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Helen Lewis

@helenlewis.bsky.social
47K followers 1.3K following 1.1K posts

Staff writer, The Atlantic | Author, Difficult Women (2020) and The Genius Myth (2025) | Podcaster, Page 94 | Doom scroller, the internet | uk.bookshop.org/shop/helenlewis

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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It was a very interesting editorial choice to publish this interview transcript: time.com/article/2026...
time.com
Read TIME’s ‘What Trump Has Built’ Interview Transcript
The U.S. President discussed the war in Iran, press freedom, AI, and more ahead of the midterm elections.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I wrote about how Senator Eric Schmitt's grand screw-up -- like the closing scene in a John Grisham adaptation, but gone horribly wrong -- is pretty revealing about the MAGA media ecosystem (gift link). He just . . . styled it out. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Eric Schmitt’s Very Bad Day at Work
For MAGA politicians, there’s no such thing as a gaffe.
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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Aaron is not underrating this. It's cinema. The sly smirk when Schmitt thinks he's gotten Smith to perjure himself. The hasty vanishing of the sign. Klobuchar getting Kennedy to hold it up. Schmitt getting LOUD and ANGRY when Klobuchar points out he mixed up the Hawks and Hawkeyes.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I'm halfway through The Great Dictator, btw, and it's absolutely stellar. Cartland was born in 1901, so she became an adult just as the male population of Britain was vastly reduced, and many of the remaining men were deeply traumatised. (Reposted because I typo-ed 1931 before.)
The Great Dictator by Matthew Sweet
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ron-hill.bsky.social @ron-hill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fascinating point of view. Controversial in liberal circles, which means it should probably be read. @helenlewis.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
How to Destroy a Lesbian Bar
The scourge of COVID led to drive-by whinings disguised as activism.
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 26/09/2026
Abdul El-Sayed isn’t afraid of starting an argument—but the Michigan Democrat doesn’t always pick his fights carefully, @helenlewis.bsky.social writes. She spoke with the candidate ahead of the midterm elections: theatln.tc/uDvy8VPI
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I can only apologise for continuing to work in journalism until the horrifying ancient age of ... 42.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"If Abdul El-Sayed wins, the Sanders wing will take his victory as confirmation that the left can be competitive outside deep-blue areas. If he loses, the centrists will tell the progressives to get back in their box." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Firebrand
Abdul El-Sayed wants to win the Michigan Senate race his way—as an unabashed progressive populist and a fierce critic of Israel.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
New by me: Abdul El-Sayed is "the great hope for the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party—an anti-establishment economic populist running against, basically, Big Everything. " www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Firebrand
Abdul El-Sayed wants to win the Michigan Senate race his way—as an unabashed progressive populist and a fierce critic of Israel.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
New by me: Abdul El-Sayed is "the great hope for the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party—an anti-establishment economic populist running against, basically, Big Everything. " www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Firebrand
Abdul El-Sayed wants to win the Michigan Senate race his way—as an unabashed progressive populist and a fierce critic of Israel.
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Roy Kelly @stanyanfan49.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A gift link via the great @helenlewis.bsky.social, a terrific article by Sophie Gilbert about Jackie Collins, a big feature for anyone who worked in libraries in the 1980s. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Jackie Collins Wrote Her Own Revolution
The novelist imagined women enjoying equality in the bedroom and the boardroom. Are we any closer to living in that world?
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The Sunday Long Read @thesundaylongread.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Some excellent pieces this week by @evrat.bsky.social, @helenlewis.bsky.social, @mikesielski.bsky.social, @jenniferwilson.bsky.social, @annettemcgivney.bsky.social & more mailchi.mp/sundaylongre...
mailchi.mp
☀️ The Sunday Long Read: Mother Tongue, 9/11, Mustard
The week's best journalism. Every Sunday.
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 10/09/2026
“When surrogacy goes well, the result is a happy family that would not otherwise have existed. When it goes wrong, however, it can do so in unpredictable and emotionally crushing ways,” @helenlewis.bsky.social writes.
bit.ly
The Wild West of Commercial Surrogacy
Most of Europe bans it. The United Nations likens it to slavery. But in the United States, business is booming.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
For the last year, I’ve been talking to people involved in the surrogacy industry. There are many happy stories, but also a very concerning lack of regulation. I’ll drop a gift link below.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
For the last year, I’ve been talking to people involved in the surrogacy industry. There are many happy stories, but also a very concerning lack of regulation. I’ll drop a gift link below.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
BTW, I have had some complaints that I (and other journalists) have not scrutinised Nathan Cofnas, the academic who exposed Arday. As it happens, I wrote a book with several chapters on the hereditarian account of IQ, and its links to support for eugenics.
