Walker Bragman

Walker Bragman

Co-founder of the OptOut Media Foundation, journalist, JD, and occasional cartoonist.

99 posts
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Newsletter

Important Context Scoops, Hurricane Helene Horrors, and Israel’s Invasion of Lebanon

Important Context Scoops, Hurricane Helene Horrors, and Israel’s Invasion of Lebanon

It's been a minute since our last newsletter. In that time, OptOut's original reporting outfit, IMPORTANT CONTEXT, has broken some important stories. First, there's a new far-right, dark money moms' group you should be aware of. Restore Childhood was founded in 2021, but it's becoming a bigger player with nearly $230,000 raised last year

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Newsletter

Haitian Immigrants Become Latest Right-Wing Target

Haitian Immigrants Become Latest Right-Wing Target

The OptOut Media Foundation is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It does not endorse any candidates or engage in political campaign activity. What follows is an accurate accounting of the news. Last week marked the highly anticipated presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Hosted by...

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Newsletter

Misinformation Conference, Dark Money, and Gaza

Misinformation Conference, Dark Money, and Gaza

Welcome back to another OptOut newsletter. This week we're jumping right in with an important story from OptOut's own original reporting outfit, IMPORTANT CONTEXT. The prestigious Stanford University is hosting a series of panel discussions featuring well-known public health contrarians and COVID-19 minimizers. The panelists include...

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Newsletter

The Democratic National Convention: A Thundering Celebration of Joy With a Gaza-Sized Asterisk

The Democratic National Convention: A Thundering Celebration of Joy With a Gaza-Sized Asterisk

The Democratic National Convention was this week and many Democrats are fired up. Each eight-hour night featured speakers that electrified the crowd. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in particular, had a barnstorming speech endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and going at Donald Trump directly, calling him a fraud. “We know that Donald...

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Help Us Build Something Better

Help Us Build Something Better

We’re inching closer to our $5,000 goal for this summer. If you’re able to donate, please help us! 🙏 Please join our mission to boost independent media, challenge the dominant corporate and legacy outlets, and move things forward towards a stronger democracy, a healthier planet, and a more equitable society. Please consider donating...

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Newsletter

OptOut/Mother Jones Team Up, Israel Lobby Wins, The Supreme Court, and COVID’s Summer Wave

OptOut/Mother Jones Team Up, Israel Lobby Wins, The Supreme Court, and COVID’s Summer Wave

This week, OptOut's Important Context has a cross-published article with MOTHER JONES about how a right-wing media hosts have been selling airtime to the political influence network of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui. Guo, who was convicted on federal fraud charges last month, has spent years cozying up to Trump World. For example, he has

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Election 2024: It’s A Whole New Ballgame

Election 2024: It’s A Whole New Ballgame

Just 10 days ago, President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19. We covered it, noting the serious problem it presented for his campaign–for a number of reasons. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! deeply embattled Biden had been...

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Newsletter

Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Problem

Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Problem

This piece has been updated from its original email version. Joe Biden has been having a rough go of it lately. On Wednesday, 10 days after telling a crowd in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania that he "ended the pandemic," the president tested positive for COVID-19 for the the past two years. 🙏 Please join our mission to...

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Originals

Opinion: Democracy For Sale

Opinion: Democracy For Sale

On Tuesday, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) lost his bid for reelection against Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the nation's most powerful Israel lobby group, to the tune of at least $14.5 to $17,000 per primary had been framed as a test of AIPAC's...

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Newsletter

OptOut Stories, Alito’s Woes, and Mask Bans

OptOut Stories, Alito’s Woes, and Mask Bans

We have big news from OptOut! Our official reporting newsletter, IMPORTANT CONTEXT, has published two articles you should check out. HELP OPTOUT KEEP GOING! WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! there's the moving profile on New York-based LGBTQIA+ legal advocate Andy Izenson, co-founder of...

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Newsletter

Unlikely Alliances, Gaza, and The Supreme Court

Unlikely Alliances, Gaza, and The Supreme Court

This week, Important Context, OptOut's official news outlet, published a piece by journalist Tina Desiree-Berg about the emerging alliance between pro-Israel Jews and America's more traditional far-right extremists, including white and Christian nationalists. As pro-Palestine protests emerge on college campuses across the country in...

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Newsletter

Chris Rufo’s Big Money Support, The Gaza War, and Trump’s Deal

Chris Rufo’s Big Money Support, The Gaza War, and Trump’s Deal

This week, OptOut's reporting outfit, Important Context,  and  The Center for Media and Democracy took a deep dive into the money behind far-right agitator Chris Rufo. Rufo has made a name for himself lately, credited as the driving force behind the right's moral panic over "critical race theory" and the "plagiarism" scandal that sunk...

