After years of lap-dog performances, Oklahoma’s Ethics Commission has finally found its bite; Oklahoma Voice, August 4, 2025

Janelle Specklein , Oklahoma Voice; After years of lap-dog performances, Oklahoma’s Ethics Commission has finally found its bite

"Hats off to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, which over the course of the past few months has seemingly transformed itself from a toothless shih tzu into an aggressive, but well-trained pitbull that’s going for the jugular.

For years, the agency and its governing board inspired about as much fear as a cute baby bunny would into the state employees, lobbyists and political candidates that they were supposed to hold accountable. 

The body had also demonstrated a propensity for secrecy, which kept the public in the dark about what they were doing. In 2023, Attorney General Gentner Drummond accused the public board of violating the state Open Meeting Act by discussing the candidate qualifications and details of the search process for their next executive director behind closed doors.

But in recent months something — or someone — has knocked the board’s rose-colored glasses askew, and politicians, lobbyists and statewide political campaigns have been in for a rude awakening. Democrats and Republicans are suddenly discovering they’re dealing with a board that has plenty of teeth and is willing to fight for Oklahomans, consequences be damned.

It’s been an inspiring sight to behold following years of lackluster performance.

In the past few months, Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters agreed to pay an $18,300 settlement in connection with an improper transfer of funds for a school board election in Jenks and a $5,000 penalty for using his state social media account for personal reasons. Shelley Zumwalt, who once served as a Cabinet secretary for Gov. Kevin Stitt, agreed to pay a $20,000 fine and not to hold any position funded with state dollars for two years to resolve an ethics case involving contracts awarded to a firm her husband worked at. The Commission entered into a settlement agreement with Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, to pay the agency $35,000 for a variety of ethics issues related spending campaign funds.

Earlier this month, the Commission disclosed that they’re planning to open another formal investigation into Pittman and will pursue the case in court after she missed payments.

They’ve also disclosed that they’re pursuing a case against the Gamefowl Commission on accusations that it violated financial disclosure rules. The group had been lobbying to reduce the penalty for cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Oklahomans appear to finally have the type of board they’ve long deserved and hoped for since 1990 when they voted to create the Ethics Commission and enshrine it into the state’s Constitution so that lawmakers couldn’t abolish it."

‘We have to clear our names’: Venezuelan makeup artist who survived Ice detention tries to rebuild his life; The Guardian, August 4, 2025

Clavel Rangel, The Guardian ; ‘We have to clear our names’: Venezuelan makeup artist who survived Ice detention tries to rebuild his life

"Hernández, a makeup artist, was one of 251 Venezuelan men flown from Texas to the notorious Cecot maximum security prison in El Salvador as part of Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. They endured months in a facility described as the “cemetery of the living dead” before finally being repatriated in late July, following a deal between the US and Venezuelan governments...

Life inside Cecot followed a bleak rhythm. There was no sunlight, no answers, no information. But always, there was the sound of handcuffs. “I think they used it as emotional control – that sound of the cuffs and the doors,” he recalled.

The yelling never stopped. “For everything. Because we spoke. Because we asked questions. For everything.

“If that’s how they treated us, knowing we were just migrants, I don’t even want to imagine how they treat the regular inmates – the ones who’ve actually committed crimes,” he said.

As a gay man, Hernández endured relentless harassment and taunting by the guards.

“In El Salvador, believe me, human rights don’t exist. And LGBTQ rights? Even less. People in there who belong to the community have to be brave... we carry an extra burden. It’s hard for a regular prisoner to accept that he shares a cell with someone from the community. Someone different. Someone who loves the same sex. Who sees the world differently.”"

Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose; NPR, August 4, 2025

Rebecca Hersher, NPR ; Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose

"The Trump administration has asked NASA employees to draw up plans to end at least two major satellite missions, according to current and former NASA staffers. If the plans are carried out, one of the missions would be permanently terminated, because the satellite would burn up in the atmosphere.

The data the two missions collect is widely used, including by scientists, oil and gas companies and farmers who need detailed information about carbon dioxide and crop health. They are the only two federal satellite missions that were designed and built specifically to monitor planet-warming greenhouse gases.

