Astra Taylor
@astradisastra
director of documentaries, writer of books and essays, retired fuzz guitar Bluesky http://astra.bsky.social
My 2023 Massey lectures and book, THE AGE OF INSECURITY, explore how seemingly disparate crises—rising inequality and declining mental health, the ecological emergency, and the threat of authoritarianism—originate from a social order built on insecurity. cbc.ca/radio/ideas/cb…
ICE is wrecking our communities, kidnapping our friends and family, and devastating the lives of working class Angelenos. Our political class hasn't done enough to respond to the needs of tenants, immigrants, and workers. L.A. needs an eviction moratorium - NOW!
Wow @JustinBrannan: "I’ve negotiated 4 balanced, on-time, colossal city budgets and I can tell you this: Zohran’s ideas aren’t crazy, they’re necessary. His plans aren’t radical but required. Because NYC will never survive as a playground for the rich." cityandstateny.com/opinion/2025/0…
Thrilled about my new role @newrepublic, joining Michael and his excellent team of writers and editors.
I'm very excited to announce that @perrybaconjr will be joining the @newrepublic as a staff writer next month. Perry is one of the sharpest analysts of American politics out there, and we're thrilled to have him aboard!
A lot is happening with federal student debt at the moment. Here is some of our thoughts — and what we think you need to know.
WTF is happening with SAVE, PSLF & SCOTUS? open.substack.com/pub/astrataylo…
The 'Big Beautiful Bill' does a few things for higher education that aren't being talked about. 1. Raises student debtors' annual costs by ~$4,000 2. Pushes most future college students into private loans so Wall Street can profit 3. Raises interest rates prospect.org/blogs-and-news…
I’m calling on the State Department to launch a full investigation into the brutal murder of Saifullah Musallet, a Palestinian American citizen, by Israeli settlers.
I’m calling for the Department of State to launch a full investigation into the brutal murderer of American Citizen, Saifullah Kamel Musallet.
Today in Tel Aviv: army-bound teens are burning their draft orders in the street. “We won’t take part in genocide. We won’t serve apartheid.” The movement to resist is growing. Refuse-- you are not alone.
As ever, the only path forward is to get organized. Join the Debt Collective at debtcollective.org and follow @StrikeDebt here.
Supreme Court says the president can’t abolish student debt, but he CAN abolish the Department of Education. This isn’t hypocrisy. It’s end times fascism—a fatalistic politics willing to torch the government and incinerate the future to maintain hierarchy and subvert democracy.
Supreme Court says the president can’t abolish student debt, but he CAN abolish the Department of Education. This isn’t hypocrisy. It’s end times fascism—a fatalistic politics willing to torch the government and incinerate the future to maintain hierarchy and subvert democracy.
According to the Supreme Court, the President can cancel the Department of Education but can't cancel the student debt that the Department of Education holds? Do we have that right?
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily pause a district court order that would require the Department of Education to reinstate nearly 1,400 employees who were fired earlier this year. Justice Sotomayor dissented, joined by…
still going
Grok 4 Heavy ($300/mo) returns its surname and no other text:
Under Zohran’s tax plan, someone making a million dollars a year pays nothing extra. If you make 1.1 million a year, you pay an extra 2k a year. These folks would rather light a million dollars on fire than spend a tiny fraction of that to support universal childcare. Why??
Inside the well-funded, likely doomed plan to stop Zohran Mamdani. A lot of donors are not behaving rationally, one operative said. nymag.com/intelligencer/…
A 20 year old American from Florida was beaten to death by Israeli settlers who blocked ambulances from reaching him and I didn’t get any breaking news alerts about it. That would not have happened if the man was Israeli American. There is a hierarchy of life in US newsrooms.
Beautiful. Must read.
When we were planning the surprise of Mahmoud and Zohran at Ramy’s show, I asked @NifMuhammad to come witness it. I had a feeling he might find the words I couldn’t. What he wrote is something I’ll carry with me for a long time. newyorker.com/news/essay/zoh…
Watch till the end. Listen to the outrage, despair, and yes, fear, in @PatinkinMandy's voice. That is the sound of a person with a conscious. All our voices should sound like this.
.@AOC & @RepJoeNeguse want to ban former members from lobbying
🚨Rep. Maxwell Frost after touring “Alligator Alcatraz”: “Thirty-two bodies crammed per cage, six cages per tent. People screaming ‘Help me, I’m a U.S. citizen.’ Drinking water pumped from the same toilet they’re forced to use. It’s filth, it’s cruelty, it’s America’s name on…
Frost: We saw people yelling for help. We even heard someone in the background yell, “I’m an American citizen.” Then they started chanting, libertad—freedom, liberty.