Adam Davidson
@adamdavidson
Followers
142,603
Following
2,985
Media
11
Statuses
447
Was: NYT, New Yorker, NPR's Planet Money Now: a bunch of things. Click on the link.
Charlotte, VT
Joined July 2008
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Rafah
• 1277204 Tweets
#ŞimşekMebeMülakatsız68Bin
• 439504 Tweets
Fenerbahçe
• 135351 Tweets
Egypt
• 107972 Tweets
Superman
• 95031 Tweets
#الاهلي_الهلال
• 72141 Tweets
Qatar
• 68435 Tweets
Manchester United
• 56617 Tweets
Crystal Palace
• 39479 Tweets
مالكوم
• 39397 Tweets
لودي
• 30851 Tweets
Evans
• 27191 Tweets
Bernard Pivot
• 24838 Tweets
David Corenswet
• 24102 Tweets
Olise
• 22835 Tweets
#KONvFB
• 20862 Tweets
Casemiro
• 19968 Tweets
#CRYMUN
• 19097 Tweets
Hades II
• 18478 Tweets
ميشيل
• 16209 Tweets
Cavill
• 14762 Tweets
محرز
• 13716 Tweets
Hades 2
• 13641 Tweets
Dzeko
• 12917 Tweets
جيسوس
• 12474 Tweets
ŞAMPİYON GALATASARAY
• 12473 Tweets
Pat Riley
• 12070 Tweets
Cengiz
• 10270 Tweets
James Gunn
• 10135 Tweets
Maggie Haberman has repeatedly attacked reporters who pointed out ugly trump details. She tried to get me fired once.
333
3K
20K
I had an amazing conversation with
@ParkerMolloy
about how journalists do and should cover trans issues.
I'd love you to watch it.
This is another example of thoughtful, respectful discussion after a social media spat.
I'm grateful to Parker.
23
135
794
Rewatching Breaking Bad.
What's interesting is that Walt and Hank both lie, though in different ways.
Walt lies about killing many people. But Hank says "it's no big deal" when Walt is crying in his office even though it clearly is a big deal.
26
49
738
Can anyone think of an obvious joke to make based on this tweet and the guy who wrote it?
One of the more understated risks from AI is that it comes up with medicore answers that people mistake for being brilliant.
392
257
4K
70
70
670
Nate: you tweeted at me a few weeks ago that you were excited that Elon is going to get rid of "hall monitor types"
Elon then took your language and tweeted it as his own.
I'd love some clarification. That seemed like you were encouraging him to do exactly what he's now done.
News organizations like the NYT already had mixed feelings about their reporters using Twitter and if you can now be suspended from Twitter for doing fairly straightforward reporting, you have to wonder if that's the tipping point.
494
558
5K
4
62
453
You know the old reporter saying: when you've got the goods, you save 'em for tweet 58!
12
37
447
Elon could so easily share all this information he has that, he says, proves Twitter was pro-lefties and anti-conservative.
That he doesn't--and that his followers don't care that he doesn't--is... notable.
(Obv. I think he's making it up and has no evidence)
27
68
422
@MollyJongFast
I know it’s embarrassingly earnest to point out that trump is actually calling for the suspension of the constitution while musk and fox are making up vague ways Biden did something unconstitutional.
But…come the fuck on.
6
39
376
While we're waiting, another Presidential child tweet thread:
Ivanka Trump was the lead executive overseeing the Trump Tower Baku.
It was a deal she worked on with the Mammadov family who were well known to be money launderers for Iran's revolutionary guard.
5
144
338
TL;DR:
Twitter had a policy to limit the spread of hacked materials. Some thought it applied to Hunter Biden's laptop.
Then some GOP lobbyists and one Dem Rep said they worried about the perception.
So, the twitter execs discussed it.
11
63
322
Some people at twitter sent emails to other people at twitter asking questions.
Also, some people not at twitter sent emails to people at twitter asking questions.
- 30 -
7
34
279
Good time to remember that Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka knowingly were in a business scheme, providing money laundering services to Iran’s revolutionary guard.
