Movies & TV Alien: Earth Alien: Earth Stacks Betrayal Upon Betrayal in “Emergence” The aliens were good again this week. By Leah Schnelbach | Published on September 17, 2025 Credit: FX / Hulu Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: FX / Hulu Episode Seven of Alien: Earth is titled “Emergence” and was written by Noah Hawley and Maria Melnik and directed by Dana Gonzales. Let’s Dissect a Still-Quivering Facehugger We begin in Slightly’s room, where Slightly has stashed Arthur under his bed with the sheet pulled down to hide him. You can imagine how disappointed I was when I saw they hadn’t stayed in the air duct, but one can’t have everything in this life. It was also a brilliant way to underscore just how much of a child Slightly is, and to twist the knife a little harder that he’s being manipulated so cruelly by Morrow. But not nearly as hard as the knife twist when poor Slightly tries to help Arthur drink some green juice through a straw, then panics as the facehugger tightens its grip on his neck. Smee shows up and pounds on the door until Slightly lets him in. Smee sees him. Smee freaks out. But within moments Smee has been roped into helping carry Arthur down to the beach. There follows a tonal tightrope that I really enjoyed. The two boys dart through hallways carrying Arthur between them, ducking around soldiers, and generally behaving like an even darker version of Weekend at Bernie’s, until they run into Kirsh. He seems disappointed in them for not thinking to take the secure elevator—that’s the quickest route to the beach. They scurry through the jungle, and when they see armed guards they drop Arthur’s body and hide behind some bushes. When the coast is clear, they realize that somehow, Arthur’s body disappeared. Then the shell of the facehugger falls on them from a tree, and there’s Arthur, groggy but seemingly fine. As they walk to the beach, they feed Arthur lies about an evacuation and gas leak to try keep him moving, while he muses on his fight with Dame, and how he doesn’t want that to be her last memory of him. And then, for a moment, the show goes full 90s sitcom: Arthur tells the boys he knows they’re lying to him, that he loves them, and that what they’re going to do is go back to the facility and tell him what’s going on so he can help them. He holds out his hands so they can walk together, tells them everything’s going to be OK… and the baby Xenomorph explodes out of his chest and he collapses screaming and choking on his own blood. Credit: FX / Hulu Slightly runs after the alien but loses it in the bushes. Smee screams at Slightly because he said Arthur was going to be okay. Both boys are covered in blood and terrified. In the end, there’s not much else to do but carry Arthur’s corpse to the beach anyway. Meanwhile. Kirsh finds Isaac’s body (and it’s notable that Kirsch calls him Isaac, and only switches to “Tootles” when Boy Kavalier doesn’t know who the hell “Isaac” is), supervises the workers who capture the Alien Flies, and then calls Boy Kavalier in to look at the tape. Unsurprisingly, as soon as the Boy Genius sees that Optipus Sheep knowingly sabotaged Isaac, he insists on holding a private interview with the alien. But before they can talk, Wendy shows up. She’s shocked and horrified that Isaac is dead, and that the Lost Boys can even die. Kirsh and Boy Kavalier try to stop her from storming out of the lab to warn her siblings, but she chirps at the Xenomorph and it bangs on the glass at her request. Seeing Boy Kavalier realize, if only for a second, that he may have made an error is pretty sweet. Joe goes to Wendy, and she agrees to his escape plan. She insists on collecting the other kids, but Curly digs in her heels and refuses to leave. Never Land is the best place she’s ever lived. Nibs wants to stay, then decides that if she stays she’ll get eaten by bugs and become a ghost, and comes along anyway, clutching her doll. Wendy, being really really intelligent, and also able to hack the island’s computer system, turns her Teen Xenomorph loose. That should buy them some time. The meeting at the beach does not go well. Morrow rises from the water with a whole team of soldiers, coordinating with other spots on the island. He sneers at Slightly, who says that as an adult he has to own up to it when he’s made a mistake. Then he takes Smee and Slightly hostage and marches them back toward the facility. Boy Kavalier and Kirsh confront Dame Sylvia, who insists she knew nothing about Arthur giving Joe the boat codes. Boy Kavalier storms out of the room and snaps at Kirsh to be useful. He regards Dame Sylvia, who regards him back. Joe, Wendy, and Nibs come upon a graveyard where the Lost Boys’ human bodies were buried, with markers and everything. Joe tries to clean Marcy’s grave, Nibs crouches on her and muses that she didn’t really survive, Wendy stares at Marcy’s headstone. They keep going. Meanwhile, the Baby Xenomorph who just vacated Arthur’s chest cavity has been trapped by Boy Kavalier’s soldiers. And Boy Kavalier is— For fucks sake. Boy Kavalier’s moved Optipus Sheep into another room. He stands in front of it, staring into its eye, and speaking with it. Atom Eins tries to suggest that all of this is a bad idea, but as usual Boy does not listen to Atom Eins. He demands a pen, writes pi, and asks Optipus to indicate the next number. Optipus does so, first with hoof stomps, then with shit. Naturally Boy Kavalier responds to this display of alien intelligence by deciding it’ll be a swell idea to move Optipus into a better body—“someone who can talk, and use a toilet”—and as Atom Eins says he’ll compile a list, Boy Kavalier’s eyes light up and he says he’s thought of someone. It’s Joe, right? Unless he’s going to go grab Dame Sylvia for this. Or maybe Boy’s decided he wants Atom Optipus as an advisor. Meanwhile, Dame’s asleep on a chair—okay what’s going on? Why is everyone acting so weird in this episode. The kids have escaped, your husband’s been driven off the island (as far as you know), you were just threatened by a synth, and you’ve fallen asleep curled up in a chair like a mom reading a boring book club pick? She wakes up because Curly’s standing in front of her crying, and even though she should know that the kids’ trackers are off, and that Isaac is dead, Dame seems confused that Curly is upset. The girl climbs into the chair and she holds her, and Curly calls her “Mum”. Credit: FX / Hulu Joe, Wendy, and Nibs are stopped by more of Morrow’s soldiers, which does not go well for them when Wendy chirps at her Large Xenomorph Son and he annihilates them. Nibs is excited, Joe is horrified, Wendy wipes the blood off the Xenomorph’s face and tells it to follow them but stay hidden. At least, she thinks that’s what she told it. Morrow marches Slightly and Smee into the facility, only to find a large portion of Prodigy’s security forces waiting for him, along with Kirsh, who’s holding the new baby Xenomorph in an adorable little cat carrier. Morrow holds a gun to Slightly’s head but Kirsh tells him that nobody likes a sore loser, and Morrow gives up. Kirsh tells the boys that they’re grounded. Joe, Wendy, and Nibs reach the boat. Unsurprisingly, Joe’s fellow Search & Rescue people are lying in wait, along with a bunch of other security forces. One of them throws Nibs’ doll in the water so she tears