Madysen Luebke
@madysen.bsky.social
Nebraskan in NYC | researcher, fact checker, and (religion) writer | [email protected] | she/her | madysenluebke.com
Working alongside @lindsayleewallace.bsky.social to report on children of disabled parents.
Working alongside @lindsayleewallace.bsky.social to report on children of disabled parents.
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Madysen Luebke
@madysen.bsky.social
· Sep 4
What We Can All Learn from Disability Culture
"My life is infinitely better for having been raised by a disabled mom."
poojalakshmin.substack.com
I don't often get to talk about one of the central pieces of my identity, being raised by a disabled parent, but I do today in a guest post for Pooja Lakshmin's Real Self Care newsletter!
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
Put another way, we’ve been convinced that cars represent “freedom” in places where we’ve built car dependency. That dependency took away our freedom, and the car industry convinced us that we could ONLY get it back if we paid whatever increasing costs of car ownership they demand.
Some “freedom.”
Some “freedom.”
Never forget, car dependency isn’t freedom.
Some might ask “what’s more free than cars?”
Choices.
Choices are more free than car dependency.
It’s not a hard concept.
I’m not pitting cars against any other single mode of transport.
I’m rejecting design that creates dependency on just one mode.
Some might ask “what’s more free than cars?”
Choices.
Choices are more free than car dependency.
It’s not a hard concept.
I’m not pitting cars against any other single mode of transport.
I’m rejecting design that creates dependency on just one mode.
December 10, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Put another way, we’ve been convinced that cars represent “freedom” in places where we’ve built car dependency. That dependency took away our freedom, and the car industry convinced us that we could ONLY get it back if we paid whatever increasing costs of car ownership they demand.
Some “freedom.”
Some “freedom.”
My dad made a similar comment - that this political infighting feels likes a protestant schism.
For context: the church he grew up in split because hired painters accidentally painted some wood trim and that caused half of the congregation to leave in a huff (true, it's a crime, but schism worthy?)
For context: the church he grew up in split because hired painters accidentally painted some wood trim and that caused half of the congregation to leave in a huff (true, it's a crime, but schism worthy?)
Folks, if you didn’t grow up in a low-church American evangelical/fundamentalist baptist or Bible church you have no idea how easy it is for factions to split a church, excommunicate each other, and how that informs the coming schism in Republican politics.
"Haha what if the Pop-Tarts do a frosted/unfrosted schism" is great bc the average schism is due to stuff even less consequential than that
November 18, 2025 at 4:59 PM
My dad made a similar comment - that this political infighting feels likes a protestant schism.
For context: the church he grew up in split because hired painters accidentally painted some wood trim and that caused half of the congregation to leave in a huff (true, it's a crime, but schism worthy?)
For context: the church he grew up in split because hired painters accidentally painted some wood trim and that caused half of the congregation to leave in a huff (true, it's a crime, but schism worthy?)
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
Lottie, a 15yo in Pike County, KY, writes for @kentucky.com about the impact of SNAP delays in her community, which is still recovering from flooding. Cars line up hours before the church where she volunteers begins giving out food: "I see this line growing longer and longer month after month..."
As a Pike Co. student, I see the SNAP delays, and I see our people suffer | Opinion
OpEd: As a high school student, I see the struggles of our mountain communities, already hurt by floods, now suffering under SNAP delays.
www.kentucky.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Lottie, a 15yo in Pike County, KY, writes for @kentucky.com about the impact of SNAP delays in her community, which is still recovering from flooding. Cars line up hours before the church where she volunteers begins giving out food: "I see this line growing longer and longer month after month..."
Once, in line for ACQ bread at the Greenmarket I overhead a dad excitedly telling his four year old “your grandparents used to wait in lines for bread too!”
November 6, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Once, in line for ACQ bread at the Greenmarket I overhead a dad excitedly telling his four year old “your grandparents used to wait in lines for bread too!”
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
It feels a bit weird to post right now in light of what has happened to @teenvogue.com and so much of the incredible team there. What sources shared here is important, & I’m grateful I got to work on this. I reported on how young people are being impacted by delays to SNAP: “It’s about survival.”
More Young People Will Go Hungry Without SNAP
“We’re trying to make it, but it’s been hard.”
www.teenvogue.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:12 PM
It feels a bit weird to post right now in light of what has happened to @teenvogue.com and so much of the incredible team there. What sources shared here is important, & I’m grateful I got to work on this. I reported on how young people are being impacted by delays to SNAP: “It’s about survival.”
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
I'm hard-pressed to think of a non-Jewish Democratic politician who has spoken to Jews with more respect and empathy than Mamdani. The fact that many Jewish establishment orgs are going after him while staying relatively mum on resurgent Nazism is a disaster, both for American Jews and in general.
