Sign in

Erika Wittekind

@erikalyn.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.9K following 3.6K posts

Freelance writer and editor. Believer in democracy, science, gun control, local journalism, and empathy. Mom to two cats and two young adults. She/her. Dane County, WI

PostsRepliesMedia
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 1h
Impossible to read this post as anything but white nationalism.
010
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 14h
“Cutting this much from the university budget will mean that some of the core functions of the university will be lost. It’s not possible to just do more with less — to work smarter, to trim around the edges. We’re going to have to do less with less.” Gift link: www.startribune.com/umn-cuts-sta...
startribune.com
Perry: What we lose if the U cuts $225 million
"Austerity doesn’t work. Instead, it creates a death spiral, where reduction in services leads to reductions in revenue, which lead to reductions in services, which leads to reduction in revenue, whic...
15646249
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Abby Sliva @abbysliva.bsky.social · 2h
Campus rape is not just about the 7 men in the civil suit, it’s not even just about the 57 men in the Chi Pi group chat. It’s an entire culture and system that enables men to enact power over women and get away with it. I want Jane Doe to receive justice but I also want to see cultural change.
26010
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 5h
"There’s no moral or practical justification for the death penalty no matter how you do it. It’s cruel and arbitrary and it doesn’t act as a deterrent. It brutalizes the people who carry it out and traumatizes the families of victims, and the pattern of its application is openly racist."
welcometohellworld.com
Waiting for the next Mr. Death
I don’t want to see anybody hurt, anybody tortured
325052
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 19h
Pete is lost in terms of modern war. I use the example of this outgunned Ukrainian army officer who successfully terrorized a Russian unit for weeks because she "did the math." At the time, someone commented, "yeah, in combat, 'I did the math' beats 'I can do 100 pushups' every time."
Ukrainian female soldier: Okay, I said the idea is this: There is enough time to empty one full can of 32 grenades and be gone by the time the return mortar fire reaches us. I did the math.
183441844
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17h
The fact is Trump not only lost his war but it's the biggest L the US has taken at least since Vietnam. Our bases are destroyed & abandoned, Iran is emboldened, China is toying w/ us. Hegseth & co want to move on to culture war slop, but they got routed & we'll be dealing w/repercussions for decades
24669811855
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Miles Grant @milesgrant.bsky.social · 17h
The Boston Globe has given rape denier Richard Hanania 7 columns in the last 10 months, and that tells you A LOT about who owns & runs the Boston Globe
412250
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 17h
One thing that i don’t see people noting about the Cornell Sun’s reporting on the rape case is that everyone who decided to take the risk and made the core decisions about what would be published is a woman
71027195
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 19h
There's something very master race-y about Hegseth's vision of "warriors."
002
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 19h
Here's the NYT response to the right wing accusations. News outlets report the info they have when it's verified and typically update the story as more info comes in. That's what happened here. Good grief.
NYTimes Communications
@NYTimesPR
Our headlines and live coverage contain all the facts we're able to confirm as we confirm them. Unlike activists and partisans, we don't publish speculation or unverified information. Here's a Gift Link to follow along as we update our reporting:
https://nytimes.com/live/2026/09/3
0/world/dubai-flight-tel-aviv-israel-pilots?unlocked_article_code=1.FFE.mFs2.T9tP27aNrWmx
Quote
The New York Times
@nytimes
·
11h
Breaking news: A plane flying from Dubai to Israel was diverted after an altercation between the pilot and co-pilot, Israeli officials said. https://nyti.ms/4rHOvin
Readers added context
This was not simply an “altercation between pilots”. The co-pilot stabbed the captain, attempted to take over the aircraft with mostly Israeli citizens on board, children included. Passengers forcibly subdued the attacker after the plane dove 15,000 feet.
1102
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 21h