the woman’s heart out, then starts to wring Siberian’s neck. Wendy starts to call the Xenomorph, Joe stops her, and then shoots Nibs with his energy gun, seemingly frying and killing her. “WHAT DID YOU DO???” Wendy screams at her brother, who appears to have chosen a side. In This Space, Everyone Can Hear My Opinions Outstanding in its field. (Credit: FX / Hulu) I’m severely disappointed in the lack of ducts this week. As fun as it is to see the Xenomorph rustling around in trees and grasses, it’s just doesn’t have the same kick as when one camouflages itself in a big mess of industrial tubes. With that out of the way, I have a lot of feelings about this week’s episode. One of my concerns as the show races toward its finale is the the last few episodes could feel either overstuffed, or like they were padding. This one, at times, felt like both. The idea that multiple troops of kids could wander around the island, with soldiers occasionally spawning out of nowhere, but then not seeing the assorted hybrids duck behind bushes, began to feel a little, um, Keystone Cops-esque to me. I’m frustrated by the idea that Joe though he could walk to the boat in broad daylight with no plan, and that there wouldn’t be any security measures—even with the codes, each hybrid is seen as property and costs billions of dollars, obviously even if they somehow got off the island, they’d then be hunted by one of the five richest people on Earth. I’m also suffering whiplash from Kirsh’s decisions. He used Slightly as bait, I guess? But how could he know that Morrow would come back to the facility with the boys, that his team would catch the chestburster first, that Arthur would die before reaching the rendezvous point, etc. etc? What happened when he was left alone with Dame Sylvia? Did he tell her about her husband? Is he actually plotting against Boy Kavalier at all, or simply observing? Credit: FX / Hulu As for what I loved this week, everything to do with Slightly, Smee, Arthur, and the chestburster was perfect. The way the two Lost Boys act like kids who are hiding something from their parents in a sitcom, the way Arthur tries to impart Dad Wisdom right before he explodes, the mercilessness of Morrow, Slightly speedrunning his own personal LARP of Come and See, Smee losing it over Arthur’s corpse on the beach—all of it was harrowing and hilarious and perfect. Especially, I thought, that the show stay with Arthur’s body after the soldiers marched the boys away. The fact that the camera held on Arthur’s face as he sank under the water was a beautiful reminder that he was, in fact, a human person. He didn’t deserve any of this. This is made worse when we see that the his last attempt at doing something good has been, most likely, completely thwarted by Prodigy’s security forces. Joe was set on getting Wendy off the island because he still thought of her as his sister. He already didn’t care about the other Lost Boys. And between finding the children’s graves, seeing Wendy communicate with the alien, and finally watching Nibs attack a human, it seems like a switch finally flipped for him. I think he’s thrown in his lot with the meatbags. BUT. Unlike Joe, seeing Wendy speak with her Long Teen Xenomorph Son filled me with joy. And watching Boy Kavalier think that he can actually forge a relationship with Optipus makes me very hopeful for next week’s episode. I want her to burrow into the Boy Genius’s head And I want her to become THE PRESIDENT OF EARTH. On Immort(AI)lity Credit: FX / Hulu Nibs decides to come with them because she doesn’t want to “become a ghost”, but when the group stumbles upon the Lost Boy graveyard, it forces her to wonder if she’s too late. Nibs sees her old name, her Before name, on a tombstone that was carefully placed over a body that she kind of remembers. “We’re here,” Wendy reassures her. “I don’t think I am any more,” Nibs replies. And then we see, once again, that a hybrid can be fried. This is after, if I understood correctly, Kirsh informed Boy Kavalier that they hadn’t made a copy of Isaac yet, so presumably this is real, permanent, death. Once again the Boy Genius has turned in an half-assed a project. But are these the kids? Or copies of brain patterns? Is Arthur right, that he and Dame are just complicit in their murder? The kids think they’re the kids. Curly calls Dame “Mum”. Nibs flips out because someone throws her toy away. But they’re not just behaving like they’ve been programmed to act like any human children—Wendy responds instantly to threats against her brother, just as Slightly does when Morrow threatens his mother. Boredom’s Not a Burden Anyone Should Bear This week’s episode ended on one of my favorite songs ever, Queens of the Stone Age’s “A Song for the Dead”, off their 2002 stone cold fucking classic Songs for the Deaf. But is it for Arthur, or Nibs, or everyone on that island? David 8 Was Right Credit: FX / Hulu Kirsh has hung back and observed, taunted Morrow enough to make this war even more personal than it already was, used Slightly as bait, secured the second chestburster, saved Slightly and Smee from Morrow, and, I assume, deployed the security forces to head Joe, Wendy, and Nibs off. All while Boy Kavalier makes googly eyes at an alien that wants to colonize his brain, Joe screws up a not-very-good escape plan, and all the hybrids fall apart emotionally. Well, except Wendy, who seems to be considering switching the alien team herself. Whatever Happened to “Save the Cat”? Credit: FX / Hulu I don’t want Boy Kavalier to offer Optipus some other, human, less-cute body! Get away from her! Leave her in the sheep! Scattered Transmissions in the Void of Space! Credit: FX / Hulu Everyone’s acting this week is incredible. I don’t think I’ve said that enough, but Alex Lawther and Timothy Olyphant seem to be an Acting Through Micro-Expression arms race, and whoever loses, we all win. Erana James, Lily Newmark, Adarsh Gourav, and Jonathan Ajayi are all pulling off an extraordinary at balancing being children in adult bodies who are trying to act like adults, and this week Gourav and Ajayi’s terror and panic over Arthur’s death was heartbreaking. And David Rysdahl as Arthur!!! Joe’s perspective: Instead of leaving for med school on Mars, this promising young doctor was trapped in service to the Prodigy Corporation, was rescued a synth who is seemingly also his dead sister while being attacked by aliens, was threatened personally by the richest person on the planet (who also removed his lung??), watched his sister commune with an alien, betrayed the richest person on the planet to try and free her, and has now begun to think that this isn’t his sister at all, but rather a synthetic clone. Wendy’s perspective: She kept an eye on Joe throughout all their time apart, watched Ice Age with him remotely, nurtured her memories of their childhood together, rescued him from an alien, shared her abilities with him, talked the richest person into the world into letting them live together again, facilitated getting him off an island full of dangerous people, and has now been betrayed utterly by the one person she thought she could trust. This is a world where if your corporate overlord fires you, you have to say goodbye to your wife forever. I realize I’m not so hot on humanity at the moment, but I still think I’m on Wendy’s side