Recovering foreign correspondent slash war reporter. Author of “Love Thy Neighbor” and “Crude World.” Done time at the NYT, WP, Intercept.https://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mrdfnuea7c26For moral injury readers: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/world/asia/taliban-afghanistan-marine.html23 Jul 2026 17:51 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrdfnuea7c26https://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mr3rnehsq22yLol I wrote about Judit Polgar for The Washington Post in 1992, when she was a 15-year old chess prodigy! More than three decades ago I noted that "the story of the Polgar family stretches the bounds of reality and even imagination" -- and reader, I was right! https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/03/11/home-grown-grandmasters/82928ac3-a934-4d0d-929b-d89ba020fa25/ [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Jul 2026 17:04 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr3rnehsq22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mqshjwnfe22rNormally you see the Statue of Liberty behind the Brooklyn Bridge. Not this evening on the Q train.17 Jul 2026 00:09 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqshjwnfe22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3moa4vp6fx22iBorn and raised in Los Angeles, lived all over the world, moved in 1997 to NYC, hands down the best city anywhere, anytime. [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Jun 2026 06:21 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3moa4vp6fx22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mo7f2t6p2225Brooklyn market two hours before Knicks-Spurs game — me and the guy polishing apples.13 Jun 2026 23:14 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo7f2t6p2225https://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mo7bulgthk2sLines to get into midtown Manhattan bars to watch the Knicks game. New York locked, loaded for the game tonight.13 Jun 2026 22:17 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo7bulgthk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mo7bn2fzvc2gMidtown Manhattan three hours before tipoff and everyone is wearing Knicks outfits, traffic’s a mess, helicopters overhead and the game is thousands of miles away in San Antonio! #LFGK13 Jun 2026 22:13 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo7bn2fzvc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mo5eoqggqk2dI submit, as relevant reading material for the thousands of you watching the scaffolding livestream at the Kennedy Center, the story I wrote about the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad in 2003. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/01/10/the-toppling13 Jun 2026 04:02 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo5eoqggqk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mnkavxf2zk2mWhy aren't more people talking about "Star City"? Superb mix of "Chernobyl," "Lives of Others," and "Apollo 13."05 Jun 2026 13:34 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnkavxf2zk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mnkabbpvz22aWhat would the original "60 Minutes" reporters think of Bari Weiss? Morley Safer's daughter has the answer in this resonant piece. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/05/cbs-bari-weiss-morley-safer05 Jun 2026 13:22 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnkabbpvz22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mnigzfikrk2vLeonid Brezhnev would like a word.04 Jun 2026 20:18 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnigzfikrk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mk6m5i7n2s2qDrone deliveries in NYC, the future I don't recall asking for.23 Apr 2026 18:07 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk6m5i7n2s2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3miwiopkgg22kRelated to the upcoming World Cup in the U.S., what should the world do when the host nation of a major sports event illegally attacks another? In 1980, the U.S. led a boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow over the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Summer_Olympics_boycott07 Apr 2026 19:19 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3miwiopkgg22khttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3miw7urjmpc2sAs always, @attackerman.bsky.social is a must read: "This mass murder will not be [Trump's] alone. There is an entire political, security and media apparatus that brought us to this point." https://www.forever-wars.com/the-many-fathers-of-the-murder-of-iran/07 Apr 2026 16:41 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw7urjmpc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mivxkepeos2bApril 7, 2003, I ran across this bridge over the Diyala River in Iraq, past the body of this civilian. Bodies of a lot more civilians were on the other side of the bridge, killed by American fire. It was 23 years ago to the day, will never forget it. Iraq then, Iran now. (Photo by Kuni Takahashi)07 Apr 2026 14:12 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mivxkepeos2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mivv6unawk24To the Hague, those who give and follow illegal orders. Can't happen soon enough.07 Apr 2026 13:30 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mivv6unawk24https://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mhqv3dffo22eAmericans need to read every word written by Spencer Ackerman in this column, and act accordingly. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Mar 2026 20:20 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhqv3dffo22ehttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mhiywc2gi223Got my start as an overseas freelancer for CBS Radio (now gone, thanks Bari Weiss), Washington Post (diminished, due to Jeff Bezos), Baltimore Sun and Boston Globe (no longer have foreign reporters), and International Herald Tribune (poof). There are new digital outlets but it's tough out there.20 Mar 2026 17:07 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhiywc2gi223https://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mhfzmedlv22fHard to believe that 23 years ago - March 19, 2003 - Bush announced the invasion of Iraq. I heard attack helicopters overhead and drove toward the war in darkness. The U.S. has learned nothing, still bombing and killing, hooked on violence. Photos: my SUV on the first and last days of the invasion.19 Mar 2026 12:41 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhfzmedlv22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mhe4rztpjc25Might be a good time to read a book titled, "Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil," which I've heard a lot about. https://www.amazon.com/Crude-World-Violent-Twilight-Oil/dp/140007545918 Mar 2026 18:33 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhe4rztpjc25https://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mgxc544dnk2hA legend of my generation of foreign reporters. I knew John and tangled with him at times, as did most everyone of that era. But as the obit notes, few of his kind have gone before, much of his work was superlative, and his raconteuring was spellbinding. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/world/john-burns-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.S1A.i4YA.r7yzLY1uxQsQ&smid=nytcore-ios-share13 Mar 2026 16:04 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgxc544dnk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mgufl6pies2kLatest from @alissaquart.bsky.social ...https://www.motherjones.com/media/2026/03/academy-awards-oscars-inequality-class-marty-supreme-sinners-battle/12 Mar 2026 12:28 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgufl6pies2khttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mgqmcttpms2d"absolutely fucking hallucinatorily batshit" [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 Mar 2026 00:18 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgqmcttpms2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/maassp.bsky.social/post/3mgpmu4xsdc2tI saw the same when I visited Pyongyang. Not kidding. [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 Mar 2026 14:55 +0000at://did:plc:n2zagbvlvalvqga632db5git/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgpmu4xsdc2t