When the Going Gets Weird on Twitter...
... you dust off your Substack, obviously
Hi! It’s been a while.
That’s my default start for all Substack posts, lol. But maybe not for long? Twitter is getting weird(er). Perhaps it really is time to diversify.
So, in the interest of eggs in different baskets—oh goodness, is that a Twitter pun? I didn’t mean it, I swear!—I’m dusting off this Substack, and also joining Mastodon (find me @enbrown@journa.host), and inviting people to follow me on Instagram.*
I keep toying with using this space to write about things I’m interested in that don’t make sense to write about at Reason—parenting, nutrition, cooking, travel, diabetes, health, etc. But finding time for additional writing is difficult. I have a one-year-old**. I write a weekday morning newsletter for Reason. I co-manage a nonprofit that is woefully behind on the things we want to get to. I’m now a professional affiliate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism school and I have a few nascent projects in the works, too. Plus, I like family time, and sleep, and an organized house, and bad TV. (Did you know there is a whole station on Samsung Smart TV of people building tiny homes? There is!)
Nonetheless, that’s the long-term plan. Maybe.
(First up, eventually, will be this hot take: Motherhood is much better than everyone on the internet wants to tell you it is! Perhaps also: It’s OK to be an old mom! And then I want to correct 8 million myths about diabetes, and to show you around Cincinnati.)
But today: just some links. To stuff I’ve been working on since my last update like this in <checks notes> <sheesh> December 2021. Plus a random collection of things I’ve read recently that I think you might like, too.
What I’ve Been Writing
My most recent piece in Reason’s print edition was a review of astronaut ice cream. I got to expense astronaut ice cream for this, obviously. I love my job.
My last Reason cover story was on a deep dive into the battle against online porn—a fight driven by religious conservative groups posing as feminists and sustained by tactics that include lawsuits, propaganda campaigns, and trying to cut off adult entertainers’ access to financial services. That piece—The New Campaign for a Sex-Free Internet—came out in March, and shared the cover with Jacob Grier’s excellent piece on nouveau nicotine prohibition.
(Stay tuned for my next cover story, a defense of algorithms, coming up in Reason’s January 2023 issue.)
I’ve covered a lot of abortion news recently, since… you know. A few such pieces:
• Abortion Bans Bring First Amendment Battles, Too — Looking back at how abortion advertising bans played out last century may give us some idea what the future holds for speech about abortion.
• Ending Roe Threatens More Than Abortion Rights — Banning abortion drastically expands the state, sometimes in unforeseen ways.
• Can the FDA Stop States From Banning Abortion Pills? — The FDA could work with the Department of Justice to sue states over mifepristone bans. But should it?
• The Moderate Majority on Abortion — Most Americans oppose total bans on abortion, yet favor limits on late-term abortion.
I’ve also been writing on FOSTA, internet infrastructure, First Amendment battles, opioids, the fight to decriminalize sex work in Canada, Satanic Panic, the FBI’s “human trafficking stings,” medical care for transgender minors, pirate libraries, bikini baristas, and birth control, to name a few things.
Talk Talk Talk
And I’ve been on podcasts—so many podcasts! Here are a few of my favorites:
I also debated British rad-fem Julie Bindel about prostitution for the Soho Forum:
My Colleagues Are Very Smart
And you should read them, too.
If you want to know what the hell’s been going on with the Libertarian Party these days, see: “Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party,” “Libertarian Party Faces State Rebellions,” and “The Libertarian Party's Internal Strife Is as Old as the Party Itself,” all by Reason Senior Editor Brian Doherty
If you want to understand rising illiberalism in the U.S., read “The Authoritarian Convergence” by Reason Senior Editor Stephanie Slade
If you’re like, “what’s up with this new book banning trend?”— Reason has a whole issue on that.
If you want to know what what old-time saloons can tell us about the pandemic’s damage, see this piece from Reason Features Editor Peter Suderman.
If you want smart analysis about abortion and the constitution, read “Alito's Leaked Abortion Opinion Misunderstands Unenumerated Rights,” “Alito's Abortion Ruling Overturning Roe Is an Insult to the 9th Amendment,” and “No, State Legislators Can't Ban Interstate Abortion Travel,” from Reason Senior Editor Damon Root
Etcetera
I read semi-interesting things every day but, thinking back, it’s hard to remember what they are. Here, however, are a few random pieces that actually stuck in my head:
Whatever Happened to the Starter Home? “The economics of the housing market, and the local rules that shape it, have squeezed out entry-level homes.”
They Survived the Who Concert from ‘Hell.’ Now, They Finally Have Closure — In which my husband (Asawin Suebsaeng) gets to take my dad and uncle to a Who concert 43 years after the one they attended back when a bunch of people were killed (and my uncle saved someone’s life).
Why I Keep Getting Mistaken for a Conservative — from Kat Rosenfield
The Incoherence and Cruelty of Mental Illness as Meme — from Freddie deBoer
Is There a Constitutional Right to Sex Work? — “The Supreme Court recognizes the right of consenting adults to an erotic life free of state control. Given that, it shouldn’t matter whether sex is your job.”
Mandatory reporting was supposed to stop severe child abuse. It punishes poor families instead. — “After the Penn State scandal, Pennsylvania required more professionals to report suspected child abuse. A flood of unfounded allegations followed, ensnaring thousands of low-income parents.”
Taking the ‘Free’ Out of ‘Freelance’ — “A proposed Labor Department rule could harm millions of American workers, for no good policy reason.”
*What a sad, sad world when Meta-owned platforms are starting to seem superior to my beloved Twitter! Come back, Jack!
**
I'll be blunt - I think Twitter was and is a complete shitshow. And by that, I include the pre-Musk version that, for some mysterious reason, some people actually think was a good platform. My last straw: After seeing a bunch of Twitterati openly call Kmele Foster a "house nigger" (their exact words), I tweeted that even though Kmele has opinions and a class position that's very different from most of the Black community, calling him a "house nigger" is totally out of line. For that, I was tagged for "hate speech". That later led to a "review" of my account that got me kicked. And there's no actual appeal for a bad decision like that - the appeal's process is absolutely non-responsive, something I've heard from every other person who's attempted it. That speaks volumes about the ideological bias of that platform and why I don't want to be part of a space where I have to abide by a stacked set of rules.
In general, it's a platform for mob action and bullying, and all Twitter "trust and safety" does is ensure that center left "social justice" types get to do the lion's share of the bullying. Nor do I have any better expectations of Mastodon, which is where most of these awful bluecheck types seem to be migrating. As to Elon Musk, I actually agree with his stated reasons for wanting to change Twitter's moderation policies, but his execution is off. But if he destroys Twitter in the process, I take some satisfaction in that, and in the tears of the hateful bluecheck types who are losing their clubhouse.
In general, though, I'm glad to be off of Twitter, as my outlook on life is better without constant exposure to the negativity inherent in that place. The only downside is that I miss out on the primary venue of a few of my favorite writers, you being among them. And Substack is particularly a good venue, because it's a return to the thoughtful, longform kind of writing that was largely lost when so many writers went from blogging to microblogging.