Alexander C. Kaufman (kaufman)

This is very cool. I know journalists aren't as natural a fit here as we are on X or Bluesky. So I'm especially grateful to all of you who have shown such an earnest curiosity about my work, engaged in good-faith debates, and offered me some real old-school internet friendship since I joined here earlier this year. It's made me feel welcome, and made me look forward to logging on to Farcaster.

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Sorry I’ve been quiet here recently. Two loved ones each battling cancer — one, my 89-year-old British grandfather; the other my 35-year-old best friend — took a turn for the worse. I feel like, as a writer, that should make me want to write more. But honestly it’s just drained me lately. I’ll be back to my regular posting cadence soon.

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Charlie Kirk usually showed up on my social media feeds in videos where he confronted college students who vehemently disagreed with him, engaging in debate that — whether you felt it was in good faith or not — did often demonstrate opposing views of real issues in this country, albeit from a heavily partisan perspective. More recently I saw videos of him going head to head with right-wing antisemites, whose arguments about Jews controlling everything Kirk ripped apart. Seeing that helped me appreciate where he stood in broader right-wing political discourse — a populist, no doubt, but not one so craven as to abandon his principles to go to the furthest extremes his audience may go. His death is a tragedy. The photos of him with his kids made my stomach drop, and the videos of his shooting are going to haunt me for a long time. His death is an ominous sign of worsening political violence, a disease afflicting both sides of the spectrum. Consider the Palestinian child murdered in Chicago, and the Jews assassinated in D.C. and flamethrowered in Colorado. Recall the Democratic lawmakers killed in June in Minnesota, the assault on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the attempted kidnapping of Gretchen Whitmer. Think about all the incidents of drivers plowing into protesters in the street. We cannot sustain a democracy if people who peacefully gather to express their views and try to persuade others fear assassination. All that does is push evermore political discourse onto the social media platforms where vile extremism thrives. I pray those in power who knew and loved Kirk will honor the best part of his legacy by resisting the urge to carry out revenge or quash dissenting speech.

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Puerto Rico hasn't had reliable power in a decade. The grid sends occasional surges through the wires that fry appliances. Electricity rates are among the highest in the entire U.S. Heat waves are getting intense in the summer, and outages mean air conditioning is no guarantee for an aging population. A coal plant producing deadly pollution was just extended for years because the island needs more power generation. Utility-scale solar projects have also taken a toll, messing with local hydrology and flooding neighboring barrios. The territory depends on a financially troubled LNG company that has given up its long-term incentives for good service in favor of short-term payouts for the natural gas that's supposed to shore up the grid. Pretty wild that a small part of that story was told on stage at the Super Bowl halftime show tonight.

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