Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Noah Berlatsky

@nberlat.bsky.social

24K followers 4.5K following 37K posts

he/him, bylines Public Notice, Chicago Reader, Observer, CNN.com. Poetry collection: Not Akhmatova (Ben Yehuda, 2024) Substack: www.everythingishorrible.net Poetry: https://www.everythingishorrible.net/p/poetry-publications-noah-berlatsky

www.everythingishorrible.net

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · Jul 26

the best way to keep up with my work is to follow my newsletter

www.everythingishorrible.net

alternately you can follow my patreon (same content, different platform:

www.patreon.com/c/noahberlat...

Everything Is Horrible | Noah Berlatsky | Substack

Culture, politics, and misery. Click to read Everything Is Horrible, by Noah Berlatsky, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

www.everythingishorrible.net

1 5 30

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 11h

I mean, I think the fact that the NYT employs Douthat full-time to launder the views of fascists for their readership is kind of the point.

Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 11h

The fact that Ross Douthat is employed by the New York Times, the most important "liberal" media institution in the country and that Chris Rufo is one of their favorite sources, should probably illustrate the problem.

1 13 90

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 12h

I continue to think this is one of the most important and underappreciated media dynamics.

31 170 780

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 3d

How do Stephen Miller's relatives feel about the shame he's brought upon their family? Josh Barro and Ross Douthat drop by to explain.

5 23 370

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 13h

Spending your time talking to someone who wants to relitigate slavery is definitely a choice you can make

Opinion | He Believes America Should Be a Theocracy. He Says His Influence Is Growing.

www.nytimes.com

29 110 680

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 13h

Counterpoint:

You absolutely do not have to hand it to enslavers

Wilson: Now, one of the things I want to do is say: I’m really glad that slavery’s gone, and good riddance. And I want to say that the Southern slave owner, who read the books of Ephesians and Colossians and 1 Timothy and treated his slaves decently, remembering that he had a master in heaven who he studiously tried to obey — what Paul said slave owners were supposed to do — I would say he was not an orc, and he is part of the reason why slavery ended. In other words, I would say he’s a good guy.

38 120 750

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Jay Edidin @edidin.bsky.social · 13h

Conversations with the toddler:

"What did you have for lunch today?"
...
"I don't have a mouth."

7 8 81

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Aunty Em @everycourthouse.bsky.social · 9h

Free gift article link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

13 86 220

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 19h

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

330 1.9K 8.2K

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 9h

Vivek was apparently shocked to learn that the kids in Charlie Kirk's TPUSA groups are Christian Nationalists who will never accept him. They want the entire country to be white Christians, and the very idea that he could hold a position of power offends them.

newrepublic.com/post/201664/...

Surprise! Vivek Ramaswamy’s Turning Point Event Derailed by Racism

Event attendees asked Ramaswamy why he felt he could be the governor of Ohio even though he isn’t Christian.

newrepublic.com

55 180 560

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Jim Daley @jimdaleywrites.bsky.social · 10h

The WGN producer was released with no charges, per the outlet wgntv.com/news/operati...

1 31 86

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 7h

Is it cancel culture when they threaten to kill you?

www.nj.com/news/2025/10...

Sold-out Ta-Nehisi Coates speaker appearance in N.J. canceled over security reasons

Organizers canceled a sold-out Ta-Nehisi Coates event in Montclair citing undisclosed security concerns.

www.nj.com

40 610 2.2K

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

alexis simpson @amutepiggy.bsky.social · 5h

hell yeah

Cover of the classic children's book Frog And Toad Are Friends.

Drawing of Toad, a brown toad, sitting on a bench, dressed in a green jacket and slacks. He is reading a book to his friend Frog, a green frog dressed in a brown jacket and slacks. They are surrounded by green plants and mushrooms. There is a silver Caldecott Medal in the corner.