The cover of Helen Lewis's book, The Genius Myth
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
"The simple truth of Parton’s style is that it made a diminutive, rags-poor girl from the backwoods feel bold enough to explore her gorgeous flute of a throat and sing in public." What a treat: @sallyjenx.bsky.social on Dolly Parton: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
theatlantic.com
The Truth About Dolly Parton’s Style
It wasn’t about showbiz. It was about sovereignty.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
For the latest @privateeyenews.bsky.social podcast, we recommended our favourite books about journalism (after we arm-wrestled for who got to do Towards the End of the Morning): www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo3...
youtube.com
The Hacks Book Club: Private Eye writers pick their favourite books about journalism
YouTube video by Private Eye Magazine
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Twenty years ago every aspiring journalist wanted to be a war correspondent, says Helen Lewis. Now the job barely exists, and nothing has taken its place. ➡️ Watch Page 94, the Private Eye podcast: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo3...
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
You: What's goin on? Me: Oh, nothing much. Just watching Jason Kelce's Liquid Death/Garage Beer PSA about harvesting human urine to power data centers.
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Sally Jenkins @sallyjenx.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
NYC firefighters take care of their own like no other profession. That mattered after 9-11. It especially mattered to the Dowdell boys, as they dug through the World Trade Center wreckage. My story on their story. #NYFD #September11 www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Man Who Refused to Sit on the Sidelines
Kevin Dowdell, a lieutenant in an elite FDNY rescue unit, taught his sons to take action. When he disappeared on 9/11, they went to Ground Zero to search for him.
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Elaine Godfrey @elainegodfrey.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
For my politics watchers and Iowa lovers: I rode bikes with Rob Sand across Eastern Iowa—and wrote about how he's doing something pretty different from other Democrats. My latest for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
A Democrat in Name Only
Rob Sand isn’t progressive or moderate. What is he trying to be?
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Alexandra Petri @petridishes.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I watched the Patriot Games and I have a lot of thoughts www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
theatlantic.com
Are the Patriot Games Great? No. Are They Fun to Watch?
Also no.
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Luke McGee @lukemcgee.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I have just read this incredible story (in print of all things) @helenlewis.bsky.social and on a day like today, worth reading on your lunchbreak or similar www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Paradise Revisited
What Darwin saw in the Galápagos
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The latest in @theatlantic.com series of Dem presidential contenders is Jenisha Watts on Maryland governor Wes Moore, who has megawatt stage charisma but a faintly whiffy CV. She gets to the essential question: is that a problem or Birtherism 2.0? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Preacher
Wes Moore isn’t here to save the Democratic Party.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
For the MAGA right, Nigel Farage just isn't hardline enough. So they have a new crush: Restore's Rupert Lowe, who will pander to their belief that Britain is a "shithole" over-run by socialism and sharia (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Joe Rogan’s New British Crush
Rupert Lowe understands what the American right wants to hear.
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Sally Jenkins @sallyjenx.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Reading @helenlewis.bsky.social is one of my great pleasures in life and now I gift to you her un-put-downable and capsizingly funny piece on JD Vance's radio adventures. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
J. D. Vance’s Own Alien Abduction
The vice president has been replaced with a guy who’s just asking questions.
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I don't usually write personal stuff, but a few words about my experience of being interviewed by Gary Stevenson. It started with a nice chat, comparing taste in hoodies... then the tone changed. He demanded to know why I'd deleted a tweet criticising him.
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David A. Graham @dgraham.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Even by his usual standards, Trump has been incoherent in Ankara, Turkey, where he’s attending a NATO summit. Over the course of 24 hours, he has renewed his demands for the United States to own Greenland; confused Iran with Japan; and confused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also noted that his videos are popular on “Tic Tac.” He meant “TikTok.”
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 08/07/2026
Americans were once members of a proudly literate society, but today, reading has declined across age groups, gender, and education levels. For The Atlantic’s August issue, @rosehorowitch.bsky.social explores the reading collapse—and its effects on civilization: theatln.tc/Q0QJpF8U
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 08/07/2026
The advent of reading transformed society, and its decline will bring about changes of the same magnitude, @rosehorowitch.bsky.social writes. Can America—and civilization—survive the postliterate era?
bit.ly
The Age of Reading Is Over
Can civilization survive the postliterate era?
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Nigel Farage wants a mandate for corruption. Hopefully he'll get a by-election versus a man wearing a bin instead: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Nigel Farage Wants a Mandate For Corruption
The British populist leader makes a Trumpian gamble.
