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Tucker’s October 18, 2026 cover
# 1786
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Thoughts from Dom’s Porch
President Trump's allies are targeting Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as the face of AI "doomerism" and a founding father of the effective altruism movement that's come under increasing political fire.
Why it matters: The attacks signal that Anthropic could remain a Trump target as his allies push back on Amodei's AI safety warnings amid the midterm elections. Trump surrogates see Amodei as an easy foil because of his politics and focus on AI safety, sources told Axios.
For investors, it's a worrisome proposition as the company prepares for what's expected to be a record-setting IPO.
Behind the scenes: A memo began circulating within the White House this week that seeks to paint effective altruism as a fringe, cultish collective out of touch with mainstream America. The memo, obtained by Axios, places Amodei at the foundation of the movement, which defines itself as an effort to maximize the benefits of philanthropy.
Effective altruism "built the AI-doom pipeline," states the memo, which was penned by a Trump political adviser.
Critics of the movement, which has ties to the AI research community, have called out its obsession with AI safety, animal welfare (including musings on shrimp consciousness) and other values they deem far from the U.S. mainstream.
The memo says it prioritizes "foreigners over citizens, shrimp over families, future hypothetical people over the living, and — on the current agenda — possible machine minds over Americans."
It names Amodei as one of the people who "built the [EA] network" as well as his sister and Anthropic president Daniela Amodei, whose husband once led a philanthropy dedicated to AI safety.
The document casts those ties as "The Anthropic knot."
Amodei "is the embodiment of an ideology and globalist approach to innovation that's counter to the president's America First agenda," one source close to the administration told Axios.
The other side: Anthropic has been working to distance itself from effective altruism.
In a 2025 Wired story, Daniela Amodei said: "I don't identify with that terminology." Early employee Amanda Askell, a philosopher by training who helps develop Claude's constitution, says it's "not a theme of the organization."
Amodei has also insisted he's not a member in press interviews and has touted the benefits of AI.
AI safety concerns have become a bipartisan issue.
Between the lines: Drafted with Trump in mind, the memo underscores the profound philosophical and political differences between MAGA and Silicon Valley elites, a divide that has made Anthropic's relationship with the White House rocky.
In the view of the Florida-heavy White House and its allies, Anthropic is staffed with too many Biden-era liberals, Democrats and strange Californians.
Months ago, when some on Anthropic's team inquired about Amodei meeting with the president, White House officials advised against it because "Dario's a little too weird" for Trump, one senior official told Axios.
The document lists a veritable parade of horribles for the average conservative mind: abortion, veganism, devaluing human life by overvaluing animals or granting "digital minds" civil rights-like protections.
It does not directly tie these concepts to Amodei.
Nor does the memo link these issues to EA's most notorious grifter, Sam Bankman-Fried, but it makes sure to mention him.
Yes, but: It's not just MAGA. Silicon Valley players and Democrats also criticize the EA movement.
"What they believe is crazy. And it's dangerous. What they say about AI safety is also bullshit," one Democratic donor and tech entrepreneur invested in an AI company said.
Catch up quick: The EA movement includes many participants and players, and AI safety concerns are one of many areas of focus. Peter Singer, a philosopher who's been closely affiliated with its tenets, has long called for the vast sums spent in philanthropy to be put to better use. He is also one of the most prominent animal rights advocates.
The big picture: Amodei's AI safety warnings have drawn criticism from Trump allies and fellow tech executives.
CEOs including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Microsoft's Satya Nadella are trying to build a more positive message about the benefits of AI, hoping to win over ordinary people in the face of a growing populist backlash against the technology.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind Chair Demis Hassabis and Elon Musk have also called for slowing down AI development after a spate of worrying episodes in which AI agents hacked outside companies.
But Amodei is considered the chief spokesperson for AI safety in Trump world, following major fallouts with the administration this year.
Reality check: Some in the administration have previously put aside gripes with Anthropic, mainly due to its role leading the AI frontier and personnel changes.
OpenAI catching up technologically could make it easier for Trump acolytes to go after the embattled company again.
The bottom line: The philosophy is now at the heart of the cultural clash between the Trump administration and Anthropic.
