A SOCIAL ISLAND

Former Palantir employee links surveillance tech and media narratives to hybrid warfare and domestic surveillance abuse while outlining political stakes.

Leaked DHS documents show Border Patrol struggling to recruit volunteers for a Minneapolis surge amid internal unease over ICE’s handling of a fatal shooting and fears of backlash

Immigration hardliners in the US state

Essay argues modern attention is under siege by infinite media and we must strategically protect focus to reclaim agency and avoid cognitive overload.

Essay argues that aspirational marketing around an artful lifestyle distracts from actual creative work and creates consumerist values over artistic production.

Analysis of how manufactured outrage and controversy became dominant social media strategies in 2025, from celebrity casting debates to political stunts.

Marine archaeologists find extensive stone structures submerged near Greece that may correspond to legendary lost settlements mentioned in historical texts.

Examines how US interventions abroad create unintended consequences that return to harm American interests and democracy at home.

Argues that being slightly monstrous—diverging from norms in controlled ways—enables innovation and authentic contribution while avoiding either conformity or chaos.

Report on how indigenous groups in the Amazon resist illegal coca cultivation and deforestation despite threats from criminal networks.

The article argues that widespread affordability won’t come simply from taxing the rich, but by pre-distributing ownership of the gains from AI productivity — a concept called universal basic capital.

The essay argues that the biggest risk from AI isn’t runaway intelligence but our cultural readiness to hand over collective judgment to opaque systems. It calls for re-anchoring democracy around shared deliberation, contestability and human dignity.

A big mess of AI social posts from the white house.

The essay argues that while modern culture equates more choices with freedom, in fact excess choice can undermine decision-making, social solidarity and genuine autonomy.

A deep dive into the influence of Vladislav Surkov (the “Wizard of the Kremlin”) on Russian statecraft and ideology.

Investigative reporting shows how DHS and ICE under the Trump administration dismantled oversight, enabled masked agents in unmarked vehicles and created a near-anonymous force targeting immigrants.

The article argues that Substack is shifting value-distribution in media away from attention dominance toward diversified revenue by showing 71% of its revenue flows to publications with under 100 k subscribers.

In this essay Tochi Onyebuchi critiques the culture of rapid tech-innovation, arguing for the value of slower creation and lived experience over instant outputs.

Private videos obtained by ProPublica show adviser Russ Vought outlining plans to use the military on protesters, dismantle agencies and build a “shadow” Office of Legal Counsel for a second Donald Trump term.

Japanese company NTT has developed a drone with red and green laser-grid projector to deter wild birds and other animals from poultry farms, aiming to reduce risk of bird flu outbreaks.