Why I joined
@thefp
:
I knew I didn’t fit in when Politico let
@benshapiro
guest write an edition of Playbook. I told a colleague I was stoked because “this helps legitimize us.” They responded that they were taking a mental health day to process ‘Shapirogate.’
“Gentle parents”—please listen to this before you create another kid like me, whose life was nearly derailed by 15+ years of therapy.
By the time I was four or five, it was clear I had emotional problems. I would sometimes sit at the foot of our stairs, hyperventilating over…
American kids are the freest, most privileged kids in all of history. They are also the most anxious, depressed, and medicated generation on record.
What's going on?
Read
@AbigailShrier
's BAD THERAPY, out today, to find out.
And listen here:
How did college campuses like Columbia become the source of so much hate?
The FP’s
@Olivia_Reingold
travels to America’s most elite colleges to find the origins of campus antisemitism.
For anyone looking to make a change, here are some classic Melanie-isms:
After a certain age, you can’t blame your parents anymore.
On homework: done is better than perfect.
Assume you will achieve your dreams, because you will (she's a big believer of “The Secret”).
NPR is why I got into journalism. But it’s also partially why I left legacy media.
By 2018, Trump voters wouldn’t talk to me, and I didn’t blame them—we often painted them as racists. And if I ever booked a white man, I’d better have a reason why.
@uberliner
on NPR’s fall⬇️
I was embedded with “anti-war” activists yesterday for
@TheFP
when they started chanting “death to Israel” and “death to America” in Farsi.
Many were beaming and clapping as they shouted beneath their N95s.
For this story, I set up an online dating profile as a man. My sources were right—the apps are full of demands for "a tall fit guy" or "a provider."
A few swipes in, I spotted this warning on a woman's profile: “If you one of those ‘split the check’ or not wealthy. . . NEXT.”
Young men today feel they must be six feet tall, make six figures, and have six inches downstairs to get a girlfriend—so many have given up trying.
@Olivia_Reingold
on the dating pool dropouts:
A few minutes after news broke that Iran had launched drones and missiles heading toward Israel, a crowd of far-left activists in Chicago started chanting “hands off Iran!”
Me at 20 years old, trapped at a Hawaiian treatment center, heavily medicated on mood stabilizers and antidepressants.
Fast forward to today: I'm now in the process of withdrawing from medications that doctors first prescribed me over 6 years ago.
I’m proud to join
@thefp
because it’s not just what I needed; it's what our country needs.
The Free Press is the town square we have been waiting for.
You are welcome here.
This is for my friends in New York and Los Angeles, who think religion is dead. It’s not—just go to Asbury University, where college kids have been praying for 12 days straight.
My latest for
@TheFP
: a dispatch from the Asbury revival
Over the past few years, editors have inserted the words ‘racist’ and ‘discredited’ into my stories about the covid lab leak theory. Colleagues have reported the overturn of Roe without acknowledging many women celebrated that day.
So, I cold emailed
@BariWeiss
. I’d been speaking up in small ways against newsroom decisions that felt propagandistic but felt moved to do something bigger: to get out of newsrooms that sometimes lacked integrity, and quite frankly bored me.
I’m in the lost and found chat for Columbia’s encampment, where a comrade is currently freaking out that their other comrades might steal their Adderall prescription.
It gave me chills seeing a theater full of people with an appetite for honest discussion. No one booed. There were no disruptions or protestors.
We just listened.
It turns out words are not violence—we can tolerate different opinions. In fact, it’s good for us.
“We believe that you can wrestle with complicated ideas without being contaminated by them.
We believe that you can actually survive being a little bit offended and that that’s actually a really good thing for all of us.”
Part of
@BariWeiss
’ opening remarks at our first live…
My first for
@TheFP
: DeSantis added about 600k votes on top of his 2018 vote count. Lots of those voters are presumably independents or Republicans who didn’t vote last time.
But some are disaffected Dems alienated from their former party.
Introducing: the DeSantis Democrat.
This Saturday, I was in the room with 450 far-left activists hoping to “cancel” the DNC.
At least four attendees have had their homes raided by the FBI for their alleged ties to terrorists. One faces federal charges for his alleged links to Russia.
My latest with
@EliLake
⬇️
The hard left is planning to disrupt the Democratic convention. Read my piece with
@Olivia_Reingold
on what the activists have in store for Chicago this summer.