Cowboys past and present are: Black, Indigenous, Latino, immigrant, queer, trans, radical, female (and the ones in rodeos rely on rodeo clowns to keep them safe). And that pro-democracy pro-Constitution patriots despise this dimwitted pile of hatreds. I've met cowboys and you, sir, are no cowboy.
571264249
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 19h
There's something very master race-y about Hegseth's vision of "warriors."
002
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
geri katz @gerikatz.bsky.social · 21h
Might as well light the Constitution on fire at this point.
831882450
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 23h
Excellent. Everyone should have access to affordable coverage.
010
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Clean energy and net zero should be the frontier we're racing toward with the enthusiasm of the 20th century space race. Instead, we've got dinosaurs like Tom Tiffany pushing to keep coal plants open at great expense.
usatoday.com
Tom Tiffany's call for reliable energy includes nuclear power and coal
Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany is calling for more reliable energy and favors embracing nuclear power and maintaining coal production.
033
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I remember a time in Trump's first term when he had the chance to help Ukraine prevent a Russian invasion and instead he withheld aid in an attempt to strong-arm Ukraine into smearing his political opponent. So if Ukraine is why diesel costs so much, that's arguably Trump's fault too.
020
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Correct. A LOT of people deluded themselves into thinking that Trump's mass deportation pledge was "round up the criminals and gangbangers Biden let in," which was, of course, a completely false narrative. And now people who supported it because they believed in that goal have realized what's up.
2637479
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Do Republicans know what data centers even are?
000
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 30/09/2026
Here's footage of Jack Smith at the Iowa vs. Maryland game on February 3rd, 2024 btw
538139203583
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Dan Hirschman @asociologist.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"what we need to demand from universities far and wide is clear: Cease to be a place where sexual assault is often subject to less punishment than protesting and plagiarism." Cornell philosophy prof @katemanne.bsky.social in The Cut:
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
09526
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Josh Fruhlinger @jfruh.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
they DIDN'T REFUND her fucking TUITION?????
1454271436
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Kelly @justkelly.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Cornell victim has been doxxed on X. So worried for her. I hate this planet.
794167525
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Erin Keane @erinkeane.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Posted this in 2018. Still remember the night that prompted it. Still so relevant today. 🐝 🐝 🐝
Tweet by me saying “Every woman I know has been storing anger for years in her body and it’s starting to feel like bees are going to pour out of all of our mouths at the same time.”
41300247
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Anne Helen Petersen @annehelen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is *the* piece. Kate Manne, professor of philosophy at Cornell, speaks truth to the totality of failures at the university — and why students protesting the war in Gaza have faced far harsher consequences than any of the Cornell 7: www.thecut.com/article/what...
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
4830321066
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Warren Terra @warrenterra.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Okay, seriously, what the fuck is this?
The top of the Google results when I went looking to see just what Mamdani's tweet that mentioned the Talmud actually said (a search for "mamdani talmud"). This top search reasult appears to link to Mamdani's Twitter account ("NYCMayor" on "X"), then has a truncated header ("Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani on ...") and then it has a vile lying antisemitic screed that ABSOLUTELY DID NOT COME FROM MAMDANI and I can only assume is some typical-for-Elon's-Nazi-website antisemitism someone wrote *about* Mamadani's post, but it's presented in the Google search results as if it's from Mamdani.

