Unreal Bird #17: We're So Back

When I took a hiatus in August, I had every intention of restarting this newsletter in September. That didn't happen!

As of right now, the plan is to return to my previous every-other-week schedule. Keep reading for updates on what I was working on while I wasn't writing this newsletter, a smattering of thoughts on the US midterms, and a few pieces worth your time.

As always, scroll to the bottom to see dogs!

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. Forwarded this newsletter? Consider subscribing.

What I'm up to

It's been a busy year. I have the work product to show for it.

With the team at CTRL (University of Pittsburgh), I co-authored two working papers: one on the discourse surrounding data centers and a second about how communities are grappling with it. Among the findings I think are most interesting:

1. The data center story we're all hearing is taking place against a backdrop of decades of anti-tax policy. Local governments are relying on these deals to fund schools and fire departments. That makes them especially vulnerable to corporations that overpromise.
2. Activists are steamed at their local leaders and have mobilized effectively to block data center development — but they have not yet created narrative change about Big Tech at a national scale. In some ways data centers are not a national issue — they are a local one that is happening 10,000 places at once.

If you're interested in this issue, I wrote (with Tim Bernard) a summary of seventeen guides to more accountable data center development. (Hey, Ohio Governor-Elect Acton! This one's for you.)

I also produced a second issue of the Ohio Election Workforce Report for All Voting is Local. A reprise of a report I wrote in 2024, this version tracks the impact of noncitizen-voter myths on election administrators, who are stuck implementing the new laws legislators pass to deal with this fake issue. It also explores the impact of Trump's cuts to federal election assistance (not so bad now, but worse later.)

I also wrote up a quick analysis of some Kettering Foundation polling data about social media, democratic values, and faith in democracy. Essentially: the more skewed a platform's user base is to young men, the less civically oriented and committed to democracy its users are.

I have a few other irons still in the fire. Look forward to a big piece I'm writing from a reporting trip I took to Paris and Brussels last month.

We're so back

This newsletter is back. Is the Democratic Party?

I recall watching an episode of (what I'm pretty sure was) The Daily Show after the 2006 midterms. In it, Jon Stewart played a clip of Democratic leadership looking stiff and awkward. Nancy Pelosi goes in for a high five and whiffs it. Stewart jokes that the party has gone so long without good news that they have forgotten how to celebrate.

Democrats had plenty to celebrate on Tuesday, the biggest blowout election in generations. I'm not a political pundit (professionally — call me, MS NOW) and by now we've all read plenty of election takes. Still, a few overarching reflections:

• Call me a "maybe" on whether this was a referendum on democracy or Big Tech. My read on data center politics is that they have not translated into support for other issues like tax justice. Further, many Democrats were pro-data-center until quite recently, including PA governor Josh Shapiro — who cruised to reelection by twenty points. Likewise, while many voters likely were turned off by the excesses of the last two years, the simple fact is that gas prices are very high and the President's closing pitch was about pool maintenance. It doesn't take Machiavelli to capitalize on that.
• Some people who subscribe to this newsletter are going to hate the bullet above! I'm not arguing against prioritizing tech accountability. I'm saying it will require Democrats (and advocates) to tell the story and pitch solutions more effectively than they have to date.
• In 2010, Republicans won 63 seats in the House and six in the Senate on the back of the Tea Party. They also won control of eleven state legislatures. The result was that they controlled the redistricting process for much of the country, locking in an electoral advantage that finally crumbled Tuesday. The Democrats' blowout could have ramifications on that scale.
• But nothing in politics is permanent. Democrats made incredible gains with every demographic; they even nearly split male voters with Republicans (to Steve Bannon's disbelief). Those gains should be regarded as fickle. In 2028, with no incumbent president on the ballot, they could vaporize if Democrats are not responsive to demands for change and accountability.
• I do mean change and accountability. With a divided federal government, it will largely be up to Democrats at the state level to provide economic relief. At the same time, we are about to find out if the impeachment power still works for cabinet level officials, or if Congress can meaningfully police the executive branch. If it can't, the corruption and state terror of the last two years will not be an aberration. That's not rule of law.

I haven't forgotten how to celebrate — but this is an opportunity the United States cannot afford to waste. We have work to do. Let's get to it.

Field notes

“Pull the Plug on Technofascism Before It Reboots,” Nathalie Maréchal.

• This is the piece to read if you care most about bullets 1 & 2 above. Nathalie has been consistent about naming the challenge and the most important priorities for fighting it. She's a great follow. Expect more from her on this.

"The landslide US election gives me hope for online democracy," Jonathan Bellack.

• A few legislative proposals that make an easy starting point for the agenda Nathalie proposes above. But given the scope of the challenges and the opportunity Democrats have just been handed, their longer-term ambitions should be grander—to include antitrust, tax and economic justice, and even structural changes like redistricting and Supreme Court reform.

"A generative election," Brian Merchant.

• If you strongly disagree with my first bullet, you will probably agree with this piece. It's a good piece! I very much like the second half of it, in which Brian argues there "are few better avatars [than AI] for the 21st century American economy." My perspective from talking to activists, though, is that not everyone agrees on the primary antagonists of this story.

"DISARMED: The Diplomats Who Fight Foreign Propaganda," Nina Jankowicz.

• This one's for all the podcast listeners. Nina is inviting guests past-and-former public servants to tell stories about American democracy, and what it takes to protect it.

Snoot watch

Humble plea

This newsletter is mostly powered by caffeine. If you've made it this far, consider buying me a coffee at the link below: