Cole

If you are incapable of having your mind changed with a better argument or evidence, you can’t be trusted. And if you can never be wrong, you have become that which you claim to be fighting… Cole August @coleaugust/the-market-place-of-ideas-and-the-multi-polar-trap-of-the-intellectual-world-5ce54e0b8ac7" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@coleaugust/th…

A Miscarriage of Journalism at 'The New York Times' by @RoyKAltman The most salacious claim in Kristof’s piece is the allegation that Israel is now systematically training dogs to rape Arab Muslim men. This claim used to live only on the fringes of the wildest internet conspiracy theories. In 2010, there was a spate of shark attacks in the Red Sea, situated between Israel and Egypt. For whatever reason, most (if not all) of these attacks occurred on the Egyptian side of the border. I happened to be in Israel that summer and heard an Egyptian minister wondering whether the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, was systematically training sharks to eat only Arab flesh. My father and I, hearing this over the radio in a cab, laughed at the absurdity of the claim. But we aren’t laughing now. What we’ve seen over the last few years is that wild and illogical conspiracy theories that used to reside only on the internet and in the anti-Israel Arab street now circulate in the mainstream media, brought there by irresponsible journalists who flout evidentiary standards, ignore basic notions of fairness, and disregard common sense and the truth. Read the full piece here: thefp.com/p/the-new-york…

My latest article on why @BretWeinstein’s continued promotion of biomedical misinformation is dangerous. Yet again I call on Bret to publicly retract his erroneous claims about vaccine safety and IVM efficacy. As Bret rightfully said, lives are at stake. yurideigin.medium.com/why-bret-weins…

“Three state employees told investigators that their managers discouraged aggressive oversight because they were afraid of lawsuits. One believed the department’s leadership feared accusations of racism”

Straight into my veins. Hands down, Bill Maher’s best monologue.

Annnnnnd it's done

Local Man Absolutely Sure There Is No Such Thing As Absolute Truth buff.ly/BzfdMse

They had alot of options after S2, was peak moment to carry that forward with a new sequel trilogy, but they couldn't. Worse yet, Kathy and the rest couldn't let this outshine their other creations, especially giving Luke his moment. Rather than letting it play out they ruined it, stuffed Grogu reunion in the middle of a season of a completely different show, and pulled the budget for S3. Look at budget for the Acolyte and you can see where their priorities were, but now it's too late killing the last but of hope anyone had after already ruining it with the sequels

The Mandalorian hype died back in 2023 and should never have been made a film. The first season was fun, but there was almost zero "meat on the bone." The whole show watched like a giant video game cut scene where you're in a FPS of Star Wars as a Mandalorian, not like a real show with much depth to it. Which is fine. It was fun for a season. The second season knew its limitations and really tried to work in nostalgia bait. The third went full girlboss because there wasn't enough left of the concept to justify its existence. They should have let it end there. Now a big movie The Mandalorian & Grogu will just be more of the same but they have to make it for audiences who haven't seen the Disney+ show, so they have to water it down more and make it more trite and meaningless. This is why it's going to fail and not be remembered. It's also why it's projected to be the lowest grossing opening for a film in Star Wars history. They've killed the brand, but more importantly this doesn't warrant a movie. Are you planning on seeing it?

Truly inspirational people force others to see themselves in the mirror, and it's what likely got her fired, not anything she said, but what she is and does that makes people uncomfortable. Rather than deal with that inside themselves, they try to change her

@ginacarano Amazing!!!!

Ok. Vulnerable post but here we are. I just weighed in at 141.4 lbs. Since Sept 2024 to today, May 15, 2026, I have lost 100lbs. It hurts to say that and share but I am going to share it because I worked so damn hard every week for over a year and a half to shed this weight. It did not happen overnight. If it wasn’t for having this incredibly challenging goal in fighting @rondarousey I most definitely wouldn’t have reached this. I was pre-diabetic, had trouble simply walking in September 2024 and have been on the path to recovery to turn myself back into an athlete since then. It was hard, SO damn hard.. there was so much to learn, too much to unpack here, ups, downs, plateaus, things I learned late I wish I learned earlier, trial by error but I did it. Thank you to Ronda, who waited patiently while I lost this weight and giving me something to aim for. There is still so much I need to learn and want to do in the health space and to continue transforming my body, but for today, I thank God, my husband and my family for sticking with and encouraging me the whole way. I pray this encourages you wherever you are in your health journey. Believe there is hope. Never give up. Ok.. enough emo, I’ve got a fight tomorrow. We’ve worked so hard to get here. Tune in!! @netflixsports @netflix @MostVpromotions

@mtracey You caught him off guard because you weren't on a script and didn't know you hadn't previously agreed to not ask him certain questions or keep to a topic. Otherwise, its always a talk with someone he knows will play along. youtube.com/watch?v=sVZfdO…

Lol, according to Bret Weinstein, the real tragedy of Oct. 7 was that it would disrupt the cohesion of the “COVID dissident” coalition he had vaguely assembled. That’s what was front of mind for him in October 2023, and is still what he steers everything back to in May 2026

Nicholas Kristof and the Pornography of Accusation Investigating abuse is a duty. Laundering propaganda is not. quillette.com/2026/05/15/nic…

Seems notable that the single largest lever in Mayor Mamdani’s proposal to close New York City’s budget deficit is not a new tax on the rich or new state funding. It is simply lowering the city’s contributions to its pension funds (saving $2.3 billion). And that move was made possible due to higher-than-expected investment returns over the last several years. Capitalism was the mayor’s saving grace.