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Newsletter

The Flint Water Crisis At 10: An Interview With Journalist Jordan Chariton

The Flint Water Crisis At 10: An Interview With Journalist Jordan Chariton

Last month, we crossed the decade anniversary of the crisis, which saw nearly 100,000 residents of Flint, Michigan, a predominantly Black city, exposed to high concentrations of lead in the water. The crisis was brought on by what was in essence a privatization scheme. 🙏 Please join our mission to boost independent media, challenge the...

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Newsletter

On Student Protests and Free Speech

On Student Protests and Free Speech

It began earlier this month with Columbia University. Twelve days ago, the school's president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the GOP-led Congress about antisemitism on campus. That very day, hundreds of students at her school began an occupation protest against Israel's war in Gaza, demanding that Columbia divest from Israel-tied...

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Newsletter

A Big Week for OptOut, New Revelations About Incarceration in America, and a Former President’s Legal Troubles

A Big Week for OptOut, New Revelations About Incarceration in America, and a Former President’s Legal Troubles

It's been a big week for OutOut! We're pleased to announce we have a new contributor: Natalie Wood. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! up-and-coming journalist at New York University, Wood was lead author on the investigation OptOut's...

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Newsletter

Gaza’s Political Footprint, Labor Fights, and More

Gaza’s Political Footprint, Labor Fights, and More

All eyes remain fixed on Gaza following the killing of seven aid workers by Israeli forces. The workers had been driving clearly marked vehicles along a designated route when their convoy was hit by Israeli strikes. The incident was just the latest horror in a conflict rife with them. It further strained relations between a politically...

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Newsletter

Supreme Court Cases You Need to Pay Attention To

Supreme Court Cases You Need to Pay Attention To

The Supreme Court is the focus of this week's newsletter. The court has taken on a number of cases with the potential to set devastating precedents. Here are some cases you should be following: WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! V....

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Newsletter

“Unbought” Kennedy Chooses Major Financial Backer For Running Mate

“Unbought” Kennedy Chooses Major Financial Backer For Running Mate

This post was originally published in Important original reporting outfit. Last month, anti-vaccine activist and independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. posted an on YouTube targeting young voters, declaring himself “the most feared and hated candidate among the elites in Washington, D.C. because I'm not bought and I'm not...

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Newsletter

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Four Years In

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Four Years In

This week marked four years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. In that time, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has wreaked devastation across the globe. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! the death toll from the historic...

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Newsletter

The Assault on Public Health, The End of Democracy, and Gaza

The Assault on Public Health, The End of Democracy, and Gaza

Welcome back to another OptOut newsletter! We begin with a story you probably are not aware of, but should be. Public health agencies are sounding the alarm over rising tuberculosis (TB) cases across the country. STATES NEWSROOM had the story. Tuberculosis cases rise, but public health agencies say they lack the resources to keep up ⋆...

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Newsletter

The Death of Navalny, Labor Struggles, and COVID Again

The Death of Navalny, Labor Struggles, and COVID Again

The big news this week was the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison in Russia. Navalny was a complicated figure. In the past, he had expressed nationalist views, including making hateful comments about immigrants. These remarks, which he never renounced, were the reason the human rights group Amnesty International...

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Newsletter

Analysis: The Age of Biden

Analysis: The Age of Biden

NOTE: As a 501(c)(3) public charity, the OptOut Media Foundation does not engage in political campaign activity and does not endorse candidates. The views expressed here are purely those of the author. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! old...

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Newsletter

The Immigration Football, a Pandemic, and a Look At Our Government

The Immigration Football, a Pandemic, and a Look At Our Government

We're back with another OptOut newsletter! With the 2024 election fast approaching, the discourse over undocumented immigration at the U.S.-Mexico has reached fever pitch. Some on the right, echoing the racist rhetoric from GOP presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, are calling the influx of migrants at the border an "invasion" and a...

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Newsletter

Long COVID Sufferers Have Their Day

Long COVID Sufferers Have Their Day

Welcome back to the OptOut newsletter where we give you the highlights of the previous week. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! we're starting with COVID-19. Although the national emergency declaration and public health emergency have come...

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Newsletter

We’re Back and the World is Still a Mess

We’re Back and the World is Still a Mess

Well, we kicked off the new year. And if you thought that the promise of a new start would lead to some happier news, think again. So far, 2024 is off to bang-up start with a new COVID wave, a brutal U.S. backed military campaign against an entrapped population, and an accelerating climate crisis. But at least we have each other! Is it...

