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Jess Lahey

@jesslahey.bsky.social
1.1K followers 976 following 174 posts

NYT bestselling author (Gift of Failure, Addiction Inoculation), host #AmWriting pod, mom, sober. Past: NYT columnist, Atlantic, WaPo. Teacher. Vermonter. Prevention works.

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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
How Deciding to Donate a Kidney Saved My Own Life greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item...
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Elizabeth C. Hamblet, LD Advisory @echamblet.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
Seniors' college applications are almost in.   Now's a great time to learn from @lllewis.bsky.social, @ellenbraaten.bsky.social, @jesslahey.bsky.social & others about preparing them for college. See my rec' book lists on Amazon (bit.ly/ECHAmazon) & @bookshop.org (bit.ly/ECHBookshop)
Recommended books on parenting teenagers includes The Sleep-Deprived Teen, Bright Kids Who Couldn't Care Less, The Self-Driven Child, Neurodiversity and College, The Gift of Failure, Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities, and Neurodiversity & College: A Parent's Guide for Autistic Students.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
October sucked ASS. open.substack.com/pub/jesslahe...
open.substack.com
A Long October
...and there's reason to believe / maybe this year will be better than the last*
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
An oldie but goodie (the kid in question is now a senior in college): www.theatlantic.com/education/ar...
theatlantic.com
Why Back-to-School Night Made Me Feel Like a Bad Mom
Why aren't my kids playing sports or learning the cello? A case study in Pressured Parents Phenomenon.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
So many scams targeted at writers! I almost got got so here's a run-down of what to watch out for. The Scammer's Guide to Writers open.substack.com/pub/amwritin...
open.substack.com
The Scammer's Guide to Writers
Sorry, Colleen Hoover did not read your book. Here's how not to be a mark.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
FREE virtual presentation on substance use prevention in kids! We will laugh, there will be no fear mongering, and I will share lots of ways in to conversations that don't make you feel oogy, hopelessly uncool, or preachy. gpsparentseries.org/events/jessi...
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
I'm all Porter Robinson Cheerleader vibes today while making welcome videos for a couple of schools I'll be visiting this fall to talk Gift of Failure and Addiction Inoculation (but mostly a combo of the two).
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Elizabeth C. Hamblet, LD Advisory @echamblet.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
There's great wisdom I want you to hear from some people with experience. Read this post featuring  @jesslahey.bsky.social & others learn how adults do this and what they can do instead. bit.ly/LDblog154x  #CollegePrep #ADHDParent #2e #Parents #twiceexceptional #ParentingTips #Dyslexia
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The Importance of Transparency in College Preparation for Students with Disabilities - LD Advisory
Well-meaning adults may prevent students with disabilities from developing the self- knowledge they'll need to self-advocate and self-manage at college. Learn how they do this and what they can do instead.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
This week on the #AmWriting podcast, Sarina & I interview a new favorite author of ours, Tess Gerritsen! We talk about her process, switching genres, and finding a new series right there in her backyard in mid-coast Maine. amwriting.substack.com/p/writing-th...
amwriting.substack.com
Writing Thrilling People & Places: Jess and Sarina talk with Tess Gerritsen
Jess and Sarina talk with thriller author Tess Gerritsen about constructing fictional worlds and the people who live there
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Someone asked about my most-recommended (work-related) books. Here they are, feel free to recommend others in the comments!
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Want to know more about bringing me in to your community to speak on Gift of Failure or Addiction Inoculation topics? This post is for you! jesslahey.substack.com/p/why-yes-id...
jesslahey.substack.com
Why, yes! I'd LOVE to speak at your school!
It's about time for me to head back out on the road and your town could be next.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
I have the best job ever. I teach kids, parents, communities abt substance use, help parents & schools let kids fail & struggle & learn from it. Most of all, help kids feel seen, heard, known & supported for who they ARE, not what we want them to be. For more: www.jessicalahey.com/speaking-2
jessicalahey.com
Speaking — Jessica Lahey
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
I’m watching the work of my mentors - Dr. Bob Delong, Dr. Cathy Wilfert, Dr. Sam Katz, and N.C. State Rep Marcia Morey - undone by this administration and I hardly know what to do with this grief but write and fight. open.substack.com/pub/jesslahe...
