Matthew Sheffield
@matthew.flux.community
🟦 Writer, researcher, podcaster, developer
🟦 As seen in @flux.community, NYT, WaPo, NBC, Variety ...
🟦 Post about politics, cognitive science, gender, media
New book: What Republicans Know https://flux.community/book/what-republicans-know
🟦 As seen in @flux.community, NYT, WaPo, NBC, Variety ...
🟦 Post about politics, cognitive science, gender, media
New book: What Republicans Know https://flux.community/book/what-republicans-know
Pinned
It’s like this: Why perceptions are our realities
Minds do not create experience, experience creates minds
plus.flux.community
Critics of LLMs often argue that chatbots cannot be conscious because they lack "qualia," which they say are extra experiences created by the mind from sensations.
While they're right that ChatGPT isn't sentient, qualia are not extra add-ons, they are the basis of biological minds.
While they're right that ChatGPT isn't sentient, qualia are not extra add-ons, they are the basis of biological minds.
Liberal patriotism is the most effective way to fight fascism.
This is why Megyn Kelly is in a frothing rage about it.
A liberalism expanded into a complete philosophy is the only way to banish reactionary extremism for decades.
We win when we think clearly, love freely, and laugh easily.
This is why Megyn Kelly is in a frothing rage about it.
A liberalism expanded into a complete philosophy is the only way to banish reactionary extremism for decades.
We win when we think clearly, love freely, and laugh easily.
Megyn Kelly just shouting “FOOTBALL IS OURS” at Piers Morgan about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show is the perfect example of this moment in time. Put it in a time capsule and send it out into space.
February 10, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Liberal patriotism is the most effective way to fight fascism.
This is why Megyn Kelly is in a frothing rage about it.
A liberalism expanded into a complete philosophy is the only way to banish reactionary extremism for decades.
We win when we think clearly, love freely, and laugh easily.
This is why Megyn Kelly is in a frothing rage about it.
A liberalism expanded into a complete philosophy is the only way to banish reactionary extremism for decades.
We win when we think clearly, love freely, and laugh easily.
Conspiracy cultures have all come together. This, and the biggest-scale redistribution of wealth from bottom to the top in human history, are why so many people are going off the deep end.
More soon from me on this, but do read this @etvpod.bsky.social piece on Peter Thiel's Antichrist delusions.
More soon from me on this, but do read this @etvpod.bsky.social piece on Peter Thiel's Antichrist delusions.
Why billionaire Peter Thiel is suddenly talking about the antichrist - The Skeptic
Billionaire Peter Thiel has the ear of top politicians in the US - so his recent lecture series on the antichrist ought to be concerning
www.skeptic.org.uk
February 10, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Conspiracy cultures have all come together. This, and the biggest-scale redistribution of wealth from bottom to the top in human history, are why so many people are going off the deep end.
More soon from me on this, but do read this @etvpod.bsky.social piece on Peter Thiel's Antichrist delusions.
More soon from me on this, but do read this @etvpod.bsky.social piece on Peter Thiel's Antichrist delusions.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
The START nuclear weapons treaty is expiring this week, but Trump doesn’t seem to care.
Even Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed extending it for an additional year.
Even Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed extending it for an additional year.
The START nuclear weapons treaty is expiring this week, but Trump doesn’t seem to care
Even Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed extending it for an additional year
plus.flux.community
February 9, 2026 at 11:48 PM
The START nuclear weapons treaty is expiring this week, but Trump doesn’t seem to care.
Even Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed extending it for an additional year.
Even Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed extending it for an additional year.
Trump knew, and he continued doing business with Jeffrey Epstein, which we know from an email Epstein sent to a friend saying: "all good with trump lots of opportunity." www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Trump, who says he had "no idea" at the time that Epstein sexually molested girls, told the police in 2006 that "everyone has known he’s been doing this.” That's according to an FBI interview with the then-Palm Beach police chief.
Here's a gift link to Julie K. Brown's article in the Miami Herald.
Here's a gift link to Julie K. Brown's article in the Miami Herald.
