…Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.
Why you don’t take your guillotine to a gun fight…
Man arrested after guillotine is found in pickup truck near Capitol, by Kyle Stewart and Raquel Coronell Uribe, NBC News, August 25, 2026.
In 2024, Joey Skaggs’ New York City Annual April Fools’ Day Parade featured “Democracy at the Guillotine” on a mobile billboard truck, therefore avoiding a showdown with the law.
Who are you going to believe, me or your lying poll?
Website behind widely shared fake election polls run by 21-year-old, by Sophie Sullivan, Anna Betts and Sam Levine, The Guardian, August 20, 2026.
Exclusive: Rahil Prakash tells the Guardian: ‘I wanted to see if fake polls could penetrate the ecosystem that easily’
A 21-year-old recent college graduate was behind an anonymous website that put out widely shared fake election polling in Wisconsin, Nevada and California, the Guardian can reveal.
The website, Median Strategies, abruptly shut down and withdrew its polling earlier this week following questions from a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. In an unsigned statement, it described a “short-term social experiment” to examine how fake polling “could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification”.
If it was gold, he would have taken it.
Giant Iran War ‘Participation Trophy’ For Trump Appears On National Mall, by Jennifer Bendery, Huffpost, July 13, 2026.
Anonymous artists installed a 10-foot monument satirically honoring Trump for starting a war with no “military strategy, diplomacy, or measurable outcomes.”
WASHINGTON — A 10-foot “participation trophy” magically appeared on the National Mall early Monday to satirically honor President Donald Trump for unilaterally starting a war in Iran with no strategy, no stated goals and no plan on how to get the United States out of it.
“We hereby award President Donald J. Trump this participation trophy for his enthusiastic involvement in the Iran War,” reads a plaque on the faux monument, which was installed in the wee hours near the MLK Memorial Bookstore. “While some concern themselves with military strategy, diplomacy, or measurable outcomes, President Trump demonstrated the courage to participate regardless of the final score.” Read the whole article here.
Strong voices speak out against Trump’s attack on our freedom of expression.
Artists detonate attack on Trump at the Kennedy Center, by Ashley Murray, Indiana Capital Chronicle, AlterNet, March 28, 2026.
WASHINGTON — A host of celebrities outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday kicked off a weekend of protest against President Donald Trump’s expansion of executive power and his administration’s pressure on freedom of expression — from theater programming in the nation’s capital, to late-night television.
More than a dozen activist performers and creators rallied for Artists United for Our Freedoms, an event organized by the advocacy group Committee for the First Amendment. Read the whole article here.
Hello? Is this the White House or Epstein Island?
Fact Check: Did White House Phone Number Show ‘Epstein Island’ on Android Devices? Here’s What Happened as Google Fixed the Glitch’ by Amreen Ahmad, Sunday Guardian, March 28, 2026.
Android users briefly saw the White House number labeled “Epstein Island” due to a Google Maps edit glitch. Google quickly fixed the issue.
Epstein Island Glitch: A surprising caller ID glitch briefly stirred confusion after some Android users reported that the official White House phone number appeared as “Epstein Island.” Perhaps this odd tagline, which was initially discovered by journalists at The Washington Post, virally disseminated on social media, raising concerns about the accuracy of the data, the susceptibility of platforms and the way that digital listings can shape people. Read the whole article here.