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Allison Torres Burtka

@allisonburtka.bsky.social
903 followers 713 following 490 posts

Writer and editor in metro Detroit. Words in National Geographic, The Guardian, Outside, Parents, Audubon, Harvard Public Health, WebMD & more. writing portfolio: atburtka.journoportfolio.com

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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I'm grateful to have contributed in a small way to this @illinoispress.bsky.social book on American folksongs, as a copyeditor. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
‘Our Common Life’ Review: Tune and Tune Again
American folksongs are passed among musicians—each bringing their own style to the tune.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, Wendell Berry, Gloria Steinem, and Cassandra Wilson. They were some very bright lights. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJuK...
youtube.com
Cassandra Wilson - Tupelo Honey
YouTube video by thatkrishna
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Today would be a good day for Lands' End to publish that Q&A they yanked!
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Costa Rica. When we returned 22 years later with our two teenage daughters, we got to see it from their eyes, and it marked another stage of our lives. Story for @businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com/returned-to-...
businessinsider.com
We fell in love with Costa Rica as newlyweds. Our kids made us fall for it differently 22 years later.
We expected nostalgia, but our daughters gave us something better when we returned to our honeymoon destination with them decades later.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
This is the kind of news I want on a hot July day.
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Christopher Wiggins @cwnewser.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
My interview: “I came to this country as an infant and became a U.S. citizen,” Roswell Encina said. “So sitting there, on the Fourth of July, I couldn’t help but think about the promise of America and the work still required to protect it.” www.advocate.com/news/people/...
advocate.com
Man in viral D.C. Metro photo says he was ‘terrified’ as masked white nationalists surrounded him
Roswell Encina, a gay Filipino American civic leader, said the Fourth of July encounter with Patriot Front was frightening and impossible to separate from American history.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Cost is huge. In the US, soccer should be cheap and easily accessible, but it's one of the most expensive youth sports.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I love this show, but that episode was an absolute atrocity.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Glocky-mallow! I've never heard such terrible pronunciation attempts.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
A reminder to use the parking brake every time you park!
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Gotta love all the eyeball judgments on girls' and women's bodies that they're setting us all up for.
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Michigan Law @umichlaw.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
More than a decade ago, Amanda Rauh-Bieri, ’17, and Brett Frazer, ’17, met in Professor Edward Cooper’s Civil Procedure class. This spring, they raced through 201.95 miles of Spanish countryside in a gravel bike race called the Traka. Read more: michigan.law.umich.edu/news/two-201...
Brett Frazer, ’17, and Amanda Rauh-Bieri, ’17, after finishing the Traka gravel bike race in April. Both have found that cycling helps balance their lives as lawyers.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Their main goal: attack trans people. Secondary goal: frustrate girls' and women's sports. Girls find their strength in sports, and they don't want that.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
It's already happening.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
It's true. It's now a cesspool, but it used to be great.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Sports boost kids' mental and physical health. Let them play.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
This is already happening. Parents starting rumors that the girl who doesn't look girly enough is trans.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
This is already happening. And I'm guessing it's happening far more often than trans athletes causing problems.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Also bad: Axon's surveillance network, including Ring cameras, and the fact that "less lethal" Tasers have been killing people for years, even in trained police hands
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
This is bad for many reasons, among them: Axon hooks into Ring cameras and body-warn cameras for a huge surveillance network. And Tasers have been killing people for years.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
When Quinton Jones-Whitaker was 20, he went to prison for a crime he didn't commit. He wasn't there--he wasn't even involved. He served a 12.5-year sentence, was paroled last month, and was exonerated this morning, with the Michigan Innocence Clinic's help. michigan.law.umich.edu/news/quinton...
michigan.law.umich.edu
Quinton Jones-Whitaker, a Michigan Innocence Clinic Client, Exonerated after Serving 12 1/2 Year Prison Sentence | University of Michigan Law School
In 2014, when Quinton Jones-Whitaker was 20 years old, he was convicted of carjacking, armed robbery, and felony firearm possession and was sentenced to 12 1/2 to 22 years in prison. But he wasn’t inv...
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
All the time, everywhere!
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Big surprise that a company whose name was created to make fun of Japanese people would get something like this wrong.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
The name "Lululemon" is purposely racist, to make fun of Japanese people. The company has acknowledged this but still hasn't changed the name, so I'm not surprised that it would be unconcerned about something like this.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Yeah, true
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I think we taxpayers overpaid for this paint job by about $13.99 million. Pretty sure we could have found a guy to do an equally good job in exchange for a six-pack.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Pretty sure they could have paid any random person $300 to do that paint job