Text has been altered from original. It reads
Fiftieth Anniversary
Frog and Toad Are Antifa
by Arnold Lobel

Commemorative Edition

10 240 1K

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social · 5h

I wish I could post about this all day and share what we’re seeing, hearing, but for safety reasons I’ve been advised to keep what I say on socials to a minimum. The dangers are very real.

Just don’t forget about us.

It’s bad.

1 5 27

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social · 5h

I’ve lived in Hermosa in Chicago nearly my entire life. It’s an 80+% Latino community. There are no words for what we’re experiencing right now. I can’t stress this enough—

My home, my people are being psychologically terrorized
People are going missing
People are terrified

Don’t forget about us.

1 56 120

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 5h

interesting discussion.

Melissa Ryan @melissaryan.bsky.social · 16h

I guest authored one of my favorite newsletters this week. Check out my article on RSVPing for protests in FWIW. open.substack.com/pub/fwiwnews...

Should You RSVP to a Protest?

Weighing the pros and quantifying the risks

open.substack.com

1 1 7

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 6h

it is frustrating how much space NYT gives to people with nothing worthwhile to say

just an uninteresting man with stale, despicable views talking to a lazy man with no intellectual curiosity

like wow, a white Christian nationalist? is he just like the other ones? is he wearing a suit? fascinating

Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 8h

Ross Douthat treats this guy like they're having some deep conversation about the relationship of Christianity and the government, but the dude is a garden-variety dull, shallow, hateful, worthless bigot with nothing interesting to say, just endless riffs on "God hates everything/everyone I do."

Douthat: So that’s the first purpose of your political project, for America to stop making God angry.

Wilson: Yes. And most people think that when they are confronted with that project, they think that we want to get our tentacles into everything and start controlling everything. I actually think we need limited government. The government should be significantly smaller than it is, and we need to curtail a lot of the busybodyness that we have. That’s why I would call myself a theocratic libertarian. There is a true libertarian element in this, and yet, the transcendent grounding for what we’re talking about means that we acknowledge the authority of God.

We have racked up quite a body count of awful crimes, and I believe the only way out is for us to repent and turn to Christ. This would be things like no more Pride parades, no more drag queen story hours, no more abortion on demand, no more legalized same-sex unions — all of that, done. That’s the repentance part.

6 37 200

Reposted by Noah Berlatsky

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 7h

You would not fire these people—including the staff of the hugely, HUGELY important 'Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report'—if you cared at all about public health, if you wanted people to live.

And you would not let your thuggish henchmen fire people like this if you were a responsible president.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 7h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

39 570 1.6K

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 6h

currently paralyzed by the question of what to read next.

6 13

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 6h

a lot of words to say, "no laws for me but people I disagree with get the gulag."

Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 8h

2 5 35

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 7h

we'll see how it goes. a break would be good, but also I'm obsessive and cannot necessarily promise, etc.

1 13

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 7h

okay; in theory I'm going on vacation and will hopefully not be on here quite so much for a little bit.

2 34

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 7h

I think most people who see me post are probably not surprised by this, but I'm neurodivergent?

I write about it very occasionally; here's one example. www.motley-bloom.com/articles/mes...

Messy Neurons, Messier House — Motley Bloom

Follow a couple's journey with neurodivergent challenges related to clutter and chaos at home. Through humor and personal stories, they reveal how their traits impact housekeeping. Discover their uniq...

www.motley-bloom.com

3 12

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 7h

nah; autism is good! I'm neurodivergent; it is not caused by brainworms or heroin or by being rfk. it's just a thing people are.

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 7h

couple of maudlin-ish poems at Five Fleas.

No MFA

I have never taught a poetry class.

I tried to be a poetry teacher but I failed.

I am still failing.

There is nothing to learn here.

—

You

fall out

and crawl over

and climb up

into you.

fivefleas.blogspot.com/2025/10/even...

Evening of October 10, 2025

fivefleas.blogspot.com

1 8

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 7h

just, the past also often wasn't so great.