2025.12.24

[lsanderson]

Gov. Tim Walz expects an increase in immigration enforcement over the next two weeks, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. “Walz said the Trump administration is not sharing any information with the state about this month’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’ but he said he was expecting an increase as early as Christmas Eve.” Via MinnPost
https://www.startribune.com/walz-frey-carter-ice-targeting-us-citizens-mn/601551872?utm_source=gift

'Tis the Season for:
Visa ban for European critics of online harm is first shot in US free speech war
Dan Milmo Global technology editor
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/24/visa-ban-for-european-critics-of-online-harm-is-first-shot-in-us-free-speech-war

Is Trump mentally OK? A look back at the president’s unusual behavior in 2025
Adam Gabbatt
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/24/trump-mental-health-speech-address-2025-review

Truth in fantasy: what Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials taught us over its 30-year run
The ‘religious atheist’ author held a reputation as CS Lewis’s opposite. But his two trilogies – which came to a close this year – were a celebration of humanity and imagination
Matthew Cantor
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/dec/24/philip-pullman-his-dark-materials

The 10 best folk albums of 2025
Jennifer Reid sang workers’ songs, Malmin plumbed gnarly Norwegian hinterlands and Quinie rode across Argyll on a horse
Jude Rogers
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/dec/24/the-10-best-folk-albums-of-2025

Interview
‘That’s a rare find!’ The casting genius who plucked this year’s biggest TV star out of 600 auditions
Stuart Heritage
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/24/shaheen-baig-casting-director-interview-adolescence-peaky-blinders-sherwood

How we eat and gather is central to who we are: the diaspora at Christmas
Our personal and shared communal traditions across food and drink play a dominant role in festive celebrations
Dipo Faloyin and Morgan Ofori
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/dec/23/how-we-eat-and-gather-is-central-to-who-we-are-the-diaspora-at-christmas

Christmas Eve swims and an underground mass: photos of the day – Wednesday
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
Matt Fidler
https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2025/dec/24/christmas-eve-swims-and-an-underground-mass-photos-of-the-day-wednesday

Happy Holidays!