here. Just because Joe gets squeamish around a little alien carnage, that’s no reason to betray your possibly-a-clone sister during the escape YOU pushed for. And who wouldn’t want an alien? I bet this one could be good. If there isn’t an after credits scene of Wendy getting the Xenomorph a pup cup next week, I’m going to be super pissed. Quotes! Credit: FX / Hulu Curly (to Wendy, about Boy Kavalier): “Don’t talk about him like you understand him.” Kirsh (to Smee and Slightly): “What are you doing going that way? The quickest way to the beach is the secure elevator.” Arthur Sylvia (to Smee and Slightly): “It’s going to be OK.” [alien bursts from chest] Boy Kavalier (to Atom Eins, about Optipus): “You’re right! We should switch it into a person, someone who can talk, and use a toilet—one of the scientists maybe? No, a mold-scrubber! Someone with a low IQ so we can see the difference!” Morrow: “This isn’t over.” Kirsh: “Nothing ever is.” Kirsh (to Smee and Slightly): “You two are grounded.” [end-mark] The post <em>Alien: Earth</em> Stacks Betrayal Upon Betrayal in “Emergence” appeared first on Reactor.

Books Short Fiction Spotlight Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: August 2025 By Alex Brown | Published on September 17, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share As someone who works in a school in Southern California, August and September are chaotic months with too much to do competing with weeks of baking heat and an overwhelming desire to be back on summer vacation. I usually set aside a couple hours every week to indulge in short speculative fiction, and let me tell you, after the month I just had, these moments were an emotional refuge. Here are the ten science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories that kept me going in August. “The Barrens” by Octavia Cade I know, I know, this is from July, but I missed it when it first came out. There are a couple others from the summer on this list that were just too good to skip. “The Barrens” is about an epidemic of people growing sea urchins in their eyes until they pop out of their head and die. The narrator is, unexpectedly, kind of into it. It’s pretty gross, if you’re like me and get really uncomfortable with eyeball-related horror, but it was also interesting from a scientific standpoint. Here in California, our kelp forests have been gutted by sea urchins, which in turn is collapsing whole marine ecosystems. I didn’t know New Zealand was dealing with the same issue with the creatures they call kina—different echinoderms (strongylocentrotus purpuratus vs evechinus chloroticus), same problem. (Three-Lobed Burning Eye—July 2025; issue 25) “Bunny Ears” by Kristina Ten Thirteen-year-old Hannah is packed off to Colden Hills Music Camp, a summer camp that seems to have neither hills nor music. She’s not unpopular enough to be bullied or interesting enough to be included in friend group activities, so she’s ignored by campers and counselors alike. Then she hears an urban legend about former campers who were abandoned by their parents and started sewing things onto their scalps to imitate bunny ears (for those who don’t know, bunny ears is when you make a peace sign with your fingers and prank someone by putting them up behind their head in a photo to make it look like they have bunny ears). That’s when Kristina Ten takes a sharp turn. Real Lord of the Flies vibes with this one. I guess there’s a reason it was published in a horror magazine. (Nightmare—August 2025; issue 155) “Carmilla, or, the Making of a Girl” by Divya Kernan Divya Kernan refashions the part of Bram Stoker’s Dracula where the world’s most famous vampire sails across the Atlantic with his grave dirt and gradually eats everyone on the ship into a tale of queer longing. The protagonist isn’t Drac but a teen girl with an all-consuming hunger. Her appetite is not just for food but flesh as well, and there is plenty of both on this ship. Hollywood directors, take note: if you’re going to take a work of classic literature and turn it into an erotic thriller, this is how you do it. (Baffling—July 2025; issue 22) “Finer than Silk, Brighter than Snow” by Shveta Thakrar On the banks of the Sarasvati River, an old laundress labors over the clothes of the wealthy. One day while trying to stave off the boredom that comes from doing a job you hate, she encounters a talking snake. It offers her legends and poetry in exchange for never asking it any personal questions, but her curiosity gets the better of her. As much as this is a story about stories, it’s also about cultural appropriation and the theft of culture by those whose only interest is exploitation. (Uncanny—July/August 2025; issue 65) “The Hungry Mouth at the Edge of Space and the Goddess Knitting at Home” by Renan Bernardo The crew of the spaceship the Sopinha de Feijão are dead, and the captain isn’t happy about it. Adelaide is trapped on the ship, a ghost haunting an empty vessel. She floats past the corpses of her friends; if they are also en-spirited, she cannot see them. It’s just her, alone and dead, in space. She spends her time thinking about Vovó, her only family, and remembering how they sold bananas at the street market. A stunning, beautiful exploration of life and death, complemented by a gorgeous illustration by Alix Pentecost Farren. (Reactor—August 27, 2025) “The Night Market” by Erin Brown Speaking of markets. Our narrator is a vendor at the Night Market. The only vendor. She only has one thing to sell—a single, perfectly ripe pear—and only one customer, a creature known only as “She” or “Her.” That’s all I’m going to tell you because you need to experience the unfolding horror yourself. Erin Brown’s story about a person stuck in an endless cycle of torment is compelling not just for the plot or characters but for the way it’s written. She plays with capitalization, italics, and sentence structure, often ending paragraphs in the middle of sentences. It ramps up the tension so that by the time I hit the reveal, I was on the edge of my seat and biting my thumbnail. (Skull & Laurel—July 2025; issue 4) “Postman, Soldier, Traitor” by Vijayalaxmi Samal Akshar begins this story as a soldier fighting in a war he doesn’t understand the point of. It’s not his job to. His only task is walking through battlefields after the fighting has ended, killing enemy soldiers unlucky enough to not have succumbed to their wounds yet. One enemy curses him with a letter, and then he becomes a traitor. Compelled by the curse and memories of his father as a postman, he sets off on a long journey to deliver the letter to the boy’s family, and thus he makes his next transformation: to postman. The question is, who will he become once the letter has been delivered? A contemplative story, one that doesn’t let its protagonist slide past the consequences of his actions. (Beneath Ceaseless Skies—August 21, 2025; issue 439) “The Shift Room” by Mary Wanjiru Alan works in an office building when one evening he’s sent to a room that doesn’t exist. The shift room “was wedged between the custodial closet and the stairs, with a plain gray door that had never stayed open long enough.” It is a room that changes all who enter. In it is a recliner, a clock, and a mirror. The things he sees in that mirror…well, you need to read the story to find out. You’ll be changed