Michelle Shephard
Journalist, NYT best-selling author, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Podcast host and producer. Co-president of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (@CJFE.) May post photos of adorable dogs. www.michelleshephard.ca
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardRupert Murdoch is now 94 and worth $23 billion. His empire continues to gaslight the world—but he’ll leave even his own kingdom darker than he found it. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
- We’ve had three cats .. Woody, Bernie and DT (Woodward, Bernstein and uh, Deep Throat.) THAT’S the @washingtonpost.com legacy when you’re a journalism couple. But now, it’s this. (To @leloveluck.bsky.social & Lizzie Johnson ++ 💔 ) www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
- Nearly every sentence of U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes' 83-page ruling is an indictment of the Trump administration's attempt to end a visa program for 350,000+ Haitians legally living in the U.S. But these last paragraphs ...
- The U.S. Assistant Secretary Dept. of Homeland Security .. responds ..
- It was an amazing show of support in Springfield, Ohio, for the Haitian residents who make up so much of that town. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardThe political/governing systems in Minnesota have failed so profoundly that ordinary people are strengthening their own communities against a predatory official force. Perhaps it's time to think beyond the political compact known as the "United States of America." New at FOREVER WARS:
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardTa-Nehisi on Minnesota, and Culture War as war www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardThe White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News on Tuesday that President Trump would sue the news outlet if it did not air an interview with him in full.
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard"They went to the Midwest to fight a phantom war against imaginary enemies. They ended up, within days, as an occupying force. In his first address as president, in 2017, Trump spoke of 'American carnage.' In Minnesota, in 2026, the carnage is finally here." #Opinion from @rwarnica.bsky.social
- “The man Toronto police won’t stop stopping.” @jleerankin.bsky.social on a proposed class-action lawsuit over historic and racially skewed police practice of “carding” in @thestar.com www.thestar.com/news/gta/why...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardRead the indictment against Nicolás Maduro here.
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard#TalkAboutSudan: “Having lost almost everything, their stories are what they have left.” Michelle Shephard recently returned from the Chad-Sudan border, where she met MSF teams and heard from Sudanese refugees fleeing violence. Listen on CBC/Radio-Canada's The Current: ow.ly/BmbE50XHtuy
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardPentagon abruptly calls a press conference for 11 am. Or, since hard-pass holders are now right-wing orgs & influencers, something orchestrated but flavored like a press conference: "For in-person attendance, this briefing is limited to invited press only. There is no Zoom call dial-in available."
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardI Urge you to read #Journalist @markmackinnon.bsky.social superb in depth reporting from #Syria. In this "new media" world of sound bites_this is a truly comprehensive report full of rich detail one yr after the fall of murderous #Assad
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardI wrote about a novel approach to tackling misinformation currently being discussed in Wales--and which some say Canada should try, too. What if we made a rule so politicians couldn't lie? www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
- Grateful for the support from @msf.ca & @thewalrus.ca, allowing me report on the war in #Sudan. Please give a listen to today's CBC Front Burner episode (and thank you Jayme Poisson and Matt Amha). www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtNa... More stories to come:
- Grateful for chance to shed light on the war in #Sudan with support from @msf.ca & @thewalrus.ca … stories coming soon.
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard"However terrible the war and its consequent famine in Sudan is today, it can still get much worse" From Alex de Waal, who knows Sudan better than anyone www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardHundreds of people have been doxxed, fired or threatened for social media posts that were seen as callous or celebratory after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In a Texas town, people flooded online feeds with attacks that spilled into the real world for a paramedic. nyti.ms/4n7CSND
- Thank you Criminal Podcast, for such a thoughtful episode. Appreciate the interview and care Phoebe Judge & @jackiesojico.bsky.social thisiscriminal.com
- “I know that’s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it’s so important to have a free press and it is nuts that we aren’t paying more attention.” 🙏🏻 @jimmykimmel.com … Good piece by Allan Woods @thestar.com (And I hope he’s right ..)
- Late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s return to regularly scheduled programming could be a prelude to a larger war over free speech in the United States. #Analysis
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardJournalists should not face such harassment or threats for doing their job. Informed reporting or analysis is part of free expression and a cornerstone of democracy. #journalismisnotacrime
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardJ6ers and militia leaders are newly energized in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. “I’m going to be rebuilding Oath Keepers,” vowed Stewart Rhodes, leader of the militia group. www.motherjones.com/politics/202... by @juliannemcshane.bsky.social and me
- “(T)he President doesn’t care one bit about all those sanctimonious calls for healing,” writes @sbg1.bsky.social. “It is not a dialogue about the crisis of political violence in America that he wants right now but an aggressive new policy of political vengeance.”
