Notices by Ben Werdmuller (ben@werd.social)

We rise together or we fall together. Every human. All of us.

This one will hurt: I love 1Password as a product. But I'm the son of a concentration camp survivor. I will not give money to companies that align themselves with nationalism, and certainly not ethnic cleansing. Completely disappointing, @1password. https://www.flyingpenguin.com/dhh-nazism-funded-by-1password-vp-who-wrote-honest-security/

First day of school! Excited and a bit nervous to dive into the Stanford JSK Fellowship. Being here is a gift. There’s lots to do but the first order of business is getting to know the rest of my cohort. I can’t wait to meet them.

This all seems like really great progress! Kudos @Mastodon! https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/08/5.0-laying-the-foundation/

I had high hopes for the Clacton by-election. Gross that a far-right nationalist candidate would get 63% of the vote anywhere, but a 26.9% of the electorate preferring a man with a bin on his head is not nothing.

"Citing a ProPublica report on Paramount providing luxury Kennedy Center gala tickets to FCC officials, the complaints note that commissioners accepted the gifts while the FCC was reviewing or about to review megamergers involving Paramount." https://www.propublica.org/article/fcc-paramount-gifts-brendan-carr-ethics-complaint-warner-bros-merger

"After losing their jobs at NOAA, Rebecca Lindsey, her sister and another colleague teamed up to rebuild a pivotal resource the Trump administration took offline." #Democracy https://werd.io/climate-gov-was-destroyed-open-data-saved-it/

I appreciate the Mitch McConnell jokes, I do, but it appears that they’re trying to stretch this out until after an August 3rd deadline that would mean there wouldn’t be an election to fill his seat until after the midterms, which would be a pretty egregious subversion of democracy. And maybe we should be saying that a little louder.

We're hiring a new technical support specialist to join @ProPublica's enterprise technology team.

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize winning non-profit newsroom that investigates abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business, and other institutions - so you're helping support an incredible mission with some unique technical challenges. It's a meaningful place to work and make a difference.

https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/jobs/4388907006

#getfedihired #amhiring #job #tech #journalism

I've rarely seen newsroom business teams discuss metrics like LTV, CAC, and even ARR outside fundraising or finance. They should be commonly known. #Business https://werd.io/startups-track-business-metrics-newsrooms-should-learn-from-them/

All snark aside, I do love America. The Declaration of Independence - 250 years ago! - was genuinely important. Most places you go, the people are kind, community-minded, and optimistic. One day, eventually, they will have an equitable government that redresses wrongs and provides real support.

My entire political worldview is: what if you could maintain the optimism and energy of America but add an inclusive culture of support that gives everyone education, healthcare, a real safety net and a springboard for their lives, in a way that builds communities rather than extracts from them?

It's not our current reality, but I'm certain we can get there.

One day, we'll look back, and the corporatism, the militarism, the racism, and the subjugation will be a thing of the past. In their place will be thriving communities. And, finally, all of this will be great.

My Great Grandfather, David Monas, was General Manager of the Pennsylvania Joint Board of the Amalgamated Shirt Workers. I grew up with union songs. To this day, I believe being anti-union is one of the worst things you can be.

I know they say be the change you want to see in the world, but sometimes the change I want to see is that there isn’t a punk cover of Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine’s Conga, and I just don’t think this is my calling

A right-wing media chain bought local papers, replaced their journalists with AI, and died. Now their communities are left to plug the gaps. #Media https://werd.io/a-right-wing-media-chain-tried-to-replace-47-newspapers-with-ai-they-all-died/

The paper that popularized the idea of carbon capture as a way to fight climate change was heavily sponsored and shaped by BP. In reality, there's no conceivable way it can work. https://www.propublica.org/article/wedges-climate-research-bp-fossil-fuel-princeton

I’m very sorry to hear this. One of the most important voices in blogging, tech journalism, and then the wider industry, and always with a conscience, thoughtfulness, and kindness. https://om.co/2026/06/24/1966-2026/

The unusually long sentences criminalize being an anti-fascist activist, reading the wrong zines, and using the wrong communication apps. They're incredibly dangerous. #Democracy https://werd.io/signs-youre-a-dangerous-terrorist-using-signal-moving-zines/

"The problem tends to show up when a CEO is handed an agentic tool like Claude Code, and has it create something, which will work just fine, and thinks “oh, wait, why do we need so many people, when I can just sit here and make things work?”

This is a bad CEO." #AI https://werd.io/the-honest-truth-about-leaders-who-want-to-replace-their-workers-with-ai/