(text of the screed below, if you want to read it)
The Talmud teaches that the best of Gentiles should be killed, Jesus is boiling in excrement, and that non-Jewish souls are inferior and impure.
Read more

Mamdani's post, linked from that vile preview, in full (but a screenshot, so it doesn't include the video). Text below:

The Talmud teaches that anyone who sustains one soul, has sustained an entire world. For generations, Jewish New Yorkers have sustained our city. Today, we are launching the first-ever municipal Strategy to Combat Antisemitism.

Together, we will ensure Jewish New Yorkers are safe and celebrated. We will invest in their protection, their history, and their future.

Our safety and our thriving are tied together.
2965881
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Clean energy and net zero should be the frontier we're racing toward with the enthusiasm of the 20th century space race. Instead, we've got dinosaurs like Tom Tiffany pushing to keep coal plants open at great expense.
usatoday.com
Tom Tiffany's call for reliable energy includes nuclear power and coal
Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany is calling for more reliable energy and favors embracing nuclear power and maintaining coal production.
033
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The underlying theory Senate Republicans are going with is that Joe Biden secretly ordered DOJ to investigate Trump, something they have produced no evidence to support and also they're all fine with Trump publicly ordering DOJ to investigate his enemies.
25599169
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Jessica Lussenhop @jlussenhop.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
An INCREDIBLY kind review of "Paper Trail": "@propublica.org proves their importance in every episode, not just by way of the prestigious prizes they’ve won or the laws that they’ve changed, but in the way they are willing to stick up for the little guy – us." podcastreview.org/review/paper...
podcastreview.org
Paper Trail Is the Antidote to Your Slop-Filled News Feed
With trust in news institutions faltering, ProPublica's podcast supplies robust journalism that rejects the short-form attention economy.
36618
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Lanae Erickson at Third Way said “practice saying ‘I trust parents in my district to make decisions for their kids more than politicians.’ Practice saying, ‘sure, we need rules but politicians aren’t the right ones to make it.’” This is basically how Democrats talk about abortion rights post Dobbs
718949
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 29/09/2026
Norway has solution to this actually, stay at home parents can get their share of the public daycare subsidy as cash, that way parents are not pushed one way or the other. the problem of course is virtually no one on the center or right actually gives a shit about parents
382458525
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So, continuing to enable all of Trump's craziest whims, worst excesses, and literal crimes.
020
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Fuck that." "I'm Sherrod Brown and I approve of this message."
13349021038
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I never get tired of hearing Jack Smith spell this out.
000
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 29/09/2026
If/when the "Bari fired" scoop comes, it'll be from @status.news—to whom nearly everyone at CBS News as been leaking for months—and not some content farm with "likely" in quotes in the hed, which is never sourced to anyone in the "article." I know we want it, friends, but let's stick with reality.💛
333545
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
CNN @cnn.com · 29/09/2026
Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to make their case to stay in the US and avoid deportation. cnn.it/4huSk5M
68451274
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 29/09/2026
Send Stephen Miller to The Hague.
21175122458
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hard to imagine what that would be like
23875091261
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Jay Edidin @edidin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I would like to see more men talking about how to and peer pressuring each other into calling out misogyny and rape culture. Going against social norms is hard, and it helps to share tips and support.
592207403
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I remember a really frustrating conversation with a generally decent cishet white guy about a news story where a woman was roofied. he went off about wishing he could beat that guy up to avenge her, and I was like "how about start with calling out your friends' sexist tweets?" and he was like 😳
12158420
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It’s indeed possible to write a headline that says “Trump lies again.” It doesn’t violate any rule of journalism or shatter the laws of nature. it just tells the truth.
15484133
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In 2014, I interviewed a Columbia University student who went from class to class carrying the mattress she was raped on—a protest performance piece to remind college administrators what they put on her shoulders. Twelve years later, we still expect women on college campuses to carry that weight.
jessica.substack.com
Carrying That Weight—Again
I can’t stop thinking about the Cornell rape case
141120307
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
When I say we desperately need a Democratic doctor in the US Senate I mean it.
537159644440
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Obviously none of this is true, but incidentally: It is wild to talk about tax revenue as “profits.”
201223232
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
For 9 years this cat has attempted to get me to feed him at 4 am every day and for 9 years he has not succeeded one time and his only takeaway has been well it's certainly not happening if I don't try again, and I'm starting to find him quite inspirational
482105207
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Ren Zelen @renzelen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It’s what ‘Promising Young Woman’ was all about. It seems we can’t be allowed to ruin the career chances of some male students because they incapacitated, raped & degraded one of their fellow female students, ‘just hi-jinx’ say the authorities. But who cares how badly HER life might be affected?
14715
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Mrs. Detective PikaBOO, Esq. @clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social · 28/09/2026
JCO is defending furries fyi
Joyce Carol Oates O @Joyce CarolOates
trying to think how an illegal immigrant- radical Islamic person in a bunny suit could be a threat to national security.
Coach Tommy Tuberville * ml @SenTuber... • 1d
Democrats are the party of Radical Islam, illegal aliens, and furry pilots.
Lord help us.
11:14 AM • 9/27/26 • 5.1K ViewsJoyce Carol Oates O @JoyceCarolOates
person in a bunny suit is a "threat to workers paycheck." how, exactly?
fa Dr. Masked Defender @MaskedDefender-6h They are a threat to workers paycheck. Not your though rich lady. So you dont care.
3:54 PM • 9/27/26 • 3.3K ViewsJoyce Carol Oates O @JoyceCarolOates
Mr. Mask, you are confused. the only creatures in bunny suits threatening field workers would be actual bunnies. to charge actual bunnies with wearing "bunny suits" is redundant.
Dr. Masked Defender @MaskedDefender • 2h
LOL. You all think field workers and meat plant workers and hotel maids are OVERPAID in America and we should bring in 50 million migrants to lower their wages. Shame on you.
4:50 PM • 9/27/26 • 2.4K Views
552414375
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
You wouldn't know it from reading the headlines, but the president's downward mental health spiral is the biggest story in America right now We won't salvage democracy unless the media and pols start speaking the truth about Trump's damaged mind My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...
inquirer.com
We need to find the words for Trump’s madness before things blow up | Will Bunch
The media and politicians haven’t pinned down anything resembling a suitable description for a president’s downward spiral or the looming battle for U.S. democracy.
901818705
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Lead poisoning. Older generations were exposed to more lead, leading to higher levels of emotional instability and diminished empathy. Literally the kinds of traits that damage familial bonds.
001
Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Lead poisoning. Older generations were exposed to more lead, leading to higher levels of emotional instability and diminished empathy. Literally the kinds of traits that damage familial bonds.
001
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Nome @nome.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
TIL that Central America has been hiding a smaller, cuter raccoon from us.
A small furry mammal with giant rounded ears, a masked face, and a long black and white striped tail.
918033