olivia paschal
@oliviapaschal.com
writer, editor, historian.
oliviapaschal.com
oliviapaschal.com
Pinned
thank god someone at defector wrote about the silliest olympic sport of them all defector.com/high-level-a...
High-Level, Actionable Insights From Watching Doubles Luge For The First Time | Defector
To the uninitiated, luge itself might seem a silly sport, given that the average person might guess it mostly consists of holding onto a sled real tight as it goes fast down the ice. Of course, this o...
defector.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:13 PM
thank god someone at defector wrote about the silliest olympic sport of them all defector.com/high-level-a...
writing histories of the '80s and '90s is a little bit of a mindfuck because you're like.... surely more historians have written about [insert political phenomenon here] .... but turns out they really have not yet
February 12, 2026 at 8:09 PM
writing histories of the '80s and '90s is a little bit of a mindfuck because you're like.... surely more historians have written about [insert political phenomenon here] .... but turns out they really have not yet
Reposted by olivia paschal
palestinian journalist posting on twitter that his bluesky account was immediately taken down purely because he was in gaza. all palestinian accounts are assumed to be spam.
![Tamer Nahed 𓂆🇵🇸
@Tamer_Alnoaizy
BlueSky is one of the worst platforms I have ever dealt with. Within seconds of creating a second account, after my first one was shut down just two days after it was created, my account was closed again. This happened despite the fact that I hadn’t posted anything or followed anyone. I was only in the process of adding a profile photo, yet I received an email claiming that my account was “spam” and that it was “causing harm.” What kind of logic is this?
The painful truth is that the account was shut down the moment it became clear it was created from inside Gaza. It seems we are no longer allowed to write or speak about what is happening to us here. They are not afraid of content itself, but of our voices and the reality we carry with us.
Millions are spent to silence these voices and to erase the truth. I am exhausted by this platform and by how our photos and videos, which document real suffering, are treated as “violations of community standards,” as if pain itself has become a crime.
What is happening is not simple moderation or policy enforcement. It is an attempt to erase our existence and bury the truth. And honestly, this is shameful and unbearably painful.
[the original poster has included two screenshots showing the email from bluesky admin informing him that his account has been taken down for being 'spammy, inauthentic or disruptive to users'. it's the standard boilerplate you get when they take moderation action.]
2:45 PM · Feb 10, 2026
https://twitter.com/Tamer_Alnoaizy/status/2021234178461704409](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2l6seozmjsqc4kfukjejat77/bafkreiga45xjdal6lfcqt2zmambaymeoelxafbrlt7fi2nmoahpbqj3cja@jpeg)
February 11, 2026 at 5:26 PM
palestinian journalist posting on twitter that his bluesky account was immediately taken down purely because he was in gaza. all palestinian accounts are assumed to be spam.
Reposted by olivia paschal
The world is what it is but books continue! Agents + writers: looking for deeply researched and imaginative nonfiction manuscripts about the South, for publication in 2027/28. Literary nonfiction, personal/reportage & cultural criticism are highly welcomed. DMs open for pitches or [email protected].
February 10, 2026 at 5:27 PM
The world is what it is but books continue! Agents + writers: looking for deeply researched and imaginative nonfiction manuscripts about the South, for publication in 2027/28. Literary nonfiction, personal/reportage & cultural criticism are highly welcomed. DMs open for pitches or [email protected].
Reposted by olivia paschal
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:13 PM
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Reposted by olivia paschal
You know things are bad when the WSJ puts it this plainly:
"The rewards are going toward capital instead of labor. Profits have soared since the pandemic, and the market value attached to those profits even more. The result: Capital is triumphant, while the average worker ekes out marginal gains."
"The rewards are going toward capital instead of labor. Profits have soared since the pandemic, and the market value attached to those profits even more. The result: Capital is triumphant, while the average worker ekes out marginal gains."
February 10, 2026 at 3:02 PM
You know things are bad when the WSJ puts it this plainly:
"The rewards are going toward capital instead of labor. Profits have soared since the pandemic, and the market value attached to those profits even more. The result: Capital is triumphant, while the average worker ekes out marginal gains."
"The rewards are going toward capital instead of labor. Profits have soared since the pandemic, and the market value attached to those profits even more. The result: Capital is triumphant, while the average worker ekes out marginal gains."
Reposted by olivia paschal
My article about Minnie Bruce Pratt and North Carolina’s place in lesbian-feminist history is out! Read it here (limited gift link) www.tandfonline.com/eprint/K9Q4K...
“Watching the Ferns Uncurl”: Minnie Bruce Pratt and Lesbian-Feminist Community Building in North Carolina
This article traces fourteen years of the life of lesbian-feminist poet-activist Minnie Bruce Pratt in the state of North Carolina from 1968 to 1972. This history of Pratt’s movement through North ...
www.tandfonline.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:20 PM
My article about Minnie Bruce Pratt and North Carolina’s place in lesbian-feminist history is out! Read it here (limited gift link) www.tandfonline.com/eprint/K9Q4K...