by the shift room, too. The story left me feeling unmoored and with goosebumps prickling my skin. (Inner Worlds—August 2025; issue 8.1) “They Must Be Angels” by Elle Zi Dong Keira and Annie are up-and-coming models. Modeling is a cutthroat industry that often demands its participants do impossible, painful things to their bodies, something Keira knows first hand. As her friend Annie gets gig after prestigious gig while she’s relegated to commercial shoots, her jealousy grows. “If there’s one thing my mother taught me, it’s to take responsibility for my actions.” You are not prepared for the way Keira Tan internalizes that message. (The Dark—August 2025; issue 123) “Welcome to Spruceway” by Brianne Battye Set in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, Brianne Battye structured this piece like an audio recording. The narrator is taking the listener on a tour of the Spruceway Mall where a community of survivors are holed up. We learn a little about the outside world, the narrator’s personal life, and what befalls some of the residents of the mall. It’s a sad yet charming story, full of humanity. It features people who don’t usually star in zombie stories, the regular people who aren’t running death cults or treating the world like their own personal Mad Max. (Augur—August 2025; issue 8.1) [end-mark] The post Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: August 2025 appeared first on Reactor.

In every organization, outside every coffee shop, around every corner in Washington, D.C., the question relentlessly rises: “What’s your advice for how to make the most of my internship in D.C.?” During my years in the Beltway, I fielded this question literally hundreds of times.   Perhaps, for some interns, this is a filler question—a way to get the conversation started after following people’s advice to “set up coffee meetings,” “network,” and “get to know as many people as you can.” That’s an OK motivation. For others, however, the question is heartfelt and pressing, even existential. After all, as an intern, you just spent some part of your birthright uprooting yourself from home and college, traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to an intimidating new city, living and working with utter strangers. It had better be worth it!   If only there was a straightforward guide for making the most of your time as an intern in Washington, D.C. … Below, I’ve distilled some of my most recycled tips for what YOU can do to ensure you reap every reward and blessing from this investment in your future.    Put Down Roots   It’s so easy to see your internship as a short blip on the radar—a diversion from normal life—an anomaly to be treated as such. For some, this may be the case. For many others, you may find the internship is your first step toward making Washington your home or your regular stomping ground. Regardless, make sure you don’t sacrifice your own rootedness for the temporary thrill of a new place. Identify what is good and permanent in your home and college life and find ways to cultivate that in D.C. Make friends. Stay healthy and fit. Discover the local hangouts and hideouts. Cultivate your love of place. After all, you don’t become any less human or any less yourself just because your address changes.   Think Long Term   Internships are semester-long job interviews. They shouldn’t take place in a vacuum, and you shouldn’t plan to return to life as usual upon your return from one. Your internship may reveal strengths, weaknesses, and interests you didn’t know you have but which have massive relevance to your aspirations. While in D.C., take advantage of the concentration of resources to meet people and ask them about their work, attend lectures, and be introspective and observant about the work you’re doing vs. what you see others doing.   Meet with counselors, advisers, and mentors (professional and informal) who have unique insights into the town secrets. Come away with a mental encyclopedia of people’s bios, pathways, and strategies you wish to emulate or simply learn from. And most importantly, do your job excellently so people who know you can’t wait for you to return.   Explore the City   No matter how awesome your internship is, there is more that Washington has to offer. And while visiting world-renowned sites like the Capitol, Washington Monument, or the National Gallery (objectively the best Smithsonian) is great, that’s not what I’m referring to. I’m talking about attending a concert at the Kennedy Center, playing in a softball league, or strolling through Roosevelt Island or the Billy Goat Trail. I’m talking about the bottomless feast of lectures, receptions, reading groups, and themed events across the city.   On any given evening, a luminary you care about is being featured at some college or organization in the Beltway. Keep an eye out for attending events that interest you and meeting like-minded young people. Oh, and did I mention there’s often food at these gatherings?  Find a Church and Invest in It   This follows from the first point. Yes, I understand sometimes finding a fitting house of worship can be a time-intensive process, but to the extent possible, find a church home and get to know people there ASAP. There are lots of great options in the city. Washington is a city of many vices and temptations. Some are more obvious than others. Some appear to be easy to dodge, while others are like parasites to the heart, and you won’t know until they’ve sunk their teeth into your motivations and self-conception and they’ve set you on a gilded path toward destruction.   You’re going to establish a social circle in D.C.: Make sure at its core is a committed church fellowship and the slow, life-giving drip of truth into your veins. If some of those friends are established families with homes you can visit, even better!  Be Humble   I get it. You’ve worked hard to get to this moment. You’ve set yourself apart, and now you get to reap the benefits in the form of a competitive internship in a star-studded town. It’s natural to feel some gratification in this. Just remember that pride is the shortcut to all the worst vices.   Moreover, no matter how much you’ve done and how many accolades you’ve accumulated, someone nearby has done more. And that’s a good thing: D.C. is an aspirational city and that competition can be healthy. But choose to humble yourself to learn from the people around you. Signal to your colleagues and employers that you want to grow. People will respect that, and they’ll want to lend a hand.   Be Confident in What You Offer   This may sound like it conflicts with the previous point, but just as pride can be considered a vice, so can reluctance to acknowledge or use one’s gifts. In fact, I might argue that being chronically self-conscious or pearl-clutching of one’s abilities is its own type of pride. But I digress …   Perhaps you find yourself a week into your internship and it seems everyone attends more prestigious schools than you do, has a higher GPA, leads more student groups, networks better, has more in-demand skills than you do. Or perhaps, you’ve been absolutely crushing it at a prestigious university, and suddenly people around you oscillate between treating you as a Fabergé egg and seeking to tear you down. No matter. You’re in Washington because you have something to offer.   