You should take this. It's awesome. Even if you're not writing op eds, it's helpful in a general structured thinking about writing kind of way.
NYT opinion writer, Slate Money co-host, Dem messaging consultant, NYU prof, former EIC The New York Observer, Dealbreaker founder and Gawker founding editor. Brooklyn via Bama. Rednexican. Striver with no chill. https://linktr.ee/elizabethspiers
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You should take this. It's awesome. Even if you're not writing op eds, it's helpful in a general structured thinking about writing kind of way.
I also recently added two new workshops: one on personal essay, and an experimental one about idea generation and building a writing practice. (Since the latter is new, it's a low price point--$50--while I work out any kinks.)
My next opinion writing workshop is next week. I teach participants how to structure and write op-eds, what editors look for, and how to pitch. And I do a one on one meeting with each participant that includes a round of editing on a piece. Info is here: www.elizabethspiers.com/workshops/
It sounds like the surrogate doesnât have the money to do it but this woman called up her employer and told them the surrogate was committing insurance fraud. That is the kind of thing libel and defamation laws are for.
And she thinks god told her to torment her surrogate?! Just bonkers.
This story is enraging. I donât know if the principal is just naturally unhinged or developed a raging sense of entitlement and need to control everything via money from working in SV as a VC, but holy shit www.wired.com/story/the-ba...
They were meant to be lasting reference sources. The hand lettering here is crazy.
We had some overlap at the Observer and Chloe is an excellent writer, among other things. The coffee table book analogy is basically where magazines like Vogue started. I have some issues of Fortune from the 30s and theyâre gorgeous. Hereâs one:
The Trump administration used Benny Johnson's claims that his house was "burned to the ground" and that "people were murdered in my front yard" to justify its federal takeover of DC. @kenbensinger.bsky.social found out that Johnson made it all up. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/b...
U.S. Army veteran Bajun Mavalwalla II has been charged with âconspiracy to impede or injure officersâ for participating in a mild anti ICE protest where he wasn't even arrested. The current acting U.S. attorney, Pete Serrano, has described the J6 rioters as âpolitical prisoners.â
This is the way
At some point, you have to defend democracy, not just pivot to talking points, or there won't be fair future elections to win www.cnn.com/2025/08/31/p... What I told @ronbrownstein.bsky.social (joking/not joking):
An officer briefly became the face of Trumpâs brutality mandate in DC after popping up in various videos like federal Forrest Gump. @jsweetli.bsky.social and I investigated and found heâs a 26-year-old former Eagle Scout named Patrick OâHanlon who says he was just doing his job. Our report:
Veterans have an obligation to reject this kind of chum being tossed into the water. Republics donât lay down laurels for eternity, soldiers just want to go home. Warriors demand this trash and mere garrison states provide it. The U.S. can be better. Itâs a superpower to reject putrid nostalgia.
It is insane to me that the richest man in the world is using his global megaphone to call for millions of British people to be rounded up and deported (including my family) and somehow this isnât even news.
you thought I was stupid, but in reality, you thinking that I was stupid means that the stupid one is actually you
My first op-ed workshop coming up and I've added two NEW workshops. One is a reworked version of my personal essay workshop, and the other is about idea generation and developing a practice. The second is experimental so the price point is low ($50) in case I suck www.elizabethspiers.com/workshops/
Those willing, by contrast, to trade away the rights and dignity of transgender people or the poor cannot be considered friends of democracy any more than those who were willing to countenance second-class status for blacks and Jews.
middle age means knowing the names of the people you knew in high school whoâll believe that trumpâs been replaced by a body double, but only if you can link them to a 45-minute YouTube covering the basics of the theory
Thatâs not true at all. I donât think you read the paper if thatâs what you think.
What DSA folks do you have experience with ? AOC is DSA too and she was still standing behind Biden toward the end precisely *because* Black voters voted for him
Or just Google me and note that Iâm a progressive whoâs worked with DSA candidates centrists love to bash?
Or maybe this one I wrote where I talk about bipartisan appeals as stupid fantasy: www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/o...
Then maybe you should read the column I wrote where I very much did specify. www.elizabethspiers.com/why-dems-kee...
Are you under the impression I have chummy ties with Republicans or shifting goalposts?
(The second is also part of something larger around creativity that I'm thinking about building out.)
My first op-ed workshop coming up and I've added two NEW workshops. One is a reworked version of my personal essay workshop, and the other is about idea generation and developing a practice. The second is experimental so the price point is low ($50) in case I suck www.elizabethspiers.com/workshops/
Love question 8 says âWhat are the first three words of the Constitution?â then look at the first possible answer.
