economist.com/interactive/...
www.economist.com/interactive/...
November 6, 2025 at 8:35 AM
We wrote this week on Golden Dome, about which we still know relatively little. What's clear is that cost will be sensitive to the number of space-based interceptors. And that depends on the basic question: what scope of threat is this meant to tackle?
www.economist.com/interactive/...
www.economist.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Jordan Bardella is France’s most popular politician. His ideas would set 🇫🇷 on a collision path with not only EU institutions but with France’s main partner, Germany. For the RN leader, this seems to be the point
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Jordan Bardella starts to lay out his plans
The 30-year-old French populist who is preparing for power
economist.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Jordan Bardella is France’s most popular politician. His ideas would set 🇫🇷 on a collision path with not only EU institutions but with France’s main partner, Germany. For the RN leader, this seems to be the point
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Can I tell my NYC mayor story again today? Ok, fine.
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Can I tell my NYC mayor story again today? Ok, fine.
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Absolutely the best thing you will read today.
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Absolutely the best thing you will read today.
Reposted by Jon Fasman
Between Sliwa and Brad Lander probably the best thing you can do as a public figure right now (even if you’re odious! like Curtis!) is lose gracefully being exactly who you are. People are desperate for dignity to make a comeback and they’ll reward you later.
November 4, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Between Sliwa and Brad Lander probably the best thing you can do as a public figure right now (even if you’re odious! like Curtis!) is lose gracefully being exactly who you are. People are desperate for dignity to make a comeback and they’ll reward you later.
Reposted by Jon Fasman
How badly are oral arguments over Trump's tariffs going for the government?
Neal Katyal just began a sentence with: "Justice Gorsuch hit the nail on the head..."
Neal Katyal just began a sentence with: "Justice Gorsuch hit the nail on the head..."
November 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
How badly are oral arguments over Trump's tariffs going for the government?
Neal Katyal just began a sentence with: "Justice Gorsuch hit the nail on the head..."
Neal Katyal just began a sentence with: "Justice Gorsuch hit the nail on the head..."
Time to learn the difference between prevalence and salience.
57% of all ad spending by Republicans in the Virginia governors race was on anti trans ads. Just an incredibly mismanaged campaign. Anti-trans politics are a losing issue.
November 5, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Time to learn the difference between prevalence and salience.
Reposted by Jon Fasman
and you know what? even many 10th graders should be able to understand writing that’s “complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references”
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 10:58 AM
and you know what? even many 10th graders should be able to understand writing that’s “complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references”
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults