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Kyle Swenson

@kyletalking.bsky.social
404 followers 257 following 43 posts

Fmr Washington Post reporter covering inequality. Author of "Good Kids, Bad City." Expert on NBA hot takes

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Reposted by Kyle Swenson
The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 13/09/2026
“When Peter Matthiessen chose to believe in something he believed in it indefinitely, even when people were slightly embarrassed on his behalf.” —Joy Williams
nybooks.com
‘A Fury of Dark Energies’ | Joy Williams
A biography of Peter Matthiessen captures his antithetical actions and character while never losing sight of his ardent attentiveness to the natural world.
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Pamela Colloff @pamelacolloff.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
D.C. friends! Join me and @praddenkeefe.bsky.social on Saturday at the National Book Festival for a discussion of literary true crime. We’ll be speaking with the inestimable Jenn White. loc.gov/events/2026-... #NatBookFest @doubledaybooks.bsky.social @aaknopf.bsky.social
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The Washington Sun Metro @washsunmetro.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The restaurant doesn’t threaten the steak house pack in town. @tomsietsema.bsky.social visits Ned’s Club in Washington.
notus.org
Ned's Club Is Buzzy, Exclusive -- And a Work in Progress
Members say they enjoy the D.C. club for its uncommon amenities and upscale atmosphere. But how is the food?
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Samantha Michaels @samanthamichaels.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
When I visited a month after the task force launched, I was shocked by what I was seeing. My deep dive here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
I'm a veteran criminal justice reporter. I've never seen anything like ICE-occupied Memphis.
“It’s about as sad as you can possibly imagine."
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The Marshall Project @themarshallproject.org · 22/06/2026
The Marshall Project analyzed more than 9,000 death sentences handed down across the nation since states brought the punishment back. People on death row and the families of their victims often have to wait decades for a resolution to their cases.
themarshallproject.org
How The Death Penalty At 50 Is Far More Broken Than We Knew
The racial disparities, the arbitrary outcomes, the endless waiting and the risk of executing the innocent persist.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 18/05/2026
Ross says he wrote many pieces that didn't plagiarize, so it's a non-story and we should move on. Also says some of the flagged passages were a single sentence - though, with my story, it was the first two paragraphs Story by @bobbyallyn.bsky.social: www.npr.org/2026/05/17/n...
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 03/05/2026
“I could make more by picking cans up off the road. I’m done.” The Watsons were dairy farmers for generations, the rhythms of their lives defined by their cows. Until this spring, when they sold their last herd.
nyti.ms
The Last Days of Butter Ridge
The Watsons were dairy farmers for generations, the rhythms of their lives defined by their cows. Until this spring.
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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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Jordan aka Jirdan @slclunk.com · 28/02/2026
I think about this Tony Benn speech much more than I used to
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Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
NEW: Per source familiar with meeting: Hegseth threatened to terminate Anthropic’s $200M contract by Friday if it does not comply to Trump admin's terms. Amodei reiterated Anthropic’s red lines around AI- powered weapons and domestic surveillance.
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Discovering this band recently has been the gift of a lifetime. Whole catalog is blast of art-punk genius.
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Kristen Radtke @kristenradtke.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
theverge.com
I grew up with Alex Pretti
The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.
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Emily Nussbaum @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
I wrote a TNY Take about Jane Kramer’s The Founding Cadre, a reported piece from 1970 in which Kramer embedded with a radical feminist CR group for nearly a year— which ended up getting published using pseudonyms, bc the editors found the topic too alarming: www.newyorker.com/magazine/tak...
newyorker.com
Emily Nussbaum on Jane Kramer’s “Founding Cadre”
Her startling 1970 article, based on months of reporting on radical feminist pioneers, was an outlier for the period—coolly observational but full of emotion.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 24/01/2026
Alex Pretti, who is identified as the man fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, was an intensive care nurse dedicated to treating veterans. Read more about him here: wapo.st/3M62eyV
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Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
i talked to die-hard traders on Kalshi and Polymarket and spent some time in prediction market spaces on Discord and Reddit to try to understand how this techno-financial wild west is utterly flourishing right now www.npr.org/2026/01/17/n...
npr.org
They quit their day jobs to bet on current events. A look inside the prediction market mania
Prediction market apps are thriving in Trump's second term, with traders betting on migrant deportations to election outcomes. A community of young, mostly male and very online traders are driving the...
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NPR @npr.org · 17/01/2026
Prediction market apps are thriving in Trump's second term, with traders betting on migrant deportations to election outcomes. A community of young, mostly male and very online traders are driving the industry's bonanza. n.pr/4b3JdYb
n.pr
They quit their day jobs to bet on current events. A look inside the prediction market mania