RFK Jr looks like heâs been sampling the diseases at the CDC
When it happens, the right will blame vaccines
Itâs not just that every accusation is a confession; every accusation is also a rationalization. Trump constantly pretended Biden was personally directing prosecutions of Trump & allies, when of course DOJ norms would have made it unthinkable for the White House to have any direct contact.
Attacking "ingratitude" is his specialty in dealing w non-Christian "inferiors" like Mamdani and Zelensky. Given that Vance seemingly has no moral principals & not much public support, he fears those popular kids (heroes) who do.
"Trump and his ilk arenât only keeping immigrants out, theyâre setting up a new social hierarchy that places the most predatory, bloody-fanged among us at the top and seeks to subordinate caution and compassion wherever theyâre found." www.liberalcurrents.com/let-it-burn-...
Just saw a video of Bill Maher calling Mamdani a âstraight up communistâ and I continue to be struck by the depiction of policies associated with the New Deal Order as far-left extremism, which goes along with a refusal to depict Trumpâs unprecedented authoritarian actions as far-right extremism.
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago. Here is the text of his email shared with me:
Accusing someone of criminal activity is protected speech? The president maybe but a fed governor?
Well then donât tar the whole thing with something you know is irrelevant to whether the pub deserves funding
You smeared the entire publication because you didnât like a freelancerâs personal social post. Do you expect me to nod and agree?
I would say if they know a mayoral candidateâs position on student loans theyâre unlikely to be low engagement enough to swing but I agree in principle
I can think of stupid blanket statements made by every reporter at every publication in existence but ours seems to be the only one you think shouldnât be funded because he was hyperbolic? Ok, sure.
No, you are confusing it with PRIMARY, which is a different legal designation from PRINCIPAL
I said she could. Read slower so you understand the words. Unless you are personally the Trump administration, she is not suing you.
We pay him to do that, not to cheerlead, and weâre not going to censor him on his personal platforms (not that we could anyway) if he has criticisms he wants to air
Iâm sorry Steven rubs you the wrong way but his reporting on GOP malfeasance â which is what he spends his professional efforts on â is part of what makes the site good and helps fight fascism
None of the people whoâve said no to funding us have talked about Stevenâs socials. They donât know who he is and donât look at specific bylines (because *most* people donât look at specific bylines). They object for the reasons I stated in the piece
People are allowed to have personal opinions at every decent journalistic publication. I think Hakeem Jeffries sucks because heâs more enthralled with his AIPAC support than supporting a Dem for NYc mayor. That doesnât make me a nihilistic Dem basher (which Steven is not to begin with)
And taking out a mortgage on an investment property is not even unusual much less some sort of civil violation. Everyone who owns a second home expecting it to appreciate is taking out a mortgage on an investment property
Yes and principal is not the same thing as primary and does not mean that it is where she lives full time. It is a legal term of art. Anyone can have multiple principal residences. They cannot have multiple primary residences.
She already is, which youâd know if you werenât getting your info directly from right wing idiots. She is currently suing the administration.
Heâs also done some of the best local reporting in TX and advocacy journalism doesnât demand that people be cheerleaders for the party or refrain from criticism. But the idea that The Barbed Wire institutionally is nihilistic and Dem bashing is just wrong
Comments where?
We also donât censor criticism of Dems when they fuck up tho.
You can look at the front page of the barbed wire right now and decide if weâre nihilistic Dem bashers. If youâre going to make that argument, Iâd like to see examples
Heâs a freelance contributor and we donât tell them what they can and canât say. In the same way that the NYt doesnât dictate my opinion.
We only have one male editorial staffer and I havenât seen him write anything like what youâre talking about
Who and where?
No she did not. And frankly she could sue you for that too.
Itâs not an either / or. You can build something compelling and provocative without lying to people
All the time. Especially when itâs someone young whoâs pushing for changeâAOC, for example
Who the fuck are you talking about? When will I push back on Trump? Have you read anything Iâve written besides the post youâre responding to?
I think (1) is a wild oversimplification of whatâs happening.
Same
I unambiguously hate them. Theyâre Republicans who donât want to be thought of as bigots.
I donât knee jerk anything â I have worked on campaigns as a professional, advised donors, and so on, so am obviously not just being a poster here. But I still get accused of it by people who donât like what Iâm saying
Iâve only accused people of that when theyâve told me to shut up and get with the program, which I get every time anything even mildly critical of what weâre doing
And fwiw, I was not even a good cheerleader when I was an actual cheerleader
There are some people who think being a good Democrat is being a cheerleader and not questioning leadership. I think thatâs (ironically) authoritarian nonsense.