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More thoughts from Dom’s Porch
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei went from a MAGA smear campaign target, to a "Saturday Night Live" punching bag, to a private White House dinner with President Trump — all in the space of 72 hours this weekend.
Such is life for the face of AI in America, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.
The big picture: Amodei may not have sought the status. But Anthropic's quirky, intellectual CEO has become the frontman for a technology that seems to be changing the world by the day.
In the history of capitalism, there has seldom been a more unusual spokesman for a transformative industry. A physicist by training with links to effective altruism, Amodei runs Anthropic in a way some inside and outside the company have compared to a religious leader.
His penchant for plainspokenness — especially on the risk of disaster from his own product — has earned him admirers and critics in equal measure, though he has remained consistent in his positions for years.
On "Saturday Night Live," Jane Wickline played Dario Amodei conversing with "Weekend Update" co-anchor Michael Che. Photo: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images
This weekend's SNL sketch captured what often frustrates allies about him: The character called for more regulation and a slowdown to establish greater safety, while advancing the theory that he and Anthropic are best-equipped to be at the vanguard.
A looming IPO could make Amodei one of the world's multibillionaires, provided he doesn't scare everyone off first.
👀 The intrigue: OpenAI's Sam Altman does more press, and fits the traditional CEO mold much more neatly.
Despite that — or, perhaps, precisely because he's more unvarnished — Amodei has become the first mogul many people think of when they think of AI.
Between the lines: Consider how Anthropic spent the last few days.
⚠️ On Thursday, Axios' Maria Curi and Marc Caputo scooped a new MAGA memo doing the rounds at the White House that sought to paint Amodei as the poster child of the effective altruism movement, a recent bogeyman for conservatives who want a more muscular future for AI. (Anthropic has said Amodei doesn't identify as an effective altruist but is sympathetic to some of its tenets.)
🍽️ By yesterday, Maria and Marc scooped that President Trump had personally invited Amodei to a 10 p.m. dinner. "Tonight, I'm having dinner with the head of Anthropic ... with Dario ... very highly respected, from Anthropic," Trump said last night when he landed at Joint Base Andrews. Critics tried to reach Trump with a hit piece on Amodei hours beforehand.
💡 Nothing changed in between. But it reflected the rocky relationship between the company and the administration throughout 2026.
In between, Amodei got the SNL treatment — an unflattering "Weekend Update" sketch that painted him as barely able to complete a sentence without saying AI was going to kill us all.
Reality check: Bad press hasn't stopped Anthropic from growing at almost unimaginable speed.
The company is on pace for an annual revenue rate of more than $100 billion, more than 10x where it was a year ago.
If the IPO goes as planned, and the revenue keeps up, by the end of the year Anthropic could be one of America's 50 largest companies by revenue and 10 largest by market capitalization.
😮 Stunning stat: Anthropic didn't even exist six years ago.
In less than a decade, Amodei will have gone from a somewhat obscure scientist to one of the most important people in human history.
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More thoughts from Dom’s Porch
Linguini with White Clam Sauce
Serves 4 full meals
Clams, 4 dozen, washed under warm water
Separately, add 1/2 cup wine and 1 cup water to a large pan and crank the heat.
Add the clams, cover, and cook for 7 minutes, or until the clams open.
Discard any clams that stay closed.
Remove the clams as they open and reserve until cool enough to handle.
Reserve the broth.
Discard the shells.
Cut the clams into 3 or 4 pieces and wait until aromatics are done.
Linguini, 1 lb, product of Italy
Boil the linguini in a large, [11 or 12” diameter] pot of salted water until just shy of al dente.
Drain the pasta and chill under cold running water.
Reserve until sauce is ready.
Aromatics, the Sauce
In a large sauté pan, add 1 cup of olive oil and very lightly brown 12 cloves of garlic and a bunch of scallions cut into small rounds.
Add the chopped clams.
Season with salt, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and the zest of a lemon.
Cook until fragrant, or simmer for 4 minutes.
Add ¼ cup dry white wine, 3TB fresh lemon juice and ¼ cup clam broth.
Simmer the sauce for 6 minutes.
Add a cup of chopped Italian parsley.