Prediction market apps are thriving in Trump's second term, with traders betting on migrant deportations to election outcomes. A community of young, mostly male and very online traders are driving the industry's bonanza.
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Washington Post Guild @postguild.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
The Washington Post Guild is alarmed and appalled by federal law enforcement’s search and seizure of reporter Hannah Natanson’s property and personal devices. Hannah is a valued member of our union whose work covering the federal workforce has been essential (1/3)
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Greg Jaffe @gregjaffe.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
"She along with hundreds of other recruiters around the country, had been offering something else: protection from the government she served." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
nytimes.com
U.S. Citizens Are Joining the Military to Protect Undocumented Parents
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Harrison Smith @harrisondsmith.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
In looking back on 2025, we also wanted to showcase some of the everyday but extraordinary people who *didn't* get an obit. For @washingtonpost.com, we profiled 10 Washingtonians who were mainstays of their communities, even if their names were not well known. 🎁🔗 wapo.st/49aCcC5
wapo.st
Remembering 10 extraordinary lives lost in 2025
They never got a Post obituary. They rarely made the news. But across the Washington area, they shaped and enhanced their communities.
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Here's my addition to the "performative dude reader" discourse. Lutz was my biggest find, amazing. Ian Penman, would read anything they write. Bruce Wagner is as important a novelist we have working today. Robert Stone continues to be a favorite
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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
News Team,
Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier.
I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity.
Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now-after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.
We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed
to kill the story.
If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, wehave effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient.
If the standard for airing a story becomes
"the government must agree to be
interviewed," then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast.
We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.
These men risked their lives to speak with us.
We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their
stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.
CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it.
When it fails to air without a credible
explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of "Gold Standard" reputation for a single week of political quiet.
I care too much about this broadcast to watch
it be dismantled without a fight.
Sharyn
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
For a year, I've been hanging at comedy nights, shadowing a standup. Why? Because they're a former conservative reporter who came out as trans at 49, and now are using the most vulnerable public art form to work out the most personal of all life changes www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/int...
washingtonpost.com
Five jokes with a former conservative journalist, now a trans comedian
Jamie Mack came out as transgender at 49, after years of struggling with their identity. Could comedy help them work through their new life?
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
For a year, I've been hanging at comedy nights, shadowing a standup. Why? Because they're a former conservative reporter who came out as trans at 49, and now are using the most vulnerable public art form to work out the most personal of all life changes www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/int...
washingtonpost.com
Five jokes with a former conservative journalist, now a trans comedian
Jamie Mack came out as transgender at 49, after years of struggling with their identity. Could comedy help them work through their new life?
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Reposted by Kyle Swenson
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 13/12/2025
Jamie Mack had been an investigative reporter at the Washington Times, frequently appearing on Fox News. In 2020, they came out as transgender. Stand-up comedy has since become a way for them to work through a new life by mining the old for material.
washingtonpost.com
Five jokes with a former conservative journalist, now a trans comedian
Jamie Mack came out as transgender at 49, after years of struggling with their identity. Could comedy help them work through their new life?
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Maria Sacchetti - reporter - The Washington Post @mariasacchetti.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
EXCLUSIVE: Mom of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew rejects White House narrative of her ICE arrest www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
Mom of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew rejects White House narrative of her ICE arrest
In an interview, Bruna Ferreira, who chose the White House press secretary as her son’s godmother, contested the portrayal of her as a criminal, absentee mom.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 07/12/2025
Absolutely buzzing over this new video of a rarely seen giant squid
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 01/12/2025
Sure, vomiting is allowed (but discouraged), according to the rules of this ultramarathon. Each participant must run to nine Taco Bells scattered across Virginia and D.C. At each location, they must purchase and eat an item off the menu. Drinks don’t count.
washingtonpost.com
At this ultramarathon, runners tackle 32 miles and eat at nine Taco Bells
Puking is discouraged, but allowed. Pepto-Bismol is not.
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
When DHS dared to call its anti-immigrant racial profiling weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” I knew I was going to have to write about it. Tonight, at Law Dork, here it is: www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...

