Spencer Ackerman

America’s ‘War on Terror’ expanded surveillance of Muslims 25 years ago, placing many on watchlists. Now, that strategy is being used for domestic political repression across the U.S. Spencer Ackerman explains how Trump’s counterterrorism strategy explicitly targets the American left. Read the full story at zeteo.com, link in bio.

If you start counting at the launch of Friendster, I’ve been avoiding social media for 23 years. I thought of that as a matter of bold resistance. And maybe it was, at first. Eventually it was just habit though. And when I told my wonderful publicity team at W.W. Norton that I was not and had never been on social media, the look they gave me didn’t project reverence for my principles. It felt more like the look a young person might give an old man who was trying to summon an Uber using a rotary phone. So, here I am. I have all the ambivalence about being on social media that one would expect of a long-time resister. But I’m not ambivalent at all about the reason I finally posted – copies of my new book just arrived. This project got started in the pandemic, and I'm thrilled that its release is finally near at hand. I'm looking forward to spreading the good word about it with help from friends, and my team at W.W. Norton. I doubt I’ll be on Insta much, but stay tuned for updates about the book ahead of its release on June 30.

Journalist Spencer Ackerman: With NSPM-7, Trump is attempting to criminalize left-wing activism From our panel with @dropsitenews featuring former FBI agent Terry Albury and our policy director Chip Gibbons — watch the full discussion at our YouTube channel /@RightsDissent

🚨 THIS SATURDAY!! 🚨 All are invited to march with me and my @comixaction friends to commemorate Nakba Day. We will be marching for Palestinian liberation, an end to the Israel’s ongoing genocide and occupation and the right of return for all Palestinians. This is a @nycpym organized protest in Brooklyn. We will be meeting at 1:50pm on the corner of Bay Ridge Ave & 5th Ave. and will join the march together as a group. Please DM me if you have any questions. We hope to see you there!!

Comix Action is joining the #Nakba78 protest in NYC! Please feel free to join our contingent at 2 pm on Saturday, May 16, in Bay Ridge!

The great @attackerman laying down the beat at the May Day march in NYC today! #MayDayStrong

Jean-Léon Gérôme (May 11, 1824 - January 10, 1904) is a fascinating case. His orientalist paintings are some of the most striking representations in the canon of western painting. He was more than a little obsessed with "the other"—almost as much as he was obsessed with mythical figures. Arguably one of the reasons his work has endured is the genuine beauty of the moments and subjects he captured. One has the sense of a painter who was absolutely a voyeur, fetishizing (some might say pornographically) the subjects of his paintings--but never robbing them of their dignity. He was praised in his time. And then, in later life, things and aesthetics changed and he would come to represent the old guard, clinging to his academic techniques and romanticism and orientalism. So many years later, some curious grad student stumbles on "Black Bashi Bazouk" or "Bischari Warrior" by a dude named Jean-Léon Gérôme and starts to ask questions.

All our favorite writers (and PULITZER PRIZE WINNERS) are asking DID YOU HEAR ABOUT MIMI GREEN? Preorders end 4/20. Issue 1 (of 4) out 5/27. Check into Answers before it’s too late.

Now Loading: CEREBRO Season 5 Angelica Jones (Firestar) feat. @joshcornillon & @goblin_gavotte will be in your ears shortly! As I’m getting that ready for you, I want to open questions for the first *six* episodes of Season 5: Marius St. Croix (Emplate) feat. @meakoopa & @alsopurp Danger feat. @losthiskeysman Elizabeth Twoyoungmen (Talisman) feat. @saracentury Sofia Mantega (Wind-Dancer) feat. @oneguynamedalex Clarice Ferguson (Blink) feat. @jordanblok and Ambassador Gabrielle Haller feat. @attackerman Episode order subject to change, but this is the first docket. Send your questions to cerebrocast at gmail dot com with the character’s name in the subject line.

Why is there never talk of invading North Korea? Well, because it has a nuclear weapon. This week @attackerman joins @parismarx to give us the background on the US and Israel’s war on Iran, why they didn’t go to war in the past, and the wider repercussions this war is having. This clip is from episode 321 of Tech Won’t Save Us, published on March 26, 2026.

Founded in Vilna in 1897—the same year Theodor Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress—the Jewish Labor Bund was a revolutionary society whose tenets were socialist, secular, and staunchly anti-Zionist. From its origins in tsarist Vilna to the height of its influence in interwar Poland, Bundists fought antisemitism, nourished working-class solidarity, celebrated the Yiddish language, and built vast political and cultural networks across eastern Europe. In her new book, Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund (Penguin Random House), the artist and writer @mollycrabapple recreates the revolutionary world of the Bundists, and explores the interwoven histories of the Bund, the Russian Revolution, and the Holocaust. Join us Thursday, May 14, at BISR Central at 7pm as we welcome @mollycrabapple for a wide-ranging conversation about Here Where We Live Is Our Country, featuring BISR Interim Executive Director @suzyleesr and journalist @attackerman . Together, they will discuss the past and future of the Jewish left, the radical diasporas, the politics of assimilation, and the Bund’s cultural and intellectual legacy. @taylorcobooks will be on site with copies of the book. What can the transnational history of the Bund teach us about working-class organization, education, and culture? How can the Bund’s radical vision of solidarity inform liberation struggles in the present? Admission is $5 to attend, or $32 for admission and a copy of Here Where We Live Is Our Country. To purchase a ticket, please visit @taylorcobooks website and scroll down to “Register for Upcoming Events.” Beer, wine, seltzer, and snacks will be served.