It is unclear why the Trump administration seeks to end the missions."

All Nations LibGuide: Introduction, 2025

 

All Nations LibGuide: Introduction

"Librarians will continue to ensure that everyone has equal access to information. It is one of the tenets of librarianship, and it is something that we are here to do as trusted service professionals in our communities." 
—Cindy Hohl, Dakota of the Santee Sioux Nation, American Library Association President 2024-2025

The All Nations resource guide highlights the impact of Indigenous Librarianship and the importance of serving the library and information needs of Indigenous and Native peoples. It contains information on equitable access to information, literacy, welcoming spaces, and sustainability for future generations of library staff and patrons. The collection of resources throughout the guide are primarily Indigenous-centric and includes scholarly works from allies and non-Native librarians in tribal and mainstream libraries. As sovereign nations, the guide includes references to treaties and federal and state resources. 

This introductory page features a guide on terminology, allyship, stereotypes, and land acknowledgments, as well as digital maps for use in learning and teaching and an informative video on why treaties matter."

We need a new ethics for a world of AI agents; Nature, August 4, 2025

  

Iason Gabriel, 

Geoff Keeling, 

Arianna Manzini & 

James Evans,

 Nature; We need a new ethics for a world of AI agents

"Artificial intelligence (AI) developers are shifting their focus to building agents that can operate independently, with little human intervention. To be an agent is to have the ability to perceive and act on an environment in a goal-directed and autonomous way1. For example, a digital agent could be programmed to browse the web and make online purchases on behalf of a user — comparing prices, selecting items and completing checkouts. A robot with arms could be an agent if it could pick up objects, open doors or assemble parts without being told how to do each step...

The rise of more-capable AI agents is likely to have far-reaching political, economic and social consequences. On the positive side, they could unlock economic value: the consultancy McKinsey forecasts an annual windfall from generative AI of US$2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion globally, once AI agents are widely deployed (see go.nature.com/4qeqemh). They might also serve as powerful research assistants and accelerate scientific discovery.

But AI agents also introduce risks. People need to know who is responsible for agents operating ‘in the wild’, and what happens if they make mistakes. For example, in November 2022 , an Air Canada chatbot mistakenly decided to offer a customer a discounted bereavement fare, leading to a legal dispute over whether the airline was bound by the promise. In February 2024, a tribunal ruled that it was — highlighting the liabilities that corporations could experience when handing over tasks to AI agents, and the growing need for clear rules around AI responsibility.

Here, we argue for greater engagement by scientists, scholars, engineers and policymakers with the implications of a world increasingly populated by AI agents. We explore key challenges that must be addressed to ensure that interactions between humans and agents — and among agents themselves — remain broadly beneficial."

Police nationwide are embracing a new first responder: Drones; The Washington Post, August 4, 2025

Marie-Rose Sheinerman , The Washington Post; Police nationwide are embracing a new first responder: Drones

"Law enforcement and drone industry leaders praise the technology as lifesaving, with the potential to help authorities in situations ranging from missing persons cases to active shooter incidents. But critics worry the programs encourage mass surveillance and violate the public’s privacy."

Zuckerberg fired the fact-checkers. We tested their replacement.; The Washington Post, August 4, 2025

 Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Washington Post; Zuckerberg fired the fact-checkers. We tested their replacement

"Zuckerberg fired professional fact-checkers, leaving users to fight falsehoods with community notes. As the main line of defense against hoaxes and deliberate liars exploiting our attention, community notes appear — so far — nowhere near up to the task."

Seventy Years Ago, Johnny Cash Recorded ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and Became a Folk Hero for the Ignored and Downtrodden; Smithsonian Magazine, July 30, 2025

Raj Tawney, Smithsonian Magazine; Seventy Years Ago, Johnny Cash Recorded ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and Became a Folk Hero for the Ignored and Downtrodden

"Throughout his five-decade career, Cash performed for thousands of incarcerated people across the country, appearing in-concert at over 30 prisons, where he’d always include “Folsom Prison Blues” in his set. By showing them his respect, the inmates often felt he was one of their own and treated him in kind. Though he’d been arrested seven times for minor offenses, some due to his struggles with substance abuse, he never served prison time. Yet somehow, he found a way to relate to and empathize with prisoners while the rest of society turned their backs on them. He even testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on prison reform in 1972 and continued to advocate for prison conditions with six sitting presidents."

