Welcome to the weekly recap. In this post, I’ll be linking to my work from the week, sharing some stories from others I thought were interesting, and providing a few casual thoughts on [gestures at everything]. If you’d like to receive this weekly email ONLY, please go to your account page and under “Email notifications” uncheck every box except “TPA Weekly Recap.” If you don’t want to receive the weekly recap, leave all boxes except “TPA Weekly Recap” checked.

Busy week for me on and off The Present Age. Let’s review!

On Monday, I wrote a bit about how out of place I sometimes feel in the world of newsletters, which like other media within the attention economy, seems to incentivize reflexive contrarianism over thoughtful analysis.

The Present Age

Am I galaxy-brained enough for the newsletter world?

Hello and a happy Monday, dear readers. I’ve been trying to get one particular Twitter conversation out of my head for days. Matt Taibbi, who at one point in time was a really insightful guy who wrote a lot of really great stuff about the mid-late-00s financial crisis, tweeted… well, I’ll just show you…

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4 months ago · 42 likes · 13 comments · Parker Molloy

On Tuesday, I wrote about a ridiculous segment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that uncritically stated that social media companies censor conservatives and that the left is attacking free speech. I brought receipts, as they say.

The Present Age

Which party is actually trying to censor speech? (Hint: It's not the Democrats)

Yesterday morning, I saw this tweet from Jeff Jarvis: “No, Joe, these are not ‘issues,’” he tweeted. “These are Republican tropes intended to take over the media agenda. Judging by this, it’s working.” He’s absolutely right. Democrats aren’t running on a “censor conservative voices, turn colleges into liberal echo chambers, be ‘politically correct’ and ‘cancel’ historical figures” platform…

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4 months ago · 12 likes · 1 comment · Parker Molloy

On Wednesday, I published a piece for DAME Magazine about the state of opinion journalism. I’m really happy with how that turned out and hope you have the time to check it out.

The Present Age

My new essay at DAME Magazine on the topic of opinion journalism

Hello, readers. I have a new essay out today at DAME Magazine called “Opinion Journalism Is Broken…

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4 months ago · 14 likes · 4 comments · Parker Molloy

On Thursday, Ryan Broderick (who runs the fantastic Garbage Day newsletter) interviewed me for an article he wrote for Fast Company about Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter. Check it out.

Ryan Broderick @broderick

@FastCompany Brought together a dream team of @HKesvani, @ParkerMolloy, @etbrooking, and @3r1nG for this big look at why Elon Musk might want to buy Twitter. Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter because he can’t buy the whole internetMusk said he wants to buy the social network to defend ‘free speech,’ but free speech for whom?fastcompany.com

April 14th 2022

18 Retweets54 Likes

Posts from others that I want to draw attention to:

Don Moynihan has a great post about how easy it would be for the government to simply let us know how much we each owe in taxes… and how the tax preparation industry has successfully lobbied to keep it as confusing and unnecessarily complex as it is.

Michael Hobbes put out a great video this week. I linked to a shortened version of it in my Tuesday newsletter, but he’s expanded a bit on it. Check it out here:

Confirm My Choices

Panic! On the Editorial Page

I’m trying out a new video series where I break down the tropes of moral panic journalism line by line. The first episode is about the already-infamous “America Has a Free Speech Problem” editorial in the New York Times…

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4 months ago · Michael Hobbes

Lyz Lenz has a story about… you know, maybe it’s better if you just read it. It, like so much of her writing, is just really good:

Men Yell at Me

American Women Are Not Okay

This is the mid-week issue of Men Yell at Me, a newsletter about the places where our politics and personhood meet. This week’s newsletter is about the onslaught of legislation that seeks reverse Roe to push trans women out of existence…

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4 months ago · 90 likes · 30 comments · lyz

Today’s tunes:

“After Taxes” by Johnny Cash

That’s it for this week! Please leave any questions, comments, feedback, or recommendations (definitely recommendations) in the comments below. Have a good weekend, everyone!