LAW dork

=
I am certain that someone thought this was particularly witty when they came up with the name, but it's honestly one of the more offensive possibilities these hateful authoritarians could have used.
Even on its face, using the name of a beloved children's book as the name of your anti-immigrant, mass-arrest operation is appalling.
But, to use a book authored by E.B. White as your name is an offense to history. White was a leading voice for American democracy and freedom and against fascism and tyranny.
Abusing his life's work like this cannot stand without a response.
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Julie K. Brown @jkbjournalist.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
BREAKING: (Gift) New Epstein emails reveal that Epstein claimed he had kompromat on President Trump. www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...
miamiherald.com
New Epstein emails claim Trump ‘spent hours’ with victim
Democrats on the House Oversight say the emails provide evidence of a cover-up by the White House
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 12/11/2025
Twenty years after her assault, a victim’s fear resurfaced when her attacker was arrested for a 1999 cold-case murder. Police say DNA links him to the rape and killing of another woman — who lived just blocks from the 2004 attack.
wapo.st
She survived a stabbing. Now her attacker is accused in a deadly cold case.
A D.C. man recently arrested in a 1999 cold-case homicide carried out a similar unprovoked attack in 2004, but a timely intervention saved the victim.
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John Lingan @johnlingan.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
BACKBEATS is out today! Come see me & @andreapitzer.bsky.social at Kramers in DC tonight at 7: kramers.com/events/36367... DM me a receipt if you’d like a signed book plate in the mail. And read an excerpt in @rollingstone.com: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Cover of BACKBEATSInterior photo pages featuring Ringo, the Stones, the MGs and more. PRAISE FOR
BACKBEATS
"[Exhibits] passion and deep knowledge... The only moments I put this book down were to pause and listen to the perfect examples that Lingan, a drummer himself, cites as crucial.... Here we see and hear the music of our lives."
-BILL JANOVITZ, author of Leon Russell: The Master of Space
and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History

"A thrilling ride... In exquisite detail and deft prose, John Lingan relates the creative insights and technical mastery of fifteen of rock's most influential groove merchants-many still unsung. In doing so, he reclaims the rock narrative from all those frontmen and guitarists, showing how the wizards at the back of the stage were moving the music all along."
-IAN S. PORT, author of The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll

"An intelligent, heartfelt, and long-overdue tribute to the unsung heroes of modern music. Because, let's face it—if it ain't got that swing, it don't mean a thing."
-BRAD TOLINSKI, coauthor of Play It Loud: An Epic History of the Style, Sound, and Revolution of the Electric Guitar

"Backbeats glows with enthusiasm and delivers an insightful glimpse into the sultans of swing who create fire by rubbing two sticks together."
—BOB SPITZ, author of The Beatles:
The Biography and Led Zeppelin: The Biography