The truth hurts; The Washington Post, August 4, 2025

Michael Ramirez, The Washington Post ; The truth hurts

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/04/trump-bls-commissioner-firing/

Trump firing of statistics chief puts US data credibility at risk, experts warn; The Guardian, August 5, 2025

Robert Tait  , The Guardian; Trump firing of statistics chief puts US data credibility at risk, experts warn

"Donald Trump’s firing of the head of the main agency for producing jobs figures risks propelling the US into the same category as countries notorious for “cooking the books” such as Argentina and Greece, experts have warned.

Donald Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner last Friday, after accusing her agency of “faking” the latest employment figures for “political purposes,” which showed the US economy adding a lower-than-expected 73,000 jobs in July.

The BLS, the US government official source for labor statistics since 1884, also revised down the estimates of new positions created in May and June by a combined 258,000.

Trump provided no evidence for his accusations against McEntarfer, which he reinforced in social media posts on Monday, calling the bureau’s latest reports “rigged” and concocted.

But his decision jeopardizes the US’s tradition of impartial and reliable statistic collection on which the country’s economic stability and international reputation depends, specialists have told the Guardian.

Erica Groshen, McEnterfer’s predecessor as BLS commissioner during Barack Obama’s presidency, warned earlier this year that an impending civil-servant rule change that presaged last Friday’s sacking could usher in a “politicization” of government statistical bodies – whereby experts are pressured to produce massaged numbers that fitted an incumbent president’s agenda.

She raised the specter of Greece and Argentina, where official statistics became discredited as a result of government-instigated misrepresenting of figures."

Superman’s Squirrel Scene Is Deeper Than You Think; ScreenRant, August 2, 2025

TC Phillips, ScreenRant; Superman’s Squirrel Scene Is Deeper Than You Think

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"While test audiences may have had questions about Superman’s titular superhero performing an unexpected wildlife rescue, the DC movie’s co-composer has offered his insight into the hotly contested moment. During a recent interview following Superman’s release, James Gunn revealed that some test audiences had taken issue with David Corenswet’s Superman saving a squirrel while fighting a rampaging Kaiju.

Nonetheless, Gunn decided to keep the moment in his movie’s final edit, despite the feedback he had received and additional protests from some of his crew. Since then, the pivotal moment has become a major focus of online discussion and has even spawned a slew of memes and other viral content...

Ultimately, however, Fleming revealed that he is fond of the moment and explained how Superman’s actions are true to his character. He also suggested they were a perfect counterpoint to the more callous and careless actions of the Justice Gang. Check out his final comments below:

I kind of think the squirrel's great. To go back to the Justice Gang being a great foil for Superman, the fun of the scene is how haphazard they are versus him trying to make sure everyone is safe all the time, which is a real hallmark of his character and at the core of the creation of the character.

Over the years, DC’s Superman has been reimagined and recontextualized countless times. While the character’s previous big-screen iteration had largely centered on depicting the Last Son of Krypton as a god-like being attempting to find his place among mortals, Gunn’s version intentionally leans into the strength of his humanity, and his concern for all living creatures...

In a comic book universe already filled to bursting with metahumans parading as heroes and villains, it is Superman’s boundless empathy that truly sets him apart from his many contemporaries." 

Efforts to restrict or protect libraries both grew this year; Iowa Capital Dispatch, July 23, 2025

ROBBIE SEQUEIRA | STATELINE , Iowa Capital Dispatch ; Efforts to restrict or protect libraries both grew this year

"State lawmakers across the country filed more bills to restrict or protect libraries and readers in the first half of this year than last year, a new report found.

The split fell largely along geographic lines, according to the report from EveryLibrary, a group that advocates against book bans and censorship...

The geographic split among these policies is stark.

In Southern and Plains states, new laws increasingly criminalize certain actions of librarians, restrict access to materials about gender and race, and transfer decision-making power to politically appointed boards or parent-led councils.

