generic youth media brand

the nation's largest employer of trans people wants to fire them all.

Dexter Thomas — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 09:00:00 -0700

I'm talking about the US military here (which is also the nation's largest employer, period). Dan Ming has been covering our military for a while, and he's got some insight here: back in 2021, he spoke to Sgt First Class Jessica Haut just as she had decided to transition. He's kept in contact with her since, and just recently interviewed her again.

So now that Trump's Executive Order has effectively banned anyone trans from serving in the military – what happens for her, and the thousands of other trans people?

Dan is @danming on most social media sites - go follow him!

This was recorded live on twitch.tv/dexdigi

Here are the links we discussed:

The original executive order from Trump - https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/prioritizing-military-excellence-and-readiness/

Some articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/us/transgender-military-ban-trump-hegseth.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-transgender-military-ban-rcna194741

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/22/hegseth-mocks-judge-trans-troops

And Dan's two segments from VICE with Sergeant First Class Jessica Haut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMJFqSvuUWo (2021)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68sjjlE9Ugk (2022)

Why Trump's 'crypto reserve' is kinda un-American

Dexter Thomas — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 09:00:00 -0700

David Z Morris has been covering cryptocurrency for over a decade. And now that Trump has announced a ‘crypto reserve’, you’d think he’d be excited. But a lot of crypto experts think it’s all a pretty bad idea, and David has a hunch it probably won’t happen anyway. We also talk a bit about the ‘crypto czar’, David Sacks, and what role he may play in all of this.

(recorded March 4, 2025, on twitch.tv/dexdigi )

Links:

David’s article on this, ‘Trump's Strategic Sh*tcoin Reserve’

https://davidzmorris.substack.com/p/trumps-strategic-shtcoin-reserve

David’s 2014 article on bitcoin:

https://fortune.com/2014/01/21/bitcoin-is-not-just-digital-currency-its-napster-for-finance/

'My daughter doesn't work for DEI' and why DOGE is still here

Dexter Thomas — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 09:00:00 -0700

NOTE: at 31:30 we're talking about an AI-generated video of Trump sucking Elon's toes. Someone was playing it on TVs at HUD.

Greg Walters, News Editor at Crooked Media, joined the stream to talk about DOGE, and why despite the outrage, it's probably sticking around.

You can check out the newsletter we reference here:

https://crooked.com/newsletters/what-a-day-fork-in-the-doge/

And here's clip from the What a Day podcast (at 05:00):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJbnLllHkHY

are we just bullying Canada over (pretend) drug problems?

Dexter Thomas — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 09:00:00 -0700

three quick facts: 1. Canada *does* have a fentanyl problem. 2. But less than 1% of the fent coming into the U.S. is from there. 3. And Mexican migrants aren't bringing it in, either. I talked with Manisha Krishnan, who's been covering drugs and drug policy for nearly a decade, about what kind of weird political games are happening, and who is losing those games.

A bonus fact: Trump doesn't seem to be talking about fentanyl anymore, at least not this week. We get into why. Also booing the national anthem.

This was recorded live on stream!

You can be here for the next one; find me here: twitch.tv/dexdigi

you can find Manisha on Instagram or Bluesky:

https://www.instagram.com/baesic.unicorn/

https://bsky.app/profile/manishakrishnan.bsky.social

The links we referenced:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-17-edmonton-am/clip/16126506-how-much-fentanyl-actually-moved-u.s

The NYT article:

https://archive.is/eclOy

https://newrepublic.com/article/178684/fentanyl-misinformation-migrants-border-media

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/boo-national-anthem-debates-sports-1.7453849

Canada to 4.9 million people: 'go home'?

Dexter Thomas — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 09:00:00 -0700

Angad Singh interviewed one of the 4.9 million people who Canada might now be asking to 'go home', now that Trudeau is out. His piece is on YouTube, and you can watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5vRl23p0Zw

Arshad Nadeem: Pakistan will never be the same (with Mustafa Mirza)

Dexter Thomas — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 03:15:00 -0700

This one was recorded just after the Olympics. I was talking about having b-boys and b-girls in the Olympics and how that was kiinida complicated now and then our guest, documentary filmmaker Mustafa Mirza comes in with potentially the most important thing that’s happened in Pakistan sportswise in a long time, and what happens now that javelin is on the map for the 5th largest population in the world.