- In his speech about the death of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday night, Donald Trump seemed to blame the large chunk of the nation that reviles his divisive policies and those promoted by Kirk “as surely as if they had pulled the trigger,” @sbg1.bsky.social writes.
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardBREAKING: Canada has now joined a coalition of 27 other governments in calling on Israel to allow immediate foreign media access to Gaza and to protect journalists.
- If you’re in Toronto, and a fan of our book “Code Name: Pale Horse,” or the CBC podcast series, White Hot Hate, please join us Saturday! Scott will be in town for the MOTIVE festival. The lovely @debdundas.bsky.social will be our moderator. Passes 👇🏻 festivalofauthors.ca/event/code-n...
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard
- Reposted by Michelle Shephardfor a look at what could come next in the Trump administration’s war on immigrants, read @davidgilbert.bsky.social on the upcoming US ‘Office of Remigration’ — Remigration is an immigration policy touted by extremists that calls for the removal of all migrants—including “non-assimilated” citizens.
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardLaw enforcement is violently targeting press at protests around Los Angeles, from easily recognizable "mainstream" outlets to freelancers and independents. ALL press have explicit legal protections in California. #JournalismIsNotACrime. This evidence thread may get graphic. 🧵👇
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardPresident Trump took extraordinary action on Saturday by deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to quell immigration protesters in California, making rare use of federal powers and bypassing the authority of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardICE raids hit across Los Angeles today—and locals are rising up. This is what resistance looks like. ✊🏾 This was about an hour ago…
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard“I suppose if there were something valuable that I could leave you with, it would be to say that you can play tiny invisible games inside of your plainest tasks.” The comedian and writer Jenny Slate offers some words of wisdom to new graduates. nyer.cm/9R5a4jH
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardDELETED: Trump administration deleted a webpage summarizing evidence that “undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes and a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes.” 1/2
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard“Social solidarity is destroyed when you have too much migration too quickly,” JD Vance tells our columnist Ross Douthat in this episode of “Interesting Times.” “That’s not because I hate the migrants or I’m motivated by grievance. That’s because I’m trying to preserve something in my own country.”
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardNEW: We obtained the province's internal investigations into the Dec 2023 crackdown on inmates at Maplehurst jail. The reports show widespread institutional failure, from the supt to rank-and-file guards. Solicitor General Michael Kerzner didn't respond to questions. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
- “It’s not ‘complicated.’ “ And it’s too late. But let the image of Ward grab hold and save what lives we still can.” A short column for @thestar.com. #Gaza
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardUntil Donald Trump put it front and centre again, Guantánamo was meant to be a “footnote” in US history—but it wasn’t. “It was always,” writes @michelleshephard.bsky.social, “a harbinger of what could come.” thewalrus.ca/guantanamo-bay/
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard“The cognitive dissonance begins from above.” On her twenty-eighth visit to Guantánamo Bay, journalist @michelleshephard.bsky.social confronts the stark contrast between the tropical splendour and dark history of the prison dubbed “the gulag of our times.” thewalrus.ca/guantanamo-bay/
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardWhy is the paper that brought down Richard Nixon struggling to survive the second term of Donald Trump? @claremalone.bsky.social reports on changes afoot at the Washington Post.
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard"The first thing I saw outside of Gaza was the rest of occupied Palestine—something I had never dreamed of seeing in my life. We drove past signs to Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Yaffa, Haifa, and Jericho... But I only got a brief glimpse of it, before we crossed the border into Jordan." Abubaker Abed:
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardOne in five Gazans are facing starvation, while the entire territory is confronted with a critical risk of famine that is projected to worsen in the coming months, the globe’s leading body on food emergencies said Monday.
- This.
- Made it to the @nytimes.com Best Seller list with Mr. (not on BlueSky yet) Scott Payne!
- Honoured to take part in Free Speech Centre (formerly “Free Speech Hub) for their #WorldPressFreedomDay panel, on behalf of @cjfe.bsky.social. Please consider supporting their organization: freespeechhub.org
- Journalism to win !!!!
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardHighly recommend the film Antidote @hotdocs.bsky.social, one more screening on Monday. @bellingcat.com journalist Christo Grozev was met last night with the standing ovation he deserved.
- Tonight @hotdocs.bsky.social !! Screening of @jamesjones.bsky.social chilling documentary Antidote. Stay for our post-film Q&A with @bellingcat.com journalist Christo Grozev.
