A tweet from Pope Leo XIV that reads: “When simulation becomes the norm, it weakens the human capacity for discernment. As a result, our social bonds close in upon themselves, forming self-referential circuits that no longer expose us to reality. We thus come to live within bubbles, impermeable to one another. Feeling threatened by anyone who is different, we grow unaccustomed to encounter and dialogue. In this way, polarization, conflict, fear and violence spread. What is at stake is not merely the risk of error, but a transformation in our very relationship with truth.”

Apparently the Pope has read Baudrillard.

It's the classic Mel Gibson and Jesus meme where Mel is on set in normal clothes casually chatting to a very bloody Jesus (for those of you who don't know it).

Mel Gibson pictured with his doctor in 2004

Imagine being an artist who profited for decades from an exploitative system, ignoring the publications that have been reporting on it day in and day out, and then penning a self-righteous essay in an academic journal about how the art world needs to wake up. Oh wait ...

It’s one thing to have to pay 50 cents for milk in your coffee. It’s another degree of humiliation altogether to have it be called a “Special Splash”…

What does “Economic-“ with the hyphen signify here?

For free, you can download Alarmy and choose the option that requires you to take a picture of something in your house. It’s literally the same thing but $0 instead of $65. It’s on the App Store.

Hyperallergic Hyperallergic is a forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking about art in the world today. Founded in 2009, Hyperallergic is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.

Hyperallergic is hiring! We're looking for an intrepid Associate Editor and Staff Reporter to join us full-time in our office in Brooklyn. If you're an experienced journalist who knows that art and politics are deeply intertwined, I encourage you to apply.

apply.workable.com/hyperallergi...

Epstein Files Expose the Depths of the Art World's Rot How do we empower arts leaders to reject funding from corrupt individuals in favor of donors who have proven themselves to be civic leaders?

I wrote about the Epstein files and what it teaches us about the rot in the art world.

a heavily armed paramilitary force with legal immunity is occupying a city and going door to door kidnapping non-white adults and children in furtherance of an explicitly white nationalist political project

We love to see it!

This is stunning. Listen to this in Philadelphia.

Thousands singing “Hey-Oh, we won’t be silent while our friends are gunned down.”

Really listen to it.

a profile drawing of Rodolfo Walsh with his quote “journalism is either free, or it is a farce” in Spanish

Rodolfo Walsh, the Argentine writer whose book “Operación masacre” (1957) is considered the first novel of investigative nonfiction (before Capote’s “In Cold Blood”), would have turned 99 yesterday if he hadn’t been shot and killed in Buenos Aires at the hands of the military dictatorship.

This reporting is so important. Thank you.

“AI processing your emails means sharing the content and metadata of those emails with Google’s cloud-based Gemini. While Google has denied that this data is used to train its AI, it’s certainly available to it.“

Bought the audiobook thanks to this podcast. Thank you!

Five Venezuelan Artists Respond to US Attacks Artists and art workers in the diaspora shared a mix of emotions, from hope of a better future to anger over the unsanctioned intervention and fear of what’s to come.

Five Venezuelan artists in the diaspora shared their thoughts with us in the aftermath of the US attacks.

We are trying to reach artists in Venezuela, but many are afraid to speak. If you’d like to speak confidentially, you can reach me on Signal: valentinadl.67

hyperallergic.com/five-venezue...

Or maybe he colluded with Delcy Rodriguez

Lo que muere en Caracas Con el ataque a Venezuela, Trump cree estar mostrando fuerza cuando en realidad está destruyendo el único recurso que EE UU aún tenía: la legitimidad

“Lo que validamos por conveniencia hoy será precedente mañana. Si ofrecemos cobertura moral al bombardeo de Caracas porque Maduro ‘se lo merece’, el mecanismo ya está disponible para cualquier otro escenario.“

elpais.com/opinion/2026...

The automated sexual abuse that Musk is doing right now should be national news. People should be going to prison for this shit. The logical conclusion to generative image creation and the internet, pure public automatic violence. Every Pizzagate fear just out in the open.

There are very good sources on the death toll in Palestine, including pro-Israel ones. They don’t deny the killings. The statistics are not in question.

If only! Here in Florida, he was treated to a motorcade, applause, and cheers. Not to mention major street blocks on the last day of the year -_-

It more than bothers me. What Hamas did horrifies me. But Israel has now killed approximately 70,000 people, including children. No allegiance to a government, a religion, or a vengeance is worth those precious lives.

Favorite sign.

Forced away from a prominent spot on the sidewalk, protesters continued to march down Harding Ave, even as passersby spewed hateful insults like “Hamas lovers.”

Dozens of cops stood between them. Blocks and blocks of this typically quiet Miami Beach neighborhood were closed off for Bibi’s visit.

They were massively outnumbered by Pro-Israel counter-protesters including one who ripped up a sign – but they stood their ground calmly and peacefully

Small but loud and proud group of Palestine solidarity activists protesting Netanyahu’s visit to Surfside, Miami Beach on 12/31. Happy new year and Free Palestine.

Celebrate Public Domain Day with Betty Boop and Piet Mondrian "The Little Engine That Could," a Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel collaboration, and many other works are now free to use and reuse.

January 1 might ring in a new year, but it's also a day when copyright protections expire for a bunch of cool old stuff that we can now freely access, republish, reinterpret, and revitalize.

HAPPY MAYOR MAMDANI DAY to all who celebrate!

Trump Spent 2025 Making Trans Lives Unlivable. It’s Time for Democrats to Defend Them. Elected Democrats haven’t done nearly enough to oppose attacks on gender-affirming care. They risk being on the wrong side of history.

Trump Spent 2025 Making Trans Lives Unlivable. It’s Time for Democrats to Defend Them.
theintercept.com/2025/12/31/t... last column of the year @theintercept.com