Archivists Posted the 60 Minutes Cecot Segment Bari Weiss Killed
Key topics
The cat's out of the bag: archivists have unearthed and shared a suppressed 60 Minutes segment on Cecot, a notorious Brazilian prison, thanks to the efforts of journalist Bari Weiss. As the video spreads online, commenters are weighing in on the potential impact – or lack thereof – on those who might be swayed by the truth. Some are lamenting that the segment's late arrival to the public sphere limits its reach, while others are pointing out that motivated reasoning can lead people to interpret information in ways that reinforce their existing biases. The conversation takes a nuanced turn as commenters discuss the delicate balance between sharing uncomfortable truths and respecting relationships with those who may hold differing views.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Very active discussionFirst comment
1h
Peak period
27
0-3h
Avg / period
5.5
Based on 71 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Dec 22, 2025 at 10:44 PM EST
18 days ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Dec 23, 2025 at 12:02 AM EST
1h after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
27 comments in 0-3h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Dec 24, 2025 at 8:23 PM EST
16 days ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
Streisand Effect and all.
Really think you should consider not giving advice to people from a place of ignorance regarding their individual family situations.
It’s predictable that a person who e.g. yells slurs and threatens violence against (whoever they perceive as) gay people on TV is going to progress to actual violence against the gay people in their life, more often than not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning
It's about successful communication of authorial intent.
60 Minutes is not trying to say "Justice Served!" and shake pom-poms here. But, someone could read it that way, and it would be unintended.
It's also a very easy job. You don't need to do journalism, be diligent about citations, use robust analysis or careful language.
You don't even need a script. Just hop on the hot mic and blame an oppressed scapegoat for everything and see the money roll on in.
The content is evergreen, trivial to create and performs great!
Just like you don't have to be a doctor to swindle people with phony medicine or a financial advisor to hustle people in a Ponzi scheme.
The problem is we've taking the smooth talking scams of these slick mountebanks and christened it as sacred free speech instead of the hatemonger hustle it is.
And unfortunately, like Albania’s Nationwide Ponzi scam of the 1990s, these crimes have become institutionalized power and their bullshit is being the country down with them.
TIL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ellison
It's nauseating, but this is where Republicans live these days. The midterms can't come soon enough.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9yp7v37jyo
Whats the BBC got to do with CBS?
/s
On the other hand the thin-skinned fascists in the admin have a history of trying to silence the truth about them.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2025/12/cbs-news-bari-w...
Your hysteria is noted and disregarded.
Please tell me what’s the appropriate label.
As others realize that nakedly appeasing the autocrat wins favor, they voluntarily corrupt themselves and others in hopes of advantage.
More and more of the society enters the grip of this force and weakens until the truly valuable things—its resources, minds, institutions—are annihilated and displaced by a hierarchy of criminals or warlords. This is how nations sink. It’s the story of many in Africa, South America, Russia—and now it is our own.
How thoroughly would they unite to destroy that challenger? Would you perhaps see apocalyptic and apoplectic stories published across the media, in sync with the press conferences of the political class?
Would they try to get people like you riled up and angry, and saying exactly the kind of things you’re saying here?
I ask this kindly: you don't really see a markedly increase in corruption across your government the past year?
- Weaponization of the DOJ
- Intentional non-enforcement of immigration law to boost proportional representation of democrats.
- A sitting president that was literally a dementia patient. Who was actually making the decisions?
- Eliminating (or at least reducing) the “NGO” and DEI grift. That was a straight funnel of public funds into private pockets.
I can also point to a litany of policy changes that I think are integral to our ability to function as a healthy society.
They win when challengers become too rare because others are afraid of the consequences to oppose.
What the Trump administration did regarding the Capitol storming on January 6th tells you everything you need to know. They strive for power and nothing else.
When I pointed out that this is the work culture in most American corporations, I was told that is a feature, not a bug, because US government and most big tech at the time preached values in line with average white middle-class Californian. Now that this is no longer the case, the mindset of appeasing the leader is suddenly a problem.
The whole situation was preventable, but everyone was too high on ZIRP to notice. We could've used the good times to establish good cultural values, but we didn't. Freedom of speech and other foundations of democracy were already rotting long ago but nobody cared. We could've used the good times to allow better dialogue between different political fractions, but we didn't. At some point democrats honestly believed they would simply never lose power again, making it seem pointless to talk to republicans. Now that the money dried out, people suddenly start asking questions and talking about "muh big values".
I have zero empathy.
This issue was not addressed when democrats were in power. They could've passed laws that protect freedom of speech, but they chose not to, because it allowed them to get rid of problematic republicans.
Now that the machine has turned against democrats and you're not allowed to talk about certain topics important to democrats like climate change or CECOT, it's somehow a big fucking problem.
* I purposefully chose a statement that is highly controversial. It would be really cool if we could have social dialogue about controversial things in order to reach a widespread social consensus, instead of having extremist opinions boil in people.
Where is this right to “free speech in the workplace sans consequences” enumerated in the Constitution?
It is a bit analogous to many of us worrying about Google and others getting so much power. The arguments were quickly dismissed with: "But these folks are responsible, don't be paranoid". The problem with this kind of thinking is, once the power balance changes, you find yourself in a situation you'd never put yourself now. You cannot make Google unlearn what they know about you. You cannot unsend the photos you privately shared on Messenger and force Meta to untrain their facial recognition models. Now all these things you considered a convenience given to you for free can be used against you, and the extend and direction of the abuse is correlated with who is in power.
Corruption is not just the immoral acts of an elite few; it is a parasite that hollows out society from within.
When the mainstream realizes that sycophancy toward the autocrat is rewarded, some willingly corrupt themselves for short-term benefits, burrowing into the system like worms in an apple.
Yet, parasites cannot survive without a compliant host. To kill the infestation, we must cut off the food source: our passiveness. This begins with everyday refusals—denying the petty bribe, rejecting the convenient lie, and defending the honest colleague. By maintaining high ethical standards in our own spheres of influence, we starve the corrupt hierarchy of the dead matter it needs to grow.
We must also make the terrain uninhabitable for them. These organisms thrive in the dark, protected by silence. Therefore, we must actively expose them: documenting abuses, funding media samaritans, and organizing locally to demand transparency. When integrity becomes the standard again, the host becomes hostile to the parasite, isolating the invaders rather than letting them multiply.
Without this resistance however, the society weakens until its greatest assets—its resources, minds, and institutions—are cannibalized by a regime of criminals. This is how nations collapse. We have seen this story in Africa, South America, and Russia. This plague is now upon us. But history is not destiny. We possess the power to stop it. We only need the will to use it.
America isn’t used to corruption. It hasn’t seen societal level rot that corruption can bring since at least WW2.
It’s a deeply damaging phenomenon.
> displaced by a hierarchy of criminals or warlords
The problem is that initially it all looks straightforward and easy. Only afterwards things turn unpredictable and violent.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46361571
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46361024
https://archive.is/74u8M
https://web.archive.org/web/20251223055137/https://news.ycom...