Author | Lightnews

Jen Barr

@jenbarr.bsky.social

280 followers 690 following 440 posts

Anthropologist, public health nerd, and editor. She/her. WASH wonk. Sometimes I write things. Not representative of my employer.

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Nov 12

Hi! I'm an anthropologist and public health researcher. By day, I work for the state department of PH doing policy analysis. By night, I work as an international water and sanitation consultant. My book on Indian sanitation politics comes out next year. I write, drink coffee, and have cats.

A lake with a small, ornate structure on it that is obviously Indian. In the distance, there is a city bathed in golden sunlight.

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · 9h

As someone who processes reg feedback, I am planning to cross stitch “not my monkeys, not my circus” to hang in my office to commemorate all the times I get feedback on statute.

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · 12h

I love how multicultural this menu is!

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · 12h

Sorry, you said the part about farmers already!

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · 12h

As a current Coloradan, I’ll also add that the increased funds are also going to pay for parts of the original program that there wasn’t enough money for: increasing cafeteria staff wages and paying local farmers.

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Reposted by Jen Barr

Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 10d

We’re giving $40 billion to Argentina.

This is $5 billion MORE that the entire USAID budget that DOGE cut.

200 2.1K 5.6K

Reposted by Jen Barr

Orcspiration @orcspiration.bsky.social · 19d

YOU MUST TAKE YOUR MEDICATIONS TO HAVE STRENGTH TO CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES.

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · 20d

Because CO has a non-medical exemption for school vaccines, I have been getting hate mail from both anti AND pro vaccine people.

a man with a mustache is standing in front of a coupe stanley advertisement

ALT: a man with a mustache is standing in front of a coupe stanley advertisement

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Jen Barr

Boston Tom Levenson @tomlevenson.bsky.social · Oct 1

Please note everyone.

What’s leaving is not just a head count. It’s millions of person-years of accumulated informal knowledge and institutional memory.

The federal government is being destroyed, not reformed.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Oct 1

(Reuters) - More than 150,000 federal employees will leave the U.S. government payroll this week after accepting buyouts - the largest single-year exodus of civil servants in nearly 80 years ..

@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

US government faces brain drain as 154,000 federal workers exit this week

More than 150,000 federal employees will leave the U.S. government payroll this week after accepting buyouts - the largest single-year exodus of civil servants in nearly 80 years, triggering what unions and governance experts warn is a damaging loss of institutional expertise.

www.reuters.com

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 29

Anyone get hella stressed getting a haircut? The combo of staring at myself in a mirror and small talking with a stranger is a lot to deal with.

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 29

All I can think about is the Weird Al song Albuquerque.

Reposted by Jen Barr

ceej @ceej.online · Sep 29

back to work

ceej @ceej.online · Sep 25

my daughter really captured my essence in this portrait of me “at work”

a bald stick figure in a chair with his arms out in front like he’s typing on a keyboard, and he’s got the biggest angry frown imaginable and eyebrows that express frustrated bemusement

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 28

Happy football season!

Daniel S. Goldberg @profgoldberg.bsky.social · Sep 28

There is a paucity of good evidence suggesting that these interventions reduce substantially the risks of neuropathology that attend participation in a collision sport like American tackle football.

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www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/u...

One reason participation has rebounded since then is because leaders at every level of football, from Pop Warner to the N.F.L., have tried to address worries by teaching tackling techniques to reduce head hits, treating concussions more proactively and introducing new equipment designed to reduce the impact of blows to the head. Leagues have also promoted flag football as a safer alternative.

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 27

Moo lickin’ her tail

Black and white cat licking her tail. She’s a cutie!

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 27

Fall kitty for Caturday.

Silhouette of a black cat arching her back in a window with green trees

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 26

Good for you! Finding a new therapist is always nerve-wracking! (I liken it to dating, in some ways.)

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 26

That's flattering, of course! I also highly recommend Merchants of Doubt and Slow Violence as texts on a similar theme.

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 25

Love the new Maintenance Phase ep on Vani Hari, the "food babe." I used to teach her stuff to undergrads to study how science can be distorted and manipulated. (Also used the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy as a contrast for how corporates do it.)

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 25

Fed employees who left,
Thank you for your service. Truly.

Fed employees still there,
I see you. Thank you for keeping up the fight, keeping the lights on, and answering the phones.

Love,
A state employee

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 25

"They can’t get me scared. I will not give them what they want. I will not just leave. I’m going to make it as difficult as possible for these fuckheads.
www.wired.com/story/oral-h...

The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers

WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as the Department of Government Efficiency tore through their offices.

www.wired.com

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 24

I've been following Zach Wahls (off and on) since he started a campaign in Boy Scouts of America to eliminate the anti-LGBTQ policies. (I was in Venture Crew, a co-ed offshoot of BSA.) So excited to see his trajectory!

Amanda Litman @amandalitman.bsky.social · Sep 24

5 of the people on this list are @runforsomething.net alum. The future of the Democratic Party will be defined by leaders like Chi Osse, Manny Rutinel, Mallory McMorrow, Zach Wahls, and James Talarico.

Jake Lahut @jakelahut.writes.news · Sep 24

Very cool package I got to work on for the latest @wired.com politics issue w/ @makenakelly.bsky.social & Elisa Muyl (our politics fellow & CUNY grad student who really made this thing shine).

Save a tab on some of these names: www.wired.com/story/wired-...

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 22

Whatever grifty supplement his buddies are selling?

Reposted by Jen Barr

ceej @ceej.online · Sep 22

Tums causes hurricanes. How about that

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 19

a man in a suit and tie is sitting at a desk in an office .

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is sitting at a desk in an office .

media.tenor.com

Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 18

It was grotesque listening to that KF episode and I had to stop partway through. Just...the exploitation, the absolute glee with which Alex inserted himself into the narrative made me ill. (more so than what he usually does)

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Jen Barr @jenbarr.bsky.social · Sep 15

Thank you for getting them anyway!

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