Interesting hearing Michael Tracey make the case to do away with podcasts, probably could have edited it better or separated it out, but The Multi-Polar Trap section came towards the end, and what was apparent then was with the incentive structures changing, everyones platform becoming their business model, how to you fix the problem when its a game everyone has to stop playing? Wrote this Aug 4th 2021... "When observing the events of this past year unfold, then the more recent months, the initial feeling was that of being cynical, where what I was seeing was just an effect of what some described as Audience Capture where as individuals shifted to their own platforms to discuss ideas, their audiences grew, and in effect that pull of the audience from the feed back they would give from likes or comments exerted a force on the speaker to which they would play to it. Where this makes sense at face value, what stuck out over the course of the past few months with regards to what Bret Weinstein was putting out on his podcast was an apparent silence from those connected to him... As this plays out across the board, there’s this felt sense of a race to the bottom effect across the intellectual world where its a deeper level than just playing to an audience or the magnifying effect where you get positive feedback from touching certain subjects. The added effect coming from making your business a platform itself, where across the board the search for truth, or the discussions of uncomfortable topics, has turned into the market place of ideas, which in turn is up against the exerted pressures from the other sides of the political spectrums, the canceling effect where certain things aren’t able to be talked about with the fear of losing your job, and the censorship effect of fear of having your channel deleted or demonetized along with the flip side of that coin where as others have noted and as David Fuller put it to Yuri as a compelling narrative in being up against the system or that your dangerous idea is being withheld from the public, and then effect of competing for an audience against the much larger main stream outlets within media and entertainment. Just as within the mainstream media where marketing ads, shows, movies are tailored to capture as much of the audience as possible, I think its impossible not to account for the all too human game theory effect where everyone is jockeying for the new take, or touching on subjects because it’s what’s popular, or getting pulled towards topics because its what gets more attention within the heterodox intellectual world, while at the same time not wanting to step first or be left to defend yourself on an issue few others are willing to touch. Within all of this, even within the very groups of people who for years have championed the narrative for the need to criticize bad ideas and search for what is true of the world, it feels like people are afraid to criticize one another, or call out certain things which may be wrong, or touch certain subjects others aren’t discussing out of fear their audience may lose interest." @coleaugust/the-market-place-of-ideas-and-the-multi-polar-trap-of-the-intellectual-world-5ce54e0b8ac7" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@coleaugust/th…

🚨Watch @mtracey GO HARD at @BretWeinstein, CHALLENGING him on his podcasts he's put out and commentary surrounding Epstein. Tracey: "I'm saying we should have a social norm of some kind, so that you face some kind of penalty for putting out this stuff!" Weinstein: "I should face a penalty?!" From a panel debate over: "Should we get rid of podcasts?" Feat. @Lauren_Southern's reactions.

@mtracey @ydeigin @ClaireBerlinski Or @fullydavid or @Debunk_the_Funk or @GurusPod or @robertwrighter or @davexplains or I'd mention Sam Harris but Bret was the one begging to go on his podcast. All bad faith actors in Brets eyes just looking to use platform for fame

@mtracey You should talk to @ydeigin or @ClaireBerlinski

Panel with @BretWeinstein @Lauren_Southern today was a hoot. Subject: should we get rid of podcasts? My position: yes, by which I mean, we should definitely get rid of the current podcast media ecosystem, with all its warped and brain-melting incentives, disregard of any factual standards whatsoever, whirlwind of kook mysticism claptrap, and constant hysteria-fomenting. All of which gets rewarded richly by the algorithm. There is no penalty to be paid for spewing utter bullshit. That’s what I argue we “get rid of,” not by any punitive government action, but via social mores that somehow impose a reputational penalty for bullshit-peddling. I thought that because Bret happened to be on the panel, I would support my argument by citing some specific examples from his recent podcast oeuvre. Namely: his “game theoretical” postulation that Jeffrey Epstein is alive, as well as his affirmation that the Epstein Files prove incontrovertibly that scores of children were not just raped and trafficked, but “eaten.” Bret apparently took this to be an “ambush,” as he later characterized it to me. I was also chastised on stage for being overly “vituperative,” and advised that I should try being “nicer.” Which I declined 😂 Chatting with Bret after the panel, he was still huffy and sour. I offered that if he wanted to continue the conversation, in any format he wished (public or private), I would be more than happy to do so, as a gesture of good faith. He then claimed he figured out what my MO was all along: to “ride his coattails,” and jockey to get on his podcast. (I honestly couldn’t give less of a shit about appearing on his podcast.) When I told him this was obviously not my goal, he said: “I’m not stupid, Michael.” So anyway, it was fun times. 😂 I think the video should be available somewhere

NEW: In a mandatory anti-racism class, Penn State told 1L law students they must "acknowledge the reality of systemic racism" and "dismantle systems that racialize, subordinate, and oppress." One student withdrew from the law school over the class. We obtained shocking audio.🧵

@Zachariahskylab @mtracey If you still think the covid vaccine killed over 17 million people, please seek help

@mtracey Is there a specific statement Brett has made on his podcast that you think he needs to correct?

I guess you’ll have to judge for yourself if my behavior was “despicable,” and makes me a “bad person” -- apparently that is Bret’s take After last night’s panel, I serenaded the crowd with a quick rendition of Sinatra’s “My Way,” so I’m doing all I possibly can to entertain