M Gessen (@mashagessen.bsky.social)

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

Columnist at The New York Times. Distinguished Professor at Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, City University of NY. Author at Riverhead Books

22.5K followers 119 following30 posts

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

26 Mar

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/p...

nytimes.comThe Idiot: Chapter 1

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

26 Mar

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/p...

nytimes.comThe Idiot: Chapter 1

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

31 Oct 2025

In which I talk with the brilliant Marianne Hirsch (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | We Need to Rethink How We Think About the Holocaust

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

16 Oct 2025

In which I talk with the woman who won't shut up (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | The U.S. Denounces Her. Multinationals Threaten Her. She Likes Her Odds.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

25 Aug 2025

In which I'm proud to know Peter. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | He Was a Star in Russia’s Media World. Now He’s a Corporal in Ukraine’s Army.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

19 Aug 2025

In which I parse some terms. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | A Brief Note on the Difference Between Negotiation and Extortion

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

14 Aug 2025

In which I make just one prediction www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | The Fundamental Truth About U.S. Strategy That Putin Knows and Trump Ignores

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

24 June 2025

I think today is the right day for this piece. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | Antisemitism Isn’t What People Think It Is

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

19 June 2025

In which there are actual people involved. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | The Supreme Court Fails to See Transgender Teens

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

3 June 2025

In which I get to profile Christo (gift link). The Man Putin Couldn’t Kill www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | The Man Putin Couldn’t Kill

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

28 May 2025

In which I have the sinking feeling of boredom. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | Beware: We Are Entering a New Phase of the Trump Era

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

15 Apr 2025

A few words abiut Harvard www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | Harvard’s Strength and How Far We’ve Fallen So QuicklyThe thrill over its response to the Trump administration is a measure of how low, and how fast, our expectations have fallen.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

14 Apr 2025

In which I have a radical www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | This Is How Universities Can Escape Trump’s Trap, If They DareIt’s been tried in other countries facing authoritarian crackdowns. It works.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

2 Apr 2025

In which I try to call things what they are. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | Unmarked Vans. Secret Lists. Public Denunciations. America’s Police State Has Arrived.Those of us who’ve seen secret police in action can’t shake a feeling of dreadful familiarity.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

17 Mar 2025

In which I try to put it all together. The Hidden Motive Behind Trump’s Attack on Trans People www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | There’s a Name for What Trump Is Doing to Trans People: DenationalizingThe message is that we are a threat to the nation. The subtext is that we are not of this nation.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

1 Mar 2025

In which... www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | Putin Is Ready to Carve Up the World. Trump Just Handed Him the Knife.The talks about Ukraine were never just about Ukraine.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

23 Feb 2025

In which war can be described. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | They Invented a New Language for WarThe words of war and the war of words.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

15 Feb 2025

In which the time to think is now.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/opinion/trump-autocracy-bad-ideas.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

15 Feb 2025

A follow-up on collective hostage-taking. Hagan Scotten, Emil Bove and the Collective Punishment Test www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

nytimes.comOpinion | Hagan Scotten, Emil Bove and the Collective Punishment TestHow Hagan Scotten, Emil Bove and the prosecutors who filed motions in the Eric Adams case demonstrate the tool of collective punishment.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

8 Feb 2025

In which there are many reasons to obey and one not to. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/08/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | To Obey Trump or Not to ObeyThe voluntarily surrender of the public’s power is how autocracies are built.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

21 Jan 2025

In which I watched it from afar. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | I Spent Trump’s Inauguration in Ukraine. This Is What I Saw.“And Panama!” a Ukrainian military analyst said. “What did calm, peaceful Panama do?”

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

20 Jan 2025

All this separation of church and state. I've lost count of the number of clergy members speaking at today's festivities

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

6 Dec 2024

In which I think about how much we've lost already and how much worse it will get.The Supreme Court Just Gave Us a Bitter Taste of What’s Coming www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | The Supreme Court Just Gave Us a Bitter Taste of What’s ComingIn the case involving medical care for transgender adolescents, ignoring doctors is part of the point.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

22 Nov 2024

In which I argue that the Dems' inconsistency may have caught up with them. What Democrats Are Getting Wrong About Transgender Rights www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | The Secret Behind America’s Moral PanicTrans rights aren’t just trans rights. They’re reproductive rights.

M Gessen

@mashagessen.bsky.social

15 Nov 2024

In which I consider Trump's blueprint for destruction This Is the Dark, Unspoken Promise of Trump’s Return www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | This Is the Dark, Unspoken Promise of Trump’s ReturnLiberal democracy offers moral constraints without problem-solving. Populism offers problem-solving without moral constraints.

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