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Newsletter

Happy New Year From OptOut!

Happy New Year From OptOut!

Well, it's that time of year again: The end. We have to say, 2023 has been rough for the country and the world, generally. Between accelerating climate change, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and grisly news abroad in places like Gaza, we're ready to see what 2024 has to offer. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE...

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Newsletter

One Thing Is Clear: We Need Independent Media

One Thing Is Clear: We Need Independent Media

We started OptOut in 2020, disillusioned with the flippancy with which corporations, politicians, and their media mouthpieces treated organized labor, progressive activism, and the biggest public health crisis of our time. Much of the news being pumped out of corporate outlets simply reinforced the status quo. And it was clear the status...

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Newsletter

Xmas Newsletter

Xmas Newsletter

Warning: What follows is some bleak news coated in heavy, HEAVY cheese. But hey, it's the holiday season! 'Twas the week before Xmas and here at OptOut, we've sorted the news for you to check out. We've picked our top stories, the news of the day. Be warned it's not great for your holiday. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP...

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Newsletter

Gaza Siege Continues, Climate Developments, and Inequality

Gaza Siege Continues, Climate Developments, and Inequality

Before we begin, we want to apologize again for last week's SNAFU with the newsletter where an incomplete draft went out. It was a technology issue on our end, and we hope it did not cause confusion on your end! We'd like to wish everyone celebrating a happy Hanukkah! Not to be a huge downer, but the Centers for Disease Control and...

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Newsletter

When a War Criminal Dies

When a War Criminal Dies

WAIT!!!! Before we begin, we would like to apologize for the email you just received. We had prepared a longer newsletter for you, but for reasons outside our control, the final draft did not save in Ghost (our platform). What went out was incomplete. What follows is the part of that newsletter that did save. Going forward, we will strive

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Newsletter

Support Independent Journalism!

Support Independent Journalism!

Frustrating as it may be, these days, we cannot seem to escape Elon Musk. The billionaire owner of Twitter/X, demands our attention and he's willing to burn down one of the most important social media platforms in existence to get it. Musk has turned a once thriving community into a haven for racism, antisemitism, and conspiracy thinking.

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Newsletter

Thanksgiving/The National Day of Mourning

Thanksgiving/The National Day of Mourning

It’s that time of year again when we Americans gather with our  friends and families to celebrate the nation’s most fraught holiday. Thanksgiving is upon us. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT NEWSLETTERS AND APP FREE? WE ARE A NONPROFIT AND RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR WORK! DONATE HERE! wanted to send an inclusive holiday message...

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Newsletter

New Collaboration with Sludge

New Collaboration with Sludge

This week, Important Context and Sludge collaborated on an article about the censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). On Tuesday, the House passed a GOP-led resolution to censure its only Palestinian member over comments she made about Israel and Gaza. While the overwhelming majority of the yea votes were Republicans, 22 Democrats broke...

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Newsletter

The Real Halloween Horror

The Real Halloween Horror

It’s Halloween, this year lacks that familiar sense of whimsy. Today, sadly, rather than focusing on the delights of supernatural horrors, candy-fueled stomach aches, and thrills for the whole family, we are reminded that the worst monsters are us. This Halloween, all eyes are on the horror unfolding in Gaza. WANT TO KEEP THE OPTOUT...

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Newsletter

What is Happening in Gaza?

What is Happening in Gaza?

Last Saturday, the militant group Hamas launched some 500 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, overwhelming the country’s Iron Dome missile defense system and hitting residential neighborhoods as well as a hospital. Militants then stormed blockaded areas, shooting at civilians, and kidnapping men, women, children, and the elderly. The...

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Newsletter

Extremely Online with Taylor Lorenz

Extremely Online with Taylor Lorenz

This post is from Important publication of the OptOut Media Foundation. When we think of online culture, social media, and big tech, often the first thing that comes to mind is “tech bros”—names like Jack Dorsey, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and Mark Zuckerberg—who developed the platforms we all use today. But millennial Washington...

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Newsletter

Pessimism With a Strong Economy, Labor Rising, and the 2024 Election

Pessimism With a Strong Economy, Labor Rising, and the 2024 Election

By traditional metrics, the U.S. economy is doing rather well. Job up, wage growth has outpace inflation, and labor organizing is sweeping the nation. But Joe Biden is struggling to translate those trends into political support—at least for now. The president’s approval rating is by more than 13 points, which is a precarious position for...

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Newsletter

Commentary: 9/11 Left Us All Damaged

Commentary: 9/11 Left Us All Damaged

Last Monday marked a grim anniversary. Twenty-two years earlier nearly 3,000 Americans lost their lives in the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil in American history. The events of September 11, 2001, changed the course of U.S. history, marking the beginning of a new era for the nation—one defined by widespread mistrust, military...