November 5, 2025 at 11:49 PM
I'm hard-pressed to think of a non-Jewish Democratic politician who has spoken to Jews with more respect and empathy than Mamdani. The fact that many Jewish establishment orgs are going after him while staying relatively mum on resurgent Nazism is a disaster, both for American Jews and in general.
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
There is a full-on push in NYC right now to use "Mamdani doesn't make Jews 'feel safe'" as a cudgel to get Cuomo into office, and it is utterly disgusting. You know what makes me feel unsafe? People who casually characterize us as a trembling single-issue monolith scared of the big bad Muslim.
October 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
There is a full-on push in NYC right now to use "Mamdani doesn't make Jews 'feel safe'" as a cudgel to get Cuomo into office, and it is utterly disgusting. You know what makes me feel unsafe? People who casually characterize us as a trembling single-issue monolith scared of the big bad Muslim.
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
In food history, we notice how super-refined foods--gelatin, vienna sausage, white bread--lose class and become horrifying once they become industrialized. Suddenly, fingermarks in bread dough demonstrate skill, not clumsiness.
Post-chatGPT, I'm feeling this about writing. Smoothness feels gross.
Post-chatGPT, I'm feeling this about writing. Smoothness feels gross.
October 1, 2025 at 3:05 AM
In food history, we notice how super-refined foods--gelatin, vienna sausage, white bread--lose class and become horrifying once they become industrialized. Suddenly, fingermarks in bread dough demonstrate skill, not clumsiness.
Post-chatGPT, I'm feeling this about writing. Smoothness feels gross.
Post-chatGPT, I'm feeling this about writing. Smoothness feels gross.
Brilliant reporting by @lindsayleewallace.bsky.social about a really heinous situation for Success Academy teachers. A must read!!
Early this month, Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of Success Academy—New York City’s largest charter school network— had an urgent message for her employees that had nothing to do with pedagogy or classroom management:
You need to help push the charter school agenda.
You need to help push the charter school agenda.
The charter school pressuring teachers to get involved in politics
“It makes me feel like we will be fired if we don’t participate," one Success Academy educator said.
www.motherjones.com
September 25, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Brilliant reporting by @lindsayleewallace.bsky.social about a really heinous situation for Success Academy teachers. A must read!!
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
Autistic and neurodivergent people deserve far better than a government looking to prevent their existence, let alone one that will invent fictitious ways to do so that puts everyone in danger
September 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Autistic and neurodivergent people deserve far better than a government looking to prevent their existence, let alone one that will invent fictitious ways to do so that puts everyone in danger
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
Someone asked me earlier why I don’t do more than AI, and the answer is that every time I look deeper into AI I see more evidence that this is a massive, unbelievable failure, propped up by webs of debt and ignorance, private capital fully believes there’s massive AI demand that does not exist.
September 18, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Someone asked me earlier why I don’t do more than AI, and the answer is that every time I look deeper into AI I see more evidence that this is a massive, unbelievable failure, propped up by webs of debt and ignorance, private capital fully believes there’s massive AI demand that does not exist.
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
For a column, looking to chat with earlyish-career workers about whether you’re struggling to focus on work/job-searching amid…well, everything else happening in the world. Would love to talk to experts, including organizers, on actions we can take at work or beyond to help. DMs/inbox always open.
September 16, 2025 at 2:01 PM
For a column, looking to chat with earlyish-career workers about whether you’re struggling to focus on work/job-searching amid…well, everything else happening in the world. Would love to talk to experts, including organizers, on actions we can take at work or beyond to help. DMs/inbox always open.
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
I don't often get to talk about one of the central pieces of my identity, being raised by a disabled parent, but I do today in a guest post for Pooja Lakshmin's Real Self Care newsletter!
What We Can All Learn from Disability Culture
"My life is infinitely better for having been raised by a disabled mom."
poojalakshmin.substack.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I don't often get to talk about one of the central pieces of my identity, being raised by a disabled parent, but I do today in a guest post for Pooja Lakshmin's Real Self Care newsletter!
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
My dear friend and brilliant writer @madysen.bsky.social wrote a gorgeous, thoughtful essay, and everyone should read it: "The sadness in my life is because my mom died, not because she had a disability. My life is infinitely better for having been raised by a disabled mom."
What We Can All Learn from Disability Culture
"My life is infinitely better for having been raised by a disabled mom."
open.substack.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:48 PM
My dear friend and brilliant writer @madysen.bsky.social wrote a gorgeous, thoughtful essay, and everyone should read it: "The sadness in my life is because my mom died, not because she had a disability. My life is infinitely better for having been raised by a disabled mom."
I don't often get to talk about one of the central pieces of my identity, being raised by a disabled parent, but I do today in a guest post for Pooja Lakshmin's Real Self Care newsletter!
What We Can All Learn from Disability Culture
"My life is infinitely better for having been raised by a disabled mom."
poojalakshmin.substack.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I don't often get to talk about one of the central pieces of my identity, being raised by a disabled parent, but I do today in a guest post for Pooja Lakshmin's Real Self Care newsletter!
