Author | Lightnews

Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · 3d

Is something going on with lettuce in NY being rotten?

Reposted by Katy Waldman

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 9d

“According to the spokespeople of grind culture, the choice is clear: your individuality can make money for you or it can make money for somebody else,” Katy Waldman writes.

How Corporate Feminism Went from “Love Me” to “Buy Me”

A decade ago, Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” aimed to tear down the obstacles that kept women from reaching the top. Now her successors want to tear down everything.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 13d

Today’s self-help books for working women abandon the pretense that they have anything to do with feminism, or even work. Instead, everything is content. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/how-corporate-feminism-went-from-love-me-to-buy-me

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · 15d

Wrote about the state of corporate feminist self-help! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

How Corporate Feminism Went from “Love Me” to “Buy Me”

A decade ago, Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” aimed to tear down the obstacles that kept women from reaching the top. Now her successors want to tear down everything.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · 26d

You know what bsky.app/profile/blip...

violet allen @blipstress.bsky.social · 27d

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Sep 24

For the fall books issue of @newyorker.com, I reviewed Ian McEwan's excellent new novel, which features city-drowning floods, "the famous group Radiohead," and a metric ton of adultery. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Ian McEwan Casts the Climate Crisis as a Story of Adultery

His new novel, “What We Can Know,” imagines the historians of the twenty-second century, who long for the world that they’ve missed out on.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Sep 24

“What We Can Know,” Ian McEwan’s 18th novel, takes place in the 22nd century, after a nuclear disaster. “Much of the novel’s charm lies in its re-creation of our era as seen from the future,” Katy Waldman writes.

Ian McEwan Casts the Climate Crisis as a Story of Adultery

His new novel, “What We Can Know,” imagines the historians of the twenty-second century, who long for the world that they’ve missed out on.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Sep 24

Well, that’s lovely, thank you. Esp given the source. And thank you for explaining anime to me via the NYTM. That was delightful.

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Sep 24

Josh! Thanks so much. (I disagree but am flattered.)

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

Matt Shipman (he/him) @shiplives.bsky.social · Sep 24

Seeing ice cream cones during their spawning runs really takes your breath away. They’ll only do this once in their entire lives.

MachinePix @machinepix.bsky.social · Sep 23

Ice cream cone manufacturing line.

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Sep 1

Thanks for reading!

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Sep 1

Monday version of me here to re-up this post for all of your Monday selves!

Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Aug 25

I reviewed Helen Oyeyemi’s new new novel, in which a character divides herself by seven — one identity for each day of the week (Should we all try this?) www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Helen Oyeyemi’s Novel of Cognitive Dissonance

Kinga, the protagonist of “A New New Me,” has an odd affliction: there are seven of her.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Aug 25

I reviewed Helen Oyeyemi’s new new novel, in which a character divides herself by seven — one identity for each day of the week (Should we all try this?) www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Helen Oyeyemi’s Novel of Cognitive Dissonance

Kinga, the protagonist of “A New New Me,” has an odd affliction: there are seven of her.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Aug 11

While I’m self-promoting, this piece is in dialogue with an earlier piece about MAGA aesthetics and how Trump is a LLM regurgitating signifiers without understanding them www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...

bsky.app/profile/xwal...

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Aug 9

With media such as “28 Years Later” and “The Last of Us,” 2025 has been a bacchanalia of zombies. Katy Waldman writes about our cultural fixation on the walking dead.

Our Age of Zombie Culture

Zombies are the least eloquent monster. But they have a lot to say about us.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Aug 9

Zombies are reactionary babies, tell your friends www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...

Our Age of Zombie Culture

Zombies are the least eloquent monster. But they have a lot to say about us.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Jul 7

Really enjoyed spending time with the film Sorry Baby and with its singular creator and star Eva Victor www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...

How Eva Victor Reimagined the Trauma Plot

In her new film, the actor, writer, and director charts the nonlinear course of a young woman’s recovery from assault.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Jun 24

I snuck a few of my "Anora" gripes into a piece about "Materialists" and the rise of the anti-Cinderella story
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Jun 21

Does Prince Charming still exist? A spate of media scrutinizing the one-percent—including “Materialists” and “Anora”—attests to the difficulty of romanticizing wealth and love.

The Rise of the Anti-Cinderella Story

A pair of recent films, Celine Song’s “Materialists” and Sean Baker’s “Anora,” turn the fairy tale on its head, with mixed results.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Jun 21

Subbing in for the inimitable Naomi Fry on this week’s critics column, I wrote about Hollywood’s new anti-Cinderella plot www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...

The Rise of the Anti-Cinderella Story

A pair of recent films, Celine Song’s “Materialists” and Sean Baker’s “Anora,” turn the fairy tale on its head, with mixed results.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Jun 17

“I have wrestled with a Frey-like dread through the writing of this review—I’m afraid that I’ll describe his book and no one will believe me.” Read @xwaldie.bsky.social’s review of the cancelled author’s attempt to rebrand.

James Frey’s New Cancelled-Guy Sex Novel Is as Bad as It Sounds

With a status-obsessed comeback book, the author of the fabricated memoir “A Million Little Pieces” attempts to rebrand.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · Jun 17

Reviewed James Frey’s new book somehow www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...

James Frey’s New Cancelled-Guy Sex Novel Is as Bad as It Sounds

With a status-obsessed comeback book, the author of the fabricated memoir “A Million Little Pieces” attempts to rebrand.

www.newyorker.com

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Katy Waldman @xwaldie.bsky.social · May 29

Love Marvel, hate Marvel, all I know is that they put the New Yorker in their closing credit sequence alongside a David Brooks joke that deserves its own Oscar www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...

Is “Thunderbolts*” Marvel’s Attempt to Salvage the Superhero Genre?

The film succeeds in part by flipping the franchise’s standard script: the main characters aren’t embarrassed because they’re superheroes; they’re embarrassed because they’re not.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · May 19

“Twist,” by Colum McCann, centers around the cables that relay computer data around the world, and what happens when a cable off the Ghanaian coast is severed. But the book doesn’t establish the human stakes of the repair, Katy Waldman writes.

Colum McCann’s Limp Novel of Digital Life

In “Twist,” the characterization is listless and the internet is just a series of tubes.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Katy Waldman

Raw Story @rawstory.com · May 10

In an interview with Slate's Mary Harris, the New Yorker's Katy Waldman stated that nothing is going well at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since Donald Trump took over the venerable Washington D.C. institution.

'Everything is worse' at Kennedy Center as the 'Trump anti-Midas touch' takes hold: expert

In an interview with Slate's Mary Harris, the New Yorker's Katy Waldman stated that nothing is going well at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since Donald Trump took over the venerable Washington D.C. institution.Following up on earlier reports that crowd-pleasing –– and ticket-selling...

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