Deborah Baker

“Perhaps I should admit now that I don’t know how to write this review.” Https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/08/13/charlottesville-an-american-story-deborah-baker-review/

Oh so a country *can* choose not to make the same mistake twice

Today I wrote about Abdul El Sayed's encounter with a Christian fascist named "Tommy," and the fine art of digging up the shameful things fascists bury under their accusations, exposing them for what they are, and then burying their lies in the hole left behind. www.the-reframe.com/taking-our-c...

Ok, nice one. Quiet. Understated. Welcome.

I’ve been wondering what my maiden Bluesky post should be, and I've gone for this: a classic sketch from Ireland’s greatest-ever export, Dave Allen. Buenas tardes.

‘Cybertruck Man’ a cartoon in defiance of Musk #political #cartoonist #cybertruck #elon #musk #democracy #tiananmen

V powerful testimony on Tapper!

“My story’s getting a lot of attention around the world. ... But I can't imagine what it’s like for all of the victims that have gone through this same ordeal + are living with the threat of this violence on a daily basis,” Heidi Levine told CNN’s Jake Tapper. Watch ⤵️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=f55s...

Same.

To folks who follow me on Bluesky & appreciate the journalism I do. Can you please read the EPA story and post on social media platforms if you are so moved. This kind of work is important. But it only matters if people read it and engage with it. Here's the link. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/c...

This blows my hair back.

Inshallah

Had a great time meeting JMU students and getting them to register to vote yesterday on a beautiful October day! College students will be key to this race, and we need 'em to turn out in large numbers. I will be at Bridgewater College this morning, tailgating and meeting more folks.

Nice tree.

new york forever. FUCK ICE.

Did you know? Japan has a 600-year-old technique for harvesting wood without cutting down trees. Original post

Great to see this published. Congrats to all involved—including @mtgillikin.bsky.social who collaborated with me on one of the essays

In 1972, a group of Harlem Renaissance cultural icons gathered at Duke Ellington's house. The afternoon was captured on 16mm film by William Greaves, but the footage remained unedited in a vault for 50 years until David Greaves restored his father's project, releasing the documentary it 2026.

70 percent of the internet was vulnerable yesterday to very bad security flaws inside a coding language. Turns out, *one volunteer* is mostly responsible for maintaining that code & helping push updates. Yesterday Ondřej Surý saved the internet. So I called him up www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Thread 👇👇

I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with Israelis for Peace, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine & Protect the Harvest.

I was going to disavow the Muslim brotherhood this evening but my stomach was giving me a little trouble, so I made chicken soup instead. Without celery, mind you. I disavow celery.

At least 74,480 people have been killed and 175,539 wounded by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023, reports the besieged enclave’s Health Ministry.

“Donald Trump is a traitor. And he’s not simply a traitor in the loose sense of someone who commits an act of betrayal…Trump is a traitor in the very particular sense laid out in the U.S. Constitution…’adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.’” www.americaamerica.news/p/donald-tru...

Last week I wrote about how Texas politicians’ “free speech” campaign has led to a campaign of academic censorship in the state’s universities that exceeds even the McCarthy era (🎁🔗) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

That uproar was one of the most interesting culture moments of the year. It had it all. Racism against everybody at the same time! Accidental irony! Satire with no satirists!

Palestinian skateboarder in Gaza doing a kickflip over an unexploded US-made (in Garland, Texas) Mk. 84 2000lb aerial bomb, provided to Israel as one of many tens of thousands of aerial bombs in the 1,000 and 2,000lb class included in US military assistance.

In this week’s newsletter, our justice correspondent @elienyc.bsky.social gets to the heart of the Trump administration targeting Ilhan Omar. Plus: the anti-trans case that will come for us all.

We should all listen to Mabel Rose. After 104 years she deserves our respect! #SheShed #ViVaHerAlliance

Think about how little your representatives have said or done to defend their colleague Ilhan Omar. Now try to imagine how little they will do when it's our turn.

It is really chilling to see how quickly Black, Caribbean, and African writers and academics have become the global face of AI use and accusations of plagiarism. For such a serious charge, @vauhinivara.bsky.social's article rests on...a Pangram scan. www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/1...

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com Recent literary scandals around A.I., many of which focus on Black and brown writers, are filled with “considerable and alarming” accusations, Doyle Calhoun writes. “But they have been leveled by groups with clear political agendas.”

is there anyone thinking/writing about the actual mechanics of disentangling the US government from elon musk?

no but seriously "long but good" is kind of liberal currents' trademark at this point, and this by @quinnae.com is a fucking banger that twines around these problems like a whirlpool: the drive to escape the tyranny of the natural and also the drive to reinscribe it

The campaign of educational censorship sweeping Texas and other GOP-governed states in the name of “free speech” and “diversity of viewpoint” in many ways exceeds the worst of the McCarthy Era (gift link obvs) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

🕎🇵🇸 #BREAKING | Hundreds of Jews gathered at Grand Central Station in New York City in a Pro-Palestine protest, "Let Gaza Live"

Happy Italian Heritage Month, New York. Here’s continuing to fight for Vito Marcantonio’s vision of a government that works for all working people.

Holy shit.

Launching a book whilst closing a @nytmag.bsky.social piece is about as daunting as it gets, but the strange, terrible story of the #Prairieland defendants took a while… this is the chilling, long term impact of the 25-yr #waronterror. Gift link below: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/m...

No words.

This is Alison, Cornell Class of 1994. She saw and experienced how Cornell University has gone out of their way to support and protect gang rape fraternity culture FOR YEARS, just like many other schools continue to do today.

I wrote about Cornell, My Own Sexual Assault, and the Cowardice of Men for my new Substack This is “The Eyes in the Rearview Mirror” open.substack.com/pub/erinover...

Mornin'

Come on, Beth Macy!!! #bethmacy4cd6

Working on this reported essay, just published, increasingly took over my life for the last two months. PEN America did a terrible disservice with its sloppy reporting about American Jews and Israelis in publishing in July. Josh Lambert and I tried to do better. jewishcurrents.org/what-pen-ame...

There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...

Here is a contemporaneous account of school closing in Charlottesville: drive.google.com/file/d/1dbMP...