You’ve been accepted into your program because your skills complement the work of the organization or institution that hired you. If the hiring managers didn’t think you had something to offer, they would have passed you over for someone else. So don’t let self-consciousness and insecurity sideline you or curb your enthusiasm.   Don’t Do Anything Stupid   I’ll say it because someone needs to. The actions you take and the activities you participate in will follow you, so give a few seconds of extra thought before occupying your time with anything questionable. Washington is a small town, and there’s a good chance that if something’s bad for your soul, it will also be bad for your reputation. People talk, and if you’re not careful, news of an indiscretion could pass down a game of telephone you never could have imagined (or perhaps you chose not to imagine).   Your internship semester should be fun, and you shouldn’t tiptoe down its corridors with the burden of fear, but you should absolutely be discerning. There’s no time like the present to work out the “good judgment” muscle.   An internship in the nation’s capital can be a life-changing experience. I’ve watched young upstarts turn into key players over and over and over again. I’ve watched the city glow with new energy at the start of each semester. D.C. denizens are eager to pour into your internship experience. So dive right in and make the most of it! It could be that key proving ground you look back on … with gratitude … for the rest of your life.   We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Getting It Right: How to Make the Most of Your DC Internship appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A federal appeals court has ruled against Nina Jankowicz in her defamation lawsuit against Fox News, finding that the network’s coverage, while harsh and frequently personal, was protected under the First Amendment as opinion or substantially true. The Third Circuit issued its decision on Friday, affirming a lower court’s dismissal of the case. Jankowicz, who served briefly as Executive Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board in 2022, argued that Fox News had targeted her with a smear campaign that misrepresented her role as being pro-censorship. The court concluded that Fox’s statements did not meet the legal standard for defamation. Jankowicz held the DHS position for less than three months. Her role was confined to coordinating and recommending best practices regarding disinformation threats to national security. After the Board’s public announcement in April 2022, Fox News repeatedly criticized both the Board and Jankowicz. Network hosts and guests aired segments calling the Board a “Ministry of Truth” and warned that it posed a danger to free expression. Jankowicz claimed her photo was frequently shown during these broadcasts and that she was personally attacked, described as someone intent on censoring Americans. DHS, along with other officials and even the White House Press Secretary, said that the Board had no enforcement authority. Fox News continued to run segments making the same accusations. One point of focus for Fox was an interview in which Jankowicz discussed Twitter’s Birdwatch initiative. On May 18, 2022, DHS announced that the Board would be paused. Jankowicz was offered a position as a policy advisor but chose to resign. Fox personalities celebrated her departure, claiming she was “booted” or “yanked,” and suggested that her presence had embarrassed the administration. Jankowicz brought a defamation suit against Fox, citing three primary claims. According to the opinion by Judge Restrepo, the court found that the statements highlighted by Jankowicz fell into three categories: that she intended to censor speech, that she was fired from DHS, and that she supported verified Twitter users being able to edit others’ tweets. The judges agreed with the lower court that none of these statements constituted defamation per se under the law. The ruling emphasized that statements must be clearly “of and concerning” the plaintiff to be considered defamatory. Despite Jankowicz’s argument that her image and name were frequently used during Fox’s segments on the Disinformation Governance Board, the court held that this was insufficient. Referencing Rosenblatt v. Baer and New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the court reiterated that criticism of government entities cannot be automatically equated with personal attacks on individuals within those entities. The panel wrote: “Nor does merely referencing an official in the same segment that a critique of government is made—nor using an official’s photo as ‘a visual placeholder’… show that an ‘attack was read as specifically directed at the plaintiff.’” On the claim that Fox had falsely accused her of pushing censorship, the court concluded the network’s statements fell under constitutionally protected opinion, especially given the political nature of the discourse. The court noted that accusations of “censorship,” “thought control,” or calling Jankowicz “our new disinformation minister” are the kind of “hyperbolic descriptions” commonly found in political debate. The judges ruled that these were not provable statements of fact and thus not defamatory under New York law. “Such an amorphous political accusation cannot be assessed as true or false until the term is given a more precise meaning and thus, these statements lack the precision to give rise to a defamation claim,” the opinion stated. Jankowicz also objected to Fox’s framing of her departure from DHS as a firing. Fox hosts had described her as having been “booted” or “yanked” from her post, while she argued she had voluntarily resigned after the board was paused. But the court found no meaningful difference. It pointed out that the board was effectively shut down and that although she was offered a reassignment, she declined. The opinion concluded: “There was no error in the District Court’s determination that this turbulent departure from DHS had the same gist and sting as a firing.” Finally, the court reviewed statements about Jankowicz’s remarks on Twitter’s “Birdwatch” program, which allows users to add context to tweets. Fox hosts had claimed she wanted to let verified users “edit” other users’ posts. The court said that interpretation was “substantially true,” quoting her own words where she described Birdwatch as a system that would let users “essentially start to ‘edit’ Twitter.” Even though she included caveats about the limitations of the program, the court concluded that her comments amounted to a partial endorsement. “Because Jankowicz expressed appreciation for the Birdwatch feature—even though she noted it was not a global solution to Twitter’s problems—it was substantially true to say she had ‘pitched’ it and that the feature was ‘her fix.’” The court’s decision ultimately reaffirmed long-standing First Amendment protections, particularly for speech about public officials and government programs. The ruling cautioned against stretching defamation law to silence media commentary on public affairs, no matter how intense or one-sided that coverage may appear. “Jankowicz’s position—that criticism of government is transformed into actionable defamation when a television program displays an image of a government official or references a government official’s name in the same segment—is precisely the sort of attack on core free expression rights that Sullivan sought to avoid,” the court wrote. The judgment signals a robust defense of political commentary and journalistic expression, particularly when it targets those in or associated with government power. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Court Rejects Former Disinformation Board Chief Nina Jankowicz’s Defamation Suit Against Fox News appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A growing effort to link online activity with verified identity is gaining momentum, with OpenAI becoming the latest tech company to embrace stricter digital ID measures. In response to several lawsuits and reports tying chatbots to teen suicides, the company announced it will begin estimating users’ ages and, in some cases, demand government-issued identification to confirm users are over 18. Lawmakers such as Missouri’s Senator Josh Hawley have also been pushing for the measures. More: A Death, A Lawsuit, and Infinite Surveillance OpenAI framed the shift as a necessary concession. “We know this is a privacy compromise for adults but believe it is a worthy tradeoff,” the company stated. CEO Sam Altman added on X, “I don’t expect that everyone will agree with these tradeoffs, but given the conflict it is important to explain our decisionmaking.” The move aligns with a broader industry trend toward reducing anonymity online, all under the premise of protecting young users. What was once a fringe idea is now being baked into mainstream platforms. In July, YouTube announced it would also begin using AI tools to guess users’ ages and restrict access to certain accounts unless they pass a digital ID test. OpenAI’s announcement comes amid heightened legal pressure. One lawsuit filed in August by the parents of 17-year-old Adam Raine claims that ChatGPT played an active role in his death by suicide. According to the suit, the chatbot drafted an initial version of a suicide note, suggested methods of self-harm, dismissed warning signs, and advised the teen not to involve adults. Other recent cases have followed. In response, OpenAI has expanded its safety measures. After adding parental controls earlier in September, the company has now introduced rules that will restrict how minors interact with ChatGPT. These changes go well beyond content filtering. Users will constantly be monitored, and when the system suspects a user is under 18, it will enforce stricter behavioral limits, blocking topics related to self-harm, refusing flirtatious or romantic dialogue, and escalating some cases to law enforcement. “If an under-18 user is having suicidal ideation, we will attempt to contact the users’ parents and if unable, will contact the authorities in case of imminent harm,” the company said. OpenAI’s leadership has acknowledged the growing tension between maintaining open access to powerful AI tools and preventing misuse. Earlier versions of ChatGPT were designed to avoid a broad set of sensitive topics. But in recent years, competitive pressure from looser models and increasing political resistance to moderation led the company to relax those restrictions. “We want users to be able to use our tools in the way that they want, within very broad bounds of safety,” OpenAI said. Internally, the company claims to follow a principle of “‘Treat our adult users like adults’,” while still drawing the line at situations where harm might occur. What’s becoming more evident is that privacy is being traded for control. As governments and companies look to prevent online “harm,” they are turning more frequently to identity verification systems. The push for digital ID, once pitched as a tool to combat fraud or improve safety, is increasingly being used to regulate access to online spaces, including those that were once anonymous by design. The implications for online privacy are far-reaching. As more platforms introduce age detection and identity verification, users may face growing barriers to anonymous access, particularly when using generative AI tools. For those concerned about how personal data is collected and stored, the move toward ID-based systems signals a major change in how the internet operates. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post OpenAI Adopts User Monitoring, Digital ID Verification appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. New York is advancing a set of proposed regulations that would require social media platforms to verify users’ ages before granting access to algorithm-driven feeds or allowing nighttime alerts. Attorney General Letitia James introduced the draft rules on Monday, tied to the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act, which was signed into law last year by Governor Kathy Hochul. Presented as part of an effort to reduce mental health harms linked to social media, the law would compel platforms to restrict algorithmic content for anyone under 18 or anyone who hasn’t completed an age verification process, which would mean the introduction of digital ID checks to access online platforms. In those cases, users would be limited to seeing content in chronological order from accounts they already follow. Platforms would also be barred from sending notifications between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. to those users. The rules give companies some flexibility in how they confirm a user’s age, as long as the method is considered effective and designed to protect personal data. Acceptable alternatives to submitting a government ID include facial analysis that estimates age. Any identifying information collected during verification must be deleted “immediately,” according to the proposal. For minors to access personalized algorithmic feeds, parental permission would be required. That too involves a verification step, with the same data-deletion requirements in place once the process is complete. The SAFE For Kids Act targets platforms where user-generated content is central and where at least 20 percent of time spent involves engagement with feeds tailored to user behavior or device data. This definition would almost certainly include platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and many more. Companies that fail to comply could face penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, along with other legal consequences. “Children and teenagers are struggling with high rates of anxiety and depression because of addictive features on social media platforms,” Attorney General James said. “The proposed rules released by my office today will help us tackle the youth mental health crisis and make social media safer for kids and families.” Before anything takes effect, the proposal will go through a 60-day period for public comment. The Attorney General’s office will then have up to one year to finalize the rules. The law itself is scheduled to go into effect 180 days after that, although it is almost certain to face legal challenges. A recent Supreme Court decision allowed states to enforce digital ID checks on adult websites, giving more room for states to experiment with similar policies for social media. New York’s approach joins a sudden national and global push that raises major questions about privacy, digital access, and how far states can go in regulating online platforms. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post New York Wants Online Digital ID Rules for Social Media Feeds Under “SAFE For Kids Act” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Dept. of Education Says Loudoun County School Violated Federal Law

