Covering tech and culture @politico. Say hi: cmchugh@politico.com / SIGNAL: cmchugh.12
New York, NY
Joined August 2016
- Tweets1.5K
- Following1.3K
- Followers2.4K
- Likes6.6K
Like many of you I will be in Denver this weekend for What’s Next… hmu if you would like to chat/hang!
1
4
560
OK FINE:
20. Tim, The Replacements
19. Heavy Metal, Cameron Winter
18. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
17. Doolittle, Pixies
16. 69 Love Songs, The Magnetic Fields
15. Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey
14. Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne
13. Terror Twilight, Pavement
12. Ivy Tripp, Waxahatchee
11. Alien Lanes, Guided by Voices
10. Turn On the Bright Lights, Interpol
9. American Water, Silver Jews
8. The Magnolia Electric Co., Songs: Ohia
7. Skinty Fia, Fontaines D.C.
6. Celebrity Skin, Hole
5. Room On Fire, The Strokes
4. Favourite Worst Nightmare, Arctic Monkeys
3. The Greatest, Cat Power
2. Fever to Tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
1. Separation Sunday, The Hold Steady
What is indie rock? Our answer is these 100 albums
pitchfork.com/story/the-100-…
NEWS: @GovKathyHochul is launching an effort to independently test AI systems via state govt. and train a new generation of AI safety researchers via a public-private partnership announced earlier this year. The initiative is set to be led by Profs. Jeannette Wing and Greg Morrisett: politico.com/news/2026/11/10…
I went on the Brian Lehrer Show today to talk about a very busy day in tech news: wnyc.org/browse/shows/episod…
We chatted about this story, ICYMI: politico.com/news/magazine/2…
1
3
138
Read the whole package!!
POLITICO Mag's deep dives on four policy disputes that animated the midterms:
Israel: politico.com/news/magazine/2…
MAHA: politico.com/news/magazine/2…
Trade: politico.com/news/magazine/2…
AI: politico.com/news/magazine/2…
14
601
NEWS: Potential Dem pres. candidates @JBPritzker, @RahmEmanuel, @CoryBooker and @RoKhanna attended a forum over the weekend with AI safety leaders/donors in SF hosted by @AlexBores and Anna Myers. We have details inside the meeting here: politico.com/news/2026/11/09…
Not to do too much self-promotion on a Friday but I think this holds up from 2023 — featuring a young state assemblymember named Zohran Mamdani who had some choice words for Jeffries: politico.com/news/magazine/2…
I had a fantastic time chatted with @SayreEvan for his podcast The Center Edge — listen/watch here (bonus points if you're a real DC sicko and know where I was staying this week based on my background, plz DM don't blow up my spot): youtube.com/watch?v=jeus7W_e…
NEW piece that I'm PROUD OF: I took a deep dive into what happened with AI and the midterms. Not only about this week, it traces the last 18 months of AI politics — and how an odd coalition found its way together to push Dems towards safety/regulation. W/the homie @AlecAHernandez : politico.com/news/magazine/2…
The piece gets into fights over preemption, the @AlexBores primary, Jacob Coxon's Anthropic resignation, dark money flooding the zone and more. It traces the work of Rishi Bharwani, @JayShooster and @bradrcarson — with lots of other characters involved, too.
Conservative @RealDCochrane to me on surprise Republican losses in races where Big Tech backed R's: "Polling has long showed public opposition to data centers ... Rather than heed those concerns, some in the administration and GOP chose to align themselves with Big Tech and corporate plutocrats. The American people reject the alliance of Big AI and Big Government."
If you have thoughts about AI/tech and how it's playing in the midterms this evening, I would love to hear from you!* Off-record assumed; my signal is cmchugh.12
The state AG races on Tuesday are among the most essential in the country for tech policy. Here are the ones to watch, from Decoded: politico.com/newsletters/dec…
NEWS: OpenAI is launching an election war room ahead of the midterms, in an attempt to forestall bad actors from using their tools for misinformation, etc: politico.com/news/2026/10/28…
Great @MuiChristine and Sean McMinn piece on the CA wealth tax spending wars... politico.com/news/2026/10/28…
I chatted with @_NathanCalvin about his back and forth with @DarioAmodei, his advice to Jacob Coxon and the state of AI safety. More here: open.spotify.com/episode/5ZE…
"Anthropic is doing something it readily admits is incredibly risky."
Our @calder_mchugh sat down with Encode's Nathan Calvin — one of the most influential AI policy organizations in Washington — to talk about his reaction to Anthropic's recent IPO filing.
🎧 Decoded: politi.co/4Bz4uDS
In Decoded today, along with Peter Thiel's break from Trump on the Iran War, much more on his third and fourth Nashville Antichrist lectures and where he diverged from previous talks.
That includes his worries that the next president could be the Antichrist, his concern that Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth could be in danger from the International Criminal Court under a new president, and comments on Israel:
"I don’t think there is some sort of Israeli conspiracy that controls the U.S. Israel is too autistic, it’s too clueless."
politico.com/newsletters/dec…
NEWS: I obtained a recording of Peter Thiel's latest Nashville Antichrist lectures. In his third talk delivered on Oct. 12, he breaks with the Trump admin on the U.S. war with Iran. “I think we should not have done it,” he said. “There were a lot of mistakes that were made.”
politico.com/news/2026/10/21…
More on his third and fourth lectures in POLITICO Decoded tomorrow — sign up here to get it straight in your inbox: politico.com/decoded-by-poli…
NEW in Decoded today: What Trump's crypto policy means for the original true believers of the tech, with @samjsutton. Feat. @valkenburgh and @btschiller, who wrote a whole play about the subject: politico.com/newsletters/dec…
Plus, exclusive reporting on @GuardrailsNow new spending in MT-01 and why the lefty org. thinks it can compete in purple districts
At @MorePerfectUS and @AINowInstitute event at Webster Hall, @ZohranKMamdani calls on @GovKathyHochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act, legislation that would regulate the growth of large-scale data centers beyond the moratorium.