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Natalie Eilbert

@natalieeilbert.bsky.social
348 followers 129 following 64 posts

Poet and journalist. Author of Overland (Copper Canyon Press, 2023), opinion editor at The Capital Times, formerly the mental health reporter at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, (she/her)

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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
A little something I wrote that blends Nicole Byer, Esther Perel, Timothy Snyder and Robert Gellately in an argument for changing our screen habits. captimes.com/opinion/nata...
captimes.com
Opinion | On the tyranny of screens
Natalie Eilbert: What happens when we prioritize being present? We start to notice nature, our community and our place in the world.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Very proud to have written this latest editorial, in response to a story on perinatal substance use disorder I wrote with my former colleague Madeline Heim. Laws like this must be repealed. captimes.com/opinion/edit...
captimes.com
Editorial | Wisconsin must repeal archaic ‘Cocaine Mom Law'
Editorial: An obsolete, punishing and deadly law for pregnant women and families remains on the books in Wisconsin. Lawmakers must repeal this.
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Reposted by Natalie Eilbert
Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
This next giant expensive bottle of coconut water is going to be the one one that finally lets me know if I like it.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
I have, perhaps, a few thoughts on the Watertown musical controversy. Most interestingly, members from just three school boards in Dane County spoke up to criticize the actions of the Watertown School Board when I reached out. captimes.com/opinion/nata...
captimes.com
Opinion | The Wisconsin school board hell-bent on erasing history
Natalie Eilbert: The Watertown School Board’s censorship of a school concert is an embarrassment, but few area school boards are speaking up.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Adults need to reckon with their own addictions to screens if we want to see change in children's addictions to screens. captimes.com/opinion/nata...
captimes.com
Opinion | School cellphone bans alone won’t reverse test score drops
Natalie Eilbert: School test scores have dropped at the same time cell phone use has exploded. In-school bans may help, but only if enforced equitably.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
My second editorial: Wisconsin Office of School Safety doesn't have stable, long-term funding, despite averting nearly 600 potential school attacks over eight years. I will be sending this editorial to every single lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate. captimes.com/opinion/edit...
captimes.com
Editorial | Funding for school safety office must be top priority
Editorial: With threats of planned school attacks on the rise, Wisconsin's Office of School Safety is more important than ever.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 05/05/2026
While the world’s eyes are on fashion’s biggest night, we’re turning ours to the garment, retail, and warehouse workers who keep the industry running. From true love found on the picket line to a free tailoring school out of a Brooklyn basement — meet the New Yorkers who make it all possible.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
For this week's column, I reread 1984. The last time I read it was in high school when the greatest modern connection to Oceania's Thought Police was through the Patriot Act. But the technology behind Flock offered an even greater, if more concerning link. captimes.com/opinion/nata...
captimes.com
Opinion | Flock camera surveillance is Big Brother come to life
Natalie Eilbert: Recent decisions by Dane County and Verona to end contracts with Flock Safety underscore the dangers of the company’s surveillance data.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
In my fourth column, I write about the new barriers for potential international residents in Dane County, why homogeneity, isolationism and anti-intellectualism make us a dimmer, duller society, and organizations doing the work to respond. captimes.com/opinion/nata...
captimes.com
Opinion | A loss of multiculturalism is a loss for our humanity
Natalie Eilbert: Trump administration policies are reducing the number of foreign-born people coming to Dane County, and we are the worse for it.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
The Supreme Court's decision on Chiles v. Salazar is a threat to all states, cities and municipalities with conversion therapy bans. Already, Wisconsin has been put on notice by conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty to overturn its administrative rule. captimes.com/opinion/nata...
captimes.com
Opinion | Conversion therapy ruling threatens Wisconsin’s ban
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the discredited conversion therapy practice, Wisconsin must act to protect LGBTQ+ kids.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
My first editorial for the Cap Times: UW Health must resume caring for its pediatric trans patients. captimes.com/opinion/edit...
captimes.com
Editorial | UW ban on trans care is hurting kids
Editorial: The fear of potential federal funding cutbacks is no excuse for inflicting pain and suffering on vulnerable children who were in the midst of treatment.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
In my second column for The Capital Times, I write about something that has weighed on me since I was a teenager. We must solidify solutions to respond to the insidiousness of grooming in Wisconsin. Nervous to share this one. captimes.com/opinion/gues...
captimes.com
Opinion | We have to talk about grooming
As the Cap Times covers sexual misconduct in its Dismissed series, the editorial board will track how lawmakers and candidates pledge to protect children.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
It's been a minute since I posted here. I've moved on from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I'm now serving as the opinion editor for The Cap Times. Happy to be here! Here's my first column.
captimes.com
Opinion | A long, tangled journey to the opinion desk
Natalie Eilbert: Sometimes objectively reporting on the hardships and injustices of ordinary people isn't enough; you have to take up their cause.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Pleased to announce my new role as the Opinion Editor for The Capital Times! captimes.com/opinion/paul...
captimes.com
New opinion editor will better connect us with an evolving Madison
Paul Fanlund: Natalie Eilbert, who joins the Cap Times from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, will delve deep, listen closely, and elevate different voices.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Why were mental health and addiction grants canceled and then reinstated? U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has demanded the Trump administration answer and take responsibility. My latest: www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...
jsonline.com
Feds cut, then reinstated, mental health grants. What's left? Anxiety.
