Nixon's Drunken Run-Ins With the Bomb Nixon’s final years as president sucked for Nixon. As the Watergate scandal intensified, the president can hardly be blamed for having reached for a drink. But apparently, the situation was so bad that when Nixon fell victim to growing bouts of insomnia and fits of drunken rage, some Washington insiders started taking bets on when […]

In times like these, always good to read this superb article about the intersection of an out of control President and the use of nuclear weapons. @laicie.bsky.social

inkstickmedia.com/nixons-drunk...

Trump’s Proposed Military Spending Would Be a “Bloody New Deal” If passed and sustained, President Trump’s new defense budget could become the largest discretionary spending increase in modern US history.

My amazing @scovillepf.bsky.social @seantmanning.bsky.social has a new @ucs.org piece on what he appropriately calls Trump's "Bloody New Deal," i.e., his proposal to dump $1.5 trillion into military spending, a massive 66% increase. See: blog.ucs.org/sean-manning...

Trump and Hegseth can’t even justify their $1.5 TRILLION defense budget ask—a staggering $500 BILLION INCREASE.

Congress should flat-out reject it.
 
An unserious request like this invites waste and abuse, and risks blowing up the bipartisan appropriations process altogether.

Are Addresses of Northrop Grumman's Missile Plants a Secret? Utah Says So. A Utah government attorney told a judge that addresses for nuclear missile manufacturing facilities posed national security risks. But Inkstick published them years ago.

#nukesky Our latest @inkstickmedia.com updates from Utah and its nuclear weapons plants, which the government recently tried to claim were... secret.

inkstick.substack.com/p/are-addres...

Tuning into the State of the Union address? Follow us for fact checks in real-time. 🫡

Coming soon: healthcare coupons

Wow.

Anduril’s planned autonomous weapons factory in rural Ohio is projected to destroy/reroute wetlands and waterways - so the Ohio EPA went ahead and approved a “lowering of water quality” for the area.

In order to protect “economic considerations”

sciotovalleyguardian.com/2026/01/16/o...

Exclusive: We Followed the Money to Raytheon in North Carolina We got hundreds of pages of public records about a controversial deal to offer tens of millions of state and local subsidies to a new Raytheon/Pratt & Whitney plant in Asheville.

@tkbarnes.bsky.social reports: “Raytheon was allowed to claim about half a million dollars in tax refunds for jobs it did not create due to a loophole in its economic development contract with Buncombe County.”

Winners - Signal Awards The Signal Awards seeks to honor and celebrate the people and content that raise the bar for podcasting.Luminaries and leaders within the industry will judge Shows, Limited Series & Specials, Individu...

We’re over the moon — Things That Go Boom just picked up 8 Signal Awards! 🥇🥈🥉

Including Gold for Public Service and Conversation Starter — plus Writing and Best Host!

Huge thanks to everyone who voted and supported our work. 💛
signalaward.com/winners

#SignalAwards #PodcastAwards

OMGGGGGG you guys, we won EIGHT @signalawards.bsky.social!!!

Deep Dive: The US Aid Fueling Israel's Two-Year Gaza War A new report takes a hard look at the at least $21.7 billion in American military aid to Israel during its war on Gaza.

A new report takes a hard look at the at least $21.7 billion in American military aid to Israel during its war on Gaza.

inkstickmedia.com/deep-dive-th...

@laicie.bsky.social @joecirin.bsky.social: This new reality requires new thinking: old theories don't really fit what we're in right now. We're in a new nuclear arms race, the first since the 1980s... our goal has to be to minimize those losses and prevent the worst from happening.

My panel (with @jonatomic.bsky.social, Mallory Stewart & @laicie.bsky.social) starts at 5:30pm ET. I am going to try out my new analysis of how the most dangerous feature of our current nuclear age is that authoritarian regimes now control almost of the world's nuclear weapons. Love to get feedback.

‘Let’s Go Bash Some Skulls’: Inside the Militarization of Trump’s America As the Trump administration expands its push to militarize US cities, critics rail against the heavy-handed impact on marginalized groups.

Trump said he and Hegseth talked about using U.S. cities as “training grounds.” Unfortunately, this @inkstickmedia.com story feels even timelier now.

Coming Soon: MIC Drop We’re watching — in DC, LA, Chicago — what happens when the military comes to town. But what about the military that’s been there all along?

A brand new season of #ThingsThatGoBoom from @inkstickmedia.com and @prx.org is coming soon! (And we're talking about the military-industrial complex.) inkstickmedia.com/coming-soon-...

Write Before Midnight Announcing the Bulletin's new short fiction contest! You have until September 30 to send in your stories. At what time you ask? It couldn't be midnight, could it?

You have two weeks to submit your story to the Bulletin's first-ever writing contest, judged by acclaimed sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson.

No fee to enter. Winners will be published in our January magazine. The first place winner will receive $3,000, with $500 each going to four runners-up.

Yeah that’s it, no more work today, Taylor Swift is getting married.

this is why everyone I know isn’t having kids btw

About Inkstick Media is an award-winning nonprofit newsroom that covers war where it lands: in people’s lives. We dig into the places where power hides — defense budgets dressed up as jobs programs, corpora...

Snuck in a new 'About' page over @inkstickmedia.com — It was due for a refresh. inkstickmedia.com/about/

Broadcasting Studio Equipment Washington DC An international broadcast company has ceased operations in the United States and will make a complete liquidation of their late model digital radio, video and podcast technology assets, studio equipm...

This is absolutely heartbreaking. As a colleague said, the appropriate title is "For Sale: VOA." rasmus.com/auctions/fUN...

Hi who else is listening to their kids’ favorite show on repeat?

Italy to issue half million non-EU work visas over next three years The move is part of a strategy to expand legal immigration channels in response to labor shortages.

I had to read this twice to believe it...Meloni, who ran for office on an anti-immigration platform, has now announced plans to let in hundreds of thousands of immigrants, in order to deal with the Italian labor shortage
www.reuters.com/world/italy-...

Inside the US Military’s 'Dehumanization' Crisis Under Trump As the Trump administration slashes counterextremism programs, veterans worry about the risks that could follow.

As the Trump administration slashes counterextremism programs, veterans worry about the risks.

By: @tylerfromtexas.bsky.social

inkstickmedia.com/inside-the-u...

2025 NATO summit group photo.

So very many men.

You guys, I got a little distracted (I can't imagine why) and forgot to tell you: We won an IWPA!!

Watching the NATO press conference: We should really stop asking regular people why they can't keep facts straight. This isn't about media literacy; they're stuck in the middle of an information war.

“Well Mr. President at least we don’t have to worry about Iran for another few…” *checks notes* “months. Another few months.”

I guess ‘reducing nuclear threats’ doesn’t sound like such a silly idea now, huh?

Things That Go Boom News Podcast · Updated Semiweekly · Stories about the ins, outs, and whathaveyous of what keeps us safe. Hosted by Laicie Heeley.

Oh hey if you wanna go back and listen to a whole season about why pulling out of the JCPOA during Trump’s first term was a terrible idea and would probably lead to war, we did that here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... (Season two.)

Table of Iran's Missile Arsenal Iran has over 3,000 ballistic missiles, the largest arsenal in the Middle East. This table presents the known capabilities of Iran's major missile systems.

In case you find yourself wondering tonight, a handy table of Iran’s max missile ranges: www.iranwatch.org/our-publicat...