Susan Rinkunas
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susanrinkunas.com
Susan Rinkunas
@susanrinkunas.com
Journalist and cofounder @autonomynews.co‬. Seen in: Jezebel, The New Republic, The Guardian, Slate, The Nation, Democracy Docket. WGAE Council. From PA, now in BK

http://linktr.ee/susanrinkunas
Email: susanrinkunaswrites @gmail
Signal: susanrinkunas.73
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Good morning, internet, and welcome to a new publication that @garnethenderson.com and I have been working on for months
Hello world! We are Autonomy News, a new worker-owned reproductive justice news outlet cofounded by @garnethenderson.com and @susanrinkunas.com.

Our reporting will never be paywalled, and you can support our work with a subscription to keep it free for everyone.
Welcome to Autonomy News
Welcome to Autonomy News, a new publication created and owned by two reproductive rights and justice journalists. We write about bodily autonomy and the attacks levied by politicians and activists wh...
www.autonomynews.co
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Sue him, Franklin.
Canadian publisher Kids Can Press "strongly condemns any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin's name or image" following Pete Hegseth's post:
December 2, 2025 at 3:22 AM
what in the goop
the puck news holiday gift guide is very relatable

puck.news/pucks-2025-g...
December 2, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
a few candidates have talked about this but any Dem planning to run in 2028 should make it explicit: the next DOJ will, in fact, go after you if you’re funding this awful ballroom, or any other pay to play deals you make with this administration
Dimon on why JPMorgan Chase is not funding WH Ballroom:
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
November 29, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Unfortunately the people attacking our rights were still hard at work last week. Catch up with the latest news roundup:
Appeals Court Sides with Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Josh Hawley’s Wife Wants a Promotion: December 1 News Roundup
Plus, Congress is about to fight over abortion and Obamacare—again.
www.autonomynews.co
December 1, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
CALLOUT: I am looking to interview individuals who have sought health care at crisis pregnancy centers, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and want to talk about their experience. The center can be located anywhere. If you or someone you know might be interested, please email or send me a DM.
December 1, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
It sucks that meeting a new class now involves not just going over the syllabus, setting expectations, and trying to establish a rapport, but also trying to deduce whether any of your new students are vigilante right wing operatives out to seek viral controversy at the expense of your job
If you are a chair of a department or supervise grad students, it might be important to collaborate with your colleagues on ways to strategize when a "problem essay" comes down the pike. It's one small way of protecting each other.
December 1, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
be the bitch doing something yourself that you want to see in the world
there’s a scene in the new documentary where Elizabeth Taylor is talking about the stigma of AIDS and how she got involved in the movement and it’s fucking everything
December 1, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
one thing that receives almost no attention is that the only reason he ran for president again is because he had to to avoid prosecution for a litany of crimes, the whole plan was: 1). Take shelter in SCOTUS-granted immunity. 2). Loot.
trump is the president in the sense that he holds the office but he very clearly isn't the president in the sense that he has basically relieved himself of its duties
Trump’s echo chamber:

Very little U.S travel

No rallies or contact with supporters

Right-wing media

Dinners with rich donors and billionaires

Truth Social

Lack of staff to tell him no www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
December 1, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
a real tell in all of this is that the trans instructor wasn't alone in trashing this essay! a whole other person also said they agreed completely that it sucked. but as far as i can tell only the trans person is getting punished. www.oklahoman.com/story/news/e...
December 1, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
For my newsletter, I wrote about that college essay scandal that's gone viral and what everyone is seeming to miss:

It's about ATTACKING TRANS PEOPLE!!!