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Newsletter

Trump's Indictments: A Step Forward Amid Uncertainty

Trump's Indictments: A Step Forward Amid Uncertainty

It was the mug shot felt around the world. Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, looked dower staring into the camera lens at the Fulton County, Georgia, Sheriff's Office this week. The former president and current GOP presidential frontrunner currently faces 13 pending criminal charges in the state related to election...

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Newsletter

About That New Country Song

About That New Country Song

A new song is making waves across online spaces. “Rich Men North of Richmond,” a seemingly working class anthem by a previously unknown artist named Oliver Anthony, has been blasted out by right-wing pundits on repeat for the past week and worked its way into the zeitgeist. Become an OptOut song, played on a single guitar, starts out...

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Newsletter

Big Story Coming Tomorrow & Top Picks For Last Week

Big Story Coming Tomorrow & Top Picks For Last Week

We have big news this week! We have an important story coming out tomorrow in partnership with OptOut member outlet The New Republic by our own Alex Kotch, an award-winning money-in-politics reporter and co-founder of OptOut. I don’t want to spoil too much now, but the article highlights a problem that has flown under the radar for too...

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Newsletter

An Interview With 2024 Democratic Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson

An Interview With 2024 Democratic Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson

Walker Bragman interviewed Williamson about her views on public health. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of interviewing 2024 Democratic presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson for OptOut. In a 24-minute interview, we spoke about public health. Become an OptOut is someone I have known for a couple years now and have come...

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Newsletter

The Barbie Meltdown and More Hate

The Barbie Meltdown and More Hate

Last week marked the release of a film so dark and politically-charged, only those with a strong constitution should even attempt to watch it. We’re talking, of course, about Barbie. Were you expecting something else? Yes, Barbie, a movie drenched in pink and based on a doll made for children. The film, which stars Margot Robbie and...

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Newsletter

End of Twitter, Green Oceans, and Labor Rising

End of Twitter, Green Oceans, and Labor Rising

Last week was rough for Elon Musk, who announced over the weekend that Twitter still had negative cash flow and had lost 50 percent of its ad revenue since he took over. For Musk, who has spent his tenure at Twitter firing necessary employees, demanding “extremely hardcore” work from those who remain, and cozying up to and amplifying far

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Newsletter

Technology Woes, New Strategy on Wildfires, and Israeli Occupation

Technology Woes, New Strategy on Wildfires, and Israeli Occupation

Last week, we saw the launch of yet another Twitter clone. This one came from Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (formerly Facebook), and is Instagram compatible! It’s a gift nobody asked for. Thanks to Elon Musk’s antics, which have included cozying up to far right voices and conspiracy theorists, Twitter has undeniably lost some of its...

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Newsletter

Happy Independence Day to the Unenthusiastic

Happy Independence Day to the Unenthusiastic

OptOut would like to wish everyone a happy 4th of July–especially for those who do not feel particularly patriotic.   Don't feel bad if you're feeling more blue than tri-colored today. We get it. We see you. The nation is in deep crisis and, if we're being honest with ourselves, there is no guarantee of recovery. The effects of...

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Newsletter

The Implosion Heard Round the World

The Implosion Heard Round the World

Last Sunday, OceanGate, the private company that offers expensive deep sea tours for wealthy patrons, lost contact with its Titan submersible on an expedition to see the wreck of The Titanic, a ship once deemed "unsinkable." The Titan, which was uncertified as a deep sea vehicle that ran off of an XBox controller, was constructed with...

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Newsletter

Happy Juneteenth From OptOut

Happy Juneteenth From OptOut

OptOut wishes you all a reflective Juneteenth. Today, we commemorate the anniversary of General Order No. 3 by General Gordon Granger of the Union Army, declaring that all enslaved people in Texas were free, and the broader end of slavery in America. Last year, we noted that while the "the 'peculiar institution' upon which the U.S. was...

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Newsletter

Trump Charged, Voting Rights Preserved, and Medicaid Purged

Trump Charged, Voting Rights Preserved, and Medicaid Purged

Last week, for the first time in U.S. history, federal charges were announced against a former President of the United States. Donald Trump became the first U.S. President, former or current, to face federal prosecution.   The 37 charges stem from a federal probe into Donald Trump's decision to retain and store dozens of classified...

