Laurel Wamsley
@laurelwams.bsky.social
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I’m a writer and editor living in Berkeley. Recently an NPR correspondent in DC.
I was supposed to be taking Amtrak from Sacramento back to Berkeley right now. But we were told the train was cancelled and others evacuated due to a wildfire by the bridge in Benicia. Taking a car back now and saw a train headed to Sac.
1 day ago
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I live in Berkeley and haven’t seen “Mar-a-Lago face” once. Got a bite this afternoon in the town of Danville and saw three!
4 days ago
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we’ve been doing our part to build the future of US soccer by showing our son a zillion hours of world cup
10 days ago
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While they’re doing whatever they like, I feel like FIFA should decide that Mexico and England both get to go through
10 days ago
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Trieu
18 days ago
listening to wimbledon matches is delightful
www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/intera...
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The Wimbledon Radio
https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/interactive/radio?channel=radioWim
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Are there other corpse flowers blooming right now in the Bay Area, beside the one at Golden Gate Park?
21 days ago
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Turkiye or Turkiy-nay?
21 days ago
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Turns out the real perk of hosting the World Cup is that the games are on at the right time to actually watch them. 🇲🇽🇿🇦⚽️
about 1 month ago
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I ran into this same lame gatekeeping when I tried to play volleyball at DC’s Raymond rec center last year. One group had taken over the entire open gym, and was essentially closed to new members.
www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/p...
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‘Their own personal country club’: Battle over S.F. park’s tennis courts reaches boiling point
When San Francisco residents arrived to play on public tennis courts, they said that members of a private club refused to move, insisting that outsiders had to join or wait hours to play.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/parks-tennis-court-battle-22265411.php
about 2 months ago
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Seems easy to write a book on a topic if you just use AI to make up a bunch of relevant quotes to cite.
www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...
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Book on Truth in the Age of A.I. Contains Quotes Made Up by A.I.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/business/media/future-of-truth-ai-quotes.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
about 2 months ago
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Happy Oakland Ballers opening day to all who celebrate! ⚾️☀️
about 2 months ago
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A typical DC day: sitting at Tatte watching the National Guard stroll by
3 months ago
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I’m back in DC this week. It feels like coming home.
3 months ago
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When I’m trying to figure out how to bike to downtown Oakland and the route suggested is terrifying, I don’t know whether to blame Google Maps or the bike infrastructure. I guess I’ll do both!
4 months ago
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Hard to work inside on a beautiful day. Hard to work outside without wanting to nap in a hammock.
4 months ago
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This is genuinely wild: there is only one member of Congress who says he doesn’t believe in God.
www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
4 months ago
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Julia Angwin
4 months ago
I'm suing Grammarly over its paid AI feature that presented editing suggestions as if they came from me - and many other writers and journalists - without consent. State law requires consent before someone's name can be used for commercial purposes.
www.wired.com/story/gramma...
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Grammarly Is Facing a Class Action Lawsuit Over Its AI ‘Expert Review’ Feature
The feature, which Grammarly shut down Wednesday, presented editing suggestions as if they came from established authors and academics—without their consent.
https://www.wired.com/story/grammarly-is-facing-a-class-action-lawsuit-over-its-ai-expert-review-feature/
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the East Bay has emerged from Winter back into Sunhat
5 months ago
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Spicing up the commute
5 months ago
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Just sent my 3yo back to preschool after three days of my partner and I juggling childcare and our jobs at the same time. (What a relief to just have one job again!) The idea that parents did this for like a year+ during covid is unreal.
5 months ago
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oh man, ice dancing — the costumes, the tears, the brutal heartbreak
5 months ago
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Drew Harwell
5 months ago
The Washington Post just laid off its entire award-winning photo team. They were our eyes in places we'll never see. It's a horrifying loss at a time when lying governments, propaganda and AI slop are on the rise.
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Caitlin Gibson
5 months ago
The team behind Post Reports is utterly brilliant, truly just magnificent. I've absolutely loved working with them, and I am so stunned and heartbroken to see this important, illuminating work go dark. Please listen to their farewell. Please hire them.
www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/pos...
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Goodbye from "Post Reports" - The Washington Post
A heartfelt thanks to our listeners from "Post Reports" host Martine Powers, and the rest of the team who made this show happen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/goodbye-from-post-reports/
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Clint Smith
5 months ago
Was driving my kids to school and the first thing on the radio was reporting about Trump's video depicting the Obamas as apes and I think many people still don't fully appreciate what it means to have to raise Black children in a country where the president is so brazenly and consistently racist
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I love the Olympics
5 months ago
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The hard thing about moving across the country is now several friends back in DC are having babies and I’m not there to squeeze them :(
5 months ago
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Drew Harwell
5 months ago
I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.
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So sad and mad about what’s happened to the Washington Post. As a friend of several Posties, a longtime reader of the paper, and as an American who needs to know what the hell is going on — this is bad, bad news.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
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Washington Post Lays Off More Than 300 Journalists
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/business/media/washington-post-layoffs.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
5 months ago
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www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
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Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to ‘Nationalize’ Elections
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/trump-nationalize-elections.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
5 months ago
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Julia Simon
6 months ago
Please listen to this story from my
@npr.org
colleague Adrian Florido about a fruit seller named Jesus
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He sold me fresh fruit for years. I was there when immigration agents took him
NPR's Adrian Florido has been buying fruit from the same fruit cart vendor in his LA neighborhood for years. On Tuesday, Adrian was there when federal immigration agents swooped in and arrested him.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/29/nx-s1-5690351/he-sold-me-fresh-fruit-for-years-i-was-there-when-immigration-agents-took-him
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Amanda Katz
6 months ago
Legal asylum seeker, no criminal record, working two jobs, dragged out of smashed car and kidnapped by ICE as his US citizen newborn cries in a car seat in the freezing cold in Maine and his wife who barely speaks English pleads for help. WTAF
add a skeleton here at some point
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Vermont Public
6 months ago
In a news release, Collins says Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told her that the surge of ICE agents that began recently is over and that the agency will continue "normal operations that have been ongoing for many years."