Trump told Palm Beach police chief ‘everyone’ knew about Epstein, Maxwell was ‘evil’
The new information comes as Ghislaine Maxwell was summoned to appear Monday before a Congressional committee.
www.miamiherald.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:23 PM
Trump knew, and he continued doing business with Jeffrey Epstein, which we know from an email Epstein sent to a friend saying: "all good with trump lots of opportunity." www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
The short-sighted stupidity of rowing back on green policies is truly mind-boggling
All this will do is bring forward the time of climate breakdown-driven economic collapse
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
All this will do is bring forward the time of climate breakdown-driven economic collapse
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
EU urged not to roll back green agenda in effort to revive faltering economy
Campaigners say industrial issues cannot be solved by watering down climate and environmental policies
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:36 PM
The short-sighted stupidity of rowing back on green policies is truly mind-boggling
All this will do is bring forward the time of climate breakdown-driven economic collapse
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
All this will do is bring forward the time of climate breakdown-driven economic collapse
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Because a 1,000 year reich was just a bit of an overreach, Heritage is going for a 250 year one instead.
It was alway going to come to this.
The Heritage Foundation has released an update to Project 2025. An 86-page "Saving the Family" which mentions porn 109 times, and blames it for undermining the family and, by extension, birth rates and the health of nation.
The Heritage Foundation has released an update to Project 2025. An 86-page "Saving the Family" which mentions porn 109 times, and blames it for undermining the family and, by extension, birth rates and the health of nation.
Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 Years
www.heritage.org
February 9, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Because a 1,000 year reich was just a bit of an overreach, Heritage is going for a 250 year one instead.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
I do not regret to inform you that we - not the White House - are going to win
February 9, 2026 at 9:19 PM
I do not regret to inform you that we - not the White House - are going to win
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
I really want people to think about this. After all the insane lawsuits, all the threats, all the bullshit weve seen from this admin and the targets who kneeled in fear, an average Joe called the president a Pedophile protector to his face and didn't get touched. That's the Power of a union.
NEWS: Ford worker who heckled Trump kept his job, got 'no discipline' on his record, UAW says.
www.detroitnews.com/story/busine...
www.detroitnews.com/story/busine...
UAW: Ford worker who heckled Trump kept job, 'no discipline' on record
The United Auto Workers union said TJ Sabula remains employed and called out the president for making an obscene gesture toward the worker.
www.detroitnews.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:18 PM
I really want people to think about this. After all the insane lawsuits, all the threats, all the bullshit weve seen from this admin and the targets who kneeled in fear, an average Joe called the president a Pedophile protector to his face and didn't get touched. That's the Power of a union.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
The performance was political from the first image to the last. I don’t even know how to explain this to someone who so thoroughly didn’t understand it
Analysis: Weeks before he set foot on the stage, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance had already become a media event.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
Analysis | Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was expected to provoke. Did it?
The Bad Bunny Super Bowl show nodded to injustices in Puerto Rico but mostly evoked wholesome family values that meshed with the more sentimental commercials.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:38 PM
The performance was political from the first image to the last. I don’t even know how to explain this to someone who so thoroughly didn’t understand it
Ann Telnaes saw Jeff Bezos coming long before he began burning one of America's best publications to the ground.
In light of the gutting of the Washington Post:
from Jan. 3, 2025
anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-qui...
"The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump."
from Jan. 3, 2025
anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-qui...
"The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump."
Why I'm quitting the Washington Post
Democracy can't function without a free press
anntelnaes.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Ann Telnaes saw Jeff Bezos coming long before he began burning one of America's best publications to the ground.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
I wrote about the powerful men who sought out Jeffrey Epstein for dating advice and went to him to help navigate their own sexual misconduct scandals after his 2008 conviction on child sex abuse charges.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Epstein was not ostracised for his crimes. To some powerful men, he became even more appealing | Moira Donegan
The latest tranche of files expose how he was viewed as a sexual svengali – and an expert on dodging the #MeToo movement, says Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:16 PM
I wrote about the powerful men who sought out Jeffrey Epstein for dating advice and went to him to help navigate their own sexual misconduct scandals after his 2008 conviction on child sex abuse charges.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Tomorrow at 6:00pm EST!
The First @resistanceschool.bsky.social Salon kicks off!
Join Tim Wise and me as we talk about Minneapolis, ICE, and the hidden history of white people murdered for the cause of racial justice.
Register here for the live and/or recording!
buy.stripe.com/28EfZi7VN6RA...
The First @resistanceschool.bsky.social Salon kicks off!
Join Tim Wise and me as we talk about Minneapolis, ICE, and the hidden history of white people murdered for the cause of racial justice.
