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fredmkaplan.bsky.social
Slate's War Stories columnist; author of The Bomb, Dark Territory, The Insurgents, 1959, Daydream Believers, The Wizards of Armageddon, and--most recently--A Capital Calamity (a novel); also jazz critic for Tracking Angle.
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What Trump and Putin really talked about for more than 2 hours. (It wasn't about peace in Ukraine.) slate.com/news-and-pol...

slate.com/news-and-pol...

Just saw “Sinners.” Amazing film. Learned afterward it was shot in IMAX but will be showing in just 8 IMAX theaters starting 5/15 for just 1 week. True? Why so few, for so little time? Anybody know?

I wonder how many listening devices are in the plane that Qatar gave Trump to use as AF One.

Will Trump get his own Iran nuke deal? Not likely. Here's why. slate.com/news-and-pol...

What Trump's cabinet shuffle really means. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Bryan Stevenson saying what needs to be said.

Trump's "strongman" views are making him - and America - weaker. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Trump's new peace plan = Ukraine's surrender. slate.com/news-and-pol...

My Slate column on what Rubio means by "moving on" from Ukraine--and how Putin is outflanking Trump on all negotiating fronts. slate.com/news-and-pol...

My Slate column on the many calamities of the Trump Team Signal chat. slate.com/news-and-pol...

I'm on the River Radio podcast, talking about Trump, Hegseth, Ukraine, Gaza, and a little bit on my satirical novel A CAPITAL CALAMITY. Fun interview, covers a lot of ground in 25 min. www.buzzsprout.com/1578190/epis...

Here, you need this today: a brand-new track by the David Murray Quartet, inspired by birdsong. The lead single from his first major-label release in almost 35 years. You're welcome!

Maybe Trump isn't keen to throw Ukraine under the bus. The Jeddah ceasefire deal favors Zelensky and puts Putin in a corner. My Slate essay: slate.com/news-and-pol...

My Slate essay on why France has good reasons for wanting to replace the US as Europe's "nuclear umbrella," and what could go wrong with that. slate.com/news-and-pol...

The disastrous consequences of Trump's intel-shutdown for Ukraine, and the feebleness of his threat to sanction Russia. slate.com/news-and-pol...

My Slate column on the lies, distortions, and one maybe-bright spot in the foreign policy section of Trump's speech. slate.com/news-and-pol...

LA Review Of Books likens my satirical novel, A CAPITAL CALAMITY, to Wag the Dog, calls it "ruefully funny..trenchant about the army of mediocrities in high places." Joe Weisberg, The Americans' creator, hails it as "a joyful romp when we need satire more than ever." www.amazon.com/Capital-Cala...

My Slate column on the disastrous Trump-Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office. Its broader implications--and what happens next. slate.com/news-and-pol...

My Slate column on how Trump's foreign policy has gone a bridge too far, adopting Putin's most pernicious propaganda and allying the US with Russia. There are dangers here beyond the obvious ones. slate.com/news-and-pol...

My Slate column on how Trump's high-level military firings send several disturbing messages--to officers of all ranks, races, and genders, and to the troops serving under them. slate.com/news-and-pol...

+1. So smart, funny and engaging, with a locomotive plot.

Trump fired the CJCS because he’s Black, and fired the CNO because she’s a woman, assuming that they’d been promoted because of their race or gender, not for their competence, which is very racist and sexist; it has nothing to do with DEI.

LAReviewofBooks.bsky.social hails my novel A CAPITAL CALAMITY as "ruefully funny...in the tradition of such knowing political satires as 'Wag the Dog'...as entertaining as it is unsettling...its plot and pacing are so brisk and involving." lareviewofbooks.org/article/game...

My Slate column on the shocking sight of Trump's total capitulation to Putin and shameful betrayal of Ukraine, Europe (and, by extension, much of the world). slate.com/news-and-pol...

My review in TrackingAngle of Sullivan Fortner buoyant new piano-trio album, "Southern Nights" (because there's more in the world than just Trump): trackingangle.com/music/sulliv...

Trump takes a wrecking ball to the Euro-American alliance, thus fulfilling Russia's age-old fantasy. slate.com/news-and-pol...