Jon Collins
'25 Nieman Foundation for Journalism fellow at Harvard University. Senior Reporter @MPRNews. Co-creator of Peabody Award-winning 74 Seconds podcast. Victory gardener.
- Maybe it's not actually about fiscal responsibility... www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
- “When we were young we saw how easy it was to break things," Mujica said. "Building something isn't fast nor easy. But you have to grow old to understand that." www.wsj.com/world/americ...
- “The church recognizes...those who report on war even at the cost of their lives — the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices." www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
- "[S]chools across the country have tried to tighten rules for student journalists & other news media in recent years. But students have been pushing back, fighting for the freedom to write about their schools & districts without the threat of interference..." www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
- This is mind blowing if you think about it too long: “Our ability to produce rhythm — and to use it in our social worlds — that seems to be something that predates humans being human,” said study co-author Cat Hobaiter, a University of St Andrews primatologist. apnews.com/article/chim...
- Look, people can make it really complex but I can't think of a better sign of increasing authoritarianism than law enforcement hiding their identities under masks. That's not what a free society requires. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/08/m...
- "She told MassLive that she, along with a crowd of other people, asked ICE to show a warrant for the arrest. She said the agents replied, 'We don’t have to show you anything.'" www.masslive.com/worcester/20...
- Ladies and gentlemen, your new pope, Al Scorch: www.instagram.com/reel/DHhrIV5...
- Grant Turner, who served as chief executive of Voice of America’s parent agency during the first Trump administration, said that moves to add OAN content would violate a statutory requirement that the broadcaster be “accurate, objective, and comprehensive.” www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/u...
- Happy Mayday, Minneapolis! www.instagram.com/p/DJPqZVax9H...
- “Mr. Rodríguez, we’re going to miss you,” a girl told the teacher after singing. “I’m going to miss you, too,” he said, fighting back tears of his own. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
- The irony is that people who like to jump jobs a lot because they're very good on paper but maybe not so good at their work are also very active on LinkedIn.
- This NPR story on a tech whistleblower is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the potential impact of what DOGE is doing (black lists etc) and the way people associated with DOGE try to keep people quiet (anonymous notes and drone photos). www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...
- Especially in politics, where they know people have ulterior motives. And they know that legit news organizations are used to launder misinformation or rumor through anonymous sources.
- Democratic state Sen. Erin Maye Quade on Musk lawsuit: "Of course he is upset that Minnesota law prevents him from spreading deepfakes that meant to harm candidates and influence elections. Minnesota’s law is clear and precise..." www.twincities.com/2025/04/25/e...
- "Tennessee reports that between 2017 and 2024, 103,000 lives saved were directly attributable to naloxone." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/h...
- "According to the first lady’s office, companies contributing to the event include Amazon, YouTube and Meta... Tech companies have sought to curry favor with Trump since his return to office." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
- Journalists who argue they need to be present at the White House press corps because otherwise it will just be state propaganda don't have much to back their claims. Legit news orgs needed to make a stand a long time ago. The public sees them remaining as the craven desire for access that it is.
- Harvard appears to stand tall in the face of federal government censorship demands, unlike so many law firms. "The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights." www.harvard.edu/president/ne...
- If any politicians want the support of young people, they'd propose a New Deal for housing. It's so simple that it sounds silly.
- Could @nytpitchbot.bsky.social beat this?
- The candidate who was seen as one of the main opponents to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has dropped out.
- "[W]hile Ozturk had protested Tufts’ relationship with Israel, neither DHS nor ICE nor Homeland Security investigations produced any evidence showing that Ozturk has engaged in antisemitic activity or made public statements indicating support" for terrorism. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
- "Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, A&O Shearman and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett — each agreed to provide $125 million in pro bono or free legal work... A fifth firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono work." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/b...
- Ms. Petrova is seeing the United States from a new and unsettling vantage point. “I feel like something is happening generally in America,” she said, in an interview over a video link. “Something bad is happening. I don’t think everybody understands.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...
- Opinion: "Whether corporate policies or social welfare or college financial aid, nearly every aspect of society has been designed by people unfamiliar with not only the experience of living in poverty but the experience of living paycheck to paycheck..." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
- Opinion: Harvard & others could pool money "to help weather future funding-cut storms, joins in legal action to protect students’ rights, & (be) willing to pay the financial price of standing by our commitment to academic freedom & democracy,” Harvard Crimson www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
- It would be hard to overestimate how much joy Minnesotans take in this flag (pronounced "flayg) that was captured at great cost just a few years after statehood.
- Happy Confederate Surrender Day! At the battle of Gettysburg, Minnesota soldiers captured Virginia’s battle flag and Minnesota still has it. Virginia keeps asking for it back and each governor tells them to get stuffed. www.twincities.com/2017/08/20/m...
- Props to public media and newspaper journalists in Kansas City who are showing solidarity and pushing back against public officials who practice PR instead of public information. www.kcur.org/inside-kcur/...
- The Magnetic Fields in Concord, NH. They played the entire first half of their masterpiece 69 Love Songs.
- “Mississippi Today’s Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting … is exactly the type of reporting the First Amendment was intended to protect, and it exemplifies why the Mississippi Constitution calls the right to a free press ‘sacred,’” the attorney said. www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/...
- "The fluoridation debate stretches back to the 1950s, when conspiracy theories swirled around whether the practice was a Communist plot to cause brain damage." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/h...
- Try and beat this, Harvard.
- Kudos to my young colleagues at the Crimson for their continuing coverage of the crackdown on universities, free speech and the free press. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
- Instead of "the media" ignoring protests, could it be that you just don't read the websites where news stories are? The algorithms on social media don't surface journalism, but outrage. Under this tech-dominated system, citizens have to seek news out. Three screenshots I took yesterday:
- Looking like a big turnout at the capitol in St. Paul.
- Minnesotans of all stripes really turned out today #handsoff
- Organizers of the rally in Bratislava said the draft legislation is similar to a Russian law that “makes it possible to liquidate the civil sector and turn into a criminal anyone who is not loyal to those in power.” apnews.com/article/slov...
- "none of the nation’s top 10 revenue-generating firms signed the brief..." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/b...
- Congrats to Euan Kerr on this well-earned retirement. He lived in and covered Minnesota for decades with kindness, thoughtfulness and humor. www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...
- “The commercial press,” Thornton said, “is too fragile for our democracy to rely on for all the news and information that we require to function as responsible citizens.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/b...
- Wall Street profits went up 90 percent last year. They awarded themselves $47.5 billion in bonuses, an average of $244,700, up 31.5% from the year before. www.osc.ny.gov/press/releas....
- "The changes at the RCPI make it the latest in a series of university programs that have been shaken up or shut down following pressure from the Trump administration to back away from scholarship on certain topics — including Palestine as well as race and gender." www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
- In Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Susan Crawford beats Brad Schimel, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. AP has her up by about 180k votes with 65 percent of state votes in. www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...
