Ellen McGirt

Looking to put those design skills to work? Check out the Design Observer Job Board, curated roles for creatives shaping the future: designobserver.com/jobs/

they want worldwide jim crow

THREAD: There’s a dire situation in Vietnam, at the largest Agent Orange spill in the country. When Trump and Marco Rubio cancelled foreign aid, froze funding and began dismantling USAID, those who were cleaning up the Bien Hoa air base had to halt work. 1/

Canada giving Marco Rubio the tiniest red carpet they could find in a thrift shop somewhere.

BREAKING: Judge in mass firing case orders the Trump administration to reinstate probationary federal workers across multiple agencies.

Just ahead of Oscar Sunday, dive into the transformative world of makeup with legendary artist Mike Marino. From A Different Man to The Penguin, Marino discusses how makeup tells deeper stories beyond the surface. Full interview by @ahaut.bsky.social

Thanks, Ryan, and props to Marjorie Kelly (author of the excellent book Wealth Supremacy) for that quote. @emcg.bsky.social

“It is a courageous act to walk in your truth so that others can walk in theirs." Janelle Monáe joins DBBD to talk about artistic independence, self-expression, and building a creative future. A must-listen in today’s world. Full interview: designobserver.com/s7e12-janell...

Reading this changed my day. Vital insight from one of the most thoughtful leaders I’ve ever encountered.

I’ve known and worked with @joyannreid.bsky.social for over a decade and it’s been, well, a joy. She’s brilliant and fierce and irreplaceable. One of my favorite nights ever was getting to interview her for this live #WITHPod podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Something @leahgreenberg.bsky.social told @gregsargent.bsky.social the other day deserves more attention: The reason the contentious town halls last week were largely in very GOP districts is bc swing MoCs won't hold them. newrepublic.com/article/1918...

Military families struggle with food insecurity, which pisses me off. Help us raise funds for the Blue Star Families food pantry at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. #DoYourPart and Buy a carton of eggs for a #militaryfamily and I will match up to $100K: bit.ly/42XByqf (That's a lot of eggs...)

In case I don’t get to say this later when things get worse, +1. #ILoveYou

Big news for local news: @knightfdn is investing $25M in @JournalismProj to strengthen the nonprofit news sector. This funding will help grow more local newsrooms and ensure their long-term sustainability. More here: www.theajp.org/news-insight...

This. A well articulated and affirming argument at a critical time. I’m sorry it requires so many preemptive calls for civility. Much appreciated

SNL 50 was the healing vibe I didn’t know I needed

On this Valentine’s Day, explore the history of a company that sold more than just products—it sold dreams of love, power, and transformation. 💘✨ From the archives 📖 designobserver.com/love-for-sale/

This week on Design As, we explore pluriversal design—an approach that moves beyond universal solutions to embrace diverse ways of knowing and making change. Guests discuss how this paradigm shift impacts equity, democracy, and design’s role in shaping the world. 👇 designobserver.com/design-as-pl...

Flagging for the amazing answers and new fears unlocked

Volunteers are tracking the impacts of the USAID freeze. #observed apnews.com/article/usai...

Imagine if @aoc @sanders.senate.gov , every dem, SIMULTANEOUSLY held Town Halls where they allowed grant and contract recipients to explain to the country what it is they do and why it's important Invite all media. Including RW podcasters. @spaces Flood the zone Call it a Day Of Transparency

a lotta hit dogs doing a lotta hollerin

"I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue" - Kendrick Lamar

Everything is insane right now but one little ray of sunlight is that I just got a new gig trying to use public policy to create as many local journalism jobs as humanly possible. mattdpearce.substack.com/p/ive-got-a-...

Military families are most successful when they feel a strong sense of belonging. That is why Blue Star Families is proud to launch #BlueStarOutposts, an initiative that enhances local organizations and strengthens their community ties. Meet the #BSF Outposts here: bit.ly/4gDjVzj

Towns like Waterbury, VT are joining the #cybercivildefense by signing onto the DefConFranklin cyber volunteer program! WaterburyRound covered one of the first efforts nationwide aimed at shoring up the cyber posture of water and wastewater systems. www.waterburyroundabout.org/news-archive...

What I should have done in the beginning - here's a starter pack of 20-odd experts who journalists or others might want to read/talk to to understand the gutting of the administrative state (as opposed to broad decline of democracy etc). I've focused on academics go.bsky.app/MaC7vnv

I will help you do it, if you need. You can do it for free.

In response to this week’s tragic plane crash, nonprofits and chefs are stepping up. See @eater.bsky.social ’s new recap on how DC Central Kitchen and others are providing hot meals and gratitude to first responders in DC. Lend them a hand if you can. dc.eater.com/2025/1/30/24...

We're kicking off Design Juice Live, a brand-new series from Design Observer featuring candid conversations with design’s leading minds, innovators, and creators. First up? A dynamic conversation between @kevinbethune.com and @emcg.bsky.social you don’t want to miss! 🔗 Details and RSVP below 👇

The alt text took me right over the top

Hyper local helping. Community. Showing up. Solve what you can. Pay attention to each other. Be together. Bringing snacks counts.

On the risks of politician coins:

this is actually more significant than a lot of social media protests, at least in the case of the large subreddits like r/nfl and r/nba these are places with millions of subscribers that drive a whole lot of traffic - and may actually drive moves away from Twitter as a result

Some fascinating things happening on Reddit. 22,000 upvotes on the subreddit dedicated to posting pictures of houses that are over 100 years old.

I assume most people know this, but seems important to point out basic truths at this moment in time. There is no energy emergency in the U.S. The U.S. is the world's top producer of oil and gas at the moment, and the top exporter of gas, and U.S. oil and gas producers are making record profits.

Dear friends in tech: If your CEO is desperately seeking the approval of an octogenarian who assesses technologies based on the advanced criteria of "which desperate supplicant has written me the biggest check?" your pathetic employer is well past its days of producing any innovations. Just leave.

We’ve been watching the Watch Duty team do absolutely *unbelievable* technical work all week (they’re members of our Fast Forward open source program), handling a surge of millions of people trying to see where the fires are in real time. There are still people who do such good on the internet.

I can’t begin to express how bad these fires are. Friends have evacuated to our house and other friends are packing up what they can to evacuate and we are wondering if we are going to have to evacuate too. It’s such a colossal shitshow.

This is my favorite bookstore and they were already scraping by pre-fire. Please help Octavia’s Bookshelf by buying some things from them.

This letter in the New Statesman a couple of years ago seems even truer now.

As someone who spent years reporting on Zuckerberg, I've struggled to find something coherent to say about today. Then @cwarzel.bsky.social reminded me of my old reporting. This is what a FB employee said to me in 2020 after Zuckerberg addressed workers following FB-enabled violence in Kenosha, WI.