Rachael Levay
@rlevay.bsky.social
Senior editor of sociology and anthropology at Princeton University Press. Cofounder Paths in Publishing. Running, books, kids, somewhere out west.
Reposted by Rachael Levay
You’ll feel less confused if you admit to yourself that some people don’t care about the suffering of others, and some people like it.
January 26, 2026 at 2:33 PM
You’ll feel less confused if you admit to yourself that some people don’t care about the suffering of others, and some people like it.
Reposted by Rachael Levay
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
January 25, 2026 at 2:05 AM
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Tell me your pet’s name with a gif
January 24, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Tell me your pet’s name with a gif
This man should find no place to rest his head, no good meal to eat, no warmth in cold -- not a moment of comfort in the rest of his miserable, well, I would say life, but what kind of life is this? To be so cruel, so callous, so empty. So let's go with "rest of his miserable existence."
Q: Do you have any moral or ethical qualms about detaining a five-year-old on his way back from preschool?
Border Patrol Chief Bovino: I've got no qualms about making America a safer place
Border Patrol Chief Bovino: I've got no qualms about making America a safer place
January 22, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Reposted by Rachael Levay
right now the floor for me is abolish ICE and put every agent on trial and the average elected democrat is like what if we told them to cut it out
January 22, 2026 at 12:31 AM
right now the floor for me is abolish ICE and put every agent on trial and the average elected democrat is like what if we told them to cut it out
I’ve largely stayed offline today after ending up in tears a few times yesterday and opening this to see that baby, I can‘t even describe my rage.
January 22, 2026 at 1:00 AM
I’ve largely stayed offline today after ending up in tears a few times yesterday and opening this to see that baby, I can‘t even describe my rage.
Just cried on a Zoom call with someone in Minneapolis. My mental health is so good.
January 20, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Just cried on a Zoom call with someone in Minneapolis. My mental health is so good.
It’s the strangest feeling, reading about breakthroughs that could have cured a loved one who has died of a disease. It’s hard to describe the painful joy I feel thinking about those who won’t know the heartache we almost could have missed.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
This cancer is stubborn, but new drug regimen shows promise
An immunotherapy kept multiple myeloma at bay for over 80 percent of patients in a three-year clinical trial, and the FDA offered an accelerated approval path.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:32 PM
It’s the strangest feeling, reading about breakthroughs that could have cured a loved one who has died of a disease. It’s hard to describe the painful joy I feel thinking about those who won’t know the heartache we almost could have missed.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
2026, home with a six-year-old freshly positive with Covid, spiraling with anxiety and sadness but also cackling at videos of fascists soaked from water balloons in bitter cold
January 17, 2026 at 9:15 PM
2026, home with a six-year-old freshly positive with Covid, spiraling with anxiety and sadness but also cackling at videos of fascists soaked from water balloons in bitter cold
Reposted by Rachael Levay
Yes. And if you don’t, time to become someone your ancestors will be proud of.
Respectfully, I am going to whisper to some of our white comrades a truth that should be more widely known: You definitely have some ancestors to be proud of, ancestors who refused white supremacy, and poured out their lives in many of these struggles over time.
Time to claim your true history.
Time to claim your true history.
January 17, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Yes. And if you don’t, time to become someone your ancestors will be proud of.
I spend some serious energy worrying people will think I use Chat GPT for my emails but truly, I’m just a long time, deeply committed em-dasher.
January 17, 2026 at 8:33 PM
I spend some serious energy worrying people will think I use Chat GPT for my emails but truly, I’m just a long time, deeply committed em-dasher.
Reposted by Rachael Levay
Less than a month before my debut book "What We Inherit" gets released! You can place pre-orders now: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Lucky to have gotten to collaborate (and argue) with Sam Trejo for the last 5+ years on this.
Lucky to have gotten to collaborate (and argue) with Sam Trejo for the last 5+ years on this.
What We Inherit
Debating the use of genomic tools and their societal impact
press.princeton.edu
January 9, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Less than a month before my debut book "What We Inherit" gets released! You can place pre-orders now: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Lucky to have gotten to collaborate (and argue) with Sam Trejo for the last 5+ years on this.
Lucky to have gotten to collaborate (and argue) with Sam Trejo for the last 5+ years on this.
