Rainesford Stauffer
@rainesford.bsky.social
Freelance writer, reporter, author. Kentuckian.
[email protected] / Signal rstauff.20
www.rainesfordstauffer.com
[email protected] / Signal rstauff.20
www.rainesfordstauffer.com
Feels like a rip-off that you still have to make dinner all the days before the food-focused holiday.
November 26, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Feels like a rip-off that you still have to make dinner all the days before the food-focused holiday.
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
New York Focus is seeking a full-time politics reporter to help lead our coverage of New York state politics in a pivotal moment.
You’ll have your work cut out for you in 2026.
nysfocus.com/hiring
You’ll have your work cut out for you in 2026.
nysfocus.com/hiring
Careers
New York's only statewide newsroom dedicated to holding Albany accountable.
nysfocus.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
New York Focus is seeking a full-time politics reporter to help lead our coverage of New York state politics in a pivotal moment.
You’ll have your work cut out for you in 2026.
nysfocus.com/hiring
You’ll have your work cut out for you in 2026.
nysfocus.com/hiring
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
For @niemanstoryboard.org: Tell me your favorite stories, #longreads, podcasts, nonfiction books, and documentaries of 2025!
And because every journalist loves a deadline... Submit your picks by Friday, Dec. 5.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#podcasts #booksky #documentary
And because every journalist loves a deadline... Submit your picks by Friday, Dec. 5.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#podcasts #booksky #documentary
November 25, 2025 at 7:09 PM
For @niemanstoryboard.org: Tell me your favorite stories, #longreads, podcasts, nonfiction books, and documentaries of 2025!
And because every journalist loves a deadline... Submit your picks by Friday, Dec. 5.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#podcasts #booksky #documentary
And because every journalist loves a deadline... Submit your picks by Friday, Dec. 5.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#podcasts #booksky #documentary
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough.
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough • Kentucky Lantern
A third unvaccinated infant in Kentucky has died of pertussis as public health officials urge Kentuckians to get vaccinated against the disease.
kentuckylantern.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough.
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
20 state AGs/governors, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, today sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over abrupt changes to its Continuum of Care grant program decreasing what can be spent on permanent housing and adding conditions for funding.
November 25, 2025 at 7:32 PM
20 state AGs/governors, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, today sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over abrupt changes to its Continuum of Care grant program decreasing what can be spent on permanent housing and adding conditions for funding.
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
We’re accepting applications for our (paid! remote!) summer internship! professors who follow me please share with any students interested in writing
Would You Like To Be Defector’s Sixth-Ever Editorial Intern? | Defector
Big news: Defector is looking to hire editorial interns for the summer of 2026. Wow! That could be you! How could it be you? I am here to answer that question, and many more. What will a Defector inte...
defector.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:46 PM
We’re accepting applications for our (paid! remote!) summer internship! professors who follow me please share with any students interested in writing
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
Electric bills are shooting up in nearly all states which means more and more families are getting the lights shut off www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
More Americans are getting their power shut off, as unpaid bills pile up
Average electricity costs have risen 11 percent since January, more than three times the rate of inflation.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Electric bills are shooting up in nearly all states which means more and more families are getting the lights shut off www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
in the last 1.5 years journalistic fact-checking has become significantly harder specifically bc of this, without touching all the other ways education and knowledge-sharing are under attack rn (book bans, censorship, media industry crumbling, etc etc)
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 7:23 AM
in the last 1.5 years journalistic fact-checking has become significantly harder specifically bc of this, without touching all the other ways education and knowledge-sharing are under attack rn (book bans, censorship, media industry crumbling, etc etc)
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
Links can't hurt you here.
Save your out of context screenshots for the garbage platforms.
LINK! TO! THE! STORY!
Save your out of context screenshots for the garbage platforms.
LINK! TO! THE! STORY!
November 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Links can't hurt you here.
Save your out of context screenshots for the garbage platforms.
LINK! TO! THE! STORY!
Save your out of context screenshots for the garbage platforms.
LINK! TO! THE! STORY!
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
Emmanuel, a 15-year-old with intellectual disabilities, wandered away from his mom’s fruit stand in October.
She reported him missing to Houston police. But instead of reuniting them, the city turned him over to ICE.
“They’re failing all of us,” his mom said.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...