You can find Mustafa's work at mustafamirza.com, or @moosezafa on socials.

$250M from Google ain’t gonna cut it: can journalists get paid? w/ Matt Pearce

Dexter Thomas — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 03:00:00 -0700

warning: you’re about to listen to two journalists talk about the news. But the news sucks! you say — so why should we care? Well, this $250 million deal might have just made it worse. Counterintuitive, but Matt Pearce (ex LA Times) has a pretty compelling argument. We talk about this, and AI, and a bunch of other stuff.

Keep in mind that this is a pretty complicated topic, and there are some other viewpoints on this. For example, there’s this opposing stance:

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/04/the-california-journalism-preservation-act-would-do-more-harm-than-good-heres-how-the-state-might-better-help-news/

And on the other hand, there's Matt summarizing the situation, where he says 'hardly anyone won, except Google':

https://mattdpearce.substack.com/p/a-deep-dive-into-googles-shady-and

And also this:

https://mindandiron.substack.com/p/mind-and-iron-gavin-newsom-may-have

There’s also Matt’s big spreadsheet on astroturfing, which we mention only briefly:

https://mattdpearce.substack.com/p/californias-sb-1327-and-the-big-tech

You can find Matt Pearce at his newsletter, which I highly recommend:

https://mattdpearce.substack.com

Anyway, this is something a lot of people probably won’t even be aware of, because it’s a really boring topic. But I think this is going to be playing out repeatedly, soon. Stay in tune.

About Portland's '$4 MILLION graffiti war' (Chaos Town interview)

Dexter Thomas — Fri, 24 May 2024 05:00:00 -0700

Chaos Town has been documenting the wildest parts of Portland for a year now. From stripper yoga to the 'penis bush lady' to sideshows – and now, the best look at what is truly happening in Portland's $4m graffiti war.

if you haven't already watched their documentary, do that first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7npnxP_6poA

In the doc, Chaos Town embedded with an up-and-coming writer rappelling off structures to make a name for themselves, a businessman with graffiti cleanup contracts, a veteran vandal in his secret stash spot with $20k+ in spray paint, and an 84-year-old man taking matters into his own hands – all in an attempt to understand what is really behind the ‘graffiti war’ that nobody appears to be winning.

Cruz on camera, Cam on production and edit, and Jameson as host.

buying Android tablets in prison w/ Gaby Caplan

Dexter Thomas — Mon, 20 May 2024 06:00:00 -0700

Prisons are constantly going on lockdown because of staff shortages, which means that prisoners can't use the phones. This makes tablet computers sold to incarcerated people are all the more crucial to let their loved ones on the outside know they are safe – but Gaby Caplan has discovered in her reporting for WIRED that federal prisons nationwide seem to have enacted a policy of disabling the messaging functions.

Why should we care? Gaby breaks it down.

Read Gaby's piece here:

https://www.wired.com/story/electronic-tablets-in-federal-prisons-chat-apps-disabled/

Whatsapp calls from Gaza + Kendrick v Drake + a documentary w/ Seb Walker

Dexter Thomas — Thu, 09 May 2024 12:00:00 -0700

How do you make a documentary about Gaza … when they won't let you into Gaza? A mix of OSINT, protests, and Whatsapp calls with a journalist trapped in Rafah.

Seb Walker (former DC Bureau Chief of VICE News) hosted a documentary called A Hidden War, from Scripps News and Bellingcat.

And yes, we talk about Kendrick v Lamar (a tiny bit), but mostly Macklemore.

We get into what it was like to talk to 'both sides' of the war, and what this might mean for US elections at home.

A Hidden War Documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz9q8dsW9Qg

Macklemore's song 'Hind's Hall':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmg6vbt04TY

Hind Hassan's post on the Pulitzer:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6qie2UMxCP/?img_index=1

the chemical attack(?) at Columbia University ft Anna Kook and Mustafa Mirza

Dexter Thomas — Fri, 03 May 2024 03:00:00 -0700

The campus protests are a recent news obsession in the US. But did you hear when a couple students (and former Israel Defense Force members) allegedly sprayed a chemical that sent a number of protesters to the hospital?