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Susan Collins says ICE surge in Maine has ended
The Republican made the announcement in a news release, saying she had spoken to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Collins had previously asked Noem to pause the surge in Maine an...
https://www.vermontpublic.org/2026-01-29/susan-collins-says-ice-surge-in-maine-has-ended
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Jameel Jaffer
6 months ago
Jeff Bezos should be a hero and donate the Washington Post to a charity. Bezos would get a big charitable deduction; the rest of us would get a newspaper dedicated to the public interest. This post from Steven Waldman is from a year ago but it's still a great idea.
www.cjr.org/opinion/wald...
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Jeff Bezos Should Donate the Washington Post to a Charity
His conflicts of interests are insurmountable. He can take a heroic path to strengthen journalism.
https://www.cjr.org/opinion/waldman-bezos-washington-post-donation-charity-goodwill-endorsements-harris-spiked.php
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Bruce Springsteen
6 months ago
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free
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Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
https://youtu.be/wWKSoxG1K7w?si=7ciYwNLv34RrdD1p
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PBS News
6 months ago
French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September, as the idea of setting a minimum age for use of the platforms gains momentum across Europe.
https://to.pbs.org/4rknpfD
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French lawmakers approve ban on social media for kids under 15
President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the legislation be fast-tracked and it will now be discussed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/french-lawmakers-approve-ban-on-social-media-for-kids-under-15
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Phil Lewis
6 months ago
"Every day, I wake up and see the news and I'm horrified. I think it is crazy that some people make it sound like it's acceptable, like the murder of civilians is acceptable." - Victor Wembanyama says about the killings in Minnesota Via DonHarris4/X
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M. Nolan Gray 🥑
6 months ago
Wow: San Jose had zero market-rate multifamily starts in 2024. And this is a generally pretty pro-housing administration. Cities like San Jose urgently need the state to fix condominium presale and defect law to get more projects pencilling.
www.mercurynews.com/2026/01/26/s...
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San Jose could add financial perks to help speed up housing development
San Jose is exploring the expansion of its multi-family incentive program and tax and fee reductions for some commercial-to-residential conversions downtown
https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/01/26/san-jose-could-add-financial-perks-to-help-speed-up-housing-development/
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I'm having a bad day and I tried to put it in perspective with everything else going on. Now I am just a wreck.
6 months ago
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Kristen Radtke
6 months ago
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being.
@theverge.com
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I grew up with Alex Pretti
The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.
https://www.theverge.com/policy/868567/alex-pretti-minneapolis-childhood-friend?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6IktWYlQ1a1F1ZUUiLCJwIjoiL3BvbGljeS84Njg1NjcvYWxleC1wcmV0dGktbWlubmVhcG9saXMtY2hpbGRob29kLWZyaWVuZCIsImV4cCI6MTc2OTk2NDA1NSwiaWF0IjoxNzY5NTMyMDU1fQ.FrZ0NlULSpVamKAg761dJTzxcH4-LkVYlrvVVZb2ZFc&utm_medium=gift-link
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Oh my god I would use this ferry so much. Let’s do it,
@berkeleyca.gov
! I would bike to the marina, take the ferry, then bike to work.
www.berkeleyside.org/2026/01/26/b...
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Berkeley-to-San Francisco ferry plan takes key step forward
San Francisco Bay Ferry could offer service from the Berkeley Marina in three years, if they can find more than $100 million to pay for it.
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/01/26/berkeley-ferry-marina-update-permits-planning-commission
6 months ago
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Rusty Foster
6 months ago
Everything they learned in Minnesota they’re applying in Maine from day one. They started off doing fast-moving snatch and grabs on the street, recording and using facial id on observers, and threatening observers directly. They’ll do it all where you live too.
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
6 months ago
My statement after speaking with President Trump this afternoon:
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taylr
6 months ago
signs left at alex pretti’s memorial in minneapolis: “i love you so much / i’ll miss you forever” photo with a friend, “i would have done the same. RIP alex,” a stethoscope and “we’ll take it from here, alex” and a tshirt for the minnesota nurses association
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Started reading 1000 Words by
@jamiattenberg.bsky.social
and I wrote more than 1000 words that same day. That shit works.
6 months ago
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Lydia Polgreen
6 months ago
One thing that irks me: people keep calling the folks on the streets in Minneapolis protestors. They are not generally there to protest, they are there to observe and document. This is the product of organizing and mutual aid. It is telling that these acts of citizenship are seen as protest!
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Kathleen Belew
6 months ago
"We lived happily during the war," Ilya Kaminsky
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Amanda Mull
6 months ago
Really hard to look at this and all the other examples of bravery and kindness from ordinary people in this moment not think also of the tremendous cowardice exhibited over the past year by some of the richest, most well-protected people in business, media and politics
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God bless the people of Minneapolis.
6 months ago
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www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
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ICU nurse fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis cared for veterans
Alex Pretti, 37, identified by Minnesota’s attorney general as the man killed Saturday, was dedicated to caring for veterans, friends and colleagues said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/01/24/alex-pretti-minneapolis-shooting-victim/
6 months ago
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