Texas alone passed a trio of sweeping laws stripping educators of certain legal protections when providing potentially obscene materials; banning public funding for instructional materials containing obscene content; and giving parents more authority over student reading choices and new library additions.

In contrast, several Northeastern states have passed legislation protections for libraries and librarians and anti-censorship laws.

New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island and Connecticut have each enacted “freedom to read” or other laws that codify protections against ideological censorship in libraries."

‘1984’ Hasn’t Changed, but America Has; The New York Times, July 27, 2025

Charlie English , The New York Times; ‘1984’ Hasn’t Changed, but America Has

[Kip Currier: It's incredibly heartening -- and disheartening at the same time -- to read about post-WWII "CIA Book Program" efforts to provide Soviet-propagandized citizens with access to books, ideas, and information (e.g. George Orwell's "1984"), but then reflect on book banning efforts in American libraries and censorship and erasure of information in museums like the Smithsonian right now.]

[Excerpt]

"There are myriad reasons the Eastern Bloc collapsed in 1989. The economic stagnation of the East and the war in Afghanistan are two of the most commonly cited. But literature also played its part, thanks to a long-running U.S. operation conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency that covertly moved millions of books through the Iron Curtain in a bid to undermine Communist Party censorship.

While it is hard to quantify the program’s effect in absolute terms, its history offers valuable lessons for today, not least since some of the very same titles and authors the C.I.A. sent East during the Cold War — including “1984”— are now deemed objectionable by a network of conservative groups across the United States.

First published in English in 1949, Orwell’s novel describes the dystopian world of Oceania, a totalitarian state where the protagonist, Winston Smith, works in a huge government department called the Ministry of Truth. The ministry is ironically named: Its role is not to safeguard the truth but to destroy it, to edit history to fit the present needs of the party and its leader, Big Brother, since, as the slogan runs, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

In the real Soviet system, every country had its equivalent of the Ministry of Truth, modeled on the Moscow template. In Poland, the largest Eastern European nation outside the Soviet Union, this censorship and propaganda apparatus was called the Main Office for the Control of Presentations and Public Performances, and its headquarters occupied most of a city block in downtown Warsaw.

From art to advertising, television to theater, the Main Office reached into all aspects of Polish life. It had employees in every TV and radio station, every film studio and every publishing house. Every typewriter in Poland had to be registered, access to every photocopier was restricted, and a permit was needed even to buy a ream of paper. Books that did not conform to the censor’s rules were pulped.

The result was intellectual stultification, what the Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz called a logocracy, a society where words and language were manipulated to fit the propaganda needs of the regime...

Troublesome people, inconvenient facts and awkward areas of journalistic inquiry were removed from public life...

Orwell was made a “nonperson” in the Soviet Union, after the publication of his satire of the Russian Revolution, “Animal Farm,” in 1945. It was dangerous even to mention the author’s name in print there, and when “1984” was published it was banned in the Eastern Bloc in all languages. But when copies of the novel did slip through the Iron Curtain, they had enormous power. The book was “difficult to obtain and dangerous to possess,” Milosz wrote, but Orwell — who had never visited Eastern Europe — fascinated people there because of “his insight into details they know well.”

What some Eastern European readers of contraband copies of “1984” suspected, but very few knew for sure, was that these and millions of other uncensored texts were not reaching them entirely by chance, but were part of a decades-long U.S. intelligence operation called the “C.I.A. book program,” based for much of its existence in the nondescript office building at 475 Park Avenue South in Midtown Manhattan. There, a small team of C.I.A. employees organized the infiltration of 10 million books and periodicals into the Eastern Bloc, sending literature by every imaginable means: in trucks fitted with secret compartments, on yachts that traversed the stormy Baltic, in the mail, or slipped into the luggage of countless travelers from Eastern Europe who dropped in at C.I.A. distribution hubs in the West."

The DC public library system falls way short of ‘Abundance’; The Hill, August 3, 2025

 CHASE LANFER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR, The Hill ; The DC public library system falls way short of ‘Abundance’

"Book clubs nationwide have been talking for months about whether you are “Abundance-pilled,” a reference to the recent book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson that has made it into the lexicon of many public policy nerds.