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Newsletter

Remembering Black Wall Street, A New Pipeline, and Strikes

Remembering Black Wall Street, A New Pipeline, and Strikes

This week marked the 102nd anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre of May 31, 1921, in which white mobs shot up and burned down buildings in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, the location of the so-called "Black Wall Street." Greenwood had been home to one of the most prosperous Black communities in the country. Former African slaves of...

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Newsletter

Cuts for the Poor, Misinformation, and the 2024 Race

Cuts for the Poor, Misinformation, and the 2024 Race

This week, President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy announced that they had reached a deal to raise the debt ceiling. The agreement, as many have noted, is bound to please neither side. For Democrats, it more avoids drastic cuts the GOP demanded in favor of freezing non-defense discretionary spending at current levels. Still,...

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Newsletter

Florida's Anti-LGBTQIA+ Discrimination, OptOut Has Big News, and The Debt Ceiling Becomes a Debacle

Florida's Anti-LGBTQIA+ Discrimination, OptOut Has Big News, and The Debt Ceiling Becomes a Debacle

This was a big week for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is poised to announce his 2024 candidacy for president. For months, DeSantis has been priming the pump, antagonizing liberals  and serving up red meat to Republican base voters, no matter how unconstitutional or cruel the policies. This week, for example, NEW REPUBLIC reported on...

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Newsletter

CNN's Disastrous Trump Town Hall, Starbucks Union Woes, and Title 42

CNN's Disastrous Trump Town Hall, Starbucks Union Woes, and Title 42

Last week, cable news giant CNN hosted a town hall with former President Donald J. Trump. The twice-impeached, had not been on the network since 2016 and criticized it throughout his presidency. In the interim period, he’d taken such notable actions as inciting an insurrection at the Capitol, refusing to accept the results of an election...

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Originals

Chinese Dissident Secretly Recruited Rightwing Writers to Publish Flattering Articles

Chinese Dissident Secretly Recruited Rightwing Writers to Publish Flattering Articles

This article was written in partnership with the Important newsletter. Operatives representing rightwing Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who was charged in March for orchestrating a vast financial fraud scheme, have been secretly recruiting prominent conservatives—including the head of the New York Young Republicans Club—to write opinion

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Newsletter

A Week Of Violence

A Week Of Violence

This week began with the killing of Jordan Neely, an unhoused 30-year-old Black man known for dancing like Michael Jackson, on a New York City subway. Neely had a history of mental health issues and on a particularly difficult day, had an outburst—perhaps a mental breakdown—about his circumstances. Rather than help from his fellow...

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Tucker Carlson Gone, Labor Organizing, and Reproductive Freedom Victories

Tucker Carlson Gone, Labor Organizing, and Reproductive Freedom Victories

This week, Tucker Carlson, host of the nation’s highest-rated cable news show, which had been a megaphone for white nationalist narratives, conspiracy theories, and hate, lost his job at Fox News. The shake-up came unexpectedly just one week after Fox settled the defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. For more on the...

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Originals

OptOut Special: An Interview With Journalist Matt Binder On Twitter's Shake-Up

OptOut Special: An Interview With Journalist Matt Binder On Twitter's Shake-Up

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news eyes were on Twitter last week as the social media platform underwent a significant change to how it handles content. Owner Elon Musk, who purchased...

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Newsletter

Silence of the Left, Long COVID, and More

Silence of the Left, Long COVID, and More

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news week, President Joe Biden signed Republican legislation to end the COVID-19 emergency declaration. The move meant a number of significant and impactful...

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Newsletter

Beyond Trump: Pandemic Medicaid Coverage Ends 🗞 Abortion Pill Banned 🗞 Clarence Thomas' Corruption

Beyond Trump: Pandemic Medicaid Coverage Ends 🗞 Abortion Pill Banned 🗞 Clarence Thomas' Corruption

All eyes were on former President Trump last week as he surrendered to authorities in Manhattan for his arraignment. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the final days of the 2016 campaign. According to reporting by Rolling...

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Originals

Peter Thiel’s Secretive Spending

Peter Thiel’s Secretive Spending

This report was written in partnership with Important Thiel Foundation, the nonprofit charity of billionaire and rightwing megadonor Peter Thiel, gave millions of dollars in 2021 to a secretive donor-advised fund that has funneled money into groups that spread COVID denial as well as hate groups, federal tax records reveal. The founder...

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Newsletter

Criminal Charges for Trump, Calls for a New Civil Rights Bill, and a Big Week at OptOut

Criminal Charges for Trump, Calls for a New Civil Rights Bill, and a Big Week at OptOut

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news eyes were on Donald Trump this week as the former president faced the possibility of arrest and criminal charges related to hush money he paid...