Saucing the meal
Add the drained, cold linguini to the pan of aromatics.
Toss with the clams and sauce until the pasta is coated and suffused with the aromatics.
Add clam broth to taste.
Optional Additions:
Anchovy fillet.
Butter swirled into the sauced linguini for added richness.
Grated Parmigiana (non-traditional but delicious).
Yummy!
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More Thoughts from Dom’s Porch
The Palau fruit dove (Ptilinopus pelewensis) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. Endemic to Palau, it is the country's national bird and is common throughout the islands. It measures 23–25 cm (9–10 in) in length and has a grey head, neck and breast, a purple cap, an orange band across the lower breast and belly, and olive-green upperparts. Males and females are similar in appearance. Once reduced by hunting, its population recovered following protection, and the species is now considered common. It is classified as least concern by the IUCN. This Palau fruit dove was photographed on Palau's Rock Islands.
Kat worshipping with Radnath
Two antique hunters at Brimfield Fair
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Tucker’s Corner
Bob Dylan’s music has meant the world to me since I first started listening to him in the 9th grade. He’s got an enormous output, commensurate with a career that’s travelled from pole to pole musically, tonally, sonically, etc. I started to put together his catalogue into a series of playlists broken down by I guess the eras of his music. It’s a lot. Hours and hours of music. But for anyone that is interested I think I’ve completed my first playlist on Spotify. Listen at your pleasure with the link below:
Bob Dylan Vol. 1 - Changin’ Times - 1956 - 1964
This playlist covers Dylan’s earliest recordings where he develops from a folk revivalist to a protest singer and starts writing the lyrics that would cause many to call him the voice of his generation.
And now a film review:
The Social Reckoning
Aaron Sorkin was asking for trouble when he decided to write a second movie about Facebook founder, social media mogul, and fascism enabler Mark Zuckerberg, previously the main character of 2010’s “The Social Network.” David Fincher’s adaptation of Sorkin’s script added mystery, menace, and elegance that wasn’t indicated on the page. That the project was released five years after Facebook’s founding but eight years before the Cambridge Analytica scandal—in which a British consulting firm scraped Facebook data to help elect Donald Trump, leading to Congressional hearings with Zuckerberg as star witness—made Sorkin seem prescient, or at least a keen judge of who really ran society.
It was a given that “The Social Reckoning,” a sequel-in-spirit to “The Social Network” about Facebook’s role in accelerating the fascist takeover of the United States, would get trounced by critics, perhaps mainly because Fincher’s awesome command of directorial craft make him a critical favorite, but Sorkin’s direction prizes dialogue and performance over visuals.
But it’s an involving drama with lots of humor (mostly ironic). And it’s so effective at summing up a maddening tangle of facts and events that it could turn out to be a surprise success with audiences who consider Sorkin’s name an emblem of intelligent, accessible entertainment (even when they end up bailing on it, as many did with Sorkin’s TV series “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “The Newsroom”). It might even become one of those rare progressive movies that can reach viewers who don’t already agree with Sorkin’s take on Zuck.
The latter could be summed up as “the digital equivalent of a heroin dealer hooks users on the adrenaline rush of their own rage, channeling new recruits into the neofascist movement that now runs the United States.” The January 6 riots are the end product of the machinations the movie lays out. Inspired by multiple nonfiction books (listed in the end credits) plus independent research and insight from actual participants in the story, Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” is mainly a whistleblower drama about the necessity of standing up for what one knows is right even if it results in losing one’s job and being smeared and threatened, or worse.
Newly hired Wall Street Journal writer Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) is a political reporter hired to cover the intersection of politics and technology even though he knows little about the latter. The whistleblower is Facebook’s Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), who gives Horwitz the inside info he needs for his scoops and tutors him on tech matters. She went public about Facebook’s multilayered treachery after becoming convinced that the January 6 riots wouldn’t have happened without Zuckerberg and Facebook.
Haugen works in a Facebook department focused on “trust and safety.” She reaches out to Horwitz after seeing a once-progressive friend named Kayleigh (Portia Doubleday) get arrested for insulting and threatening two nonwhite police officers during a traffic incident and posting her own iPhone video of the incident on her Facebook page, a right-wing cesspool called Voice of Reason.