Lawmakers working on 2026 bills had recently increased dollars to mental health and addiction recovery programs.
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Nicole Foy @nicolefoy.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
I’m one of the ProPublica reporters who has been documenting the aggressive tactics federal agents are using against immigrants & U.S. citizens All eyes are on Minnesota right now, but I want to tell you about Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-YO citizen in Houston who was choked by immigration agents in October
A teenage boy with dark hair and a black and gold football jersey holds his helmet, standing on the side line of a green football field
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Over a 24-hour period, the Trump administration thrust public health systems across the country into chaos, abruptly canceling $2 billion in mental health and addiction grants. Then, overnight, it reversed course without explanation. www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...
jsonline.com
In 24 hours, Feds cancel, then reinstate $2 billion in mental health grants
Many of the populations who would have been affected by these cuts have endured historic gaps in care needs.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Breaking: Children's and UW Health, Wisconsin's two largest pediatric hospitals, halt youth gender-affirming care at clinics less than a month after Kennedy unveiled new rules to restrict hospitals from providing gender-affirming care to youth patients.
jsonline.com
Children's, UW Health halt gender health care for minors
The decision to pause health care for minors going through gender transition comes less than a month after RFK Jr. announced new restrictions.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
For the last few weeks, teacher Susan Cramer has been singing "La Mariposa" with the babies and toddlers in her music class. It's Spanish for "The Butterfly," and was Dailin Pacheco-Acosta's favorite song. It's become a song of hope for Pacheco's safe return after ICE detained her and her husband.
jsonline.com
She followed 'all of the rules' for building a life in Wisconsin. Then the rules changed.
They came to the U.S. to seek asylum and built a life. Now, changes to Venezuela's Temporary Protected Status could send them back.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
BREAKING: Wisconsin secures one year of funding for its deafblind youth program after Trump administration abruptly cut the five-year grant and denied DPI's appeal challenging the decision. www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...
jsonline.com
Wisconsin secures year of funding for deafblind program cut by Trump administration
The announcement came after the U.S. Department of Education denied Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's appeal on Sept. 23.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Hello! I'm writing about Wisconsin K-12 school policies and whether there are adequate protections for LGBTQ+ students when it comes to bullying, harassment, discrimination. I'm looking to talk with former students and families about their experiences in WI K-12 schools: neilbert@gannett.com
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tamia fowlkes @tamiafowlkes.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
A group of troubled Milwaukee-area nursing homes will soon have new operators after financial strains and hundreds of resident complaints sent the facilities into receivership. Read the latest from my colleague @natalieeilbert.bsky.social and I with the link below. www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...
jsonline.com
Troubled Milwaukee-area nursing homes will have new operators soon, residents protest conditions
A group of Wisconsin nursing homes that were ordered into receivership after years of financial distress will soon be taken over by a new operator.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
A 1,000-year flood, historically bad air quality, extreme heat: Nothing about summer in Wisconsin has been normal.
jsonline.com
A 1,000-year flood, historically bad air quality, extreme heat: Summer 2025 is far from normal in Wisconsin
On the surface, the average temperatures appear in the normal range. But nothing about summer 2025 in Wisconsin has been normal.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Four Wisconsin nursing homes with a litany of health care quality concerns have been put in court-ordered receivership as of July 31, the result of dire financial strains. Here's what me and @tamiafowlkes.bsky.social learned in our investigation.
jsonline.com
Four Wisconsin nursing homes put into receivership, have racked up 384 violations
The state will appoint a receiver to take over four nursing homes in Wisconsin operated by Bedrock Healthcare due to financial strains.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Here is the main story that I spent a couple months working on: How does a 15-year-old become a school shooter?
jsonline.com
How does a 15-year-old become a school shooter: The rise of online communities bound by hate
Before long, vulnerable youths are in areas of the internet that would never show up in a typical Google search. And no one is around to stop them.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Amid all the horrors coming out of Madison after the Abundant Life shooting, I kept thinking about how someone as young as 14 plans a mass shooting and why. 1/3
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul has joined a multistate state lawsuit suing the Trump administration over order that attack the health care rights of transgender people. My latest:
jsonline.com
Kaul joins multistate suit claiming Trump has sought to deter care of transgender youths
The multistate lawsuit is asking the court to block the administration's actions, which it deems unconstitutional.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
I haven't been here for a minute. To reintroduce myself, I'm Natalie, and I cover mental health for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I'm also going to start covering third spaces in WI as we reckon with isolation & greater need for community. I hope you're give me a follow! #wisconsin #mentalhealth
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Also this week, I wrote about Trump's latest order that would forcibly hospitalize people experiencing homelessness. The order also diverts funds away from the Housing First approach, a philosophy that says if you give someone housing first, they can then focus on treating behavioral health issues.