Reposted by olivia paschal
This is so important, and something I learned from the history beat. Example: We don't have to say "fugitive slaves" just bc people did in 1850. We can give self-emancipated people the dignity they deserved back then. Plus, it's more accurate!
Wish more journos thought about this contemporaneously.
Wish more journos thought about this contemporaneously.
Agree. There’s lot of misleading terminology around immigration. Courts that aren’t really courts, judges who aren’t really judges, warrants that aren’t really warrants. We don’t have to adopt terminology that doesn’t accurately convey the administrative & often arbitrary nature of things.
I know this is kind of spitting into the wind, but I'd like to make an effort:
Just because ICE calls them "administrative warrants" doesn't make that the most accurate term for them.
They are forms. ICE forms. Signed by an ICE employee. Authorizing an arrest, but still, a _form._
Just because ICE calls them "administrative warrants" doesn't make that the most accurate term for them.
They are forms. ICE forms. Signed by an ICE employee. Authorizing an arrest, but still, a _form._
February 6, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This is so important, and something I learned from the history beat. Example: We don't have to say "fugitive slaves" just bc people did in 1850. We can give self-emancipated people the dignity they deserved back then. Plus, it's more accurate!
Wish more journos thought about this contemporaneously.
Wish more journos thought about this contemporaneously.
Reposted by olivia paschal
My essay reckoning with Wendell Berry, in the first issue of Southlands magazine, is online now: southlandsmag.com/after-the-ye...
February 5, 2026 at 4:46 PM
My essay reckoning with Wendell Berry, in the first issue of Southlands magazine, is online now: southlandsmag.com/after-the-ye...
Reposted by olivia paschal
hell of an essay here from @oliviapaschal.com southlandsmag.com/after-the-ye...
After the Yeoman
His powerful critiques of industrial agriculture have shaped generations of thinking about the South. But how useful is Wendell Berry’s agrarianism in a new age?
southlandsmag.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:46 PM
hell of an essay here from @oliviapaschal.com southlandsmag.com/after-the-ye...
My essay reckoning with Wendell Berry, in the first issue of Southlands magazine, is online now: southlandsmag.com/after-the-ye...
February 5, 2026 at 4:46 PM
My essay reckoning with Wendell Berry, in the first issue of Southlands magazine, is online now: southlandsmag.com/after-the-ye...
Reposted by olivia paschal
Proud to play a role in helping get this together for @justsecurity.org. It provides you with details from the sworn declarations filed in support of the ACLU's lawsuit in Minnesota, Hussen v. Noem. The details of abuses by federal agents across the 29 declarations we looked at are chilling.
Minnesota ICE Enforcement: Alleged Constitutional Violations
The ACLU and partners sued over alleged racial profiling and unlawful arrests in Minnesota. Read sworn declarations and case details.
www.justsecurity.org
February 5, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Proud to play a role in helping get this together for @justsecurity.org. It provides you with details from the sworn declarations filed in support of the ACLU's lawsuit in Minnesota, Hussen v. Noem. The details of abuses by federal agents across the 29 declarations we looked at are chilling.
Reposted by olivia paschal
ICE watch has been life-changing: “I feel like our whole lives as Minnesotans...it’s always kind of like, ‘Don’t even start that kind of thing because you have to live around these people. I feel that’s gone in me personally — I don’t even care if I ruffle feathers.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Pursued by federal agents, suburban ICE observers remain resolved
After a frightening pursuit by federal agents, suburban ICE observers say fear hasn’t stopped them from protecting their communities.
www.mprnews.org
February 4, 2026 at 3:40 PM
ICE watch has been life-changing: “I feel like our whole lives as Minnesotans...it’s always kind of like, ‘Don’t even start that kind of thing because you have to live around these people. I feel that’s gone in me personally — I don’t even care if I ruffle feathers.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
this is clearly the correct read
Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests
February 4, 2026 at 2:39 PM
this is clearly the correct read
Reposted by olivia paschal
it is so telling how insular these politics and media reporters (stenographers?) are that they always relegate SPORTS to ancillary coverage. like, go meet a real person, bro.
im usually pretty decent at pushing through distractions to focus on the work but this is a pretty tough one to tune out ngl
February 3, 2026 at 8:05 PM
it is so telling how insular these politics and media reporters (stenographers?) are that they always relegate SPORTS to ancillary coverage. like, go meet a real person, bro.
Reposted by olivia paschal
Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
A Day for Gaza
Today, The Nation is turning over its website exclusively to stories from Gaza and its people. This is why.
www.thenation.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
Reposted by olivia paschal
My single question to everyone backing down here is "what is the definition of the word 'compel'?"
A UALR professor will resign the history department chairmanship after clashing with campus leaders over two now-canceled lectures that touched on the increasingly off-limits topics of racial inequity and white privilege. arktimes.com/arkansas-blo...