10
64
277
A comedian parodying Elon is unacceptable and must be silenced.
But taking down naked photos of a private citizen sent without his permission is the most important constitutional crisis in US history.
10
39
274
Imagine having access to every person on earth and being this desperate for Charlie Kirk to think you're cool.
The woke mind virus is either defeated or nothing else matters
51K
83K
631K
13
15
253
This echoes what I heard from so many people at the Trump Org when he went to the White House.
Former
#SpaceX
employee explains that $TWTR is a shit show because it doesn't have an intermediate layer of management that knows how to manage Elon to protect the company from him. Sounds pretty accurate. $TSLA $TSLAQ
149
2K
7K
10
71
237
I can't post to twitter that much anymore.
I feel gross doing so.
like I'm complicit in something awful.
Also: this place sucks. It's become so lame.
everything either feels so self-referential (tweets about tweets about tweets) or irrelevant.
25
11
225
His only Azerbaijan business was the Trump Tower Baku that was, almost certainly, a money laundering front for Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
He claimed to get out of that business entirely at the end of 2016. So, tax credit in 2020 is quite interesting.
Countries listed in Trump's foreign tax credit filing for his 1040 (form 1116) in tax year 2020:
Azerbaijan
Panama
UK
China
India
Canada
Qatar
Saint Martin
Dominican Republic
United Arab Emirates
Puerto Rico* (US territory)
Israel
Indonesia
Ireland
Turkey
Uruguay
"Other Country"
85
505
1K
2
95
219
Quick Mazal Tov to
@NateSilver538
for embracing Elon early and encouraging him to get rid of journalists who point out his flaws!
3
10
199
People do seem to misunderstand edgelordism.
The edgelord needs, well, to live on that edge of outrage. So, when the latest stunt ranks high on outrage, it just feeds the need to go even further the next time.
We ain't seen nothing yet. (c.f. Trump, Donald J.)
8
24
189
I have to say: I was skeptical.
But when Tucker read a text message from an unnamed source, only described as someone who would know, saying he/she "believes the answer is yes" to the Q of the assassination, I was convinced.
That shit is solid!
The most courageous newscast in 60 years. The CIA’s murder of my uncle was a successful coup d'état from which our democracy has never recovered.
@TuckerCarlson
3K
31K
87K
18
24
179
This WSJ article on Epstein's powerful hangers-on post-conviction is stomach-churningly disgusting (Fuck you: Noam Chomsky)
It is simple. Many powerful people were, at best, happy to hang with a man who raped children. (at worst: many also raped kids)
7
33
172
@drvolts
Uhh, maybe they successfully prevented sharia law from taking over the us. And they are choosing not to gloat?
20
2
169
When I reported this all out, the Trump Org general counsel told me every fact was true and correct:
3
60
162
Dear
@nytimes
@CNN
@washingtonpost
You really should just have your own Mastodon server.
You control it. But everyone can read it and you can interact with them.
No need to outsource distribution decisions.
Happy to help.
@adamdavidson
@journa
.host
5
42
167
Let me walk you through the massive drop from twitter. It's pretty insane:
🧵
5
24
161
Donald Trump has been clear: criticism is fair game, so long as you don’t report on how his business works.
There are many reporters who did report on his business, and had no access to him.
There are some reporters who never reported on his business and had lots of access.
6
19
159
News Org leaders:
You know you need an alternative social media plan. If this doesn't make you leave, the next thing will. Or the very very bad thing after that.
Might as well start now.
6
24
158
One helpful way to know if a bit of news is a *bombshell* :
If the people heralding it refer to actual facts that the news revealed it might be a bombshell.
IF the heralds use big, vague adjectives: "Biggest. Huge" But point to nothing it's NOT a bombshell. It's nothing.
11
11
147
Fun fact: the First Amendment of the Constitution is often thought to be a constraint on the government.
In fact, private companies choosing what not to publish is protected by the First Amendment!
5
38
140
I pity the reporters who have to do write-throughs explaining the twitter drop.
There is not one thing worth reporting.
I'm picturing angry editors saying: well, there's got to be SOMETHING.