Columbia's encampment was and is a surveillance state—I obtained an internal document today issued by leaders that said, "If you're not media trained or a media liaison, you should not be talking to press including student press. We don't owe them anything and they can get their…
Reporter
@RIKKISCHLOTT
visits the CHAZ-style encampment at Columbia University. The extremists have a media “law” where they accost journalists for covering their actions in public. The occupiers want only positive propaganda released.
DeSantis flounders. Nikki Haley draws blood. But the story of the night was 39-year-old political newbie
@VivekGRamaswamy
.
Does a guy running as Trump 2.0 have a shot at beating Trump himself?
Our
@Olivia_Reingold
reports from Milwaukee:
Columbia University student flipping me off at a pro-Palestine rally on Thursday.
She was one of hundreds who turned up to cheer on what they believe is a promising uprising by Hamas.
It sure is hard making friendship bracelets and signs for Gaza all day, but luckily for Hamas, the brave students of Columbia University are willing to do it.
My afternoon at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”
On June 18, 2022, I was running late to yoga when an ad came on at the end of
@thehonestlypod
: it was
@bariweiss
saying she was growing her team.
Immediately, I started typing away—this is the cold email that landed me my dream job at
@TheFP
.
This was scrawled outside of our offices this week.
If the antisemites who did this think it will intimidate me and the journalists of
@TheFP
, they don’t know me, they don’t know us, and they have no idea what we stand for.
Most journalists I know don’t listen to Joe Rogan, and never have.
But regardless of what media elites think of him, the podcaster is almost unmatched in terms of reach and fanbase.
The eclipse could’ve been a massive (and thrilling) opportunity for kids to learn about the universe. But instead, hundreds of schools are sending students home for their “safety.”
Many children across North America will engage in "e-learning" during the eclipse on April 8 with school boards closing out of an "abundance of caution", an expression that was widely used during the pandemic to shut things down. Some schools that will remain open will keep…
Thankful to work in a newsroom that believes that on the ground reporting trumps zoom calls.
Often, if reporters get to travel, they’re squeezed and to spend as little time there as possible.
My trip West felt pulled from the heyday of journalism I grew up reading about.
As traditional male rites of passage dwindle, and the online crowd fixates on a Silicon Valley cage match, one member of the Crow Nation is trying to mold brave men out of boys with soft hands.
Wonderful report from Montana by
@Olivia_Reingold
in
@TheFP
:
On the same weekend that Cocaine Bear hit theaters, a little Christian film called Jesus Revolution also debuted.
Now a month later, it's about to break $50M in ticket sales—a Hollywood miracle that has studio execs declaring the faith audience is back.
The left likes to blame “xenophobes” and “MAGA Republicans” for anti-immigrant sentiments, but I spoke with Hispanic immigrants who were “angry” about the arrival of nearly 130,000 migrants into New York City.
“It’s not fair,” a man told me.
‘This Is Not the America I Knew’
The recent wave of nearly 130,000 migrants to New York City is angering Hispanic residents—enough to make them consider voting red.
Reporting by
@Olivia_Reingold
:
Reported for
@bariweiss
on the rise of attacks against pro-life pregnancy centers. I reported this—regardless of my own beliefs on abortion—because I don't want my sources, who told me they had lost faith in law enforcement, to lose faith in journalism.
When I was out in Montana for a
@TheFP
story, our photographer cancelled.
All I had in my bag was my dad's AE-1, a film camera from the 70s.
So I took it out and started shooting.
Meet Korbin Bement, 16, a warrior in a reenactment of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
At the height of BLM, my former newsroom “strongly encouraged” us to attend DEI training. In front of a dozen other journalists, including one who found me “problematic,” I had to describe the racial dynamic of my childhood.
One wrong step, and I knew I could be reported to HR.
I sometimes wonder if the culture warriors on either side of the DEI debate have ever actually completed one of these trainings. The idea that people find them frightening or challenging or whatever is wildly out of keeping with what they’re actually like (an inane waste of time)
This is the job I always dreamed about. Find you a reporting job that takes you to Miami, and into pawn shops, strip clubs and hipster NFT events.
Honored to be here.
Critics often claim that only “extreme MAGA republicans” are concerned about the record influx of migrants.
Tell that to the 18 black voters I recently met in Chicago for
@TheFP
—they’re all “lifelong Democrats” who say they’re done with the party.
It's not just women in "pussy hats" who are livid over the GOP's abortion bans—it's Republicans, too.
A dozen conservatives told me they're fed up with how far their party has gone to outlaw abortion.
For the past month,
@olivia_reingold
has interviewed Republicans upset over their party’s increasingly stringent policies on abortion.
When the recent Alabama IVF ruling came through, she picked up the phone and started calling conservatives.