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
It’s up to the discretion of RFK Jr to define what ”medically frail” is when it comes to potential Medicaid work requirement exemptions—which may play a huge role in deciding which chronically ill and disabled people could qualify. My latest for @motherjones.com.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
RFK Jr. is getting personal authority over who to kick off of Medicaid
“It's just a way of cutting people off of coverage and then blaming them for it.”
www.motherjones.com
August 25, 2025 at 12:28 PM
It’s up to the discretion of RFK Jr to define what ”medically frail” is when it comes to potential Medicaid work requirement exemptions—which may play a huge role in deciding which chronically ill and disabled people could qualify. My latest for @motherjones.com.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
Ugly laws led to poor, disabled people being institutionalized. It's now part of the strategy Trump plans to use to get rid of unhoused people, in DC and beyond.
For @motherjones.com, I spoke to @okaysoldierschweik.bsky.social, who wrote a book about ugly laws.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
For @motherjones.com, I spoke to @okaysoldierschweik.bsky.social, who wrote a book about ugly laws.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Ugly laws: the blueprint for Trump's anti-homeless crusade
DC's crackdown is just the latest in a long war on being poor and disabled in public.
www.motherjones.com
August 22, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Ugly laws led to poor, disabled people being institutionalized. It's now part of the strategy Trump plans to use to get rid of unhoused people, in DC and beyond.
For @motherjones.com, I spoke to @okaysoldierschweik.bsky.social, who wrote a book about ugly laws.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
For @motherjones.com, I spoke to @okaysoldierschweik.bsky.social, who wrote a book about ugly laws.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
JAMES DOBSON CAN GO REST IN HELL
August 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM
JAMES DOBSON CAN GO REST IN HELL
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
Praise the little baby Jesus: James Dobson has finally gone on home to Hell.
James Dobson, influential founder of conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, has died
Dr. James Dobson, who founded the conservative ministry Focus on the Family and was long a campaigner against abortion and gay rights, has died. He was 89.
apnews.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Praise the little baby Jesus: James Dobson has finally gone on home to Hell.
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
One of the things you learned at 18F and USDS is that government isn’t like a business: it has to serve everybody and not just specific market segments that are the most convenient.
August 20, 2025 at 12:49 PM
One of the things you learned at 18F and USDS is that government isn’t like a business: it has to serve everybody and not just specific market segments that are the most convenient.
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
When the Bond villain owns the franchise...
Jeff Bezos is demanding his wife Lauren be cast as a Bond Girl. RIP James Bond. Bet the plot is about evil union barons preventing the kindly billionaire from forcing his staff to piss in bottles www.jezebel.com/jeff-bezos-l...
Wannabe Bond Villain Pushing His Second Wife for Next Bond Girl
Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.
www.jezebel.com
August 11, 2025 at 11:27 PM
When the Bond villain owns the franchise...
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
A growing number of states are passing laws that require companies to sell wheelchair parts to wheelchair users so they can fix it themselves or bring it to a mechanic to fix it for them.
My latest for @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
My latest for @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Wheelchair users are finally winning the right to repair
State laws are forcing private equity–backed firms—which can make buyers wait months—to allow DIY fixes.
www.motherjones.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:03 PM
A growing number of states are passing laws that require companies to sell wheelchair parts to wheelchair users so they can fix it themselves or bring it to a mechanic to fix it for them.
My latest for @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
My latest for @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Big Freedia about her new album, "Pressing Onward," and how her childhood singing in the church led her to this moment, fusing gospel with her signature bounce music.
Big Freedia takes bounce music to church on new album, 'Pressing Onward'
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Big Freedia about her new album, "Pressing Onward," and how her childhood singing in the church led her to this moment, fusing gospel with her signature bounce music.
n.pr
August 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Big Freedia about her new album, "Pressing Onward," and how her childhood singing in the church led her to this moment, fusing gospel with her signature bounce music.
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
I kinda think the way people use ChatGPT is sort of aspirational because it seems to emulate the way rich people have sycophants lying to them all the time until they lose touch with reality and also their entire minds
August 1, 2025 at 12:17 PM
I kinda think the way people use ChatGPT is sort of aspirational because it seems to emulate the way rich people have sycophants lying to them all the time until they lose touch with reality and also their entire minds
Reposted by Madysen Luebke
“Without getting too in the weeds—“
Brother, I live in the weeds. Come join me in this tall, weird patch of grass.
Brother, I live in the weeds. Come join me in this tall, weird patch of grass.
July 16, 2025 at 6:25 PM
“Without getting too in the weeds—“
Brother, I live in the weeds. Come join me in this tall, weird patch of grass.
Brother, I live in the weeds. Come join me in this tall, weird patch of grass.