open.substack.com
Bob, Marcia, Cathy and Sam
They paved the way here and will continue to point the way forward
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Elizabeth C. Hamblet, LD Advisory @echamblet.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Looking for a beach read?    Now is a great time to learn from @lllewis.bsky.social, @ellenbraaten.bsky.social, @jesslahey.bsky.social,  & others. See my rec' book lists on Amazon (bit.ly/ECHAmazon) & @bookshop.org (bit.ly/ECHBookshop) #ParentingBook #ParentingTeens #CollegePrep
Summer reading on parenting teenagers includes The Sleep-Deprived Teen, Bright Kids Who Couldn't Care Less, The Self-Driven Child, Neurodiversity and College, The Gift of Failure, Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities, Never Enough, and The Naked Roommate: For Parents Only.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
After years doing the #AmWriting podcast, & many more being interviewed on other people's podcasts, I've compiled the top five rules for being a good podcast guest plus a few crazy tech snafus that can happen (ask me how I know). amwriting.substack.com/p/five-thing...
amwriting.substack.com
Five things podcast guests need to know
Media training 101 for podcast guesting
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
My niece checking in from the protests in ARKANSAS!
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ⓘ 𝕆ligarch f*ckery detected @adelpreore.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Let's all be the rain on this motherfucker's parade. #NoKings #NoKingsDay
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
I'm in an Authors Against Book Bans town hall right now and overwhelmed with gratitude for all the hard work to protect the right to read. So much progress has been made and yet so much work is yet to be done! www.authorsagainstbookbans.com
authorsagainstbookbans.com
Authors Against Book Bans
Our Mission Statement We are Authors Against Book Bans. We, a coalition of writers, illustrators, anthology editors and contributors, and other book creators, stand united against the deeply unconstit...
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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
NEW FROM CBO: brutal distributional analysis of House GOP "Big Beautiful Bill" On avg the bottom 30% of households get poorer under the GOP bill Avg gets little - and are worse off if you include tariffs This'd be the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in a single law in history
figure 2. shows poor get poorer and rich get richer, percent change. -4% for bottom 10%. +2.5% roughly for top 10%.dollar change. shows poor get poorer and rich get richer.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
I love talking about substance use prevention in kids through the lens of competence, self-efficacy, self-advocacy, and helping kids feel as if they deserve to take up space in the world just as they are. Thanks to Anna Donaghey and the Big Drink Rethink podcast. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
It's a three-box day at SCOTUS, mean we're expecting up to 6 decisions today. Opinions coming at 10.
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David Leavitt @davidleavitt.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
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Mother Hubbard @oldmotherhubbard.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
We feed you. They hunt us.
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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
“Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken the extraordinary step of firing the expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying the action is needed to restore faith in vaccines.” www.statnews.com/2025/06/09/r...
statnews.com
Health secretary RFK Jr. abruptly fires CDC vaccine advisory panel
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken the extraordinary step of firing the expert panel that advises the CDC.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 25/05/2025
Today marks five years since George Floyd was killed by police. Our June 22, 2020 cover “Say Their Names,” by Kadir Nelson, illustrated how Floyd’s murder embodies the history of violence inflicted upon Black people in America. nyer.cm/UmfefJw
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Elizabeth C. Hamblet, LD Advisory @echamblet.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
11/ As always, I recommend folks read ’s @jesslahey.bsky.social's  The Gift of Failure for more on the importance of letting students try to solve their own problems and (sometimes) fail:
jessicalahey.com
The Gift of Failure — Jessica Lahey
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
We had violent, flooding rain and hail yesterday in Vermont and I was reminded of the way my (then) young children were drawn out of the electricity-less house into the post-storm glow and wild, wet possibilities. open.substack.com/pub/jesslahe...
open.substack.com
Static Cling
The charge that lingers long after a storm passes
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
While author interviews are fun, my favorite episodes of the #AmWriting podcast happen when KJ, Sarina, Jennie and I meet up. This week we discuss living in a chaotic world with a lot of noise and getting the words done when the words comes hard. open.substack.com/pub/amwritin...
open.substack.com
How to Focus on Work in a Chaotic World
Regardless of your political leanings, it's a real challenge to focus on writing right now. Jess, Sarina, KJ and Jennie discuss.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
I get to keynote day 2 of the Vermont Substance Use Conference ON MY BIRTHDAY. Best present ever. Dr. Haner Hernández is speaking on day one and I will be there, front and center. Join us! www.vtcpi.org/vsuc
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
This week on the #AmWriting podcast, @jennienashbookcoach talks with debut novelist Joan Fernandez. Her novel, Saving Vincent, is about the life of Jo van Gogh. open.substack.com/pub/amwritin...
open.substack.com
Imagining the Life of Jo Van Gogh
A conversation with debut novelist Joan Fernandez
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
I could not be more honored to have Dove House choose my book, The Addiction Inoculation, for their book club selection. I met the people from Dove House when I spoke in IN recently and was floored by their dedication to the women they serve FOR FREE. For. Free. www.facebook.com/share/p/195y...