And public policy nerds happen to be everywhere in the District of Columbia. That is why the waitlist to borrow this book at the D.C. Public Library is more than 300 people long for a hard copy, over 500-long for an eBook and more than 800-long for an audiobook.

How many copies does the D.C. library system have of this New York Times-bestseller, which was published in March? Well, from March to July, the total was just one. One hard copy, zero eBook registrations and zero audio books.

Only in August did the D.C. public library finally expand its catalogue to 51 copies, which is still little relief for the hundreds who have been waiting months. Think of the debates we missed out on, the replies we never sent. The online discourse was impoverished by the absence of witty, wonky D.C.-based keyboard warriors.

Other library systems nearby have copies of “Abundance.” The Arlington Public Library has had 47 copies all along. Fairfax County has 45 and Montgomery County has 18 hardcover copies, 63 eBook registrations and 75 audiobooks. So these books have been lining the shelves of our suburban friends’ and families’ local libraries. Just not ours...

Could it be that one of the places we need to modernize by removing regulations is our public library? I reached out to the director of new title procurement at the D.C. library, asking about the policies regarding the acquisition of new copies, but I did not receive a response."

Smithsonian to restore Trump to impeachment exhibit ‘in the coming weeks’; The Washington Post, August 2, 2025

Jonathan Fischer

 and 

Samantha Chery

, The Washington Post; Smithsonian to restore Trump to impeachment exhibit ‘in the coming weeks’

"The placard mentioning Trump was removed from the exhibition, “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden,” after what the Smithsonian called a “review” of “legacy content.” A person familiar with the exhibit plans, who was not authorized to discuss them publicly, previously told The Post the placard was removed as part of a content review the Smithsonian undertook following pressure from the White House to remove an art museum director."

Smithsonian to restore Trump to impeachment exhibit ‘in the coming weeks’; Associated Press via The Guardian, August 2, 2025

Associated Press via The Guardian, The Washington Post ; Smithsonian to restore Trump to impeachment exhibit ‘in the coming weeks’

"The Smithsonian will include Donald Trump’s two impeachments in an updated presentation “in the coming weeks” after references to them were removed, the museum said in a statement Saturday.

That statement from the Washington DC museum also denied that the Trump administration pressured the Smithsonian to remove the references to his impeachments during his first presidency...

Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice. In 2019, he was impeached for pushing Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, who would later defeat Trump in the 2020 presidential election. And in 2021, he was impeached for “incitement of insurrection,” a reference to the 6 January 2021 attack aimed at the US Capitol by Trump supporters attempting to halt congressional certification of Biden’s victory over him.

The Democratic majority in the House voted each time for impeachment. The Republican-led Senate each time acquitted Trump."

Experts Raise Concerns Over Trump’s White House Ballroom Renovation Plans; The New York Times, August 3, 2025

 Ashley Ahn, The New York Times; Experts Raise Concerns Over Trump’s White House Ballroom Renovation Plans

"Experts on historic preservation are raising concerns over the feasibility of President Trump’s plans to complete large-scale renovations to the White House by the end of his term, and whether the project can be done while respecting the historic nature of the building.

Mr. Trump unveiled plans on Thursday to construct a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot state ballroom off the East Wing to be completed “long before” the end of his term in 2029. The project would be one of the largest renovations to the iconic building in decades...

The White House, the Supreme Court building, the Capitol and all their “related buildings and grounds” are exempt from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which requires federal agencies to assess and mitigate adverse effects to historic properties and seek consultation through a formal review process.

Instead, the White House has its own committee that provides advice on the “preservation and the interpretation of the museum character” of the building. The Committee for the Preservation of the White House — chaired by the director of the National Park Service — is made up of several federal officials and a number of members appointed by the president.

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, said on Thursday in a news release that the administration was “fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House.”

Still, the committee’s recommendations are not binding, giving the president significant leeway to do as he wishes."

Jacksonville man files trademark for name ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ says it’s a way to fight against ‘hate merch’; News4Jax, July 18, 2025

Khalil Maycock , News4Jax; Jacksonville man files trademark for name ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ says it’s a way to fight against ‘hate merch’

"A Jacksonville man filed a trademark Class 28 for the name “Alligator Alcatraz.”