Next weekâs apparently needed post: Why Discussing Things Dems Are Doing Wrong Is A Necessary Part of the Political Process and Not Kneejerk Dem Bashing or Exclusive of Fighting Fascism
This has nothing to do with party reform though I could write a separate post about that
No, in the post Iâm arguing against decision makers who are risk averse and think funding centrist projects is safer because theyâre centrist and also just refuse to take risks generally
And they are rooted in a core misbelief that ideology is a linear continuum and the average person is in the middle.
You donât see it because theyâre not funding it!! That is my whole point! The centrist projects that get funded refuses to fight the culture war, give Trump voters the benefit of the doubt and refuse to acknowledge that the problems are not just about economic insecurity. They are consensus seeking
And not understanding for example that the median voter is a Black woman whose politics are closer to progressive politics than centrist politics is part of the problem
And most of the attacks I see in terms of sheer volume are centrists whining about the left for things the right says theyâre doing but they arenât. And progressives on the ground - not on peopleâs favorite podcasts or whatever - are not mostly young or white.
No I just disagree with you. I think thereâs an ageism problem with attacks on progressives too because most of the attacks I see assume that progressives are young and naive. And that justifies baseless assertions that theyâre unrealistic, wield purity tests etc
please read (and follow) @espiers.bsky.social Why Dems Keep Screwing Up Media Efforts www.elizabethspiers.com/why-dems-kee...
I mean I think that really requires an extremely narrow definition of what a Dem is. And itâs contradicted by voting patterns and engagement
master class from @espiers.bsky.social www.elizabethspiers.com/why-dems-kee...
Those are all very different things. I think if the paper has an institutional bias, itâs geared toward the values of an older generation
How do you know that? Are you in editorial meetings? Because I am party to that process and frankly you give it too much credit for coordination, consistency and agenda.
Who?
I think you think critiquing party missteps is some kind of disloyalty. It is in fact part of the small d democratic process and an integral part of a healthy party. Monolithic consensus is not. That's what you see in authoritarian parties, like today's GOP
Not to mention it implies that the critiques and needs and preferences of a vast swath of Democrats don't count. They're "anti-Democratic". Which is bullshit. Centrists are no more the "real" Democrats than progressives are.
For a reason that I think has to do with the stereotype that progressives skew younger, this is only considered disloyalty when progressives do it. Zohran Mamdani is a Dem and so is AOC but I don't see anyone calling the centrists bashing them anti-Democratic.
And I am saying if David thinks progressive media outlets spend all their time bashing Democrats he talking about some people on social media. More importantly: those of who are progressive don't spend all our time bashing Dems, we try to push them left. centrists try to push them right
Courier and the Barbed Wire are very different projects. I know because I was an early advisor to Courier too. And read my original post. It is not remotely just about Chorus and influencers.
I have literally defended and supported Mamdani in two columns now. No one has stopped me. My last column was entirely about the failures of neoliberalism. And other columnists have written supportive pieces too. I would not conflate the views of a couple of specific columnists with the whole
People who say that have never read a progressive media publication in their lives. I suggest you start here: TheBarbedWire.com
Best definition I've come across:
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. The big fallacy that conservatives don't get is that *plenty of liberals are armed too* they just don't need to advertise it,
Your dad is a wise man
Also true. And not with like, 100 guns.
Yep. I have a family full of hunters and grew up around guns and if you saw someone hoarding weapons like this in the 80s youâd think they need to be checked into a psychiatric unit, and now itâs normalized on the right
Yep
Too many of them think what theyâre doing is owning a lib when theyâre making a lib think theyâre creepy weirdos
And a lot of them get angrier as time goes on, not because things get worse for them but because they never get to live out this dystopian fantasy where they get to be the hero taking out the bad guys and thereâs nowhere for them to put their rage about it
And make no mistake, theyâre afraid. Of everything. Not just change and displacement and automation and so on. Those arsenals of guns are meant to intimidate because deep down they know they would never be convincingly powerful without them
Which is why they also imagine that theyâre on the verge of attack by people in big cities, trans people, Muslims, feminists, socialists etc â these are people they never or rarely encounter if theyâre white and live in a rural area
Thereâs a fantasy these guys have where the shit hits the fan and theyâre heroes and they need to manufacture villains and convince themselves that there are people out to get them to sustain the fantasy. The people that they imagine of course are not people like them.
