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Kerry Howley

@kerryhowley.bsky.social
7K followers 530 following 329 posts

Feature Writer at New York Magazine, author of Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs, Los Feliz / Iowa City

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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
“why would she make dinner for her abuser??” asks the party immolating itself to keep the president from jumping into another primary
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
wrote this in 2019 and never imagined that the reporting would be confirmed as thoroughly as @jonswaine.bsky.social has managed. Incredible work nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com
Tulsi Gabbard Had a Very Strange Childhood
Which may just help explain why she’s so totally out of place in today’s Democratic Party. And her long-shot race for the presidency.
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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
I quaintly maintain that “will anyone be held accountable for the mass murder of children?” is not, in fact, a strange question.
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Matt Ficke @mattficke.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Since we’re all talking about MMA, this is a good excuse to plug @kerryhowley.bsky.social’s phenomenal book “Thrown”, which I think about all the time and is unlike anything I’ve ever read. www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...
goodreads.com
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 07/06/2026
Really interesting research on schizophrenia voices as inner speech that is misattributed
sciencealert.com
50-Year-Old Theory on Schizophrenia's 'Voices' Confirmed by Recent Study
New evidence confirms a long-held theory that people with schizophrenia hear 'voices' in their heads by misattributing inner speech as external.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
these are all the appropriate positions for an LA mayoral race
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Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
♥️🗞️goodbye for now to @thebarbedwire.com — it’s been an honor, and any newsroom would be stupid not to hire @carakelly.bsky.social @briangaar.bsky.social @iamleslierangel.bsky.social and @candibolden.bsky.social
THE BARBED WIRE
Date: May 29, 2026
From: Editor in Chief, Olivia Messer Subject:
Goodbye for Now
Hello dear readers,
June 1 would have been my two-year anniversary as an employee of The Barbed Wire. In that time, we've pitched, researched, reported, written, edited, built, published, emailed, and socialed more than 725 stories. We previously shared that our financial runway was measured in weeks, not months. Unfortunately, as of this Friday, we've hit the end of the road for full-time staff, including myself.
We told The Barbed Wire team and halted freelance spending a few months ago, yet we still held out hope that our outstanding committed pledges, project proposals, investor presentations, and grant applications would convert. You all know it's a turbulent time for our industry — more so for independent outlets that rely on reader support (and aren't owned by billionaires). I consider myself the world's greatest living expert on what we should have done differently and when we should have done it — but frankly, I'll need some time before I can articulate those thoughts.
I am stepping down, but Brian Gaar will continue writing the Wild Texas newsletter on a freelance basis, and thanks to the generosity of KIND Clinic, which funds our queer Texas vertical, Kit O'Connell will continue to write stories in the coming months, as showcased in their Big & Bright newsletter.
We had many more plans, including events, myriad investigations, frothy podcasts, and verticals. So if you're interested in making a home for any of those, or for acquisition more broadly, contact me (olivia(@thebarbedwire.com) or our CEO, David Cohen (david@thebarbedwire.com).
This also means that my talented, full-time team of swiss-army-knife journalists will be looking for opportunities. If you're in the industry, I urge you to get connected to:
Our managing editor, Cara Kelly, whose reporting has uncovered institutional sexual harassment and violence in massage schools, ride-share companies, and …Our deputy managing editor, Leslie Rangel, is a first generation daughter of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants whose award-winning journalism is focused on issues of health, mental wellness, race, gender and social justice. She wrote our two most-read stories of all time at The Barbed Wire, the latter of which was on the front page of Apple News as the day's no. 4 top story, in addition to having demonstrable real-world impact. Leslie was previously morning anchor for the Good Day Austin morning news show. She has also worked at KAN in Austin, was founding evening anchor at KWKT in Waco, reported for KFOR in Oklahoma City and KFDM in Beaumont, Texas. Follow her on Threads and Instagram.
Our senior editor Brian Gaar writes our clever, thoughtful newsletter, which maintains a far-above-industry-average open rate — even as it has grown in size. In many ways, Brian has been "the voice of The Barbed Wire." He cemented that position with quick-turn, hilarious, and deeply sentimental stories that our loyal readers routinely shower in praise. He is a longtime Texas journalist who has written for the Austin American-Statesman, The Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas Monthly, and many other publications. He was also a writer and producer at the beloved Austin production company, Rooster Teeth. Follow Brian on Bluesky and Instagram.
Our social media manager, Candi Bolden, is a marvel at short-form video. Candi is based in Dallas-Fort Worth and has previously run social media accounts for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. As part of her journalism career, she worked the Republican National Convention for CNN, covered swatting threats in Wichita, Kansas, and photographed 2020 unrest in Fort Worth, Texas. Follow her on Bluesky or Instagram.
(Friendly reminder that previous The Barbed Wire employees have gone on to full-time journalism positions at Politico, The Seattle Times, and Community Impact - Dallas, as well as a communications role at the fitness app Strava.)
I'll be looking for work t…
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
One of these classes is called “capitalism rocks.” Presumably it covers the efficient allocation of resources in accordance with market demand.
kcrg.com
Iowa lawmakers move to mandate students take Center for Intellectual Freedom classes amid low enrollment
A last minute Republican legislative push could force University of Iowa college students to take classes at the newly-created Center for Intellectual Freedom. It's exactly what a report highlighted w...
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Camp Mystic will not open in 2026.
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 27/04/2026
The United States now has the most government restrictions on academic freedom of any high-income country. www.chemistryworld.com/news/academi... Raw data from @vdeminstitute.bsky.social —> academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...
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Andy Greenberg @agreenberg.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Finally read Bottom's Up And the Devil Laughs by @kerryhowley.bsky.social. Can't think of a time when I've read nonfiction writing so smart and inventive that even events/people I had thought I'd read about before, even ones I've reported and written about myself, felt 100% new. Incredible book.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Love seeing conservatives argue for separation between church and state but only when religious doctrine conflicts with blowing people up
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Arvind Ravikumar @arvindpawan1.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
This is a really important piece. Detroit has been coddled for decades through bipartisan protectionism. The US should let China sell affordable EVs, get them to invest by building EV manufacturing here, and let Detroit complete. And if Detroit can't complete, they don't deserve to be in business.