A Class 28 trademark means, if approved, Eric Battle would have the rights to that name for games, toys and novelty items.

This comes after Battle said he felt helpless when he saw the controversial immigration detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” opened at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades earlier this month.

State and federal officials have touted the detention center on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and “guarded” by alligators wearing hats labeled “ICE” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility’s name."

He thought he was too old to be an EMT. At 76, he’s saved countless lives.; The Washington Post, August 1, 2025

Kyle Melnick, The Washington Post ; He thought he was too old to be an EMT. At 76, he’s saved countless lives.

"The day a man collapsed in a parking lot in Bethesda, Maryland, EMT Ed Levien rushed in an ambulance to the scene, where the injured man repeatedly called for Jesus.

“Jesus isn’t here,” Levien recalled telling him. “You’ve got to put up with me.”

The man looked at Levien’s mustached face, his thinning gray hair and his round glasses and replied, “Okay, Pops.”

That’s how Levien, one of the oldest EMTs in Maryland, got his nickname a few years ago in the volunteer job that — to his surprise — has become an unintended second career and reshaped his identity.

“I never had an impact on anyone until I started doing this,” Levien, who previously worked in advertising, told The Washington Post.

Levien began working as a volunteer EMT when he was 65 years old, far surpassing the age of his colleagues at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. After recovering from an unexpected injury — with the help of strangers — he decided to help others for as long as his body would allow."

James Gunn Explains Why Supergirl’s Secret Cameo Was Crucial For Superman; ScreenRant, July 19, 2025

Andy Behbakht

 , ScreenRant; James Gunn Explains Why Supergirl’s Secret Cameo Was Crucial For Superman

WARNING: This article includes SPOILERS from Superman.

"In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn shared more about Alcock's Supergirl cameo and how it was used as a way to give the DCU audience an introduction to the Girl of Steel. Gunn stressed that it was important to have Supergirl at the end, as he shared the following:

James Gunn: But for me, the main reason for Kara showing up is to show that Superman not only risked his life to go save a dog that was his dog, that so many of us would do, he was watching the dog for somebody else. The dog's a pain in his ass. He didn't want to take that dog. She's off being irresponsible. He doesn't want to have to watch a dog. He's having to save the world every two seconds. And even still, he goes to the ends of the earth for that dog.

To me, that's one of the most touching things in the movie. Earlier, when Lois says, "It's just a dog," and he says, "Yeah, not even a very good one, but it's probably scared," it just shows you the depths of his empathy. I find that so touching. Then, when you find out at the end, it's not even his dog; she just left it with him."

Superman's James Gunn unpacks the 'Superwoke' discourse, Ultraman reveal, and Justice League plans; Entertainment Weekly, July 18, 2025

Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick is an entertainment journalist based in New York, NY. If you like pugs and the occasional blurry photo of an action figure, follow him on Twitter @NickARomano.

EW'S EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

, Entertainment Weekly; Superman's James Gunn unpacks the 'Superwoke' discourse, Ultraman reveal, and Justice League plans

 "This leads me to another point...I found myself laughing a lot about the Fox News and the ultra-right coming out to label Superman as "Superwoke." It was not lost on me that scene where Lois is interviewing Superman. The phrase "Superwoke" sounds exactly like the in-world critics of Superman. I was curious what you made of that.

I've heard people say it was woke, and then I've heard a lot of people say it's not. I am curious as to what in the movie is considered woke. I think people took something I said...The guy for the London newspaper [Jonathan Dean of The Times]. Originally, he said that [Superman comic creators] Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were the sons of immigrants, and they wrote Superman as an immigrant story. And I said, yeah, it's a story about an immigrant, but mostly it's a story to me about kindness, which it is. That's the center of the movie for me.

That's the thing we can all act upon, is kindness. And so what does that lead to? Well, does that lead to the way you vote? Sure. Does that lead to everything? Yeah. Does it lead to how many people are dying from road rage? Yes. All those things are affected if people just start to value kindness. I mean, people did value kindness in the past. That was an American value, was kindness, and it doesn't necessarily seem to be that way to me anymore. So that was always the center of the movie for me, and it wasn't about anything other than that."