She reported him missing to Houston police. But instead of reuniting them, the city turned him over to ICE.
“They’re failing all of us,” his mom said.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...
A Disabled Child’s Mom Reported Him Missing. He Was Locked Away by Federal Immigration Authorities for 48 Days.
Emmanuel, a 15-year-old who has an intellectual disability, walked away from his mom’s fruit stand in October. Houston Police called ICE.
thebarbedwire.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Emmanuel, a 15-year-old with intellectual disabilities, wandered away from his mom’s fruit stand in October.
She reported him missing to Houston police. But instead of reuniting them, the city turned him over to ICE.
“They’re failing all of us,” his mom said.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...
She reported him missing to Houston police. But instead of reuniting them, the city turned him over to ICE.
“They’re failing all of us,” his mom said.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
ICE Agents in Oregon Violently Abduct 17-Year-Old High School Student on Lunch Break
ICE Agents in Oregon Violently Abduct 17-Year-Old High School Student on Lunch Break
In Oregon, federal immigration agents forced a 17-year-old high school student…
www.democracynow.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM
ICE Agents in Oregon Violently Abduct 17-Year-Old High School Student on Lunch Break
We had a massive scare with the family dog today (send good thoughts her way—it's not the terrible news we were anticipating but it's also still unknown) and I'm going to have to run around the block 15 times to burn off the level of nervous energy I'm experiencing. 🫠
November 24, 2025 at 8:11 PM
We had a massive scare with the family dog today (send good thoughts her way—it's not the terrible news we were anticipating but it's also still unknown) and I'm going to have to run around the block 15 times to burn off the level of nervous energy I'm experiencing. 🫠
I work on a vertical that publishes young writers & when I post a call for pitches, it's spammed with AI-generated ones. One sounded cool—we caught massive inconsistencies when we reviewed the writer's clips and site. One ripped off a paragraph from a story published elsewhere. Most made no sense.
Fascinating read on how a suspicious pitch highlighted a growing problem in freelance journalism: A flood of generative AI that even prestige publications don't catch, complete with fabricated quotes, from scammers who see opportunity in a field so many real humans are struggling to survive in.
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I work on a vertical that publishes young writers & when I post a call for pitches, it's spammed with AI-generated ones. One sounded cool—we caught massive inconsistencies when we reviewed the writer's clips and site. One ripped off a paragraph from a story published elsewhere. Most made no sense.
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
Fayette schools seeks to prohibit dissenting board members from talking to media. Oh good luck with that!
Fayette schools seeks to prohibit dissenting board members from talking to media
“That is both an absurd policy and one that violates the First Amendment,” lawyer Michael Abate said.
www.kentucky.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Fayette schools seeks to prohibit dissenting board members from talking to media. Oh good luck with that!
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
NEW: Since the start of this year, more than 600 immigrant children have been placed in government shelters by ICE.
That number, which has not been previously reported, is the highest since recordkeeping began a decade ago.
That number, which has not been previously reported, is the highest since recordkeeping began a decade ago.
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year. It’s a New Record.
Under a zero tolerance policy, the first Trump administration separated immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. New data suggests separations are happening all over the count...
www.propublica.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
NEW: Since the start of this year, more than 600 immigrant children have been placed in government shelters by ICE.
That number, which has not been previously reported, is the highest since recordkeeping began a decade ago.
That number, which has not been previously reported, is the highest since recordkeeping began a decade ago.
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
I've been thinking about how many journalists of color I know have gone through multiple layoffs and are tired of the instability on top of the stagnant pay, increasing workload, demand for more skills, threat of AI, and constant complaints about paywalls. It's hard to have kids or make plans.
November 24, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I've been thinking about how many journalists of color I know have gone through multiple layoffs and are tired of the instability on top of the stagnant pay, increasing workload, demand for more skills, threat of AI, and constant complaints about paywalls. It's hard to have kids or make plans.
Higher ed folks: could this essentially push people out of these professions? Wondering about it could exacerbate shortages in crucial fields and change people's education plans. Working on a pitch on this and trying to be sure I have a solid grasp on the impacts.
Whether a degree is considered "professional" will influence how much reimbursement a student receives for their higher education.
