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The Mental Health in Journalism Summit, an online conference about...it's name, starts tomorrow and goes through the 9th! I'll be on a panel on Thursday at 8am ET discussing intersectionality and minority stress in journalism. Come join us: www.theselfinvestigation.com/summit/

A session flyer for my panel in the Mental Health in Journalism Summit, featuring photos and descriptions of the speakers. It reads:

Mental Health in Journalism Summit 2026
Panel
The Double-Edged Lens: Intersectionality, Minority Stress, and Mental Health in Journalism
8 Oct, 8:00 ET/ 14:00 CEST

Luisa Ortiz Pérez
Executive Director, Vita-Activa
United States

Shirish Kulkarni
Director, Inclusive Journalism Cymru
United Kingdom

Laura Ghiandoni
Freelance Journalist
Italy

Alan Henry
Managing Editor, PCMag/Ziff Davis
United States

Organised by: The Self-Investigation

Co-funded by: FRED FOUNDATION

Online | 6-9 Oct | mhjournalismsummit.org

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it's only monday, how dare you set such a high point for my week XD

Not to parrot the great @tomscocca.bsky.social but it's *always* interesting to see which/whose opinions are acceptable to include in news stories versus which ones are not.

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Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 03/10/2026

I am not kidding when I tell people that much of quiet global politics in the US and elsewhere has been decades-long maneuvering, in the open and in secret, to ensure that only the poor and disenfranchised have to "suffer" things like legal or even social accountability.

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Reposted by Alan Henry

Starlink sponsoring MLB on Fox playoff segment “Team Leaders”. Apparently, Starlink has been spending more in ads this year, per PC Mag. www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-...

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I've gotten at least one of these PER DAY this week, it's so ridiculous

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

You are high-key inspiring looking after the new place like this. You're doing great!

Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Reposted by Alan Henry

Again: for Black Women, in particular, the ability to chose, a time and place to reproduce is a function of liberty. The most fundamental fact of enslavement was the Black Women had no control over their reproduction; in fact, their ability to reproduce was a key source of other’s wealth.

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Like I said in the lede, in a few years there's gonna be a killer docudrama about ShinyHunters. I'm also talking about a new study from Northeastern that revals how many connected cars and their apps track you (and sell your data), among other things.

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I know a dog whistle when I see one, and "whatever that says about his beliefs" is absolutely him saying that it doesn't matter to him

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"Why don't you report it to the cops," asks a fucking idiot. See exhibit 5,286:

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Oh boy, looks like some fuckass op-ed take is going around again! Allow me to tap the sign: buttondown.com/alanhenry/ar...

So here’s the problem: the usual reaction to stories like these is to try not to hate-read it, collectively dunk on it on social media, and then dismiss it as just another bad take, engineered to get clicks and drive traffic. That’s partially true, but I’ve been around long enough to notice there’s something a little more consistent about them. While yes, they’re definitely engineered to drive engagement, they’re also engineered to remind you that these people have the space to air these bad, generally ill-thought-out opinions, and you don’t. That they’re not only of a class of people with the privilege to be arguably bad people without consequences, but they get paid to be. And they get paid, on average, a lot.

They’re there to remind you that they get to make the rules and you don’t. That you’ll always, on some level, be on the outside of the club, looking in, that they get to define the status quo, regardless of how ridiculous their definition may be. Periodically I get a brief window into those worlds—the ones just apart from ours, where these people live, work, and play, and where they make their own rules and have no interest or obligation to obey the ones that control our lives. It’s not pretty.

They have a platform and a megaphone to air how terrible they are, but the rest of us will likely never have the same platform to discuss how we should be good to each other—and even if we did, it wouldn’t be interesting because it’s not the kind of thing you couldn't hear anywhere else. After all, encouraging empathy and compassion aren’t newsworthy, but telling someone they shouldn’t trust the CDC or those generations of cultures that ask you remove your shoes when you enter someone’s home are all wrong because I say so are guaranteed to be “buzzy” and “generate discourse.” See the issue?

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Frankly, one of the most underreported civil rights stories of the past few years. That's not to say it hasn't been reported, but as with most tech journalism, the impact to the humans who have to suffer it is never the topline.

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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Sure, let me know where I can find their work, I'd love to see!

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Reposted by Alan Henry

I give up. I’m moving into a cave.

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Yeah, I was so looking forward to it when it came out, but it just never got its hooks into me and I dropped it so quickly. I keep wanting to give it another try but the reasons not to just keep piling up!

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Me: "Oh man, I haven't played Starfield in a minute, I wonder if it's better now or if modders have helped improve it!" [171.83GB Required] Me: "Ah, I remember now."

A screenshot of the Starfield entry in the Xbox app, showing the base game requires 152.67GB, the Terran Armada DLC requires 4.9GB, the Shattered Space DLC requires 14.2GB, the Old Mars DLC requires 16.84MB, and the total install size is 171.83GB.

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Reposted by Alan Henry

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

If you are in a position where you can do anything at all about this, please, please advocate for women of color in media. There are so few women and nonbinary people period. Even less of them are non-white.

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Reposted by Alan Henry

Danielle Belton @daniellecbelton.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

When people try to ban books like Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," they often do it under the guise of protecting children's innocence. But in actuality, administrators aren't simply banning a book. They're banning empathy. www.blacksnob.com/schools-keep...

blacksnob.com

Schools Keep Banning Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye,' and I Think I Know Why

They're not just banning a book. They're banning children from learning empathy.

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

man i wish this country loved us as much as it loves the things we make and the way we entertain it

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Reposted by Alan Henry

SB @stephestellar.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

'After his testimony, “all hell broke loose,” his wife recalled, and the county supervisor in Bladen County told him he wouldn’t get another loan “unless Jesse Helms himself,” the powerful senior senator from North Carolina, requested it.' from the NYT obit www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/u...

nytimes.com

Timothy Pigford, Who Fought Bias Against Black Farmers, Dies at 74 (Gift Article)

He was the lead plaintiff in the landmark 1997 lawsuit Pigford v. Glickman, an attempt to redress the Agriculture Department’s historic racism.

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

so cute and cozy!! you look great! <3

Eric Ravenscraft @lordravenscraft.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Reposted by Alan Henry

really can't emphasize enough how many more tits and dicks there were. like I don't mean "you could find nudes if you looked" I mean people with office jobs who still post Serious Things on here now were like "eh, fuck it, here's my naked body" and society didn't collapse over it

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Alan Henry @halophoenix.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

this is irrationally funny lmao