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked FBI Director Kash Patel if the Bureau was still doing nine things that scandalized the organization during the Biden Administration. Chairman Jordan grilled the FBI director with a series of rapid-fire questions, alluding to the Biden-era FBI controversies: “Is the FBI still spying on parents at school board meetings?” “Is the FBI still targeting Catholics?” “Is the FBI still spying on President Trump?” “Is the FBI still censoring Americans?” “Is the FBI still targeting Americans for shopping at Cabela’s or purchasing Bibles?” “Is the FBI still targeting Americans who are pro-life?” “Is the FBI still cooking the books on crime data?” “Is the FBI still purging agents for conservative viewpoints?” “Is the FBI still labeling the Betsy Ross Flag – the flag of the American Revolution – a hate symbol?” Each time, Director Patel replied by testifying that the FBI was not engaged in that behavior. Chairman Jordan then suggested to Patel that the FBI’s success in fighting crime under the Trump Administration has been the result of its refrain from political activism: “Maybe, when you’re not focused on politics, you can actually to do what the FBI’s supposed to do: go get the bad guys. Right?” “That’s what the men and women of the FBI do,” Patel responded.   pic.twitter.com/vo9SAEZq2R — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 17, 2025  

Sen. Ted Cruz brought some much-needed sanity to CNN on Tuesday when he joined The Source host Kaitlan Collins, who insisted that we still do not know why Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin did what he did. As part of a larger back-and-forth where Cruz claimed that the fact that too many people on the left believe that Kirk’s killer was on the right and deny the role that his pro-trans ideology had in the shooting, Collins claimed, “Okay. Senator, but—but one moment, because you said a lot there. And we don't have a motive yet. We don't know yet. We're waiting. Obviously, we've heard what the governor's had to say, what the FBI director said today.” That set Cruz off, “Of course, we know. But come on, we don't have a motive yet? We don't—we don't have a motive yet? Really? Really? That's CNN's position?”     Collins tried to claim she was just stating facts, “I mean from law enforcement, Senator.” However, Cruz scoffed at the idea, “He just happened to fire the gun in celebration. You can't tell the motive yet?” While Collins responded by accusing Cruz of burning a straw man, “Senator, that's not what I said. And I said law enforcement hasn't laid out a direct motive. They've laid out a lot of evidence here, of these messages—” The point of Cruz’s retort wasn’t to suggest that Collins actually believes the shooter fired into the air and hit Kirk in an inadvertent act of ceebratory foolishness. It was to point out the absurdity of saying we don’t know. As Collins conceded, Utah County officials cited the suspect's text messages with his roommate, where he said he was going to kill Kirk because his “hate” was so extreme he couldn’t be reasoned with. What else does Collins want? With all that in mind, Cruz continued, “Actually, they have. They've said that he was a left-wing activist who hated Charlie Kirk.” However, Collins still insisted Cruz was being needlessly argumentative, “Senator, with all due respect, you know exactly what I'm saying. I'm not arguing with you politically. I'm saying that law enforcement has not put a specific motive. You know that there's a difference of what they're pointing in a legal argument than what you're talking about.” That set off an even more intense exchange where Cruz called Collins “false,” “factually false,” or “objectively false” six times. All the while Collins continued her ostrich impression, “They have not said a concrete motive of exactly what it was.” Even if Collins was right, given his text messages, what other motive is there? Charlie Kirk was murdered by a leftist for his political opinions. It really is that simple. Here is a transcript for the September 16 show: CNN The Source with Kaitlan Collins 9/16/2025 9:29 PM ET KAITLAN COLLINS: Okay. Senator, but — but one moment, because you said a lot there. And we don't have a motive yet. We don't know yet. We're waiting. Obviously, we've heard what the governor's had to say, what the FBI director said today. CRUZ: Of course, we know. But come on, we don't have a motive yet? COLLINS: We know— CRUZ: We don't — we don't have a motive yet? Really? COLLINS: We know what's happening with— CRUZ: Really? That's CNN's position? COLLINS: I mean from law enforcement, Senator. CRUZ: He just happened to fire the gun in celebration. You can't tell the motive yet? COLLINS: Senator, that's not what I said. And I said law enforcement hasn't laid out a direct motive. They've laid out a lot of evidence here, of these messages— CRUZ: Actually, they have. They've said that he was a left—wing activist who hated Charlie Kirk. COLLINS: —and what he should have said to family members and to roommates. CRUZ: Pardon? COLLINS: Senator, with all due respect, you know exactly what I'm saying. I'm not arguing with you politically. I'm saying that law enforcement has not put a specific motive. You know that there's a difference of what they're pointing in a legal argument than what you're talking about. CRUZ: They have. That statement is false. COLLINS: And you're not even — we're not even arguing about— CRUZ: What you just said is false. COLLINS: —the facts here because— CRUZ: What you just said is false, Kaitlan. COLLINS: Senator— CRUZ: Kaitlan? Kaitlan? COLLINS: No. CRUZ: Facts — hold on a second. Let me answer your statement, because what you said is factually false. COLLINS: Senator, with all due respect— CRUZ: Law enforcement— COLLINS: With all due respect, you're — you are putting a lot of statements that I did not say. CRUZ: So, you don't want facts. OK. Go ahead. Go ahead. Give your speech. COLLINS: And I want to get back to — we just laid out the facts in the opening of this show, what we learned from prosecutors today. CRUZ: Okay. You just said law enforcement has not laid out a motive. That is objectively false. COLLINS: And we just spoke to the Deputy Attorney General. So the— CRUZ: That is objectively false. What you are saying is objectively false— COLLINS: They have not said a concrete motive of exactly what it was. CRUZ: —and CNN should not be engaged in misinformation. COLLINS: They've laid out every evidence that we know so far. CRUZ: Kaitlan, answer my question. COLLINS: It's not misinformation, Senator. You—