Um, people discussed the issue in boring emails and ... nothing. There's nothing.
10
24
136
Dear any reporter writing an apologia from some rich dude about why he hung out with Epstein, please do include a graph or two that explains that court records and countless 100s of witnesses confirm Epstein was open about his sexual abuse of children. Everyone knew.
2
28
134
He says this and then points out the FBI wrote 150 times in 3 years--one message a week. Many of which, he says himself, were mundane.
The subsidiary claim is absurd overreach disproven by his own thread.
3. Twitter’s contact with the FBI was constant and pervasive, as if it were a subsidiary.
400
9K
46K
7
24
131
@drvolts
Exactly.
I'm not saying it's 100% certain. But I honestly have seen very little Sharia Law in the last few years in the US.
Also: tigers. No wild tigers.
12
2
133
I had a fascinating couple weeks of social media in which I concluded that twitter really does actually suck.
What happened:
- I started a Mastodon server for journalists.
- Very quickly, a group of amazing folks volunteered to run it.
- Folks on twitter lied about us.
4
15
131
Hey everyone,
if we just explain his contradictions to him, he'll realize he's being absurd and change his mind.
Give it some time!
8
2
132
I have a box with all the proofs inside of it.
Everything I’ve been telling you people is TRUE.
Every time I look in the box, I’m even more amazed at how true it all is.
Wow. If only you could see inside this box I have right here, you’d see how right I am!
9
7
131
Hey journalists:
Probably a great time to come join us on
7
50
126
Once again: powerful dudes hang out with Jeffrey Epstein a LOT and offer utterly absurd explanations/justifications.
Noam Chomsky (!) spent a lot of time with him because Epstein transferred money between Chomsky's accounts? Truly makes zero sense.
9
21
123
After being informed that they were helping a scheme that would (almost certainly) assist Iran in targeting Israel with WMD, Ivanka and her dad kept the deal alive for another year.
1
32
119
You know a vision is solid when it is centered on 5 different things.
X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.
12K
6K
35K
9
8
120
This is so good: revealing how Elon is so thirsty, hungry, desperate.
He's the terrible teacher who wants the cool kids to think he's cool so he dunks on the dorks (but everyone knows he's really the biggest dork)
3
15
111
He just needs to personally experience every possible way that social media can hurt someone and then all the rules will be implemented well and will make sense.
8
7
113
If fire trucks are called fire trucks, then why aren’t cop cars called criminal cars?
27
5
114
Oy. My 86-year-old dad just got scammed.
A fake bill from Norton LifeLock. When he called to cancel, the person convinced him to give access to his computer and his bank account.
I think we caught it just in time. I hope.
28
5
99
Truly unbelievable. But even more evidence of how widely people knew and didn't mind.
What I read him saying is: "we thought nobody would notice or care. But then a lot of people did notice, so we wish we hadn't."
@adamdavidson
Chomsky shocked me. But the President of Bard College, Leon Botstein, had my jaw all the way on the floor with his "but we thought Epstein was just an *ordinary* convicted child rapist." I'm truly shaken by this implicit acceptance of sex crimes as a distasteful hobby.
1
22
68
2
33
107
There is a great story Jordan’s King Hussein used to tell (or so it’s told) that he was once visiting Saddam at one of his palaces with a giant lake. The two were fishing.
Hussein caught a big carp right away.
Then he saw a diver in the lake carrying a bigger carp …
I swear the Twitter algo has been changed to promote Elon Musk's tweets more often.
43
11
153
2
13
104
Ivanka visited Baku. She also insisted that an entire working class neighborhood be razed to make way for a park attached to the Trump property.
2
34
92
Dear Bard College board of directors and the IRS:
Now that Leon Botstein has admitted to secretly laundering donations from Jeffrey Epstein, I strongly recommend you conduct a thorough audit.
Generally, people don't do this sort of thing only once.
1
16
91
Strong endorse of
@JillAbramson
's take.
3
15
90
My major lesson (which many others knew long ago): social media platforms push people in certain directions and shape what they think and feel.