Full List of Degrees Not Classed As ‘Professional’ by Trump Admin
www.newsweek.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Higher ed folks: could this essentially push people out of these professions? Wondering about it could exacerbate shortages in crucial fields and change people's education plans. Working on a pitch on this and trying to be sure I have a solid grasp on the impacts.
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
National news coverage framed November’s elections as proof that anti-trans messaging wasn't effective this cycle.
@lookoutnews.bsky.social found the opposite in Mesa, where that rhetoric helped power a recall against District 2 Council Member Julie Spilsbury.
www.lookoutnews.org/mesa-recall-...
@lookoutnews.bsky.social found the opposite in Mesa, where that rhetoric helped power a recall against District 2 Council Member Julie Spilsbury.
www.lookoutnews.org/mesa-recall-...
Mesa Recall Shows Scapegoating Trans People Remains A Potent Strategy for Far-Right Republicans
Despite claims nationally that attacks on transgender people didn’t work in the November elections, a recall in Mesa showed how the tactic remains effective in some places where Turning Point has sway...
www.lookoutnews.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
National news coverage framed November’s elections as proof that anti-trans messaging wasn't effective this cycle.
@lookoutnews.bsky.social found the opposite in Mesa, where that rhetoric helped power a recall against District 2 Council Member Julie Spilsbury.
www.lookoutnews.org/mesa-recall-...
@lookoutnews.bsky.social found the opposite in Mesa, where that rhetoric helped power a recall against District 2 Council Member Julie Spilsbury.
www.lookoutnews.org/mesa-recall-...
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
Reposting my 2018 piece about year end lists for anyone who needs it (me!). www.damemagazine.com/2018/12/19/i...
It’s Time to Reconsider the Best-Of List - Dame Magazine
The piles of books and galleys that clutter my apartment are overwhelming. This is not a humble brag—more of a cry for help. I’m a culture writer and critic who is deeply entrenched in the book world....
www.damemagazine.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposting my 2018 piece about year end lists for anyone who needs it (me!). www.damemagazine.com/2018/12/19/i...
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
Since February, according to my latest analysis, almost 600,000 Black women have been economically sidelined. The November 20, 2025, Jobs Report makes clear this isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. That is not a recovery. It is a redistribution of opportunity.
The exit economy is here. Black Women are paying the highest price | Fortune
This isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. And it's not a recovery, it's a redistribution of opportunity.
fortune.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Since February, according to my latest analysis, almost 600,000 Black women have been economically sidelined. The November 20, 2025, Jobs Report makes clear this isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. That is not a recovery. It is a redistribution of opportunity.
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
redid my personal site post-layoff :)
my contact form is open! if you're looking to talk to or commission someone with expertise in covering and analyzing social movements, prison and police abolition, trans politics, climate organizing, cultural criticism... reach out! (my DMs are cursed rn, lol)
my contact form is open! if you're looking to talk to or commission someone with expertise in covering and analyzing social movements, prison and police abolition, trans politics, climate organizing, cultural criticism... reach out! (my DMs are cursed rn, lol)
Lex McMenamin
Lex McMenamin is a writer, editor, and organizer from Philadelphia, based in New York.
lexmcmenamin.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:43 PM
redid my personal site post-layoff :)
my contact form is open! if you're looking to talk to or commission someone with expertise in covering and analyzing social movements, prison and police abolition, trans politics, climate organizing, cultural criticism... reach out! (my DMs are cursed rn, lol)
my contact form is open! if you're looking to talk to or commission someone with expertise in covering and analyzing social movements, prison and police abolition, trans politics, climate organizing, cultural criticism... reach out! (my DMs are cursed rn, lol)
Reposted by Rainesford Stauffer
You all MUST READ this piece by Kaitlyn Greenidge about the power of art to “exist outside of a tech lord’s algorithm.”
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
The Artist Who Reminds Us that Another Way Is Possible
The late artist Abigail McGrath cultivated a creative life for herself filled with freedom, joy, and a commitment to beauty. In an age of authoritarianism and algorithms, it’s a kind of life worth pro...
www.harpersbazaar.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:09 PM
You all MUST READ this piece by Kaitlyn Greenidge about the power of art to “exist outside of a tech lord’s algorithm.”
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
A totally devastating and really thoroughly reported piece.
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room.
Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:24 PM
A totally devastating and really thoroughly reported piece.