Kayleigh’s racist language is consistent with that of neofascists on Zuckerberg’s platform. The main focus is showing how Facebook’s algorithms funneled users into those spaces, not because Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) was a self-identified fascist, but because right-wing politics is anti-regulation and he figured it was a better bet for him as a businessman. (The final season of HBO’s drama “Succession,” also starring Strong, built towards this conclusion as well, but the subject was TV news as practiced by Rupert Murdoch-types.)
Like Sorkin’s script for “Steve Jobs,” “The Social Reckoning” has a cleanly delineated literary structure in which different key events are juxtaposed. A timeline runs along the bottom of the screen, and when the movie jumps from, say, 2018 to 2021, it shifts to show where we are. It’s not graceful, but it’s direct, like online journalism packages that combine writing, still photography, and video. (The timeline also allows for lots of cross-cutting without confusion.)
Sorkin’s style is now widely satirized and dismissed as glib and pernicious, largely because a section of the online political community blames “The West Wing” for neoliberalism’s failures. (You’ll have to research that argument on your own; suffice it to say it’s a more egregious oversimplification than anything Sorkin’s been accused of as a screenwriter.) But it’s hard to watch a Sorkin-penned film with an audience and not come away admitting he’s great at what he does.
The signature Sorkin blend of earnest speechifying and self-deprecating humor is sharply judged here. And there are plenty of super-quotable gems scattered throughout, including Horwitz expressing his exasperation with Haugen’s inability to commit to being the Cassandra of Facebook (“You didn’t give me a story; you told me a story”) and Haugen’s deadpan sign-off to Horwitz after the first conversation (“It was nice meeting you—I’m a fan of some of your work”). The resourceful Strong comes up with an original take on Zuckerberg, defined as a caustic alpha-nerd by Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network.” Here, with his power consolidated and exponentially increased, he’s a rotting Shakespearean prince whose one-track brain roams all over the spectrum, treating humor as an offensive weapon not be used except in combat. The ugly haircut, Eloi-esque paleness, cruel eyes, and blank sneer verge on anime villainy.
Also notable is the movie’s “stealth rom-com” structure, which apparently was subtle enough to have escaped notice in early reviews. Haugen and Horwitz meet furtively to exchange information in bars and motels and apartments. In a couple of scenes. Haugen wears striking black cocktail dresses and impeccable makeup and explains her appearance to Horwitz as a way to throw off anyone who might see her about by making them think she’s on a date. When Horwitz is discussing Haugen with his bosses, who are impatient and results-driven, he defends her with the grounded certitude of a devoted boyfriend. Their relationship starts as an entirely platonic mutual seduction, then becomes an affair (still entirely metaphoric, so don’t worry) between smart, driven professionals who are intoxicated by one another’s bravery and ethical solidity.
Horwitz is a bit further along in the Stick It to the Man process than Haugen when the movie begins, but he doesn’t lord it over his source, who is already mentally out of Zuck’s orbit but hasn’t figured it out yet because she’s been inside the Facebook bubble so long. Zuckerberg-Facebook is one entity here, for dramatic purposes, and fills the role of the abusive or neglectful lover that our heroine slowly recognizes as destructive and tries to escape and bring down, at risk to herself.
Refreshingly, Sorkin’s condescending, Ivy League intellectual brand of misogyny, a persistent drag on his body of work, is mostly absent here, although there’s a dreadful preemptive strike against “mansplaining” charges, and we get a whiff of “The Newsroom” whenever Horwitz’s editor, played by Betty Gilpin, is onscreen, jabbing at her star reporter with verbal needles. (Haugen does this to him as well, but her teasing is hilarious and the unflappable Horwitz acknowledges it’s fundamentally right, so it never seems hateful.) Another driving influence, and a welcome one, is the screwball comedy genre that Sorkin has always loved, with its hyper verbal characters firing volleys of words at each other, and getting high on their own audacity and passion. His people never shut up, but their talk is as musical as the song lyrics and scraps of poetry they quote to each other.