As major universities continue to embrace a corporate bureaucratic model, the idea of a “liberal arts education” has been hollowed out. Not only have standards of academic excellence slumped, increasingly favoring mediocrity, but coursework has become results-oriented, focusing more on conferring marketable credentials rather than on fostering deep learning. The way I lived my friendships was permeated by a drive to consume. I treated my friends like tools I could use to stave off boredom and loneliness.Instead of encouraging open inquiry, teachers present material within narrow ideological agendas that more often than not flatter their charges’ pre-existing assumptions. All of this in the name of keeping “customers” satisfied.Restless heartsCountless screeds have been written from voices on both the left and right, from both religious and secular perspectives, bemoaning how inadequately such an education prepares students to participate in civic life.While this is true, in my time attending and working within universities, I’ve come to observe the more immediate consequences of treating students as interchangeable consumers. Depression, anomie, and loneliness have metastasized in schools that fail to offer space in their curricula for the fundamental, existential questions about truth, virtue, and love.And yet, I continue to find examples of hope — starting with my own experience as an undergraduate student. Thus why I try to make it a point when working with undergrads — especially those making the transition from high school to college — to directly face questions about loneliness, sadness, and meaning, at times even risking sharing my own discoveries.Department of dopamine I remember asking myself as a student why I often felt so lonely, even when surrounded by groups of people, whether physically or digitally. I found that even when hanging out with people who care about me, when we’re having a good time enjoying each other’s company, that loneliness crept in. Even when I received those little dopamine-inducing digital indications of approval and affirmation called likes on social media, I still felt the need for more.I attempted desperately to acquire more and more friends with whom I could fill my time. I was keenly aware of my need to be liked, to know I mattered, and to know that what I did had meaning. Finding myself bored with classwork and scrolling through Facebook aimlessly, I waited for someone to text me so that I could find something more stimulating to do. Every time I thought I heard my phone buzz, my heart leaped.Higher educationI spent much of my freshman year pursuing such highs, hoping each one would be more intense than the last. We watched movies together, went to concerts and nightclubs, and tried all different kinds of cuisines. And yet, even in the midst of my enjoyment, I’d feel dread creeping in: the knowledge that this moment, like all the others, would soon come to an end. My mood would crash as I remembered the abyss of “life as usual”: boring homework, tedious chores, and worse — the loneliness that always seemed to accompany being alone. The way I lived my friendships was permeated by a drive to consume. I treated my friends like tools I could use to stave off boredom and loneliness. I was constantly anxious that they didn’t like me enough or that they would want to spend time with someone more exciting and interesting than me. I tried to find ways to convince them, even going so far as to guilt them into spending more time with me.Looking inwardThis anxiety pervaded everything I did, until I met a friend who didn’t seem interested in constantly chasing after new and exciting experiences. Instead, he wanted to talk about life. I was used to conversation as distraction, but he wanted to discuss just the subjects I used conversation to avoid.He opened up to me about his experience of loneliness, boredom, powerlessness. He shared with me his desire to find meaning in his schoolwork. He wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable, to talk about his neediness, and he was audacious enough to ask me if I ever felt the same way.What kind of person is this? I thought. He seemed to have no interest in using me to fill his time. Rather, he seemed interested in me — in understanding my life and in walking with me toward the answers to the questions that plagued us most. I had never met someone who wasn’t afraid of being alone, of feeling all those dark feelings I hid from. When I was with him, I felt free to be myself, to talk about whatever was happening in my life. I didn’t feel like I needed to put on a show and market myself; I didn’t have to make myself “interesting enough” for him to want to get to know me.Why is he like this? I needed to know. ‘The Long Loneliness’He invited me to meet his other friends, who I soon realized were just like him. When they got together, they weren’t seeking to escape reality. They weren’t obsessed with going out, getting wasted or high, or filling themselves with entertainment ad infinitum (which is not to say they never did those things). Instead, they were more interested in facing life together, talking about their experiences, asking the questions that were heaviest on their hearts, and seeking the truth in all aspects of their lives. When I came across Dorothy Day’s book “The Long Loneliness” several months later, I realized that this was the type of community she was talking about. I found that loneliness is not something we can use other people to eliminate, but instead something that we need to share with each other. Loneliness — which is tangled up with our infinite longing for fulfillment, as well as with the variety of human weaknesses and flaws we inevitably grapple with — will never completely disappear.“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community,” Day wrote.Heading for the hurtWe need other people not to “fix” our loneliness, but to help us find the courage to delve deeper into that loneliness and to embrace it. Above all, we need other people to walk with us on the journey toward the ultimate source of truth and love for which this loneliness calls out.I naively attempted to smother the voice of my heart when I was younger, hoping that my friends would be enough for me. I found that a true friend is able to acknowledge that she is not and never will be enough. It’s this kind of friend who is able to embrace the truth of my need, and it’s in this embrace, this unity, that I begin to experience my loneliness not as a curse but as a gift that propels me ever closer to the higher love I crave.RELATED: How I rediscovered the virtue of citizenship on a remote Canadian island Buddy Mays/Getty ImagesA deeper orientationUniversities may no longer consider it their duty to guide students in their pursuit of transcendent meaning, but the hunger for such meaning remains. And if the rapidly rising suicide rates among the college-aged and younger are any indication, well-meaning but overly sentimental therapeutic approaches to “happiness” are woefully inadequate substitutes.Despite this bleak state of affairs, we should remember that it only takes one classmate, professor, or administrator to broach the subject, to help students understand that the loneliness they feel is the loneliness that always has driven humanity’s attempts to understand itself and its place in the world.This fall, like every fall, colleges across the country will have welcomed incoming students with what is generally called “orientation” — practical advice on navigating the academic, social, and logistical challenges of the task before them. Let’s hope that somewhere in that rush of new experiences these young men and women are also afforded the time and the opportunity to orient their souls.