- Tonight @hotdocs.bsky.social !! Screening of @jamesjones.bsky.social chilling documentary Antidote. Stay for our post-film Q&A with @bellingcat.com journalist Christo Grozev.
- Full segment here. Thanks @tvotoday.bsky.social 👇🏻
- Imagine being in the backwoods of Georgia with neo-Nazis, slaughtering a goat and drinking its blood. Former undercover FBI agent Scott Payne tells @jeyantvo.bsky.social about exposing hate groups and his book "Code Name: Pale Horse," co-authored with @michelleshephard.bsky.social
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard"Violent extremism is the same wherever you go." — @michelleshephard.bsky.social on extremist movements, with Scott Payne, co-author of "Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis," tonight at 8/11pm with @jeyantvo.bsky.social
- Thanks 🇨🇦
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard"I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America, because that speaks to our greatness" -- 20 hours into his speech, Cory Booker is spitting absolute 🔥
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardWatch: Disturbing video shows jail guards carrying out violent, hours-long retribution at Maplehurst provincial jail in Milton. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
- Still processing this @lulugnavarro.bsky.social interview (and now reading all the comments / controversy). Goes way beyond her story to a journalism debate. Really really interesting.
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardGuess who showed up to defend Tesla? The Proud Boys, armed militias, and at one event in Idaho, and a guy dressed as Hitler. More on the "Tesla Takedown" protests here:
- Forgive me for some book promotion … Available today …
- And if you don’t have a subscription you should get one (!!) .. but also, Shane has “gifted” the article here 👇🏻
- Oh wow. This is a must read. An accidental inclusion of the editor in chief of the @theatlantic.com in a Signal app group about the imminent attack on Yemen. JD Vance, Hegseth, others.. They used prayer, fist, fire, bicep, and American flag emojis. ( @shaneharris.bsky.social .. no words .. )
- American war planning usually takes place in highly secure facilities. But the Trump administration planned its strikes on the Houthis using a group chat—and accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. theatln.tc/IuULQFiY
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardIf you're in Toronto this evening you can come listen to me say stuff? About natural disasters? hotdocs.ca/whats-on/fil...
- With many thanks to @hamiltoncain.bsky.social for our first and very generous review of "Code Name: Pale Horse" from @atriabooks.bsky.social. On sale next Tuesday! chapter16.org/walking-a-pi...:
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardNEW @citizenlab.ca report: Virtue or Vice? A First Look at Paragon’s Proliferating Spyware Operations citizenlab.ca/2025/03/a-fi...
- I never tire of listening to Omar El Akkad. If you missed it, today feels like an especially good time to listen to him talk about the genocide of Palestinians and our complicity: www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardJourno and political animal alert: @cjfe.bsky.social and @westernu.bsky.social media studies faculty present a panel @hotdocs.bsky.social this Thursday night that will delve into the coming federal election. $10, free for students. hotdocs.ca/whats-on/fil...
- Driving through the Heartland …
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardA free press is the backbone of democracy, but when those in power call journalists “enemy media,” they undermine the public’s right to truth and accountability. CJFE stands with those who risk their safety to report the facts. #PressFreedom #TruthDiesInDarkness #journalismisnotacrime
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard1. "How a Would-Be Bomber Rebuilt His Life," @michelleshephard.bsky.social @thewalrus.ca "It is rare—and brave—to review your work with 20 years of hindsight, and while Shephard claims no regrets in her previous reporting, there’s more than one redemption story here." thewalrus.ca/how-a-would-...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardMeet Marvin Starblanket - partner, dad, son, former inmate and one of a growing number of Indigenous people bound to strict carceral rules after serving their sentences. www.reuters.com/world/americ...
- Reposted by Michelle Shephard@theatlantic.com’s writers and editors are on Bluesky. Follow us for ambitious, essential reporting and storytelling: go.bsky.app/NVbMa2Yat://did:plc:nyxviptfyic2lvuorkr5yy3y/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lartdzp6ka2w
- #ICYMI .. a really interesting short @ezraklein.bsky.social read / listen. Spot of optimism … and reminder of: “muzzle velocity.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardOur March/April 2025 issue is here. Featuring reporting from the likes of @michelleshephard.bsky.social, Ariella Garmaise, and @timothytaylor.bsky.social. Check it out: 📬 Subscribe: secure.thewalrus.ca/W43CVRSW 🔎 Inside the issue: thewalrus.ca/category/issues/...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardMeanwhile www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/u...
- ... Interestingly, on Sunday morning I had an @aircananda.bsky.social flight from DCA to Toronto that dropped dramatically and suddenly (cabin overhead bins popped open). Pilot came on after to calmly say we had flown too close to another flight. Thought it was a blip – not a pattern.
- I just got back from a week reporting in Guantanamo for @thewalrus.ca — my 28th trip over the last 19 years. That prison will never close …
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardMy op-ed, written at Guantanamo (where I still am), focuses on Biden's legacy and Trump's inheritance of this deeply problematic prison and military commission system. theconversation.com/trump-inheri...
- Day three of #Guantanamo hearings in the 9/11 trials. Feels like a pivotal week. * New administration (the fifth since Sept. 11th, 2001.) * Closing arguments on whether the statements of one of the accused is admissible due to torture (5+ years argued.) * Three others wanting to plea.
- * The bowling alley has gone through a major renovation. * The power keeps going out. * Friday's menu at the galley is surf & turf. #WhenTheGoingGetsWeirdTheWeirdTurnPro
- Good morning from #Guantanamo Bay. The 9/11 accused are in court today and the name of this gate at the courthouse feels unnerving for this Canadian journalist. 😨 (It's just a military thing.. north gate Canada, south gate Florida etc.. #Not51stState)
- Photography is extremely limited this trip compared to others... But these were just OPSEC-approved. The flag Sunday at half-staff. It was raised as soon Trump became president yesterday.
- And off to the courthouse shortly ...
- For the most extensive #Guantanamo coverage always follow @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social.
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardGood morning from Camp Justice at Guantanamo Bay. We expect closings today in the 9/11 case in the long-running torture argument that seeks to suppress the 2007 interrogations of Ammar al-Baluchi -- the defendant who hasn't offered to plead guilty. Our trial guide. www.nytimes.com/article/sept...
- This @newyorker.com story on the cover that never was, reminds me of our @thestar.com cover that didn’t run the last time Trump won. www.newyorker.com/culture/cove...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardMissed this, somehow, from Trump: “The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory…” Putin, Erdogan, Netanyahu were likely all nodding along… globalnews.ca/news/1096784...
- On assignment in #Guantanamo for a feature for @thewalrus.ca. Flags flying here at half-staff for late U.S. President Jimmy Carter. It's about as surreal a place as anywhere to watch this. And remarkably my third inauguration-watching session in #Gitmo.
- First time in 2009, when Obama signed an executive order to close this place. (Photo Credit: Brennan Linsley, AP)
- Then back again when Trump became president the first time and vowed to expand #Guantanamo and fill it up with "bad dudes."
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardSecretary Blinken says "we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost."
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardOn April 30, 1945, the photojournalist Lee Miller took a bath in Hitler’s tub. Her lover captured the scene and, in time, the picture would become famous as a kind of apt visual metaphor for the end of the war.
- Sharing a magazine piece that I've worked on for the last year about the once infamous "Toronto 18" terror case. Is redemption possible for someone convicted of terrorism? Thank you @thewalrus.ca for the time and space! thewalrus.ca/how-a-would-...
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardBREAKING NEWS from Guantanamo Bay: The U.S. military has just delivered 11 Yemeni prisoners to Oman, leaving the population at the detention center at its lowest number in its history. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/06/u...
- Chilling arrest 👇🏻 “No Lives Matter is an offshoot of the broader ‘accelerationist’ movement, which seeks to accelerate radical social change through sabotage and violence.”
- Oof. “No Lives Matter is a nihilistic, far-right ideology that largely exists on encrypted online messaging apps like Telegram. The movement’s adherents promote ‘targeted attacks, mass killings and criminal activity’ and have ‘historically encouraged members to engage in self-harm and animal abuse’”
- First review for the new book! Thank 🙏🏻 you Publishers Weekly. “Gripping … pulse-pounding … poignant.” (Out March 2025)
- What's next in #Syria. As @kshaheen.bsky.social said to me, "The tools of the War on Terror ... don’t fit this moment." Thanks for his insights & Aimen Dean (on the "Conflicted" podcast). A short @thestar.com column:
- We honoured Ran Ayyub for her bravery and tenacity at our @cjfe.bsky.social gala this year. As if to underscore all she has faced and faces, she went home she was doxxed horrifically. Please read and share her powerful piece in @postopinions.bsky.social . #JournalismIsNotCrime
- Reposted by Michelle ShephardNew: @hhassan.bsky.social and I have a long read on the geopolitical dynamics, and local military calculations, that led to the surprising fall of Aleppo last week. newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