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
"It’s really appreciating the fact that we’re all—every one of us—on a spectrum, and being willing and able to engage with people where they are."
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
“We’re all temporarily abled. We don’t start from a place of ability, and many of us won’t end that way, either." -The Hon. J. Chris Larson, @umichlaw.bsky.social alum, who created an internship program for people with intellectual disabilities quadrangle.michigan.law.umich.edu/class-notes/...
quadrangle.michigan.law.umich.edu
The Hon. J. Chris Larson, ’99: Boosting Inclusion | Law Quadrangle
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
To my parents' generation, "being healthy" included fatphobia. So much unhealthy diet culture.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
The number of times I have gasped at red carpet photos of women who haven't always looked like that....
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
“Our family loves the outdoors. We just don’t like sleeping in it.” This is what I heard my 11-year-old daughter telling another girl on our camping trip, who had asked where else we’d been camping. The answer: Nowhere. www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/artic...
nationalgeographic.com
Iffy about camping? Here's what a guided camping trip can offer.
For families who want to go camping but hesitate at the thought of figuring everything out on their own, guided camping trips can help the experience go smoothly.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
On tree planting, meaningful community involvement, and regenerative travel, in Sri Lanka: wander-mag.com/articles/tra...
wander-mag.com
Replanting the Future: Trees for Days and the Rise of Regenerative Travel
Discover how Trees for Days is replanting forests and revitalizing communities through regenerative travel initiatives around the world.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Full list of awardees here: besttravelwriting.com/award-winner...
besttravelwriting.com
Best Travel Writing » Award Winners 2026
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Happy that two travel articles I wrote were chosen for Solas Awards: -In NatGeo, a story on guided family camping trips (bronze award, Family Travel category) -In Wander, on a tree-planting program that uplifts struggling communities around the world (silver award, Travel and the Environment)
besttravelwriting.com
Best Travel Writing » Award Winners 2026
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International Bar Association @ibanews.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
In an interview with Allison Torres Burtka for Michigan Law (@umichlaw.bsky.social), 1983 alumnus Claudio Visco discusses his role as #IBA President, his vision for upholding the #RuleOfLaw, advancing diversity and addressing artificial intelligence. Read: michigan.law.umich.edu/news/claudio...
michigan.law.umich.edu
Claudio Visco, LLM ’83, Leads the International Bar Association | University of Michigan Law School
The International Bar Association (IBA) serves as the global voice of the legal profession, made up of bar associations, law societies, and individual lawyers across more than 170 countries. At its he...
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 25/02/2026
Incredible shot of Rep. Al Green holding up a "BLACK PEOPLE AREN'T APES!" sign with Trump in the foreground from photographer Kenny Holston (Getty)
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
A look at how climate change is affecting Michigan, from forests to trout to flooding to asthma
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
💚💚💚
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The PERMIT Act, a bill in the Senate, would roll back many of the Clean Water Act's protections that have cleaned up our waters over the last 50 years. Thanks to @flowtc.bsky.social and @freshwaterfuture.bsky.social for their insight on what this might mean. planetdetroit.org/2026/02/detr...
planetdetroit.org
How a federal water pollution bill could jeopardize Detroit’s drinking water
The PERMIT Act could weaken Clean Water Act protections, affecting drinking water and ecosystems in Detroit and other areas.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
“I think everybody knows about the redwoods of California, but so few people know about the pines of Michigan or the beech or maple forests," Antonio Cosme, cofounder of Black to the Land Coalition, told me. “You can experience those majestic, awe-inspiring natural places up here.”
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Planet Detroit @planetdetroit.org · 16/02/2026
Michigan's northern forests may feel far from Detroit — but they filter the water we drink, clean our air, and buffer us from climate change. We've been reporting on those connections. Now we're bringing the conversation live. Join us Thursday at noon. Free. 👇 donorbox.org/events/90622...
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
A 7-year-old child should never be put in jail. Ever, for any reason.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
good news for (fully caffeinated) coffee and tea drinkers!
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
There are a lot of people who are going to complain about being unfairly vilified by that halftime show and it's because they know in their hearts they're on Team Hate.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
And all these things have been apparent for decades. There are many individual moments that should have been the end of him as a viable candidate (like grab her by the p*ssy, mocking John McCain), but here we are.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
There isn't a non-white group that he hasn't been racist toward--repeatedly and publicly.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Agreed, but also, basic white people (not just powerful ones) have been doing this throughout our country's history. It's just that most of them don't do it publicly.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Trump is a child rapist and a vile racist who is tanking the economy and mobilizing ICE to kill and terrorize people. We see all these things at the same time--we're not distracted.
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Allison Torres Burtka @allisonburtka.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Maybe someone told them that vile racism matters to many Americans.
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