www.burnsnotice.com/that-viral-e...
That Viral Essay Scandal is (SURPRISE!) Actually About Trans People
A shoddy Oklahoma University essay went viral. Cis people think this is about conservatives whining for better grades. Trans people see a planned attack on a trans academic. (Note for free subscriber...
www.burnsnotice.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Arbitrator: “If the goal is speed and the cost is accuracy and accountability, AI is the clear winner. If accuracy and accountability is the baseline, then AI, as used in these instances, cannot yet rival the hallmarks of human output, which are accuracy and reliability.”
Exciting news: my union @pen-guild.bsky.social won our fight to hold management accountable for rolling out AI tools with no notice & for failing to hold the bots to the same standards all of us humans must follow — in violation of the contract they agreed to. A neutral arbiter said we were right!
PEN Guild wins landmark arbitration on AI protections - Washington-Baltimore News Guild
This marks one of the first major labor-arbitration rulings on the impact of AI on journalism, setting an important precedent for the U.S. news industry.
wbng.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Exciting news: my union @pen-guild.bsky.social won our fight to hold management accountable for rolling out AI tools with no notice & for failing to hold the bots to the same standards all of us humans must follow — in violation of the contract they agreed to. A neutral arbiter said we were right!
PEN Guild wins landmark arbitration on AI protections - Washington-Baltimore News Guild
This marks one of the first major labor-arbitration rulings on the impact of AI on journalism, setting an important precedent for the U.S. news industry.
wbng.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Good morning @cnbc.com it’s a great time to correct these frankly embarrassing mistakes
Hi @cnbc.com this story on abortion has multiple serious errors that need correcting

1. States that ban abortion prohibit procedures and pills. There is no state that bans one and not the other
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/25/a...
December 1, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
80% off sunday scaries because *no one* is prepared to come back to work tomorrow
November 30, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
There's an urgent recall on a subset of FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus — they show FALSE LOW GLUCOSE READINGS.

The website to check the serial number of your sensors is

www.freestylecheck.com/us-en/home.h...
Home | FreeStyle - Abbott
www.freestylecheck.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Something I keep thinking about in convos about 'when to leave' is that finances really ARE an insurmountable barrier for people, as are qualifications (e.g. 'digital nomad' visas are great, but what if you're a barista, or a pipefitter?), and, of course, disability penalties.
When Is It Time to Flee?
Trans people and their families are facing hard questions and choices as threats to their safety and rights proliferate.
newrepublic.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
For at least a year, I've been returning to the question, how would you know when it's time to leave the US? For this piece, I asked trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer Americans who, with their families and partners, have recently fled the country, about how they made this decision and how they left.
When Is It Time to Flee?
Trans people and their families are facing hard questions and choices as threats to their safety and rights proliferate.
newrepublic.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
It’s almost as though housing should not be a business
November 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Oh good
NEW: US District Judge Sarah Pitlyk and Jesus Osete of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division are on a White House list of candidates interviewing for an 8th Circuit seat, per source familiar

Litigator Erin Hawley, Sen. Hawley's spouse, also expressed interest
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Litigator Erin Hawley Said to Be Interested in Circuit Judgeship
A Trump-appointed trial judge and a senior Justice Department official are included on a White House list of candidates interviewing for a federal appeals court seat in Missouri, a person familiar wit...
news.bloomberglaw.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM
*Stares in anti-abortion playbook*
Vinay Prasad of the FDA claims that he has proof that 10 children died from COVID19 vaccines, so the FDA will now target flu shots, look at whether people should receive multiple vaccines at the same time, and make the vaccine approval process significantly more difficult.
FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements, claiming child covid shot deaths
Vinay Prasad, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, said his team concluded that coronavirus shots were linked to children’s deaths, necessitating a new approach.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing

"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."

Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Pete basically admitting to war crimes. Wonder how that no-drinking pledge is going
a lot of words, none of them denying that Hegseth gave an order to kill helpless people who were stranded at sea after he blew up their boats
November 29, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Northwestern and Columbia being famous for journalism and bending over for Trump seems a little too on the nose these days
This is the second largest payout from a private university to the Trump admin yet, second only to Columbia’s $200m
November 29, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Reposted by Susan Rinkunas
Insanely stupid and short-sighted choice. I didn't even know they were still trying to run this racket. You put more universities in danger with this shit you idiots!
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university

Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 2:48 AM