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amandahess.bsky.social
amanda hess
@amandahess.bsky.social
8.3K followers 170 following 72 posts
writer at large, @nytimes.com *** my book is called SECOND LIFE: HAVING A CHILD IN THE DIGITAL AGE https://bookshop.org/p/books/second-life-having-a-child-in-the-digital-age-amanda-hess/21713723
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amandahess.bsky.social
amanda hess @amandahess.bsky.social · Jun 10
Tech companies are powerfully influencing our relationships with our kids, starting before they’re even born. I wrote a book about the surveillance, commodification and eugenic thinking embedded in everything from period trackers to baby monitors, and you can buy it now bookshop.org/p/books/seco...
Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
Having a Child in the Digital Age
bookshop.org
Reposted by amanda hess
doubledaybooks.bsky.social
"How seductive it can be not only to explain something, but be able to blame someone." - @amandahess.bsky.social, author of SECOND LIFE, talks pregnancy, anxiety and expectations of parenthood: maternalstressproject.substack.com/p/the-danger...
The danger lurking in the “ambient expectations of motherhood”
Exploring the intersection of maternal self-sacrifice, ableism-fueled fears, and blame-heavy messaging with author Amanda Hess
maternalstressproject.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
pjmaciak.bsky.social
I saved SECOND LIFE by @amandahess.bsky.social for vacation reading, and it is fully extraordinary. It’s not just for people who have kids — it’s for people (all of you reading this now) who live on the internet. Nobody writes about that weird intimacy like she does. bookshop.org/p/books/seco...
Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
Having a Child in the Digital Age
bookshop.org
August 4, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
jesszimmerman.com
I’ve been a fan of @amandahess.bsky.social since the late 2000s and basically forced her to be friends with me and if her columns hadn’t already vindicated that choice her book sure did! I read it on the plane which does make crying easier but I was crying AND laughing the whole time
Second Life by Amanda Hess: 9780385549738 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
“Hess’s debut memoir bursts with humor and intelligence as it weaves the story of her own pregnancy....This unexpected page-turner is as vulnerable as it is sharp.” —Vulture As...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
August 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
meredithshiner.com
Second Life by @amandahess.bsky.social

I feel like every Gen Z and millennial woman should be required to read it
August 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
atherton.bsky.social
"At a party held to announce the findings, a knife sliced through a layer of frosting to reveal the fleshy gender inside. A pregnant woman beat a piñata until its gender spilled out. A father-to-be pulled the trigger and rained gender across the range."

Amanda Hess' "Second Life" is so good.
SECOND LIFE 51 mechanisms for spreading the news. They colluded with a doctor, sealed the sex report in an envelope, and arranged for the message to be delivered to a baker, a party outfitter, or a novelty arms dealer. At a party held to announce the findings, a knife sliced through a layer of frosting to reveal the fleshy gender inside. A pregnant woman beat a piñata until its gender spilled out. A father-to-be pulled the trigger and rained gender across the range.
July 29, 2025 at 1:45 PM
amandahess.bsky.social
this is tonight!
July 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
marisakabas.bsky.social
A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die July 21, 2025 AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024. Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years. We refuse to watch them die. One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.” Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he’s lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness. Since Feb, Bashar’s been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had “fallen, due to hunger.” Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it’s no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%. AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart. (alt txt continued in next post)
July 21, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
doubledaybooks.bsky.social
How tech is transforming parenthood with @amandahess.bsky.social on Apple News in Conversation:
apple.news/AJqDYupu5SZS...
How tech is transforming parenthood (for better or worse) — Apple News In Conversation
Apps, data, and influencers are changing what it means to become a parent.
apple.news
July 21, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
wired.com
Attempting to eliminate funding for certain kinds of “woke” studies, the Trump administration erased hundreds of millions of dollars being used for cancer research. www.wired.com/story/how-tr...
How Trump Killed Cancer Research
Attempting to eliminate funding for certain kinds of “woke” studies, the Trump administration erased hundreds of millions of dollars being used for cancer research.
www.wired.com
July 21, 2025 at 10:06 AM
amandahess.bsky.social
dr. frankenstein dies at the end fyi www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Inside the Silicon Valley push to breed super-babies
Investors say genetic prediction services for embryos, used by Elon Musk and others, are a trust fund for future children. Many scientists are skeptical.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 18, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Reposted by amanda hess
doubledaybooks.bsky.social
@amandahess.bsky.social joins @wnyc.org's On The Media to talk about her new book, SECOND LIFE, and the surreal collisions between parenthood and technology.