Register here for the live and/or recording!
buy.stripe.com/28EfZi7VN6RA...
Friends!
Tuesday, Feb. 10th, at 6:00 pm EST, @resistanceschool.bsky.social will host our very first virtual public salon!
We will discuss the killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and why the system erases white martyrs in the fight for civil rights.
Register here: buy.stripe.com/28EfZi7VN6RA...
Tuesday, Feb. 10th, at 6:00 pm EST, @resistanceschool.bsky.social will host our very first virtual public salon!
We will discuss the killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and why the system erases white martyrs in the fight for civil rights.
Register here: buy.stripe.com/28EfZi7VN6RA...
February 9, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Tomorrow at 6:00pm EST!
The First @resistanceschool.bsky.social Salon kicks off!
Join Tim Wise and me as we talk about Minneapolis, ICE, and the hidden history of white people murdered for the cause of racial justice.
Register here for the live and/or recording!
buy.stripe.com/28EfZi7VN6RA...
The First @resistanceschool.bsky.social Salon kicks off!
Join Tim Wise and me as we talk about Minneapolis, ICE, and the hidden history of white people murdered for the cause of racial justice.
Register here for the live and/or recording!
buy.stripe.com/28EfZi7VN6RA...
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Just wait until the Defenders of Western Civilization learn about opera.
“I’m mad I can’t understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics because they’re not in English”
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
February 9, 2026 at 6:13 AM
Just wait until the Defenders of Western Civilization learn about opera.
Hilarious: Trumpers so afraid that no one would watch the Grandpa Rock halftime show that they plotted on Xitter to have all their household devices stream it simultaneously to inflate the numbers.
MAGA Admits to Desperate Ratings Tricks for Kid Rock Show
Bad Bunny hasn’t hit the stage yet, but MAGA influencers are already plotting artificial boosts to make Kid Rock’s show seem competitive.
www.thedailybeast.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:37 AM
Hilarious: Trumpers so afraid that no one would watch the Grandpa Rock halftime show that they plotted on Xitter to have all their household devices stream it simultaneously to inflate the numbers.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Where is physics headed? No one knows for sure, but Beyond the Quantum by Antony Valentini is a striking new book that reminds us what a big idea really looks like, finds Jon Cartwright
A remarkable book on quantum mechanics reveals a really big idea
Where is physics headed? No one knows for sure, but Beyond the Quantum by Antony Valentini is a striking new book that reminds us what a big idea really looks like, finds Jon Cartwright
www.newscientist.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Where is physics headed? No one knows for sure, but Beyond the Quantum by Antony Valentini is a striking new book that reminds us what a big idea really looks like, finds Jon Cartwright
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Noam Chomsky reveals his true thoughts about women: In 2019, months before Epstein died in prison, Chomsky advised him on how to handle all the bad press he was getting, advising him to ignore it all, given “the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women”.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club
Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Noam Chomsky reveals his true thoughts about women: In 2019, months before Epstein died in prison, Chomsky advised him on how to handle all the bad press he was getting, advising him to ignore it all, given “the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women”.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
I've heard of Daisy Dukes, I guess these are David Dukes?
Kid Rock lip synced his entire performance at the Turning Point USA Half Time show
February 9, 2026 at 5:46 AM
I've heard of Daisy Dukes, I guess these are David Dukes?
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
It's not Bad Bunny.🤷♀️
Trump isn’t going to the Super Bowl because he is, one year into his term, more unpopular than he’s been since the January 6 insurrection. He knows that when the cameras inevitably found him in his box, he would be mercilessly and loudly booed.
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
Trump isn’t going to the Super Bowl because he is, one year into his term, more unpopular than he’s been since the January 6 insurrection. He knows that when the cameras inevitably found him in his box, he would be mercilessly and loudly booed.
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
The Hilarious Decline of MAGA’s Brief Cultural Relevance
A year ago, everyone was doing the “Trump dance.” Now the president is too scared to show his face at the Super Bowl, and the right’s “alternative” halftime show features the cringey, washed-up Kid Ro...
newrepublic.com
February 7, 2026 at 11:40 PM
It's not Bad Bunny.🤷♀️
Trump isn’t going to the Super Bowl because he is, one year into his term, more unpopular than he’s been since the January 6 insurrection. He knows that when the cameras inevitably found him in his box, he would be mercilessly and loudly booed.
