Russ Baker

New York, Ontario

Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Who What Why

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Troublemaker-at-Large...Editor in Chief @WhoWhatWhy, Author of @FamilyofSecrets. Directness and humor. Follow my Substack at https://t.co/t4Um1uUKmu

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Articles

The Ditzes of TrumpWorld Ratchet Up the Crazy

3 days ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

Politics Watching the king and his courtiers compete with each other in clownishness would be fun if it weren’t all so dangerous and deadly. As I write this, a new, even more liberal pope, has taken over — an American who has openly criticized Donald Trump and JD Vance on everything from deportations to Vance’s take on religion.
Then They Came for Smokey the Bear: Trump Sics DOGE on Our National Parks

2 weeks ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

What else would Trump do with a national treasure but plunder it? The Trumpian onslaught is so overwhelming that major developments which at one time would have provoked tremendous outrage now pass almost unnoticed. Like this: The entity that oversees our national parks has increasingly been taken over by a DOGE associate from the oil industry.
The Real Reason They’re Attacking Universities

3 weeks ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

Politics Trying to intellectually neuter the populace. Even those who aren’t surprised by the simple fact of Donald Trump’s assault on America’s universities must be shocked by the full frontal magnitude of it all, belated attempts to walk back parts of it, notwithstanding.
Ridiculous: Dems Blowing Chance to Highlight Trump Internal Tariff Chaos

1 month ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

Democrats are blowing a chance to show the public how it is being screwed. Confused by the tariff complexity, claims, and counterclaims? Here, plain and simple, is proof that the Democrats haven’t yet learned how to counter the mad churnings of the MAGA propaganda machine. Even when they find a free “gimmie” staring them in the face, Democratic message-bearers have trouble driving home the truth about the scary, life-changing tariff situation.
Expose Trump Tariff Giveaways to the Rich — and His Rhetorical Gibberish - WhoWhatWhy

1 month ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

Democrats are blowing a chance to show the public how it is being screwed. Confused by the tariff complexity, claims, and counterclaims? Here, plain and simple, is proof that the Democrats haven’t yet learned how to counter the mad churnings of the MAGA propaganda machine. Even when they find a free “gimmie” staring them in the face, Democratic message-bearers have trouble driving home the truth about the scary, life-changing tariff situation.
Needed: International Anti-Fascist Coalition

1 month ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

Urgent: Trump-Putin Despot Alliance means good people worldwide must work together. In these desperate times, it is so easy to forget that we Americans are not the only people suffering under the yoke of growing authoritarianism and repression. So are Turks. And Russians. And Indians. And Palestinians. And Chinese. And Uyghurs. And Hungarians. On and on.
One for All, All for One: Trump, Foreign Tyrants Share Tips on Ending Democracy

1 month ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

Fascism is contagious — and with the help of Trump and his fellow autocrats — it’s mutating as it spreads. How far is our country from becoming another Turkey? It’s a question worth considering. Many of us have now seen disturbing footage of a young woman being approached and forcibly hustled away off a suburban Boston street by plainclothes ICE officers, apparently for expressing her views on the Middle East.
You Could Be Next: Trump Can Seize Your Devices and Then….

1 month ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

Justice Anyone — anyone — can be labeled a “security risk.” If you’re not thinking about how the rapid clampdown on individual liberties could affect you, if you’re still mostly thinking about your job or your house or your social life, you are, frankly, a fool. Because things are getting worse, much worse, by the day. I could cite so many examples.
Warning for Donald Trump: You May Be Committing a Crime

1 month ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

You’re breaking laws, and ruining lives, but have you ever considered the possibility that you may, someday soon — cross the wrong person? I know that we’re in a kind of End of History moment where there’s so much chaos and so much news that we sort of hear about everything all at once while also missing key developments that deserve our unified attention.
AI, Musk, and Mass Displacement: A New Replacement Theory

2 months ago | whowhatwhy.org | Russ Baker

When will AI get around to coming for its super-rich tech-bro fans? I just finished absorbing informed speculation that AI actually may supplant human beings much faster than anyone thought possible. How fast, you ask? Well, like, snap your fingers. According to this analysis, within a year or two from now, untold millions of white collar workers could be laid off, replaced by AI. What might be the impact of such massive unemployment?