Month: February 2026

Figures who once would have stayed on social media’s fringes now dominate mainstream feeds, Charlie Warzel argues. He discusses the rise of nihilistic Zoomer influencers, “looks-maxxers,” and more with the writer and researcher Aidan Walker:

Cynical slop and post-ironic trolling is everywhere—and it’s distorting not just politics and culture, but how we communicate, Charlie Warzel argues.

The Infrastructure of Jeffrey Epstein’s Power

The journalist Anand Giridharadas examines the power and influence that Jeffrey Epstein brokered and that the latest batch of Epstein files puts on display.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-anand-giridharadas.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MFA.mrRM.uXJ12Rs-oSIR&smid=em-share

If lawmakers want to implement immigration policy that’s both popular and in the nation’s best interest, they need to acknowledge these five basic truths, Conor Friedersdorf argues:

Facebook isn’t just having a bad week, or month, or year, or decade. It’s doing exactly what it was built for, @AdrienneLaF writes.

Regulation alone won’t fix the social web, @ibogost writes. But limiting how much people can talk on it could.