Listen now: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...
Having a Child in the Digital Age | On the Media | WNYC Studios
 In Amanda Hess' new book, Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age, she explores the many apps, megamaternity brands, high-tech baby gear, and social media subcultures that hav...
www.wnycstudios.org
July 16, 2025 at 9:11 PM
amandahess.bsky.social
come talk about true life with us!
July 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
mollyfication.bsky.social
It was a huge pleasure to interview @amandahess.bsky.social ‪ for @onthemedia.bsky.social about her book, Second Life. Her book is such a thoughtful and incisive look at how technology has infused so many parts of pregnancy and parenthood today. Take a listen!
www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...
Having a Child in the Digital Age | On the Media | WNYC Studios
In Amanda Hess' new book, Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age, she explores the many apps, megamaternity brands, high-tech baby gear, and social media subcultures that hav...
www.wnycstudios.org
July 9, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
longestshortest.bsky.social
⭐ NEW EP ⭐ Loved talking to the wonderful @amandahess.bsky.social abt her unexpected, eerie bond w/her fertility app during pregnancy 🎧 LISTEN: wp.me/p4bvGZ-3Hg
A pregnant woman with an inset image from a pregnancy app
July 9, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
maris.bsky.social
Hello. After months and months of self-consciously self-promoting, the day has finally come. I WANT TO BURN THIS PLACE DOWN is available wherever books are sold. www.harpercollins.com/products/i-w...
I Want to Burn This Place Down
A debut essay collection by the inimitable cultural critic Maris Kreizman—an introspective, searing account of the life experiences that have pushed this fo...
www.harpercollins.com
July 1, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
kajerstin.bsky.social
Really enjoyed Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age by @amandahess.bsky.social.

The final chapter was like a mini-millennial-mom version of Naomi Klein’s Doppelgänger.
June 25, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
nymag.com
Since the early 2010s, social media has been identified with protesters. In the early days, social media was an effective tool for activists to organize and communicate with one another and directly with the public, providing counternarratives to the ones laid out in popular coverage.
June 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
lizzieohreally.bsky.social
NYC’s campaign finance laws make it so you can get this mailer … and it’s gotta say who paid for it.
A pro Andrew Cuomo, anti Zohran Mamdani mailer Text listing the funders behind the mailer
June 12, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by amanda hess
ruddock.bsky.social
people need to stop writing good books for a few months!
my current rotation, all May pubs:
Empire of AI @karenhao.bsky.social
No Cop City, No Cop World @micahh.bsky.social @kamaufranklin.bsky.social
Second Life @amandahess.bsky.social
The AI Con @emilymbender.bsky.social @alexhanna.bsky.social
June 10, 2025 at 2:43 PM
amandahess.bsky.social
Tech companies are powerfully influencing our relationships with our kids, starting before they’re even born. I wrote a book about the surveillance, commodification and eugenic thinking embedded in everything from period trackers to baby monitors, and you can buy it now bookshop.org/p/books/seco...
Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
Having a Child in the Digital Age
bookshop.org
June 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
almodozo.bsky.social
Hell of a photo
June 7, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
greenwell.bsky.social
Oh hell yes, they got a longtime private equity guy to review my book! He hated it! Do you want to be cool and preorder BAD COMPANY, or do you want to be like GARY??
Private Equity Doesn’t Actually Want to Kill the American Dream
Megan Greenwell’s Bad Company fails to deliver on its thesis that the business model only succeeds at the expense of portfolio companies.
www.bloomberg.com
June 6, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
jeffsharlet.bsky.social
I... oh my god.
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
Diabolus Ex Machina
This Is Not An Essay
amandaguinzburg.substack.com
June 3, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by amanda hess
juliaehbrown.bsky.social
“I had been the pregnant woman fetishizing the normal test result. Now that I was the mother of a child with a rare condition, I found an enemy in my past self”. Just finished Second Life by @amandahess.bsky.social. It is brilliant.
May 31, 2025 at 9:34 PM