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Gilded Age

PODCAST: Evan Greer on Net Neutrality and Online Censorship

PODCAST: Evan Greer on Net Neutrality and Online Censorship

The GILDED AGE podcast is back with a new episode featuring Fight for the Future Director Evan Greer! GILDED AGE is a podcast about inequality hosted by Walker Bragman, co-founder of OptOut, and Mark Colangelo, a founding board member of the OptOut Media Foundation. Mark and Walker talk with Evan about online censorship, net neutrality,

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Newsletter

Bank Failures, COVID Crisis, and Hope For Yemen

Bank Failures, COVID Crisis, and Hope For Yemen

The big news this week was the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and the largest since the 2008 Subprime Mortgage Crisis. On Wednesday, the bank, which held approximately $175 billion in customer deposits, announced that it needed $2 billion to shore up its balance sheet in the wake of

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Pfizer Spends Big on IP Lobbying With Billions on the Line

Pfizer Spends Big on IP Lobbying With Billions on the Line

This piece was originally published by Important and both members of the OptOut independent news network. Last year, as it was raking in cash from its COVID vaccine and newly authorized oral treatment Paxlovid, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer spent big bucks to safeguard its intellectual property (IP), federal lobbying disclosures...

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Originals

‘Grassroots’ Parents’ Rights Group Gets Big Mystery Money

‘Grassroots’ Parents’ Rights Group Gets Big Mystery Money

This report was written in partnership with Important Research contributed by Alex Kotch. A prominent conservative parents’ rights group working to reshape school boards across the country is mostly bankrolled by a handful of large contributions, federal tax records reveal. In the two years since its inception, Moms for Liberty (MFL) has

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Newsletter

SNAP Benefits, Environmental Protests, and Police Shootings

SNAP Benefits, Environmental Protests, and Police Shootings

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news weeks ago, OptOut and the Important newsletter published a new scientist group behind an 80-page blueprint for a congressional inquiry into the...

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Originals

New Scientist Group Calling For Pandemic Answers Is Tied to Rightwing Dark Money

New Scientist Group Calling For Pandemic Answers Is Tied to Rightwing Dark Money

This original report was written in partnership with the Important Context newsletter new medical group behind an 80-page “blueprint” for a potential congressional commission to investigate the harms of the U.S. government's COVID-19 response has ties to the political right and dark money. The Norfolk Group purports to be eight...

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The Short SUPER BOWL Special

The Short SUPER BOWL Special

We have a short newsletter for you this week in light of the Super Bowl yesterday in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a close contest. OptOut was not founded with sports coverage in mind. To be honest, we're not sports people. Well, most of us, anyway. Although OptOut did not have a dog in the fight/big...

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Solidarity and Police Abuse

Solidarity and Police Abuse

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news are no words. 29-year-old Tyre Nichols was a son, a father, a photographer, and a Black man in America. Earlier this month, he was brutally beaten to...

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Originals

Big Mystery Donors Fund COVID Conspiracy Nonprofit

Big Mystery Donors Fund COVID Conspiracy Nonprofit

This original report was produced by Important and the OptOut Media Foundation Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported roughly 3,900 American deaths from COVID-19 in the week ending on Jan. 11—more than died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The number, which represented a 44% increase from the previous...

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Blexit, Price Hikes, and Title 42 Expansion

Blexit, Price Hikes, and Title 42 Expansion

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news was a big week for OptOut! We hope you all saw that we published our first piece of original reporting. In partnership with Center for Media and and the

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Originals

Candace Owens’ ‘Blexit’ Operation Bankrolled by Wealthy White Conservatives

Candace Owens’ ‘Blexit’ Operation Bankrolled by Wealthy White Conservatives

This original reporting from the OptOut Media Foundation was produced in partnership with the newsletter and the Center for Media and Owens promised big things in October 2018 when she launched her Blexit Foundation. “Today, in this room, I’m so excited because we’re going to launch in front of the world a movement—a movement that will...

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Newsletter

Elon Musk's Twitter Purge, COVID's Continued Surge, and Energized Labor

Elon Musk's Twitter Purge, COVID's Continued Surge, and Energized Labor

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news Musk managed to claw his way into the news again this week, suspending a number of high-profile journalists while yucking it up with fringe...

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Pro-Labor Legacy Averted

Pro-Labor Legacy Averted

DEMOCRATS SIDED AGAINST LABOR THIS WEEK IN A STUNNING MOVE, UNDERMINING THREE YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN RAIL WORKERS AND MANAGEMENT. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for...