Reposted by Rachael Levay
My friend and colleague @michellesphelps.bsky.social explains how the history of community organization prepares Minneapolis for this moment. @newrepublic.com
Minneapolis Knows How to Resist This State Violence
From George Floyd to Renee Good, the city has become all too familiar with killings by law enforcement—and it knows exactly how to respond.
newrepublic.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:47 PM
My friend and colleague @michellesphelps.bsky.social explains how the history of community organization prepares Minneapolis for this moment. @newrepublic.com
Reposted by Rachael Levay
“i want back my rocking chairs, / solipsist sunsets, / & coastal jungle sounds...”
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
Renee Nicole Good, murdered by ICE, was a prize-winning poet. Here’s that poem.
Renee Nicole Good, 37, mother to a six-year-old boy, was murdered earlier today by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, a few blocks from her home. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune: [An ICE agent] s…
lithub.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:54 AM
“i want back my rocking chairs, / solipsist sunsets, / & coastal jungle sounds...”
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.
lithub.com/renee-nicole...
Reposted by Rachael Levay
…it should break your heart to kill.
January 8, 2026 at 4:02 AM
…it should break your heart to kill.
Richie doesn't accept that the bookstore is closed on Sundays.
January 4, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Richie doesn't accept that the bookstore is closed on Sundays.
It’s a long day of merriment here but I woke up early and read @lilyking.bsky.social’s Heart the Lover in nearly one sitting and am hungover with grief and also struck by how good this novel is. Read it when your heart is strong — or when you need fortifying.
December 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM
It’s a long day of merriment here but I woke up early and read @lilyking.bsky.social’s Heart the Lover in nearly one sitting and am hungover with grief and also struck by how good this novel is. Read it when your heart is strong — or when you need fortifying.
There are too many things to hate about the internet but I have a big one.
Online shopping now means family (primarily grandparents) send gifts directly to us and suddenly it’s my job to wrap EVERY PRESENT UNDER THE TREE WHEN I HAVE NO TIME OR ENERGY.
More bows more tags more paper more time gah
Online shopping now means family (primarily grandparents) send gifts directly to us and suddenly it’s my job to wrap EVERY PRESENT UNDER THE TREE WHEN I HAVE NO TIME OR ENERGY.
More bows more tags more paper more time gah
December 13, 2025 at 10:37 PM
There are too many things to hate about the internet but I have a big one.
Online shopping now means family (primarily grandparents) send gifts directly to us and suddenly it’s my job to wrap EVERY PRESENT UNDER THE TREE WHEN I HAVE NO TIME OR ENERGY.
More bows more tags more paper more time gah
Online shopping now means family (primarily grandparents) send gifts directly to us and suddenly it’s my job to wrap EVERY PRESENT UNDER THE TREE WHEN I HAVE NO TIME OR ENERGY.
More bows more tags more paper more time gah
Reposted by Rachael Levay
Richie’s transition to Winter Pup is aided by good low winter light making awesome afternoon sun patches.
December 12, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Richie’s transition to Winter Pup is aided by good low winter light making awesome afternoon sun patches.
My daughter’s sixth grade math teacher sent home her family’s holiday card, complete with 11 cocktail recipes telling the story of their 2025 and I LOVE IT.
December 9, 2025 at 11:55 PM
My daughter’s sixth grade math teacher sent home her family’s holiday card, complete with 11 cocktail recipes telling the story of their 2025 and I LOVE IT.
Reposted by Rachael Levay
New from me: In the New Republic @newrepublic.com, I wrote that we should refuse to choose between the easy way and the hard way to boost birth rates.
What If Both Sides in the Birth Rate Debate Are Wrong?
The right wants to steer women away from work and toward motherhood. The left wants to provide them with more state support so it’s easier to have children. We should refuse this choice.
newrepublic.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:15 PM
New from me: In the New Republic @newrepublic.com, I wrote that we should refuse to choose between the easy way and the hard way to boost birth rates.
I'm back with an update. We've got ourselves a Democratic mayor in Pocatello, Idaho -- and by a landslide!
Guys. The Democrat got the highest votes in Pocatello’s mayoral race last night. We are looking at a runoff in December since no one hit 50% (five candidates ran) but that’s never happened in our almost-12 years here.
December 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM
I'm back with an update. We've got ourselves a Democratic mayor in Pocatello, Idaho -- and by a landslide!
It's literally painful at this point to see winter weather happening everywhere but here. As my daughter said the other day: "What do we want? Snow! When do we want it? Now!"
December 2, 2025 at 1:43 PM
It's literally painful at this point to see winter weather happening everywhere but here. As my daughter said the other day: "What do we want? Snow! When do we want it? Now!"