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Tara McMullin

@taramcmullin.com

997 followers 525 following 169 posts

I'm a writer and podcaster who explores the future of work through critical theory. Autistic feminist. Wannabe independent scholar. Amateur baker. Podcast & Newsletter: whatworks.fyi

Posts Replies Media

Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 30/06/2025

Went looking for the research (I think?) on how playing in a fenced-in area can actually get kids to explore/roam more than in an open area... and the search results for my query were... disheartening 🤣

Screenshot of a black hole of "get off my lawn" search suggestions including: How to keep kids off my driveway, Child trespassing laws, How to keep neighbors kids of my property, Neighbors kids keep playing in my driveway, How to get rid of annoying neighbor kid

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 04/06/2025

In honor of this week's Maintenance Phase episode on ultra-processed food, I must highly recommend the Ritz Crisp & Thin original chips. They kinda look like diet food... but I don't think they are? Anyhow, they're freaking wonderful.

Mockup of Ritz Crisp & Thins Original snack bag

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 28/04/2025

Joe Mungo Reed's new novel, Terrestrial History, is the first book containing time travel that I had zero issues with. It leaves holes in exactly the right places. Recommend!

Cover of Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reed. Gray frame around a picture of green hills and blue sky with a large orange circle transposed on top

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 13/12/2024

I'm sure I'm very late on this—but the United Health CEO's op-ed in @nytimes.com is a joke. A cruel joke. Their mission isn't to help the healthcare system work better—it's to make their shareholders happy. The best way to offer higher-quality care at lower costs is to accept smaller profit margins.

From the NY Times by Andrew Witty, CEO of United Health:
"We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people’s frustrations with it. No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did. It’s a patchwork built over decades. Our mission is to help make it work better. We are willing to partner with anyone, as we always have — health care providers, employers, patients, pharmaceutical companies, governments and others — to find ways to deliver high-quality care and lower costs."

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 04/12/2024

My double-checking the definition of pedantic... ...only to feel called out for being pedantic by the dictionary.

Screenshot of the dictionary entry for "pedantic" which reads: adjective, of or like a pedant, many of the essays are long, dense, and too pedantic to hold great appeal.

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 02/12/2024

So Oxford University Press named 'brain rot' their 2024 Word of the Year. I especially enjoyed learning: "The first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, but has taken on new significance in the digital age."

The words 'brain rot' in a blue-to-red gradient on a creamy pink background

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 26/11/2024

Just went I thought there could only be one weird collection of boobs as other things... there's another. This one is "handdrawn textured" boobs.

A screenshot of pink icons on a white background. Each icon depicts food or a household item rendered as boobs.

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 26/11/2024

I spend a lot of time in Canva, and I come across some WEIRD stuff. But I wasn't expecting to come across this... A featured collection of "modular geometric" breast-themed icons. There are EIGHTY of them. EIGHTY.

Screenshot of square icons in coral, pink, and cream depicting breasts as various things and designs, including lemon breasts, an 8-sided breast flower, a strawberry breast, a solar system breast, etc...

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 18/11/2024

Really enjoying @alexplakias.bsky.social Awkwardness: A Theory—she argues that awkwardness is what we experience when we lack an appropriate social script, or when our scripts are out of whack. This morning I started to wonder if 'parasocial awkwardness' is a thing. Do we have 'parasocial scripts?'🤔

Book cover: blue background with hot pink text that reads Awkwardness: A Theory by Alexandra Plakias

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Tara McMullin @taramcmullin.com · 19/11/2023

Oh yes…

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