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World’s Richest Man Ruins Twitter • No Red Wave • UN Climate Conference, Week 1

World’s Richest Man Ruins Twitter • No Red Wave • UN Climate Conference, Week 1

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Find out more about the app at depends on your support to run our free app, send this newsletter, and a lot more. We've raised nearly $9,000 since we announced our end-of-year fundraising goal, but we have a long way to go.

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Antisemitism on the Rise • Unionizing Trader Joe's • A $28 Meal at Taco Bell

Antisemitism on the Rise • Unionizing Trader Joe's • A $28 Meal at Taco Bell

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Find out more about the app at depends on your support to run our free app, send this newsletter, and a lot more. We've raised nearly $6,000 since we announced our end-of-year fundraising goal, but we have a long way to go.

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Pandemic Update • Hurricane Fallout • Dark Money

Pandemic Update • Hurricane Fallout • Dark Money

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news probably didn’t hear about it, but the New York Times reported nearly 14,000 U.S. COVID deaths last month. To put that number in context, that is roughly

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Human Rights Backsliding • Meet the BIPOC Press • Indigenous Resistance

Human Rights Backsliding • Meet the BIPOC Press • Indigenous Resistance

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news United States had a federally-guaranteed right to legal abortion for half a century when the Supreme Court struck down the legal precedent that...

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Rightwing Governors Ship Migrants to the Northeast, Echoing 1960s Segregationists

Rightwing Governors Ship Migrants to the Northeast, Echoing 1960s Segregationists

✊ People Over Profit. The OptOut Media Foundation recently launched its end-of-year fundraising We need to raise $50,000 in individual contributions by the end of 2022 so we can continue advocating for independent news organizations and challenging the dominant corporate media. Please consider helping us hit our target by making...

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Finally, Student Debt Relief • Anti-LGBTQ+ Fascism • Education Justice in NOLA

Finally, Student Debt Relief • Anti-LGBTQ+ Fascism • Education Justice in NOLA

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news was some good news for student borrowers last week. After months of delay due to his own wavering support for the idea, President Biden announced his...

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Inflation Reduction Act is Law • Florida Guv Tramples on Basic Rights • Liz Cheney, Liberal Hero

Inflation Reduction Act is Law • Florida Guv Tramples on Basic Rights • Liz Cheney, Liberal Hero

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news was a big week for Democrats and a historic week for the country. President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, a major climate,...

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Dems Fail to Cap Insulin Price • 'Fascist Circus' in Texas • A Fake Climate Group

Dems Fail to Cap Insulin Price • 'Fascist Circus' in Texas • A Fake Climate Group

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news eventful week! The Senate passed a major spending bill. President Biden has finally tested negative for COVID-19 after a tumultuous journey...

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Another Health Emergency • 187 Minutes of Treason • Manchin's Toxic Corruption

Another Health Emergency • 187 Minutes of Treason • Manchin's Toxic Corruption

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for Apple and Android devices. Find out more about the app at optout.news the OptOut app for OptOut app for a week! As the Biden administration continues its push to force normalcy on a nation still in the throes of the deadly...

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Juneteenth and the Fight for Equality

Juneteenth and the Fight for Equality

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for iPhone and iPad. Find out more about the app at Sunday was Juneteenth, a newly recognized national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday celebrates the anniversary of General Order No. 3

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The Gun Epidemic • Who's Bankrolling White Nationalism? • Covid Surges

The Gun Epidemic • Who's Bankrolling White Nationalism? • Covid Surges

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for iPhone and iPad. Find out more about the app at week the OptOut network covered essential news about guns, climate, the Covid wave, extremism, and other issues, which we've rounded up for you below. 👕 ICMYI: We've got...

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Understanding Buffalo: Rightwing Terror and ‘The Great Replacement’

Understanding Buffalo: Rightwing Terror and ‘The Great Replacement’

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for iPhone and iPad. Find out more about the app at is a special newsletter focused on the white nationalism behind the recent massacre in Buffalo and additional racist phenomena in the United States. -------------------------

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The End of Roe? • Green Economy Transition • Fake Populists

The End of Roe? • Green Economy Transition • Fake Populists

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for iPhone and iPad. Find out more about the app at BIG NEWS! 🎉 Last week OptOut welcomed States Newsroom, a nonprofit charity that employs more than 130 full-time editors, reporters, and support staff in 26 states across...

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Amazon's Monopolism • Climate Transparency • Dark Pharma Money in Politics

Amazon's Monopolism • Climate Transparency • Dark Pharma Money in Politics

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a free news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's available for iPhone and iPad. Find out more about the app at optout.news take our short audience a week… A U.S. secretary of state has died, a Supreme Court justice is facing scandal, the violence in Ukraine and Yemen continues, and...