UALR history department chair steps down amid cancel-culture flap - Arkansas Times
A UALR professor plans to resign the history department chairmanship after clashing with campus leadership over two now-canceled lectures that touched on the increasingly off-limits topics of racial…
arktimes.com
February 2, 2026 at 3:34 PM
My single question to everyone backing down here is "what is the definition of the word 'compel'?"
Reposted by olivia paschal
"In today's AI-addled, Musk-brained, MAGA techno-fascism, the Waltons’ traditional business conservatism-cum-neoliberal identity politics feels distant and outdated, kind of like their campus."
have a piece in @nplusonemag.com today trying to puzzle out where walmart sits in the new world order, also about how weird its new corporate campus is. www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
The Beast of Bentonville | Olivia Paschal
In retrospect, the week of Donald Trump’s inauguration was an inopportune time for Walmart to hold the grand opening of its new corporate campus.
www.nplusonemag.com
February 1, 2026 at 6:30 PM
"In today's AI-addled, Musk-brained, MAGA techno-fascism, the Waltons’ traditional business conservatism-cum-neoliberal identity politics feels distant and outdated, kind of like their campus."
Reposted by olivia paschal
Sometimes men really do mistake other men's misogyny for virtue—they think it's evidence of intellect or integrity.
Noam Chomsky and Stephen Pinker say Epstein was an intellectual force with a mind like steel trap and then his e-mails read like the ending of Flowers for Algernon.
January 30, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Sometimes men really do mistake other men's misogyny for virtue—they think it's evidence of intellect or integrity.
Reposted by olivia paschal
Turns out that you can simply chose not to sell your warehouse and prevent it from becoming a detention center
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Jim Pattison won't sell U.S. warehouse proposed as new ICE facility | CBC News
Jim Pattison Developments has announced it will not sell an industrial building in Ashland, Va., that was set to be turned into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility.
www.cbc.ca
January 30, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Turns out that you can simply chose not to sell your warehouse and prevent it from becoming a detention center
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by olivia paschal
New from 404 Media: here is the user guide for ELITE, the tool Palantir made for ICE. A map shows people on a map; ICE clicks them, brings up their dossier. ICE uses to find which neighborhoods to target. We obtained it, you can now read the document for yourself: www.404media.co/here-is-the-...
Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE
404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.
www.404media.co
January 30, 2026 at 2:51 PM
New from 404 Media: here is the user guide for ELITE, the tool Palantir made for ICE. A map shows people on a map; ICE clicks them, brings up their dossier. ICE uses to find which neighborhoods to target. We obtained it, you can now read the document for yourself: www.404media.co/here-is-the-...
"scoops of ideas. scoops of explanation" is stretching the definition of scoop to its breaking point
January 28, 2026 at 1:29 PM
"scoops of ideas. scoops of explanation" is stretching the definition of scoop to its breaking point
Reposted by olivia paschal
Star Tribune does a better job of being on the ground and talking to ICE watchers and doesn’t see any sign of a Tuesday slowdown: www.startribune.com/ice-minnesot...
Is ICE rolling back operations in Minnesota? It’s hard to tell.
Federal agents are still on the streets of the Twin Cities a day after the Trump administration announced a change in immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
www.startribune.com
January 28, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Star Tribune does a better job of being on the ground and talking to ICE watchers and doesn’t see any sign of a Tuesday slowdown: www.startribune.com/ice-minnesot...
Reposted by olivia paschal
video of the moment a man tried spraying something at ilhan omar at her town hall in minneapolis tonight
January 28, 2026 at 1:07 AM
video of the moment a man tried spraying something at ilhan omar at her town hall in minneapolis tonight
Reposted by olivia paschal
Victor Wembanyama says that “PR tried” to stop him from speaking about ICE.
I’m not surprised, because while working on a story that will be released tomorrow, the PWHL denied me permission to speak to someone who wanted to talk to me about the violence in Minnesota.
I’m not surprised, because while working on a story that will be released tomorrow, the PWHL denied me permission to speak to someone who wanted to talk to me about the violence in Minnesota.
!["Yeah, PR has tried, but I'm not going to sit here and give some politically correct [answer]," the Frenchman told reporters after practice at Victory Capital Performance Center. "Every day I wake up and see the news, and I'm horrified. I think it's crazy that some people might make it seem like or make it sound like the murder of civilians is acceptable."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tgw3d4hvw3x5ijrxax7lg26u/bafkreie7wsfgzgg5y5omeyiojls2hbb3gxxh76ozcywgywfpk5q354r43y@jpeg)
January 28, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Victor Wembanyama says that “PR tried” to stop him from speaking about ICE.
I’m not surprised, because while working on a story that will be released tomorrow, the PWHL denied me permission to speak to someone who wanted to talk to me about the violence in Minnesota.
I’m not surprised, because while working on a story that will be released tomorrow, the PWHL denied me permission to speak to someone who wanted to talk to me about the violence in Minnesota.