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Affordable Car Is Dead. What Happened? (Gift Article)
This is how cars got so ridiculously, forbiddingly expensive.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
THE DALAI LAMA IS WEAK ON MONETARY POLICY.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
This is a goddamn delight
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
“A whole civilization will die tonight” is the most vile thing a US president has ever said, certainly during the post-1945 era when they’ve had the power to kill civilizations with the dropping of a bomb. I’m staring into the darkness. May this not be one of the most fateful days in human history.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
what is a newspaper
nytimes.com
Opinion | Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? A Debate.
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Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
This is NOT what I signed up for
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
devastating piece, by one of my very favorite nonfiction writers
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Joel Calahan @joelcalahan.com · 24/03/2026
This is quite a read, full of anger and bewilderment. Beautiful work.
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Sarah Viren @sarahviren.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
"The parents of dead children are a problem. They stand opposed to our most basic and necessary illusions." An absolutely haunting story by @kerryhowley.bsky.social that resist all such illusions. A story of Camp Mystic, and the 27 girls who died there unnecessarily, that I never knew.
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Lydia Kiesling @lydiakiesling.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Horrific & sensitively reported story by the peerless @kerryhowley.bsky.social. Seeing the delusion on display here I can't help but think about climate change, whose effects (eg torrential rain & floods) will also be treated as acts of God, when they are the work of people nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com
Could the Girls of Camp Mystic Have Been Saved?
Twenty-seven children died in a Texas flood, dividing families over whether it was an act of God or adult failure.
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Asher Elbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
This is an excellent, brutal, cuttingly angry feature.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
I wrote about a camp, 27 girls who drowned due to astonishing failures to plan, and hundreds of families going back anyway. nymag.com/intelligence...
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Pete Hegseth came to national prominence and to Trump’s attention specifically for his defense of men accused of war crimes by their fellow American soldiers.
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Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 01/03/2026
The number of organs available for donation has risen massively in the past five years. It seems to be the result of technological advances in preserving organs after circulatory death. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Chart of trends in recovered organs from circulatory deaths
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Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
One day in the future, this is going to hang on the wall of a museum exhibit people visit in silence.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
I’m teaching a weeklong creative nonfiction seminar in Paris this coming spring. More info here : www.wice-paris.org/paris-writer...
wice-paris.org
WICE - Paris Writers Workshop 2026
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
congrats to @ilyasomin.bsky.social , long my single counterexample to “there are no consistent libertarians”
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
The season of self-sabotage
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Bailey McCann @baileymcc.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Get in losers we’re doing central planning without the planning
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Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 10/02/2026
thinking about the bit in BOTTOMS UP AND THE DEVIL LAUGHS, in which @kerryhowley.bsky.social writes that surveillance is made of dogs
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Hey, my name is in the Epstein files! I've told the story before, but should probably re-up. TLDR: never met the guy, never took (or asked for) any money from him, never visited the island. I was invited to the island, and said no. It's not that hard to just say no.
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Anthony L. Fisher @anthonylfisher.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
When I worked for Reason magazine during Trump's rise to power in 2016, I was explicitly forbidden by the editor in chief from writing about Trump's racism, or the violence and racism at his rallies. It was a "sideshow," I was told.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
I’m looking forward to teaching a weeklong workshop in creative nonfiction this spring in Paris. Registration just opened. More here: wice-paris.org/paris-writer...
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
What is the narrative exactly ? A white house staffer who has unfettered access to the president’s account with no safeguards was casually watching videos in which the obamas are portrayed as apes, and then accidentally hit post?
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
New from 404 Media: the FBI has been unable to get into the iPhone of raided Washington Post journalist because the phone had Lockdown Mode enabled. Apple markets Lockdown Mode mostly to stop spyware like NSO. Here, a real world example of it stopping access too www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...
404media.co
FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled
Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the feature might be effective at stopping third parties unlocking some...
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
This is the business in Uptown that got randomly tear-gassed by ICE a few weeks ago. Guess they didn’t like it
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
The fact that competent people have too much dignity to do this work gives me as much hope as anything
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Joaquin Castro @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning. Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Midwestern earnestness carries with it a real intransigence.
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Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Eight great reads (and one listen) about the miracle of Minneapolis: www.headsupnews.org/p/people-pow... includes @adamserwer.bsky.social @erikhane.bsky.social @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social @kerryhowley.bsky.social @mollycoleman.bsky.social @jamellebouie.net @pkrugman.bsky.social @brucespringsteen.net
headsupnews.org
People power is real
Take a moment to savor that
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Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
A moment of silence that ends with someone shouting "fuck ICE!" and the crowd roaring in response
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 25/01/2026
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
I mean it’s true that there are “paid agitators” in Minneapolis. There are 3000 of them and they’ve assassinated two people.
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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Normal cops would have been furious at the first shooter just for opening fire into a fucking dogpile of cops.
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
the way they used to go on about federalism …
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
i don’t know what i thought i would be doing right now two weeks ago, but it definitely wasn’t worrying about Will Stancil
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