Is the U.S. Becoming an Autocracy? Other countries have watched their democracies slip away gradually, without tanks in the streets. That may be where we’re headed—or where we already are.

This is a fantastic piece about America’s sudden descent into competitive authoritarianism

I had open heart surgery for congenital heart disease when I was 18 months old also. I’m now 42. I’m so glad this was - overall - a positive experience for you and your family and I hope your daughter continues to do well. We are so lucky to live in a time and place where we can get this care.

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

"On Tyranny" is a #1 NYT bestseller again. I wish the moment were different. But I’m glad the book is useful. And grateful for all the kind words about putting the 20 lessons to work.
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

chef’s kiss

I wish people hated fascism half as much as they hate feminism

Carney: "The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over."

OMG

My friend Henry (who was also my student) & I decided to create some joy in –20°C weather in the Yukon and share it with you all. He is in grade 5 now. We are sending joy, hope, and positivity.

(Share such messages to train your algorithm to bring positive and human-centric stories to your feed)

We're all doing our best to attribute this mess to one out-of-control leader, but the thing that nags me for the longer term is that we basically can't trust the U.S. anymore.

What good are trade deals, mutual defense deals, water treaties, etc. etc. with a country capable of lurching like this?

"History will remember this day— when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for."

So if I just request cardboard takeout containers I can eat all the takeout I want?

Crossing a line Borders between one kind of life and another

A grimly poetic warning from @timothysnyder.bsky.social. “It is as though we have boarded a train without thinking about the destination…I worry that we will not see that line approaching, that no one will get out, that no one will stop the train.”
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

in america giant bodies of water can change their names, but trans people can’t

“When Musk gains control of Treasury payment systems, or Trump declares he won't enforce laws he dislikes, they're implementing ideas incubated in the crypto world.”

This is terrifying. Also idiotic that they somehow see a society ruled by oligarchs as being a “new” thing because technology

It is amazing that you can see the effect of COVID on life expectancy in the USA... Last drop like this was the Flu of 1918/1919 *Spanish flu. Not even WWII had such an effect.

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.