The Present Age

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Merry Christmas from Parker Molloy and The Present Age
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Merry Christmas from Parker Molloy and The Present Age

Last chance to sign up for a paid account at the current rate.

Parker Molloy
Dec 23, 2022
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Merry Christmas from Parker Molloy and The Present Age
www.readtpa.com

Hello, readers. Welcome to the… 161st edition of The Present Age for 2022. Wow!

With Christmas just around the corner, I wanted to dedicate this newsletter to each and every one of you reading this. Whether you’re a paying subscriber, a free subscriber, or someone who doesn’t subscribe at all but happens to have found your way to readtpa.com, I want you to know that I value you. And whether you celebrate Christmas or any other wintry holiday (or no holiday at all), I hope you’re able to find love, comfort, and cheer as the year comes to a close.


A quick bit of housekeeping:

When I started this newsletter in 2021, I picked the somewhat arbitrary price point of $6 for monthly paid subscriptions (or $60 for annual subscriptions — which comes out to about $0.37 per newsletter). The good news: if you are a current paid subscriber or purchase a paid subscription anytime between now and December 31, your rate will never increase.

Beginning January 1, I plan to increase the monthly subscription price for new paid subscribers to $7 (or $65 for annual subscriptions). As always, there will be a whole bunch of free content here on TPA, so if you’re not in a position to pay, I’ll always do my best to make sure TPA is still a worthwhile inbox fixture.

I’m bringing this up now in hopes that some of you who may have been on the fence about upgrading to a paid subscription might consider taking the plunge and locking in the lower rate. Additionally, if you’re scrambling for some last-minute gift ideas, I just wanted to toss out there that gift subscriptions are also available!

Give a gift subscription

The Present Age is 100% reader-supported, and those of you who do pay help me keep it free for everyone else. Okay! Extremely uncomfortable sales pitch over!


Today’s newsletter is something of a “best of” edition. If you read just one post, consider making it my 4-part “War on Christmas” series:

The Present Age
It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year: War on Christmas-Time
Hello, and welcome to The Present Age’s December to Remember Happy Honda-Days uh… first post of December! To start the month, I’ve unlocked last year’s series of posts I did about the “War on Christmas,” its not-so-shockingly antisemitic origins (see: Henry Ford), and why conservative media outlets push the “the left is trying to abolish Christmas!” narr…
Read more
2 months ago · 32 likes · 5 comments · Parker Molloy

But there’s been a lot of stuff I’m proud to have written this year, so without further ado…

Here are 27 more of my favorite TPA pieces from 2022:

January 6:
The Present Age
Even without the assault on the Capitol, it was still a coup. (Part 1 of 2)
Hello and good day to everybody, Today marks one year since an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the counting of the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. If you’re looking for a blow-by-blow take on what happened, you’re not going to find that here, as there are people who are way more qualified to tell those sto…
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a year ago · 15 likes · 2 comments · Parker Molloy
The Present Age
Even without the assault on the Capitol, it was still a coup. (Part 2 of 2)
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. Today’s post is a continuation of last Thursday’s newsletter. If you haven’t read that yet, you can do so here: I started that post with a basic overview of some of the arguments made in defense of Republicans regarding January 6th. Most notably, there seems to be a big push to…
Read more
a year ago · 8 likes · 4 comments · Parker Molloy
January 12:
The Present Age
The tighter a video is clipped, the less inclined you should be to share it.
Out-of-context videos: we’ve all seen them, most of us have fallen for them, and many of us have (wittingly or not) shared them. They’re not new, but they do seem to have become a bit more prevalent in the age of social media. Even worse: the way these clips target our emotional responses our biases make them even more likely to spread…
Read more
a year ago · 16 likes · Parker Molloy
January 31:
The Present Age
The "free speech" crowd sure is quiet about GOP efforts to ban books and criminalize dissent.
Last June, in one of my first newsletters, I wrote about free speech. Specifically, I wrote about Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, and his assault on it. (The piece was initially sent out as a paid-only newsletter, but I’ve removed the paywall…
Read more
a year ago · 10 likes · 3 comments · Parker Molloy
February 1:
The Present Age
Newsweak
Newsweek is not really Newsweek, and it hasn’t been for a long time. When I hear the word “Newsweek,” my mind conjures an image of the magazine rack inside a Borders bookstore circa 2003. As smaller magazines jumped in and out of stock, opened and closed in the blink of an eye, industry stalwarts like…
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a year ago · 25 likes · 8 comments · Parker Molloy
February 8:
The Present Age
Spotify got exactly what it paid for in Joe Rogan. Now what?
Hello, dear readers, I know that I’m several days late to the Joe Rogan/Spotify discourse, but it’s mostly because while it’s a topic definitely within my own intellectual wheelhouse (it’s a media/tech/communication/music story!), I think it’s more nuanced than how a lot of people have been approaching it. Let me explain…
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a year ago · 29 likes · 2 comments · Parker Molloy
March 2:
The Present Age
Getting a lot of "Boss Baby" vibes from this war...
Hello, dear readers. I hope you’re having a good day. I haven’t posted a whole lot about the situation in Ukraine, and there’s a really good reason for this: I’m not an expert, and I try to know enough to know what I don’t know. This is one of those ideas that I’ve been trying to internalize since reading a really smart piece published by…
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a year ago · 16 likes · 12 comments · Parker Molloy
March 31:
The Present Age
The new Anita Bryant, pt 1.
The other day, Owen Jones, a columnist at The Guardian, shared a Twitter thread that I really think people need to check out. It details a story from another time that feels all-too-familiar to a lot of us today…
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10 months ago · 24 likes · 4 comments · Parker Molloy
April 5:
The Present Age
Bad advice has made life a living hell for trans people
After the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case, which found that same-sex couples’ right to marry is protected by the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the same right-wing groups that had been sinking massive amounts of cash into fighting that battle decided to find another, easier target…
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10 months ago · 28 likes · 4 comments · Parker Molloy
April 20:
The Present Age
The big lie about the Libs of TikTok Twitter account
Yesterday, the Washington Post published a story about Libs of TikTok by internet boogeywoman Taylor Lorenz. For those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with the account, it’s exactly what it sounds like: videos from “libs” (liberals, Democrats, anyone to the left of Mitt Romney) that were found on TikTok. The account has amassed a pretty huge following in …
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9 months ago · 23 likes · 6 comments · Parker Molloy
May 5:
The Present Age
The words we use: on the mistake of media's use of "pro-life" framing
Earlier today, the Washington Post published a piece by media columnist Margaret Sullivan about rhetoric and the role it played in the fight for (and against) abortion rights in the U.S. Her column, “The media fell for ‘pro-life’ rhetoric — and helped create this mess…
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9 months ago · 27 likes · Parker Molloy
May 26:
The Present Age
Just like they did in 2015, Republicans are falsely blaming trans people for a mass shooting
On November 27, 2015, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, Robert Lewis Dear Jr. walked into a Colorado Springs, Colorado, Planned Parenthood clinic. There, Dear shot and killed three people and injured nine others. “No more baby parts,” Dear told police after his arrest…
Read more
8 months ago · 40 likes · 4 comments · Parker Molloy
June 15:
The Present Age
The anti-LGBTQ right is going to get people killed
On Saturday, 31 people affiliated with Patriot Front, a right-wing white nationalist group, were arrested en route to an LGBTQ Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The organization had apparently planned to crash Coeur d’Alene’s annual “Pride in the Park” event, a family-friendly LGBTQ get-together put on by the North Idaho Pride Alliance…
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8 months ago · 49 likes · 6 comments · Parker Molloy
June 20:
The Present Age
On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog
Back in 2014, right-wing trolls on 4chan came up with an idea: #EndFathersDay To be clear, they didn’t actually want to “end” Father’s Day. Rather, they wanted people to think that feminists wanted to “end” Father’s Day. Their plan was simple: create a bunch of fake, feminist-looking Twitter accounts, flood the internet with tweets calling for the aboli…
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7 months ago · 48 likes · 6 comments · Parker Molloy
July 6:
The Present Age
Nobody is trying to ban the word "woman."
Alright, I know that I’ve written a lot about trans issues lately, and I know that it’s cost me at least one paid subscriber (yes, I read the unsubscribe notes and really do appreciate all feedback). Unfortunately, media attacks on trans people continue, so I’m going to have at least a few more trans-related pieces coming out…
Read more
7 months ago · 65 likes · 25 comments · Parker Molloy
July 25:
The Present Age
The future of marriage inequality?
Happy Monday, all. Let’s start the week with a lengthy post for paid subscribers. Since June 26, 2015, here are all the places in the United States where it’s legal for same-sex couples to get married: everywhere. Easy, right? Okay, now …
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6 months ago · 19 likes · 6 comments · Parker Molloy
August 5:
The Present Age
How right-wing commentators like Alex Jones ride mainstream media outlets to fame and fortune
I was on mushrooms the first time I heard Alex Jones’s voice. It was the Summer of 2005, and I was living in a house with some friends in Decatur, Ill. Sprawled out on a couch in my living room and worried about the possibility of a bad trip, I stared intently at the TV. Richard Linklater’s 2001 film…
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6 months ago · 56 likes · 2 comments · Parker Molloy
August 19 & 23:
The Present Age
Donald Trump's "Very Fine People"
This is the first installment in a two-part series. This post details the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and then-President Donald Trump’s multiple attempts to respond to it. Part two will be published next week, and will deal with the right-wing attempt to rewrite this history. If you enjoy or appreciate my work, please consider be…
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5 months ago · 32 likes · 3 comments · Parker Molloy
The Present Age
Rewriting history as a hoax
This is the second installment in a two-part series. Part one details the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and then-President Donald Trump’s multiple attempts to respond to it. This part will deal with the right-wing attempt to rewrite this history. If you enjoy or appreciate my work, please consider becoming a subscriber. Thanks…
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5 months ago · 22 likes · 2 comments · Parker Molloy
September 5:
The Present Age
What to do When You Accidentally Share False Info Online
On Sunday, two people sent me a link to a tweet with a quick and simple question: “Is this real?” Both had encountered what was supposedly a clip of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) auditioning for American Idol in 2002 under the name Stephanie Sugarman…
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5 months ago · 42 likes · 6 comments · Parker Molloy
October 4:
The Present Age
On Free Speech and Cancel Culture: Recap
This is a recap of the 6-part correspondence conversation between writers Freddie deBoer and Parker Molloy. My entries were originally published here, at The Present Age; Freddie’s were published at his Substack. Letters 1, 3, and 5 are by me; letters…
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4 months ago · 25 likes · 3 comments · Parker Molloy
October 10:
The Present Age
The Unbearable Kanye West, the Incapable Press
Happy Monday, all. Parker here. Just wanted to drop a note at the top of today’s newsletter to say 1.) hello and thank you to new subscribers, and 2.) if you have a chance, check out this week’s episode of The Daily Beast’s The New Abnormal podcast. I was on the episode to chat with Andy Levy about, well, everything…
Read more
4 months ago · 91 likes · 8 comments · Parker Molloy
October 17:
The Present Age
How Right-Wing Media "Hoaxified" Cassidy Hutchinson
Testifying before the January 6th Committee on June 28, former Donald Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson made waves by describing a conversation she had with U.S. Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato and Bobby Engel, Trump’s chief of security…
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3 months ago · 36 likes · 2 comments · Parker Molloy
October 27:
The Present Age
Another Successful 'Foxtober' Midterm Election is Under Way
A few weeks back, I chatted with The Recount’s Steve Morris about the tried and true Fox News strategy of rallying around something to freak out over as the midterms approach. In 2014, it was Ebola. In 2018, it was migrant caravans. In 2022, it’s crime. Here’s that video clip…
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3 months ago · 33 likes · 5 comments · Parker Molloy
November 7:
The Present Age
Actually, Elon Musk Really is a Lot Like Henry Ford
During an appearance on CNBC on October 7, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised Elon Musk by calling him "the Henry Ford of our time." At the time, Musk was the CEO of Tesla and was about to buy Twitter…
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3 months ago · 56 likes · 2 comments · Parker Molloy
November 15:
The Present Age
The clear message of the midterms: the press is out of touch with the public
Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of The Present Age, a newsletter about media, politics, and culture in a time of hyperconnectedness. I’m your host Parker Molloy. A quick housekeeping note: with the state of Twitter being… a bit shaky, and given that most of my non-subscriber traffic comes from Twitter, I’m asking you to please consider su…
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2 months ago · 70 likes · 8 comments · Parker Molloy
December 5:
The Present Age
Taibbi's "Twitter Files" Flop, But Will It Matter?
Hello, dear readers. Welcome to another edition of The Present Age. I’m your host Parker Molloy. Today, I’ll be writing a bit about the first installment in Matt Taibbi’s “The Twitter Files,” which is, ostensibly, a work of journalism…
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2 months ago · 86 likes · 8 comments · Parker Molloy
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Merry Christmas from Parker Molloy and The Present Age
www.readtpa.com
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