This was back in January, but it took AJ+ over two months to finally put out a report. There's a reason for that, which we get into in the podcast. This is the definitive account of the incident – at least, until the police say otherwise.

The minidoc we are referencing* :

Pro-Palestine Students Face Alleged Chemical Attack At Columbia University

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2vNJOQfDmI

Note that this episode only plays parts of the AJ+ report, and if you only listen to this, you're definitely not getting the full picture – including some pretty important caveats about the allegations (including the fact that much of this is nearly impossible to confirm, and the statements from the university). For the full picture, you definitely want to see the full thing. So definitely check that link above.

Also, there's this 404 article:

Bike Lock NYPD Insists Is 'Industrial' Protest Tool Is a Normal Lock Recommended by Columbia University

https://www.404media.co/nypd-bike-lock-chain-kryptonite-columbia-university-protests/

Anna Kook is a producer at AJ+ [@_annakook]

Mustafa Mirza is a freelance producer and photographer [@moosezafa]

Are athletes killing sports journalism? with Joshua Hersh

Dexter Thomas — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 02:00:00 -0700

As respected sports shows like HBO’s Real Sports die, and ESPN and Sports Illustrated are continually gutted, a new form of sports coverage is rising: shows run by the athletes themselves. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, but there are some caveats.

This session’s guest is Joshua Hersh, former correspondent and senior producer at VICE News, and current editor at Columbia Journalism Review.

You can see his article here at: https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/sports-journalism-survival-foul-territory-mcafee-braun-mlb.php

And Jay Kang’s article: https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/online-gambling-is-changing-sports-for-the-worse

I do these every Tuesday:

twitch.tv/dexdigi

Weediquette's Krishna Andavolu on Biden, interviewing cops, and pot journalism

Dexter Thomas — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 04:00:00 -0700

Krishna Andavolu and his show Weediquette on VICE helped pioneer not only a new generation of weed reporting, but also helped shift attitudes toward marijuana policy, legislation, and culture. He jumped on the stream to talk about his past work, the current state of weed in the US, and to make some predictions about how cannabis may figure into the 2024 election as a Biden campaign strategy.

Here's the newly-released piece Krishna mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gell2kJLe0M

I do these streams every Tuesday: http://twitch.tv/dexdigi

pornhub vs Texas, tiktok ban, the library cop, and Shrimp Jesus

Dexter Thomas — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 09:00:00 -0700

It's been a weird few weeks on the Internet. I brought on Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media (and former EIC of Motherboard, VICE's tech vertical), to talk about it.

The topics are all from 404media.co . Here are the links:

Pornhub pulling out of Texas: https://www.404media.co/pornhub-blocked-texas/

A cop looking for books to ban in an library: https://www.404media.co/police-bodycam-shows-sheriff-kootenai-idaho-hunting-for-obscene-books-at-library/

The TikTok ban: https://www.404media.co/the-u-s-wants-to-ban-tiktok-for-the-sins-of-every-social-media-company/

and Shrimp Jesus: https://www.404media.co/facebooks-algorithm-is-boosting-ai-spam-that-links-to-ai-generated-ad-laden-click-farms/

This is the full version of our talk. I livestream these every Tuesday: twitch.tv/dexdigi

does Biden have a Palestine problem? (w Evan McMorris-Santoro)

Dexter Thomas — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 04:30:00 -0700

the 'uncommitted' vote in Michigan is starting to surprise people, including the organizers of the movement itself. I brought on Evan (former VICE News, CNN, and other places), currently at NOTUS.org, to talk about his reporting on the activists.

Read the article he co-authored here: https://www.notus.org/biden-2024/uncommitted-delegate-biden-super-tuesday

the 'killmonger cut', Nintendo lawsuits, & game layoffs w Trone Dowd

Dexter Thomas — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 01:00:00 -0700

There's a lot going on in videogames. People upset about about the 'black guy haircut', 8000+ layoffs, and Nintendo is suing people with potentially awful repercussions. So let's get into it.