This platform pushes towards simple, all-consuming narratives that exist free of the actual facts.
Mastodon doesn't.
9
3
87
@neilpatel
This is hilarious.
The same goes for Doctors--if they were so good, why do they all die eventually?
And if they love "healing the sick," why do they charge money!?!
Oh, and teachers--if they're so smart why are they still reading books?
And...
11
2
83
And attaching it to Saddam’s hook.
It was clear to everyone that the diver was there. That Saddam didn’t catch anything.
But when Saddam reeled in the fish everyone cheered this great hero and pretended not to have seen what they all saw.
3
4
84
She and the Trump Org were informed that the project they were involved with was almost certainly a part of a particularly bad money laundering operation.
It was connected to the group in charge of acquiring guidance systems for WMD-carrying missiles.
1
25
80
I'm really proud we did this episode last time there was a banking crisis.
Banks are ... interesting, weird, worth understanding better.
This American Life, episode 375, "Bad Bank" (2009):
"The collapse of the banking system explained, in just 59 minutes. Alex Blumberg & Adam Davidson help all of us understand [...] When we talk about an insolvent bank, what does it actually mean?"
0
0
15
5
12
77
NPR really gets this moment.
There's nothing at stake for Senators. Of course they can play pickleball and set politics aside.
Their lives aren't on the line like ours are.
10
25
201
6
10
78
- A bit of that happened on Mastodon, too.
But what happened next will amaze you:
- The Mastodon folks actually talked it through. Discussed.
- People corrected the misinformation.
- People apologized.
- People added new, important nuance.
1
4
76
I was sure there would be at least one embarrassing email that, taken out of context, could generate a cycle or two of shock and outrage.
Main lesson: Twitter execs write really boring, predictable emails.
4
2
74
I actually read the article. It does not fulfill the promise of the headline.
6
11
72
Wow.
@khadeeja_safdar
and
@EmilyGlazer
are on fire.
More ugly secrets from Jeffrey Epstein's diary:
I would add: the people now saying they didn't know about JE's crimes are almost all lying.
They weren't secret or hidden. They were Widely known.
7
16
73
My 11 year old just now: you know a TV ad is expensive if it doesn’t make sense.
7
0
70
Do we still "have to talk" about what Kanye is bringing up?
10
6
72
For real. It's time. Leave this place.
Journalists and other friends: Come over to the other place Musk won't let us mention. Here is my detailed explanation:
And a video version:
4
25
68
3
10
68
@CathyYoung63
An institution made a decision to communicate a set of ideas that its leaders believed. How is that … bad? Woke?
Do you believe you know what they “really” wanted to do and you have evidence they did something differently?
Have you been to this museum and now feel bereft?
6
2
65
Dear
@AP
I am desperately trying to get in touch with your sales folks. I've spent days, now, emailing and calling to no avail.
I'm trying to help an Amish friend create the first-ever true newspaper for the Amish community and he wants to license AP.
Can someone respond?
7
7
69
Strong. But I think, "in a clear and direct echo of language used by Adolf Hitler..."
My edit:
Using incendiary and dehumanizing language to refer to opponents — which left no doubt that he was willing to go in a fascist direction — Mr. Trump vowed to “root out” what he called “the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”
54
457
1K
3
20
68
@elonmusk
@PatrickWStanley
@BillyM2k
Can you share the evidence? We’d all love to see it.
You must have tons of documents, emails, etc, available to demonstrate the magnitude.
9
3
64
These remain essential, obvious, and rarely followed.
It's been four years since I was asked for three or four changes in political journalism that might begin to right this ship. (Emphasis on "begin to...") Here is what I came up with.
103
1K
3K
2
17
68
My pal
@ghostpanther
just launched his new nonprofit to fight climate change. Every week, they'll be posting more funny, interesting, maddening videos.
Follow. Watch.
The climate crisis, bank collapses, and an unaffordable life for billions of people.
Raise a toast to what made it all possible. 🥂
106
2K
5K
5
16
63
Trump's misery stems from one dramatic weekend four years ago:
1
11
64
I know conspiracy theories are ridiculous.
