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Russell Payne

Russell Payne is a staff reporter for Salon. His reporting has previously appeared in The New York Sun and the Finger Lakes Times.

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VERNON, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 20: An aerial view of a 33 megawatt data center (LOWER L) with closed-loop cooling system, amid warehouses on October 20, 2025 in Vernon, California. A surge in demand for AI infrastructure is fueling a boom in data centers across the country and around the globe. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The double-edged sword of AI data centers

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Crucifix on a laptop / Luso / Getty Images

Christianity grapples with the rise of an AI Jesus

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(Getty Images)

Congress may be about to create the “bad internet”

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WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 18: A protester holds a placard after the House voted 427-1 to approve the Epstein Files Transparency Act and the release of documents and files at the U.S. Capitol on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. The legislation instructs the U.S. Department of Justice to release all files related to the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. It now goes to the Senate for a vote before President Donald Trump can sign it into law. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

Epstein files won’t be released by deadline, Department of Justice says

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WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 3: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on "The Abduction of Ukrainian Children by the Russian Federation" on Capitol Hill on December 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. Congressmen in the House and Senate on both sides of the isle joined the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States and advocates to testify about the Russian war effort to abduct thousands of Ukrainian children and forced to undergo "re-education" and militarization. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Can a Democrat take Mitch McConnell’s seat?

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Colorado's First District candidate Melat Kiros (L) and Rep. Diana DeGrette (R) (Photo illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Anna Moneymaker / Kiros for Congress)

Progressive bid tests Democratic unity in Colorado’s First District

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New Hampshire candidate Kashima Manzur (L) and Rep. Chris Pappas (R) (Photo illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Bill Clark / Karishma for Senate)

Progressive long-shot takes on Democratic establishment in New Hampshire Senate race

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Aftyn Behn’s rise challenges Tennessee’s GOP establishment

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(Photo illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Davidoff Studios / Boris Zhitkov / artisteer)

The fight for the Epstein files isn’t over

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(Photo illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

Why Mitch McConnell helped kill the hemp buzz

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 14: U.S. Rep. Ruwa Romman attends as people protest in Philadelphia as part of the No Kings Rallies at Love Park on June 14, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for No Kings)

Ruwa Romman’s case for economic populism in Georgia

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Photo courtesy Darializa Avila Chevalier for Congress

“Always put the people first”: Progressives get a new candidate in New York City

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Sunrise Movement targets Dem primaries: “Time to clear house”

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ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - AUGUST 6: US Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-MO) makes remarks as she greets voters during a visit at Carondolet Branch Library on August 6, 2024 in St Louis, Missouri. Bush is looking to retain her seat in Congress against challenger Wesley Bell in todays Missouri's primary election. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Cori Bush on midterms: “Woke isn’t dead — woke is fighting”

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Photo: Ryan Nichols

The National Guardsman who won’t take orders from Trump

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(Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Mamdani wins: How a democratic socialist toppled the Empire State machine

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(Photo Illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago/Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan/Spencer Platt/Marleen Moise/Angelina Katsanis-Pool/Patrick T. Fallon/Newsday/Andrew Harnik)

Panic in the Hamptons: The fight to stop Zohran Mamdani

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White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks at the White House on September 25, 2025. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“It’s a 100% bluff”: Cuts hamper Stephen Miller’s war on the left

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Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point Action, speaks during a meeting on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson on October 17, 2024. (Photo by Olivier Touron/Getty Images)

Efforts to avenge Charlie Kirk’s death have fallen apart everywhere — except where it counts

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Amy McGrath speaks during an Early Vote rally at Lynn Family Stadium on October 27, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Amy McGrath isn’t sorry for trying again

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Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee in May 2019. The chicken was a reference to former Attorney General Bill Barr's reluctance to testify. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Tennessee’s last House Democrat, facing progressive challenger, vows to fight

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An image of US President Donald Trump hangs on the outside of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Washington, DC on October 7, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Federal agencies go MAGA amid shutdown

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A resident drops off a vote-by-mail ballot in a secure drop box on October 2, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Why the ACLU is backing a GOP lawmaker at the Supreme Court

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Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis speaks on his phone while being expelled from the state Legislature on April 6, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Seth Herald/Getty Images)

Progressives see an opening in Tennessee

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