"Sitting ten feet from stardom, drummers have had a central but slightly removed view of rock 'n' roll. A drummer himself, John Lingan captures that unique perspective.... Backbeats delivers to the reader something fresh and different. It's a hit."
-PRESTON LAUTERBACH, author of The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to RockA sticker book plate
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 05/11/2025
Breaking news: Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former three-term congresswoman and CIA agent will become Virginia’s first female governor, the AP projects. wapo.st/3LqdiWU
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Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
BREAKING: After ICE refuses to allow detained migrants to receive the Eucharist, Pope Leo calls on Trump and Vance to respect migrants‘ dignity and religious liberty. “They must allow ministers to assist with their needs. They've been separated from their families and no one knows what happens.”
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 04/11/2025
Breaking news: Former vice president Dick Cheney, who became chief architect of a post-9/11 war on terrorism that involved bypassing restrictions against torture and domestic espionage, died Monday night. He was 84.
washingtonpost.com
Dick Cheney, powerful vice president during war on terrorism, dies at 84
After the Sept. 11 attacks, perceiving an elemental threat to American society, Mr. Cheney used his role as Bush’s chief strategist to approve the use of torture and steer U.S. occupations of Afghanis...
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
In 2010, Sue Marcum's life was chaos. A popular American U. prof, she was facing IRS penalties, dwindling funds thanks to a series of investments made with a lover/yoga instructor. She may then have realized it had all been a scam (1/3) www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
washingtonpost.com
He taught her Spanish and yoga. It sparked a romance, then a murder.
“He preyed upon Sue Marcum’s caring nature, and he used her for his own gain,” a prosecutor said. “And when she had nothing left to give her, he killed her.”
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Peppa Pig has a lot to answer for by teaching toddlers that splashing in muddy puddles is the height of fun activity
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Casey Parks @caseyparks.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
We back!
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
It's grim out there this week. Treat yourself to an uplifting story about a search for 150 lost panda statues scattered across DC . . . and beyond. From me via @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
washingtonpost.com
Inside one man’s mission to find D.C’s long-lost panda statues
Two decades ago, 150 panda statues were displayed around the District. The statues mostly slipped from public consciousness -- until now.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 29/09/2025
Update: Kai Trump's brand tells me her clothing line's fabrics are made in Bangladesh
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Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
I spent some time wandering around SF with some kids who read minds, raise millions, and subsist on Celsius nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com
The AI Kids Take San Francisco
Brilliant, workaholic teenagers are flooding the city — and reshaping our future in their image.
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
If you snag a copy of today's @washingtonpost.com check out me and @marissajae.bsky.social diving into the results of Trump's push to get the homeless out of DC, on the paper's A1. Spoiler: they're still in DC and homeless.
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John Lingan @johnlingan.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
My close personal friend Thomas Pynchon has asked me to pass along that he’s thrilled to see his new book listed alongside mine in this fall preview.
washingtonpost.com
A fall preview for readers of all kinds
This list of 62 books just scratches the surface of publishing’s biggest season, from Kamala Harris’s memoir to Patricia Lockwood’s new novel and Jill Lepore’s look at the Constitution.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 30/08/2025
President Trump's crusade against D.C.’s homelessness fails to solve some of its deepest struggles: There are not enough services, subsidies or beds to house the thousands of adults and children in the District without permanent housing. wapo.st/4mP0xTF
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
‘Nowhere to go’: What happened after Trump ordered homeless encampments cleared. For @washingtonpost.com @marissajae.bsky.social and I dove into what Trump's DC enforcement push has meant for DC's most unfortunate and vulnerable living on the street www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
washingtonpost.com
‘Nowhere to go’: What happened after Trump ordered homeless encampments cleared
The White House said 50 homeless encampments in D.C. have been cleared in recent weeks and more action is forthcoming.
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paul schwartzman @wapops.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
The Mayor of the United States:
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Scott Clement @sfcpoll.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
New Washington Post-Schar School poll: Most D.C. residents strongly oppose Trump’s city police takeover, with crime concerns continue a sharp decline and statehood support reaches a record high. Story w/ @joeheim.bsky.social @emgusk.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 16/08/2025
“Violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” President Trump said of D.C. Post reporters retraced some of the president’s routes with the goal of seeing his view of Washington firsthand. wapo.st/4fPz3dV
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
If you want to understand Trump's push on D.C.'s homeless population, and how the Right has weaponized the response to homelessness, please read this story of mine from a few years ago www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
washingtonpost.com
The right’s war on ‘housing first’ lands in Middle America
Missouri in 2022 adopted legislation from the Cicero Institute that outlawed camping on state property, among other things. Cities felt the effects soon after.
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Kyle Swenson @kyletalking.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
You probably have seen a spotted lanternfly lately, the gross invasive bug hopping around everywhere in the mid-Atlantic these days. You probably don't realize they are an existential threat to the American wine business, especially in Virginia. My latest www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
washingtonpost.com
Lanternflies are swarming Virginia, threatening its $8B wine industry
The colorful insects are draining nutrients from grape vines, stunting their growth and grossing out winery visitors.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 27/07/2025
The Trump administration is set to destroy a large stockpile of U.S.-funded contraceptives stored at a warehouse in Belgium. Belgium, the United Nations and aid groups say they have offered to save $9.7 million in supplies.
washingtonpost.com
Trump administration to destroy birth control intended as aid
Belgium, the United Nations and aid groups say they have offered to save $9.7 million in supplies kept in a Belgian warehouse.
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