But how would you make them actually work? If it was your actual job?
I talk with former CIA guys,
@john_sipher
and Jerry O'Shea on this excellent new show
2
13
63
How is that article possible?
How did it get through to publication?
6
1
63
@hunterw
I am writing.
But the claim that she attacks reporters isn't some private source-based info. she has done it openly, loudly. And she has called out specific reporters that work at the same place she does in language that all but demands they be fired.
This isn't my secret.
2
8
56
Just about every time I tweet about how I am not dunking on people anymore it's because there is someone I so so so so want to dunk on. And I'm trying to redirect that dunking energy.
This morning's person is so damn dunkable. But not gonna do it!
12
0
59
@hunterw
I think we are zeroing in on the disagreement.
I think there should be far more critique of journalism by journalists. I think it's too damn clubby.
I think there have been major journalistic decisions made by powerful journalists that demand critique by others in the field.
2
7
57
I just learned the word "ignostic" and plan to be annoyingly pedantic about it for the rest of my life.
.
13
4
58
And you must continuously show true balance, meaning that if one "side" is wildly radicalized and the other isn't, but contains some annoying people, make that clear in your coverage.
If you're a news organization trying to serve everyone, facing a political movement powered in large part by its attacks on the media, you can't defend yourself by insisting your people are fair, your routines sound. You must try to show everyone how this movement is misguided.
25
350
1K
1
13
58
I would say it is far more likely than not that Botstein is lying in this interview.
Epstein did not hide his appetites and activities. It was not a secret. It was open, ostentatious.
And no college pres spends 4 years chasing a $75K gift. Bullshit.
1
10
56
How do conspiracies work? Real ones? And why do conspiracy theories NOT work?
I ask a couple CIA vets. And they tell me. And it's funny and smart.
Listen! Subscribe!
1
16
56
This article reflects the problem.
Who, in our society, gets to defend themselves with such transparently thin, illogical arguments?
Rich, connected elites.
I wish the reporter pursued some qs: e.g., how many other $75K gifts led to years of private meetings?
2
15
56
On Mastodon, people engaged with each other--sometimes angrily but there was real engagement.
Over time, the conversation became more nuanced, it developed, everyone learned things. And ti became ever-more accurate.
1
4
56
Remember: if the person who will be president next tells you do something now that person is violating the constitution!
4
4
52
In short:
On twitter a series of complex events were simplified into a preexisting set of narratives (Woke! Vs. Bigots!) that people used to fuel their prior talking points. As time went on, the conversation became ever-less nuanced and ever-more incorrect.
1
4
55
How do conspiracies work? Real ones.
I have a new podcast with
@john_sipher
and Jerry O'Shea, former senior CIA officers, on how conspiracies actually go down. And why most conspiracy theories are even more absurd than you already think.
4
21
53
jfc
The temperature in China hit 126 degrees F today (52.2 C.)
That beats the old record by an almost inconceivable 3 F. The world is on fire.
2K
6K
15K
4
14
52
- Some people on Mastodon also got really mad at us.
The difference:
- On Twitter, the lies spread quickly. When we corrected the lies, we were blocked, mocked--even Elon got in on the game.
- Events that were complex and nuanced were boiled down to simple false narratives.
3
3
52
This is a great article about Trump in Oman.
But it is wrong that this is a first.
Trump's project in Baku, Azerbaijan, was on government land and in partnership with the Minister of Transportation.
2
18
50
These threads are so good. Vivid descriptions of life in prison.
I once had an illicit vegetable garden in prison. We smuggled fresh veggies into the cell blocks. A thread...
199
5K
40K
1
7
49
Similarly, Trump negotiated a project in Kazakhstan that was a partnership with that government.
Working with corrupt foreign govts has been a central plank of the Trump Org for well over a decade.
1
14
46
I think the idea is that Elon is the brave anti-China person? Is that the joke.
That it's so not true makes the joke less impactful.
Tim Cook Says He's Ready To Pull Twitter From App Store Once President Xi Gives The Order
2K
11K
62K
5
2
48
Who else is freaking out?
3
3
46