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
Trump isn’t going to the Super Bowl because he is, one year into his term, more unpopular than he’s been since the January 6 insurrection. He knows that when the cameras inevitably found him in his box, he would be mercilessly and loudly booed.
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
I don't know why conservatives complain about Bad Bunny singing in Spanish. They never listen to lyrics anyway. They think "Born in the USA" is an upbeat patriotic song. They played "We will rock you" on Trump's rallies to rev up the crowd. Trump jerks off two invisible dicks to YMCA.
February 9, 2026 at 4:22 AM
I don't know why conservatives complain about Bad Bunny singing in Spanish. They never listen to lyrics anyway. They think "Born in the USA" is an upbeat patriotic song. They played "We will rock you" on Trump's rallies to rev up the crowd. Trump jerks off two invisible dicks to YMCA.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
This is really what separates Trump from Stephen Miller. He'll make it 11/14ths of the way through the 14 words and then stop to complain about Mike Tirico.
it's so funny that he wedged in a complaint about the new kickoff rule at the end there lmao
Trump crashes out over Bad Bunny’s halftime show
February 9, 2026 at 2:26 AM
This is really what separates Trump from Stephen Miller. He'll make it 11/14ths of the way through the 14 words and then stop to complain about Mike Tirico.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Yeah I’m looking for my dog (girlfriend who has a restraining order against me and she has a dog) and here’s the picture of the dog (she walks this dog and I can use it to figure out her schedule) thanks for sending all footage my way
February 9, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Yeah I’m looking for my dog (girlfriend who has a restraining order against me and she has a dog) and here’s the picture of the dog (she walks this dog and I can use it to figure out her schedule) thanks for sending all footage my way
Just when you thought that Kennedy could not get more insane, here he is claiming that junk food is "spiritual warfare."
(And as per usual, he's running his mouth about past lower expenditures on chronic diseases, not bothering to note they were far less diagnosed.)
(And as per usual, he's running his mouth about past lower expenditures on chronic diseases, not bothering to note they were far less diagnosed.)
Doocy: "The new face of RealFood .gov is Mike Tyson. How did you settle on someone who was most famous for eating Evander Holyfield's ear?"
RFK Jr.: "Brett Ratner who helped produce the ad had a lifelong friendship with him."
RFK Jr.: "Brett Ratner who helped produce the ad had a lifelong friendship with him."
February 9, 2026 at 3:18 AM
Just when you thought that Kennedy could not get more insane, here he is claiming that junk food is "spiritual warfare."
(And as per usual, he's running his mouth about past lower expenditures on chronic diseases, not bothering to note they were far less diagnosed.)
(And as per usual, he's running his mouth about past lower expenditures on chronic diseases, not bothering to note they were far less diagnosed.)
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Beautiful. Total losers.
February 9, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Beautiful. Total losers.
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
time to remind everybody that the Super Bowl halftime show only exists in this grandiose fashion because a tv show called "In Living Color" stole the ratings from the NFL; the execs notoriously said, "get me Michael Jackson's agent" and thus began all the pomp
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
‘We stole the Super Bowl audience’: how In Living Color pulled off the greatest heist in US TV history
Turning Point USA is plotting its own half-time broadcast in defiance of Bad Bunny – but one of TV’s Blackest shows already perfected the alt-cast in 1992
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:40 AM
time to remind everybody that the Super Bowl halftime show only exists in this grandiose fashion because a tv show called "In Living Color" stole the ratings from the NFL; the execs notoriously said, "get me Michael Jackson's agent" and thus began all the pomp
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Donald Trump is more unpopular than ever, but congressional Democrats are divided on how to push back
The Nation’s Chris Lehmann on the very different dilemmas facing America’s major political parties plus.flux.community/p/donald-tru...
The Nation’s Chris Lehmann on the very different dilemmas facing America’s major political parties plus.flux.community/p/donald-tru...
Donald Trump is more unpopular than ever, but congressional Democrats are divided on how to push back
The Nation’s Chris Lehmann on the very different dilemmas facing America’s major political parties
plus.flux.community
February 7, 2026 at 12:55 AM
Donald Trump is more unpopular than ever, but congressional Democrats are divided on how to push back
The Nation’s Chris Lehmann on the very different dilemmas facing America’s major political parties plus.flux.community/p/donald-tru...
The Nation’s Chris Lehmann on the very different dilemmas facing America’s major political parties plus.flux.community/p/donald-tru...