jsonline.com
Trump order on unsheltered people strikes Wisconsin housing advocates as backward step
Since the Housing First program began in August 2015, Milwaukee County has seen a nearly 42% decline in the homeless population.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Throughout the week, I had wanted to go for a run. Work has been stressful and my anxiety is through the roof. Running is a balm for me. Wildfire smoke, however, has made that too big of a hazard. Yes, I went for walks, but they were eery, and that eeriness only added more worries to my day. 1/3
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
BREAKING: FORGE, a Milwaukee-based LGBTQ+ nonprofit, was among the plaintiffs in a second Lambda Legal lawsuit filed this week against the Trump administration. The lawsuit was announced over Zoom Thursday evening. www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...
jsonline.com
Milwaukee LGBTQ+ group joins national suit against Trump effort to ban DEI, erase trans people
Trump's orders terminate equity-based grants, prohibit federal funding for DEI programs, and eliminate recognition of transgender people.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
I started a novel years ago and don't know how to stop rewriting the first two chapters over and over. What are your favorite craft books on writing novels?
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STAT @statnews.com · 14/02/2025
#Breaking - Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies. Employees across agencies who were hired in the past one to two years are being targeted
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Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies
The Trump administration is set to eliminate thousands of federal health care jobs Friday, targeting employees across agencies who were hired in the past one to two years.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
The news that has truly undone me is the anglerfish that finally sees daylight and then dies
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
"Eliminating critical data allows for agencies to absolve themselves of accountability, obscures population-policy impacts, and worsens inequities. Without trusted data to make decisions, mistrust and disinformation can proliferate." lgbtmap.medium.com/disappearing...
lgbtmap.medium.com
Disappearing Data: Why We Must Stop Trump’s Attempts to Erase Our Communities
Ensuring the collection and protection of demographic data affirms the visibility, rights, and well-being of the people behind the numbers.
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Natasha Bertrand @natashabertrand.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
“This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.” www.ap.org/the-definiti...
ap.org
AP statement on Oval Office access | The Associated Press
The Associated Press issued this statement on Tuesday from Executive Editor Julie Pace: As a global news organization, The Associated Press informs
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Natasha Bertrand @natashabertrand.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Associated Press: “Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office.“
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
I have been extremely bad at social media on purpose. However, here are the stories I published this week. On Wednesday, my story about Wisconsin families, scientists & advocates responding to Trump's EO that would halt funding for youth gender-affirming care: www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...
jsonline.com
You support your trans child. Increasingly, your country does not. And so, you worry. Then what?
The order is the latest in a series of injunctions that deny the rights, and even the existence, of transgender people.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 05/02/2025
Two weeks into President Trump’s sweeping freeze on foreign aid, HIV groups abroad have not received any funding, jeopardizing the health of more than 20 million people, including 500,000 children.
nytimes.com
Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze Leaves Millions Without HIV Treatment
President Trump’s pause on aid, and the gutting of the primary aid agency, could jeopardize the health of more than 20 million people worldwide, including 500,000 children, experts say.
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Trump's EO last week aimed to end funding for gender-affirming care for youth has parents worried for their children's futures. Already, Wisconsin's transgender community lacks comprehensive protections against discrimination. My latest: www.jsonline.com/story/news/h...
jsonline.com
You support your trans child. Increasingly, your country does not. And so, you worry. Then what?
The order is the latest in a series of injunctions that deny the rights, and even the existence, of transgender people.
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Reposted by Natalie Eilbert
John Diedrich @johndiedrich.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
On guns, much that Gov. Evers and GOP lawmakers don't agree on. But they do agree on making gun safes tax-exempt. www.jsonline.com/story/news/p... @natalieeilbert.bsky.social Similar laws passed in other states -- blue, red and like Wisconsin, purple. www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...
jsonline.com
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 22/01/2025
The bishop at President Trump’s inaugural prayer service implored him to “have mercy” on gay, lesbian and transgender children, as well as undocumented immigrants. “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” asked Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.
nytimes.com
Bishop Tells Trump to ‘Have Mercy’ on Immigrants and Gay Children
The direct appeal to President Trump at the start of the first full day of his presidency was a remarkable moment at a National Cathedral event that has not historically been political.
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Dan Chaon @danchaon.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
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eve6 @eve6.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Wish more filmmakers understood that we want to be confused
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Becoming demystified by social media companies is a good thing, actually
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Natalie Eilbert @natalieeilbert.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
As social media companies relinquish fact-checking and unleash a new era of bots and reply guys, I find I’m using social media far less, meeting people in person, and committing to more in-person activities. It’s had a tremendous impact on my mental health honestly.
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Maya C. Popa @mayacpopa.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Charles Simic:
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