Coffee in 2020: $4.00
Coffee now: $6.00, plus .75¢ for iced, an extra .75¢ for oat milk, and a suggested 20-35% tip
Sorry but I can’t tip the whole world—not in this economy.
My anti-tipping screed for
@TheFP
:
Reporting for
@TheFP
in the Columbia “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” where Marc Lamont Hill is speaking.
“What happened on October 7th was awful,” he said. “But history did not begin on October 7th. Y’all pay too much money for tuition to not go deeper than October 7th.”
Ivy League activists say they’re standing up against "the violent Zionist settler entity" of Israel. So why are they having so much fun?
Welcome to Columbia's 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment,' where students gossip about the Zionists and make bracelets:
“I stood up there crying, telling people about how this week I've been so depressed and feel like I'm at my end. And a revival happens the day I feel like I'm at my breaking point.”
— Gracie Turner, 21, on finding her faith again at the Asbury revival
Standoff with police forming at NYU and anti-Israel protesters right now.
Reporting for
@TheFP
.
“The NYPD and NYU think they can intimidate us,” the man leading the chant told the crowd. “We are unafraid.”
Since October 7, I’ve been to more than a dozen anti-Israel rallies. The organizers insist that they’re not antisemitic. But attend enough of these events, and you’ll eventually start to see the swastikas.
And yet, this is not an ignorant mob—many activists told me they had Ivy…
Since October 7, I’ve attended more than a dozen anti-Israel rallies for
@TheFP
. This is not an ignorant mob—many protestors told me they had Ivy League degrees.
How did the most educated generation in history become the most sympathetic to Hamas?
Many students at the forefront of the Asbury revival said they'd been praying for a resurgence like this.
One Gen Z student told me: “I think our generation desperately needed this to happen and encounter God in this way.”
The new frontier of the Ozempic craze: already thin women. Meet the patients getting the drug through medical spas.
One woman featured got down to 90 pounds on off-brand Ozempic.
Experts say this is legal. Ethical? They say that's another question.
This story from
@rupasubramanya
proves that DEI sessions are not always the open conversations they purport to be. And when people push back, as Richard Bilkszto did, there can be dire consequences.
A cautionary tale from
@thefp
.
That’s why I flew down to Austin last week to interview Joe Rogan at his new club, Comedy Mothership.
As one comic told me: “I haven’t seen these guys talk to a journalist in years.”
Until now.
Turns out Diplo is a huge believer in God—he told me, “probably my biggest inspiration for faith or religion might be Jesus."
Welcome to Secular Sabbath—proof that even when church attendance declines, people still search for a higher power.
Most DeSantis Democrats are lone wolves, often breaking with the way their family or friends vote, but know in their gut they are not alone.
Read my
@TheFP
piece here:
Democratic consultants say anywhere from 10 - 20% of registered Democrats ended up voting for
@GovRonDeSantis
.
These are “working class, bootstrap, grit, pro-union people,” according to
@bennyjohnson
, who says many live in his Tampa neighborhood.
One of the most shocking parts about the antisemitism on American colleges, is that so much of the hate against Jews has been captured on video.
And yet many still question whether the violence caught on camera amounts to antisemitism.
Fed up with Big Agriculture, the homesteading movement is growing.
Many I spoke with started by growing their own food, then eventually went “off-the-grid,” finding ways to supply their own water and even electricity.
One woman washes her clothes by hand.
A growing number of Americans are rejecting processed foods and living off the land.
@Olivia_Reingold
meets the homesteaders who say ‘things mean more when you have less.’
In her latest piece for
@TheFP
,
@rupasubramanya
uncovers how white collar ideologues are using your life savings to fund their pet projects, like diversity, equity, and inclusion training programs
What has become of your retirement fund? Enter: ESG.
The Twitter files exposed that social media companies operate with political bias. What if Google has the same problem? Ex-Google employees tell
@FrancescaABlock
& me that activist employees are demanding that DEI infiltrate “every single thing.”
Faith-based films suddenly mean box office gold. Sony, Lionsgate, and MGM each have Christian divisions that have made successful films, and the hit movie “Jesus Revolution” likely means more of this content will be greenlit.
By
@Olivia_Reingold
:
Biggest applause yet for
@nickgillespie
as he wrapped up his opening argument at
@TheFP
debate:
“We should be building a wall around the welfare state, not the United States.”
Many Desantis Democrats speak like people who have not been listened to, who need to tell their stories sequentially because they worry if they miss a step, they’ll be explained away with bias. They often preempt interruption to explain why they need to keep going.