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The Sunday Long Read @thesundaylongread.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
"A trip to the Galápagos, where @helenlewis.bsky.social provides a spirited guide to everywhere Charles Darwin once visited (and evidently wreaked havoc along the way)? Say no more. I’m in."-@jacobfeldman.bsky.social on his top pick: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Paradise Revisited
What Darwin saw in the Galápagos
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Past Present Future Podcast @ppfideas.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW! Recorded in front of a live audience, David talks to geneticist & science writer @adamrutherford.bsky.social about Mark Romanek’s 2010 film of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. A story of cloning & organ donation exploring the meaning of mortality. Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Very probably my favourite ever thing to have researched and written: going to the Galapagos in the footsteps of Darwin. Unlike him, I did not ride a tortoise. Or drink its urine. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Paradise Revisited
What Darwin saw in the Galápagos
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
I had some bonus thoughts about masculinism over at my newsletter, including how "Gen Z boss and a mini" drove some internet users spare: helenlewis.substack.com/p/the-men-wh...
helenlewis.substack.com
The Men Who Don't Want Women To Vote
Or work. Or have opinions.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Beyond the ragebait of the manosphere lies a group of thinkers who want to turn back the clock on feminism. Far from being a fringe belief system, masculinism has become the single most important force uniting the American right. My latest for @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Men Who Don’t Want Women to Vote
Or work. Or have opinions.
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Adrienne LaFrance @adriennelaf.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Brilliant and essential. Everyone should read @helenlewis.bsky.social's new cover story, out today: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet
A virulent form of misogyny has become the single most important force holding together the American right.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Beyond the ragebait of the manosphere lies a group of thinkers who want to turn back the clock on feminism. Far from being a fringe belief system, masculinism has become the single most important force uniting the American right. My latest for @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Men Who Don’t Want Women to Vote
Or work. Or have opinions.
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Nicholas Thompson @nxthompson.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Gavin Newsom thinks the Dems lost in 2024 because they were weak. Everything he's done since—the memes, podcasts, Prop 50—is about projecting strength. An essential profile on the left's 2028 front-runner, by @helenlewis.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
"There is a valid tactical rationale for the prime minister’s reluctance to criticise the US right now, but it has to serve a strategic recognition that Britain’s future lies with Europe. There is not much evidence that this is the plan." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Is Starmer’s reluctance to criticise Trump smart tactics – or the sign of a man without a plan? | Rafael Behr
The PM won’t call out Trump over Venezuela, and won’t commit to Europe. His refusal to choose leaves vital choices for Britain to be made by others, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 07/01/2026
If the UK government had a Culture Secretary, that person would be in a position to take a view about whether child porn on demand was a good thing, or a bad thing. thecritic.co.uk/brin...
Or there’s X, the website formerly known as Twitter. Its owner is committed to removing the government, and seems keen to encourage violence on Britain’s streets. Now its 2026 update lets users create what are politely called “sexualised images” of anyone, including children. A Secretary of State for Culture, if Britain had one, could take a view on whether this was a welcome development. They could, if they had been appointed and went into work every day, offer Starmer advice on whether X should be one of the government’s main channels of communication, effectively supporting a site that produces on-demand pornography of real people including, let’s say it again, children.
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John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
This interview-profile of Gavin Newsom, favourite to be the Dem presidential candidate in 2028, by @helenlewis.bsky.social is excellent www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
I went to Sacramento to profile Gavin Newsom, governor of California and purveyor of mean tweets about Trump. I was pretty surprised by what I found: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
The Front-Runner
California’s Gavin Newsom would rather be wrong than weak.
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 06/01/2026
Gavin Newsom seems to be betting that the 2028 election will be fought based on good vibes and naked aggression, @helenlewis.bsky.social reports. She spoke with the governor about his party, his state, his mean X posts, and more:
bit.ly
The Front-Runner
California’s Gavin Newsom would rather be wrong than weak.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
So much incredible stuff in this piece about a January 6 protester (jailed, pardoned) and a January 6 cop (injured, bemused about Trump's re-election) but something that stands out is that both of them feel haunted by being captured in a viral image www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Donald Trump Wants You to Forget This Happened
January 6, five years later
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Michael Scherer @michaelscherer.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
NEW: In a phone call this morning, I asked President Trump why Venezuelan regime change was different from Iraq. “I didn’t do Iraq. That was Bush. You’ll have to ask Bush that question, because we should have never gone into Iraq," he told me. Here is the story: www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
theatlantic.com
Trump: Delcy Rodríguez Might Be Next
The president told The Atlantic that the interim Venezuelan president will meet a fate worse than Maduro’s unless she complies with U.S. wishes.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Pretty confident that @aiannucci.bsky.social is going to nail this, particularly if one of the tasks involves in-depth knowledge of Keir Starmer's speeches for some reason.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
I have sincerely wrestled with Alaa Abd el-Fattah, weighing up the trollish nature of some of his tweets, the casual antisemitism of others, the fact his connection to Britain is tenuous at best, and my belief that revoking citizenship is fundamentally wrong. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
theatlantic.com
Britain Should Have Read the Tweets First
The case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah is a test of Britain’s values.
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
I have sincerely wrestled with Alaa Abd el-Fattah, weighing up the trollish nature of some of his tweets, the casual antisemitism of others, the fact his connection to Britain is tenuous at best, and my belief that revoking citizenship is fundamentally wrong. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
theatlantic.com
Britain Should Have Read the Tweets First
The case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah is a test of Britain’s values.
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