Trone Dowd is a freelance journalist with bylines at IGN, VICE, and NY Daily News. Find him on Twitter and IG at @theloniusly

'un-woke church' + Proud Boy Baptisms with Tess Owen

Dexter Thomas — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 04:00:00 -0700

Some context: first, this was recorded the day after the official collapse of VICE News. My guest, Tess, had just been laid off, along with just about everyone else. And in a full circle moment, we’re talking about the Proud Boys, a group founded by the guy who was also a co-founder of the company we both used to work at. The first few minutes are us talking a bit about the state of the industry, but the rest is us exploring the ways Christian Nationalism is starting to bring in followers for whom it may be politically, or ideologically, useful.

I do these streams live on Tuesday (9a PT / 12 ET),

twitch.tv/dexdigi

Read Tess' article: Inside the Christian Nationalist Church Where Proud Boys Go to be Baptized

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3akex5/hansel-orzame-proud-boys-church-christian-nationalism

the graffiti towers are LA's biggest art installation (with a $4m price tag)

Dexter Thomas — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 03:00:00 -0700

These buildings have been abandoned for 5 years, and then someone decided to spraypaint their name on it. Then a bunch of people followed. Now, there's a price tag … but why?

It's been all over the news recently, but we've mostly heard from city officials, police, and commentators.

Matthew Stromberg actually interviewed some of the artists behind the pieces. You can read his piece on Hyperallergic here: https://hyperallergic.com/870121/artists-make-los-angeles-graffiti-history-by-painting-on-abandoned-high-rises/

i do these live: twitch.tv/dexdigi

the future of (black) culture with Steven Roberts

Dexter Thomas — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 04:00:00 -0700

where is culture heading? what about black culture? who's going to make money off of all this?

plus, a postgame about my interview with TikTok's CEO.

Steven Roberts has done work for MTV News, VICE (that's where I know him from), ESPN, NBC, and I'm probably forgetting some here.

Here's his site: https://www.itsteven.com

i do these live: twitch.tv/dexdigi

why brands are killing journalism (w/ former VICE News EIC Michael Learmonth)

Dexter Thomas — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0700

Hey, there's a war happening. Are you gonna stop buying breakfast cereal? I brought on Michael Learmonth, former Editor in Chief of VICE News, to talk about how the 'brand safe' industry is killing journalism, making us dumber and more annoyed ...and also hurting brands in the process.

There's no definitive answers in here (but maybe some ideas), especially if you care about where your information comes from.

Michael Learmonth can be found on social at @mikelearmonth

The 404 Media article we mention; https://www.404media.co/advertisers-dont-want-sites-like-jezebel-to-exist/

why have a (fake) Border Patrol at the Lucha Libre match?

Dexter Thomas — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 09:00:00 -0700

Camilo Hannibal Smith is a TK

Camilo Hannibal Smith is a culture writer who has been covering Lucha Libre all over the US for years. He came through to talk about why there's a surging popularity of this (not just Mexican!) art form and sport in the South, and his recommendations for what to do if you go (you should!).

follow him at http://instagram.com/@camilohannibal

Camilo's most recent article on Lucha Libre: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/families/article/lucha-libre-houston-coliseo-18374624.php

The video we were watching that I freaked out about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mIdRC41hhfY (the throw into the audience is at 25 min)

An older article of Camilo's from 2017 that really kicked things off for his written coverage in Texas: https://web.archive.org/web/20170610134750/http://www.houstonpress.com/news/lucha-libre-is-american-dream-for-texas-family-9499764

A short doc Camilo made in the Bronx years ago: https://vimeo.com/297008870

do you like drinking soda? This African war might mess that up for you (feat Sara Elhassan)

Dexter Thomas — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 09:00:00 -0700

Try googling anything about Sudan right now, and you'll see a bunch of headlines talking about a 'forgotten war'. (If you just want to hear the part about the soda, it's at minute 42.)

That word, 'forgotten', pops up a lot, and it's not an overstatement. How did we get to the point where a war that has dragged on for 250+ days, has 5 million people at risk of extreme hunger, and was referred to by the UN as the largest humanitarian crisis, is being 'forgotten'?

And what can be done to bring it back into the conversation?