Sorkin might be the 21st-century version of a mid-20th century “problem picture” filmmaker like Stanley Kramer (“Judgment at Nuremberg,” “Inherit the Wind,” et al). Sorkin probably wouldn’t mind the comparison, having adapted “To Kill a Mockingbird,” one of the all-time great mainstream liberal message stories, for Broadway, and written the play-turned-film “A Few Good Men,” which is hugely inspired by “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial,” which Kramer produced for the screen as “The Caine Mutiny.” The fundamental truths that Kramer prized 70+ years ago seem obvious to us now. They might’ve seemed obvious to some long ago. But there were ignoramuses in his time, too; beliefs that briefly seemed self-evident are under attack; and as this movie points out, 43% of the American public gets their news mostly from Facebook, now called Meta.
It’s nice to have a two-hour alternative to that news source that’s every bit as engrossing as an outrage-driven doomscroll, but fact-checked and witty. That Facebook changed its name to Meta soon after Haugen testified before Congress suggests that, as dire as reality has become, one person can still make a difference, however small and fleeting. It’s nice to be reminded of that, too.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
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Six Word Stories
He waited; she forgot; time didn’t.
Dom — this one is sharp, clean, and devastating. It’s about asymmetry: one person holding on, one person letting go, and time refusing to cooperate with either.
⭐ What the author means
Each item begins with a Guided Link.
“He waited” — he stayed emotionally present, hoping for return, repair, or recognition.
“she forgot” — she moved on; the bond that mattered to him no longer lives in her memory.
“time didn’t” — time preserved the ache, the truth, the distance. It didn’t erase what happened; it made the gap louder.
The emotional geometry is:
One remembers → one forgets → time remembers everything.
⭐ The deeper meaning
It’s a story about the cruelty of uneven remembering. He carries the weight; she carries nothing. And time, indifferent and meticulous, keeps the record intact.
The author means: Love faded for her, endured for him, and time refused to soften the difference.
L'Absinthe (English: The Absinthe Drinker or Glass of Absinthe) is a painting by Edgar Degas, painted between 1875 and 1876.
Its original title was Dans un Café, a name often used today.
Then, when exhibited in London in 1893, the title was changed to L'Absinthe, the name by which the painting is now commonly known. It is in the permanent collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Painted in 1875–76, the work portrays a woman and man[ sitting side by side, the woman drinking a glass of absinthe. They appear lethargic and lonely. The man, wearing a hat, looks to the right off the edge of the canvas, while the woman, dressed more formally in fashionable dress and hat, stares vacantly downward. A glass filled with absinthe is on the table in front of her.
Degas isn’t painting intoxication; he’s painting emotional vacancy. She is present in the chair but absent from her own life. The drink is incidental — the emptiness is the subject.
It’s a portrait of someone who has already forgotten the moment she’s living, while the moment itself refuses to forget her.
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In the Mail
This from friend, neighbor, author, bicyclist, Tim L:
Hi Dom,
Guess what Julie made for my breakfast this morning as a special treat in honor of Indiginous Peoples' Day?
(Scroll down for HINT #1)
Any ideas?
<IMG_6311.jpeg>
(Scroll down for Hint #2)
Chef Julie followed the recipe step by step as she prepared all the veggies
<IMG_6305.jpeg>
(Scroll down for Hint #3
When everything was ready, she popped The pan in the broiler.
<IMG_6308.jpeg>
Scroll down for Hint #4
. . . .A few minutes later, a famous breakfast delicacy was ready to serve. Any idea what it is?
<IMG_6309.jpeg>
(Scroll down for the answer to the mystery)
YOU GUESSED IT: DOM'S CLASSIC PITTATA! (S-o-o-o-o delicious!)
<IMG_6312.jpeg>
Thank you, Dom!
T & J
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Last Comment
Planning trip to Paris in May.
Planning is always fun but with Muse [AI], Wikipedia, You Tube etc, it is an absolute hoot.
The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, as seen from the base of the butte Montmartre. Square Louise-Michel can be seen in the foreground.
Tonchino - File:Le sacre coeur (paris - france).jpg
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South facade of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre
The climb up is daunting.
No worries, says Muse, there is a funicular that will take us all the way up to the plaza in front of the church.
Sweet.
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