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Dark Money's Influence on School Safety • Medicaid Purge • Anti-Trans Hate Machine

Dark Money's Influence on School Safety • Medicaid Purge • Anti-Trans Hate Machine

This is the newsletter of OptOut, a news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's currently in beta testing for iOS (download it Find out more about the app at optout.news week's newsletter is a little shorter than usual because we are busy getting ready to launch this app for iOS! Stay tuned! It’s been quite a week on...

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Frontline Workers, Local Media's Struggles, and Climate Urgency

Frontline Workers, Local Media's Struggles, and Climate Urgency

This is the weekly newsletter of OptOut, a news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's currently in beta testing for iOS (download it Find out more about the app at optout.news is thrilled to announce that our soft launch on the Apple App Store is just around the corner! We're putting the finishing touches on the first...

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Wirecutter Union Wins, AOC Meets Chomsky, and Jacqueline Keeler on Native Issues

Wirecutter Union Wins, AOC Meets Chomsky, and Jacqueline Keeler on Native Issues

This is the weekly newsletter of OptOut, a news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's currently in beta testing for iOS (download it Find out more about the app at optout.news could really use your help in spreading the word about OptOut as we prepare for launch. We'd be grateful if you can forward this to your friends...

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Climate Blunders, Local Gerrymandering, and Big Conservative Funder Bankrolls White Nationalists

Climate Blunders, Local Gerrymandering, and Big Conservative Funder Bankrolls White Nationalists

This is the weekly newsletter of OptOut, a news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's currently in beta testing (sign up Find out more about the app at optout.news could really use your help in spreading the word about OptOut as we prepare for launch. We'd be grateful if you can forward this to your friends and...

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Dems Keep Stumbling, Indigenous People's Day & Taking on the Bosses

Dems Keep Stumbling, Indigenous People's Day & Taking on the Bosses

This is the weekly newsletter of OptOut, a news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's under development. We'll be launching the beta version of the app for iPhone and iPad very soon! By subscribing to this newsletter, you'll have a chance to be a beta tester. Find out more about the app at optout.news could really use...

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🎉 Weekend Picks: We're 1! 🎂

🎉 Weekend Picks: We're 1! 🎂

This is the weekly newsletter of OptOut, a news aggregation app for exclusively independent media that's under development. Thanks for subscribing! We plan to launch a beta version of the app for iPhone in September and the full iPhone app in January. By subscribing to this newsletter, you'll have a chance to be a beta tester! Find out...

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Our Picks: Poultry Workers' Plight, Critical Race Theory, and Vaccine Apartheid

Our Picks: Poultry Workers' Plight, Critical Race Theory, and Vaccine Apartheid

Greetings, OptersOut! Last week was a doozy. Democrats have done the unthinkable and allowed the eviction moratorium to expire in a rush to take recess. Rep. Cori Bush and the Squad are leading a protest at the steps of the Capitol, but their colleagues appear to have given up on protecting Americans. Also coming up is the August...

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Weekend Picks: Rest in Peace, Mike Gravel

Weekend Picks: Rest in Peace, Mike Gravel

We are saddened to learn of the passing of former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel on Saturday. Gravel was a champion for justice, and his presence on this Earth will be sorely missed. Sen. Gravel was unshakably optimistic. He never stopped believing in our better nature as a nation—despite mountains of evidence to the contrary—and he...

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Weekend Picks: Remembering Tulsa, Climate, Labor, and the Media

Weekend Picks: Remembering Tulsa, Climate, Labor, and the Media

Hey there, OptersOut! This week we formalized our standards for participating outlets, which you can read here Our mission is to create a media ecosystem where people can find the news they need and know that it's fully independent, accurate, and free of conflicts of interest. Trust in media is at an all-time low in the U.S., and we...

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Weekend Picks: Biden's performance, more atrocities in Gaza, and the new podcast oligopoly

Weekend Picks: Biden's performance, more atrocities in Gaza, and the new podcast oligopoly

Hey there, OptersOut! We hope you’ve had a good week. Today we'll start with some housekeeping and then discuss the week's news, followed by a roundup of content from our exclusively independent OptOut media network. YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS NEWSLETTER ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. Good news: Our legal advisers have determined that your...

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Weekend Picks: Corporate Media's Distortion of Israel-Palestine

Weekend Picks: Corporate Media's Distortion of Israel-Palestine

Greetings, OptersOut! OptOut co-founders Alex and Walker here! In OptOut news, we had our first meeting with a potential grantor this week, and we've contacted dozens more. We need to raise a significant amount of money to launch our forthcoming app and hire staff for the long term, so if you'd like to help us out now with a tax-deductib

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