Find Sara's social media, along with all the podcasts and videos she recommends here:

http://instagram.com/bsonblast

These interviews are recorded live during the weekly twitch stream (that's why you hear us talking to the chat at a few points!). If you want to catch the next one, and even ask some questions live, you can do it here: http://twitch.tv/dexdigi

i think @activistnyc pictures are boring, she's not offended tho

Dexter Thomas — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 03:00:00 -0700

Cindy Trinh runs @activistnyc, an account that has been documenting protests in NY and beyond for years now. We get into the ethics of photographing strangers, why her pictures are 'boring', and more.

Check her work out at http://instagram.com/activistnyc

This was livestreamed on Dec 6th - if you'd like to catch the next one live, check out http://twitch.tv/dexdigi

nobody likes this letter. (some) journalists are signing it anyway.

Dexter Thomas — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 06:15:00 -0700

Tanya Habjouqa joins to talk about her experiences in Palestine and Israel since the war, and why creating a letter calling for a stop to the killing of journalists was so important, but so difficult to write.

You can read the letter we're talking about here: https://forourcolleagues.medium.com/statement-81135f253770

The For Our Colleagues Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/forourcolleagues/

Tanya's work:

http://tanyahabjouqa.com

India screwed up an assassination plot? (feat. Angad Singh)

Dexter Thomas — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 09:00:00 -0700

Big 'allegedly' all over this one, naturally. With guest Angad Singh (@angadgsingh) here to break things down.

Originally streamed on Nov 30th.

Here's some links of things referenced in the show (compiled by Angad – thanks again!)

An analysis of the potential consequences of this: https://thewire.in/diplomacy/nijjar-pannun-modi-foreign-policy-national-interest

Justice Department Release: Justice Department Announces Charges in Connection with Foiled Plot to Assassinate U.S. Citizen in New York City

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/media/1326501/dl?inline

The Wire made a “Timeline” https://thewire.in/world/us-timeline-indian-official-plot-kill-khalistan-activists

India's official response: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/toi-original/india-us-pannun-row-this-is-contrary-to-government-policy-mea-spokesperson-arindam-bagchi/videoshow/105619767.cms

Pannun’s response: https://twitter.com/SFJGenCounsel/status/1729910225996501377/photo/2

Telling Hindus to leave Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOuzhdRTtyA

Threat on Air India on Nov: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzQmbiSRUk5/

Interpol Sent Back India's Request For Notice Against Khalistan Separatist

US Extradition Treaty with India: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/12873-India-Law-Enforcement-Extradition-6.25.1997.pdf

Killing 4,000 Palestinian kids 'wasn't enough', says ex Obama adviser. What now?

Dexter Thomas — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:00:00 -0700

Why was Stuart Seldowitz, a former US government official, harassing a NYC halal cart worker? Why was he making veiled threats to his family in Egypt? We don't have the answers for that yet, but Manisha Krishnan of VICE News spoke to the worker to had to deal with this abuse, and people in the neighborhood.

Seldowitz has, among other things, served as the ‘deputy director/senior political officer in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003’

After the video went viral, he was charged with ‘aggravated harassment and three counts of stalking, one of which is a hate crime’. He has pled not guilty.

Links:

Find Manisha Krushnan on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ManishaKrishnan

or Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/baesic.unicorn/

Ex Obama Adviser Says Killing 4,000 Palestinian Children ‘Wasn’t Enough’

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kxmwe/stuart-seldowitz-halal-cart-harassment

Ex-White House Adviser's Viral Islamophobic Rants Under Investigation by Hate Crimes Unit

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a35qb/stuart-seldowitz-former-white-house-adviser-investigated-hate-crime

Ex-White House Adviser Charged With Hate Crime After Islamophobic Rants

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5yk8b/stuart-seldowitz-charged

he interviewed Andre 3000; being mad about flutes

Dexter Thomas — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 09:00:00 -0700

Jeff Weiss is an infamous music writer who got assigned to meet Andre 3000 and explore why the hell this flute album happened.

We theorize about why people are mad, explore why Andre's hair being grey is so revolutionary, why everyone needs a squad, identify a new disease called 'Clout Dementia', and discuss why you should probably never meet your heroes. But sometimes it's okay, as a treat.

Read Jeff's interview with Andre 3000 here:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/202...

Check out Jeff's other work at https://www.passionweiss.com

This is an edited recap of our original conversation on Twitch on 21 November 2023.

Find the original on twitch.tv/dexdigi , and follow me there to catch more of these conversations live!