From The Atlantic.
On this week’s “Galaxy Brain,” Charlie Warzel opens with what it means to live in 2026, when our phones can drop us into graphic, real-time violence without warning—and when documenting that violence can be both traumatizing and politically consequential. Using recent footage out of Minneapolis as a lens, he explores the uneasy collision of algorithmic feeds, misinformation, and the moral weight of witnessing. Charlie also traces how viral documentation can puncture official narratives, pushing stories beyond political circles and into unexpectedly “apolitical” corners of the internet, even as platform-ownership shifts and suspected censorship (or outages that look like censorship) deepen public paranoia about who controls what we see.
Then, Charlie is joined by Amanda Litman, a political digital strategist and the co-founder of Run for Something. They discuss how to be a good citizen in the information war without losing your mind. Specifically: In an age of algorithmic fragmentation and billionaire-owned platforms, does sharing that devastating image or news article actually accomplish anything? Or is it just performative activism? Together they explore how nonpolitical creators and everyday people can be especially persuasive messengers, and how to pair online engagement with offline activism. It’s an episode about how to stay engaged without surrendering your nervous system and how to use the internet as a tool for connection, clarity, and action, not just despair.
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00:00 – Introduction
00:58 – Minneapolis Broke Through Algorithms
02:49 The Power of Documentation
07:16 The Misery Machine: Navigating Online Trauma
09:24 Conversation with Amanda Lipman
12:18 The Politics of Posting
16:38 Virtue Signaling and Community Building
28:13 The Right Amount of Online for Politicians
30:14 Effective Online Communication
36:29 Building Real-World Community
42:27 Conclusion