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
I love doing the Booklabs episodes of the #AmWriting podcast so much! In these episodes (podcast supporters only), we read the first page of a manuscript, & critique. Ultimately, we answer the question, “Would I turn the page and keep reading?” amwriting.substack.com/p/april-book...
amwriting.substack.com
April Booklab First Pages: Unlocked, Triple Crown and Mystery Shaman Meat
Will Jess, KJ or Sarina turn the page?
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Molly Edwards, PhD @science-irl.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Should we make Hello From The Herbarium a thing?? Thank you @nybg.bsky.social for letting me play in the orchid collections! (I think this also counts as an #invertefest post thanks to Xanthopan morganii praedicta's co-starring role)
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
ABSOLUTELY.
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riksredguard.bsky.social @riksredguard.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
I have waited my whole life, for this moment....
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Dear Canada- Please accept our deepest apologies from all decent Americans embarrassed by the obnoxious trolling from our man-baby-in-chief who is lacking in both intelligence & any impulse-control whatsoever. ❤️ from your neighbors below, 🇺🇸 #MakeAmericaNormalAgain
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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
There it is, in a nutshell.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 28/04/2025
Barry Blitt’s cover for this week’s issue, “The First Hundred Days.” #NewYorkerCovers nyer.cm/ysrCZ47
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CNN @cnn.com · 26/04/2025
Organizers and the Kennedy Center have canceled a week’s worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ rights for this summer’s World Pride festival in Washington, DC, amid a shift in priorities and the ousting of leadership at one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions: cnn.it/3GnLY9v
cnn.it
Kennedy Center’s LGBTQ+ Pride events canceled | CNN Politics
Organizers and the Kennedy Center have canceled a week’s worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ rights for this summer’s World Pride festival in Washington, D.C., amid a shift in priorities and the oustin...
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
“Every piece of this is man's bullshit. They call this war ‘a cloud over the land’ but they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say ‘Shit, it's rainin'!’” - Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain
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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
I want politics to be about a better everyday life. Here's what that can look like:
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
This episode of the #AmWriting podcast offered so much useful information for me. Huge thanks to Elizabeth Harris for sharing what she knows about novel writing for journalists! open.substack.com/pub/amwritin...
open.substack.com
Novel Writing for Journalists with the NYT's Elizabeth Harris
Episode 445: When telling the truth will only get in your way, but also you have to tell A truth.
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
If you saw Sinners and want to learn more about why this flick is such a masterpiece (especially if you are ✋🏼) watch this fantastic review and essential explainer by Professor Cinephile. Massive spoilers. youtu.be/5B5k9H0fhhM?...
youtu.be
Sinners (2025) Review
YouTube video by Professor Cinephile
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Shematologist, MD @shematologist.medsky.social · 14/04/2025
Pertussis cases are up 1500% since 2021 due to declining vaccinations & there were at least a dozen deaths in the US last year. Over 700 cases & multiple measles deaths already this year. These are preventable diseases that no one should get let alone die from.
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Mona Burns @monaburns.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Letter from Dem Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD) requesting a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele To discuss MD father Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return "If Kilmar is not home by midweek – I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release."
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Jess Lahey @jesslahey.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
There is no way to convey how proud I am of Caroline Gleich. She was sixteen when I first met her in my English class, and since then she's become a professional athlete, scholar, candidate for U.S. Senate, and agent of change. Brava, sweets. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye_r...
youtube.com
Caroline Gleich's Full Speech at the "Fighting Oligarchy Tour" in Salt Lake City, Utah
YouTube video by Caroline Gleich
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Tim Lahey @timlaheymd.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Vandals gotta vandalize though right? apple.news/AfMfjss6vTB6...
apple.news
The House Speaker’s Eyeing Big Cuts to Medicaid. In His Louisiana District, It’s a Lifeline. — KFF Health News
The GOP-controlled Congress is weighing cuts to Medicaid, the government health program that covers millions of Americans — including nearly 40% of Louisianans represented in the House by Speaker Mike...
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