Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

Happy Election Day Eve, everybody! 

Kicking it off with some personal news: I’m now a columnist for MSNBC! Yes, I’m very excited. Yes, I’ve been on TV (just once, but hopefully more soon.) And fear not: I plan to keep up with The Handbasket because I enjoy it, and I’ve also been around the media block long enough to know that maintaining your own independent online presence is crucial.

And speaking of online presence, you may have heard a certain short-form social network is experiencing some, shall we say, growing pains. Or maybe shrinking pains would be more accurate. Regardless, I’ve [embarrassingly] spent the better part of 13 years as an active Twitter user, and it has, for better or worse, shaped a lot of my life. My first full-time writing gig? I tweeted at the editor-in-chief and asked if he needed a new writer. Once I tweeted that I liked Blue Moon beer and this guy asked me out for a round and we dated for a couple of months. I somehow met a few of my dearest friends in the hellscape. Basically the only reason a handful of strangers have the foggiest idea of who I am is because of Twitter, and for all its flaws, I’m mostly grateful. And with Elon at the helm, it looks like the party could very soon be over.

I’m not going to write some sappy eulogy for a tech platform that used my free content as its product. And I’m not going to say goodbye, because for all we know this will be like a Y2K situation and things will stay more or less the same. Maybe Twitter has simply run its course, like AOL and palm pilots and Tamagotchis before it, and it’s time to say farewell. But with an imminent election, rampant antisemitism and the spread of fascism around the world, it sure is a scary time for an important source of information to be so unsteady. 

But I know the real lingering question is whether I’ll sign up for Mastodon, the Twitter-esque site that isn’t owned by the son of an apartheid South Africa emerald mine owner. The short version is that I did, and was so woefully confused that I fled. Perhaps when Elon unleashes his true revolution, I’ll give it another go.

Here’s my latest work…

Women under 25 could be the MVPs of the midterms (MSNBC)

Tish James on Her Decision to Get an Abortion, the Post-Roe Future, and the Midterms (Teen Vogue)

In Kari Lake and Tudor Dixon, the GOP offers a cynical alternative to Trump (MSNBC)

How a Trump-supporting election-denier has gained footing in this solidly blue state (MSNBC)

Please read, please share, and please let me know your thoughts. If Twitter goes to hell, I need to know I can count on my Basketeers.