Addiction activists say they’re fighting Kensington's opioid crisis with "dignity and safety," but residents say they're "destroying an entire community."
My dispatch for
@TheFP
on how one neighborhood is pushing back against harm reduction policies:
I found DeSantis Democrats in all parts of the city—Little Havana, an Upper East Side strip club and South Beach. Most were motivated by fundamental economic concerns, like inflation. Some were tired of having their language policed by friends and family.
The Democrats I spoke with who voted for DeSantis are not unlike someone who has been visited by an extraterrestrial; they have seen something—either an unfair tax system or a culture of enforced homogeneity—that no one else seems to believe.
“People were elated.”
The FP’s
@olivia_reingold
recounts on
@foxandfriends
the moment American activists cheered for Iran’s attack on Israel. Read more in Olivia’s article:
The Asbury revival started when Zach Meerkreebs, a volunteer soccer coach, gave "the least planned, least studied, least organized" sermon of his life.
Thinking he'd bombed, he immediately texted his wife, "latest stinker. I'll be home soon."
But that sermon ignited something.
Even in the bluest cities, Americans are pushing back against harm reduction, saying it’s “enabling” drug users—and ruining neighborhoods.
“Progressives have basically turned harm reduction into mass enablement of addiction,”
@shellenberger
told me.
Now almost 50 years old, the camera has a light leak it in and needs to be serviced.
Here's a photo of Jim Real Bird, the Crow tribal member who hosts an annual reenactment of the Battle of the Little Bighorn every June.
I am a lifelong cold emailer. It’s what got me this job, and also an afternoon with my hero, Gay Talese.
When you act like your words are powerful, you’ll often get a response.
“For as long as I’ve been literate, I’ve been writing to strangers. Sometimes it’s to people I admire; other times it’s to someone who has something I want.”
@Olivia_Reingold
’s lifelong habit netted her a job and an afternoon in Gay Talese’s company.
This is the mob that tried to intimidate
@bariweiss
.
Perhaps they thought that yelling “baby killers” would convince us to go home. But they cannot shame us out of something for which we are proud: we are Jews, and like our ancestors who came before us—we choose freedom.
“American Jews, having lived as if we were immune from history, find ourselves in the belly of the beast once more.”
Watch
@bariweiss
State of World Jewry Address at the
@92ndStreetY
.
“They’re more concerned about their idea of improving the world than they are with whether it actually improves my life.”
How one woman feels about seeing her savings go towards climate + diversity investments…at the cost of her retirement fund.
@rupasubramanya
for
@TheFP
The crowd is pouring in for
@TheFP
’s debate—so far I’ve met a journalism student, a native New Yorker who calls himself a “truth seeker,” and two best friends from high school.
This fall, several Jewish students at Tulane University were assaulted by a pro-Palestine mob.
And yet, when I later spoke to someone who saw the violence, their message was: “Tulane is another outpost of Zionism in this city."
No mention of the violence.
Jim Real Bird (center) has hosted a reenactment of the Battle of the Little Bighorn for the past 31 years.
He says he used to be able to send 60 warriors galloping down the battlefield, but now the most he can get together is 30, maybe 40.
“Times are changing,” he says.
In elementary school, I held a Great Rebellion against attending Hebrew school—and I've regretted it ever since.
When I wrote in my latest
@thefp
story that each generation of American Jews seem to grow less connected to their faith, I was talking about the data—but also myself.
Hello from New York City, where there are “no human is illegal” stickers everywhere and I’ve ground dinner parties to a halt by mentioning the border. But here at
@TheFP
, we believe in something a little old fashioned: debate. Not name calling, not cancellation campaigns—debate.…
A sign at last nights pro-Palestine rally in New York City: “queer Muslims for the intifada.” Other signs included: “Zionism is terrorism” and “Zionism is antisemitism.”
Reporting for
@TheFP
.
Democratic loyalists in Florida blame their loss on misinformation or lackluster fundraising.
Christine Alexandria Olivo, a Democrat who lost her House bid by over 40-points, blames turnout. “Democrats did not come out to vote,” she said.
UPDATE: some of the students seem to be panicking.
They called 9-1-1 because they’re worried one of them could go into toxic shock.
They’re also worried she’ll be arrested if she leaves the building.
Meet Kelley Stafford, a mother in Trussville, Alabama, who conceived her son through IVF. Now, she worries she'll have to carry her remaining embryos, even though most are likely to miscarry.
“I wouldn’t say that’s a pro-life decision," she said about the recent IVF ruling.