Justin Myers

this is partly how we end up with such credulous, fawning coverage of AI

People don't realize how necessary cheap rent is to the arts.

Good morning Bluesky! This feels like a good time to re-up my primer to getting the most out of midterm election polling, as well as my advice that the correct answer to "can we trust the polls" is "trust them to do what"? Understand the limitations, also the uses. www.cnn.com/2026/09/09/p...

Y’all, I hate to rain on the dead bot parade, but the Yandex data center destruction doesn’t seem to have significantly impacted social media bots. I made temporal graphs of X posts about AfD around the time of the attack and there’s no sign of a sudden dip or residual impact on that conversation.

Show me a photo on your phone that isn’t you but has your energy

It's tactical voting discourse season again, so I will just gently remind everybody that the only information you can meaningfully encode with your vote under our current system is "I want this person to win." 1/?

oh my god this punchline is so brilliantly stupid I love it xkcd.com/3309/

If, like me, you are someone who is interested in how AI works but doesn’t want to do the serious work that would normally involve, this is a great essay. It’s at (for me) the right level of abstraction: detailed enough that I can see how various types of models differ …

Last time we reported the 170 number, Kristi Noem denied the administration had detained any citizens. This time, we’re releasing the full list — and a host of video evidence — along with our story.

One thing I've noticed is that upstart worker-owned places are trying our best to pay as much as possible, but because none of us have millions is still far from how much we want to pay. But the rates at the big media companies haven't budged or gotten worse objectivejournalism.org/2026/09/free...

For the first time, Chicagoans will elect the entire Board of Education. Find which district you vote in and compare candidates.

For the #NLGJA26 crowd, here’s my usual wording for the lesson @bokchoy-baobei.bsky.social just gave about interrogating the meanings behind the phrases we regularly see and publish:

At #NLGJA26, @lexmcmenamin.com notes federal and state criminal justice systems have been targeting trans people disproportionately in conspiracy cases and then carrying out further social, medical and sexual violence against them in prison—and that this seems to have been news to most in this room.

From @petrinkae.bsky.social: All the back-and-forth about procedures and patients ignores that only 30% or so of trans people get gender-affirming medical care *at all*—and to cover this population fully and fairly, we need to get at the other hardships *everyone* faces on a regular basis. #NLGJA26

Jireh’s dropping truth bombs straight out the gate in the first answer of this #NLGJA26 panel, where they tell us including trans people in your coverage helps you add depth and nuance to how you tell stories that affect *all* of your audience.

Can't help but think about Philly in 1991, when they saved lives/ended a measles outbreak with court-ordered vaccinations in communities claiming religious exemption. God I miss the days when people weren't so fucking stupid www.npr.org/2019/04/14/7...

SOURCE CALL: Currently seeking sources for a @rewirenewsgroup.com story about breast cancer screening for trans women. If you're a trans woman (or otherwise gender-diverse person on feminizing hormones) who has breast cancer/is a breast cancer survivor, please feel free to reach out to me.

This sign is a great example for helping to explain why chatbots present such a potent illusion. A probably not short thread 🧵>>

A good effort at writing rules for a difficult situation.

huge design flaw in adulthood: no one claps when you do the right thing.

That said, everyone better anchor their furniture to the wall just in case. Furniture tip-over prevention kits are inexpensive, easy to install, and available at all major hardware stores.

Save the date 🗓️: We're hosting our inaugural Trans Journalists Summit, March 24–27, 2027, in Chicago, a historic, application-based conference for and by trans and gender-expansive journalists. Applications open later this year. LEARN MORE: bit.ly/TJS27

hello chicago-area parents + teachers, @chicago.suntimes.com reporter here!! If you've been school supplies shopping recently (online or in person) I'd love to hear from you. bonus points if you know how much $$ you spent!! message me here or email me at mrush@suntimes.com :)

This time, vertical: It was fascinating to look across three administrations of data in the @uspresstracker.bsky.social and pull out how subpoenas and legal orders have been used on the federal level

Words fail me. I have been on both sides of human-subjects research. I am a parent who’s grieved inside a pediatric hospital. In a month I’ll have a kid in kindergarten. Everything in this story was crushing to read. Everything in it is so important. Thank you, @retractionwatch.com @science.org.

What does it take to make journalism more accessible — for audiences and for the journalists who produce it? As EAPM prepares for a rebrand as the Organization for Accessible Journalism, the org reflects on the life-changing accident that inspired the nonprofit’s mission and future with E&P.

Every company now wants a staff composed of 3000 AI bots and four humans who are each forced to work 110 hours a week

When journalists asked me "where we will see the effects of DOGE on outcomes?" one of my responses was "during crises...as long as media connect the dots." Well, dots connected: www.wired.com/story/cdc-cy...

The 13th annual international Gender Census 2026 is now open until at least 13th August 2026! survey.gendercensus.com It's for anyone whose gender (or lack thereof) isn't described by the M/F binary. It's short and easy, and results are useful in academia, business and self-advocacy. #LGBTQ

They told me to treat others the way I wanted to be treated, in kindergarten. And it just stuck.

A short and easy survey about nonbinary names: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... Closing date: 19th July 2026 #nonbinary #survey

Did you hear about the DC July 4 fireworks show? It promises 850,000 fireworks in 40 minutes. That's 354 per second. You'll miss up to 142 of them every time you blink. For your edutainment, I proudly present the nerdiest thing you will read about this dangerously absurd / absurdly dangerous event.

A message for the class of 2026: We need more friction!

This bridge construction history from @jasen.bsky.social (@inquirer.com) is *gorgeous*. So many layers all working together—recent photos, 3D models, archival imagery—and they tell such a rich story (that Jasen *also* reported out!) of infrastructure and accomplishment. share.inquirer.com/zX5NmH

Polaroid is in for a penny with anti-AI advertising and let me tell you why I love this. This is a company with cultural capital. Years of nostalgia and goodwill. They know AI is an existential threat—not only to their business, but to the idea of photography as a whole.

The work of the American Revolution is ongoing, and @errinhaines.bsky.social is considering what it might look like to include those initially left out of our origin story and Declaration of Independence. It is in this spirit that she offers a new declaration — one centered on belonging.

ICE agents detained a man at Bridgeview’s courthouse Wednesday, telling sheriffs they had a warrant but never showing one. Arrests on civil warrants are barred by state law at courthouses, prompting questions of if the detainment violates it — and if so, who will hold them accountable. 🧵/10

a couple years ago I was on a panel and someone asked about using advanced technology to improve cities and I was like, think about realtime bus arrival info. it has made a huge difference even as there's room to improve. it's not the kind of thing people are thinking about in those questions.

When you see the story about how the world now has its first trillionaire, and when you see the story about how laboratories in Congo have run out of supplies to test for Ebola, it is important to understand that in many ways these are the same story.

Treatments that result in healthy, thriving trans people - or autistic people who are recognizable autistic - cannot amass enough evidence to be acceptable to people who feel the correct number of trans people or autistic people is zero. Eugenics, plain and simple. So next let's talk about science.

The world is full of people waiting until they feel ready. Meanwhile, a folding chair has spent decades being unexpectedly useful despite having no clear long-term plan whatsoever. #gooderliving