Angela Chen
@chengela.bsky.social
Reporter and editor interested in science and technology, philosophy, relationships, and books. Author of Ace, currently at Vox. angelachen.org
Pinned
Angela Chen
@chengela.bsky.social
· Oct 2
I have an essay in the latest
@kenyonreview.bsky.social. It circles questions I've been asking for almost ten years now: how should a medical diagnosis shape the past? When does biology require reconciliation? And what does it mean to be emotionally fair? kenyonreview.org/piece/disease-disposition/
@kenyonreview.bsky.social. It circles questions I've been asking for almost ten years now: how should a medical diagnosis shape the past? When does biology require reconciliation? And what does it mean to be emotionally fair? kenyonreview.org/piece/disease-disposition/
Reposted by Angela Chen
For @thecut.com, I wrote about the time I spent two weeks in the hospital waiting for my second kid to be born, and what happened to my mind while I was there
Quit Romanticizing Boredom
Everyone says “logging off” will solve our problems. After actually living it, I’m not so sure.
www.thecut.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM
For @thecut.com, I wrote about the time I spent two weeks in the hospital waiting for my second kid to be born, and what happened to my mind while I was there
Going through vacation photos, found this from the Franz Kafka Museum. Welcome, Franz.
October 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Going through vacation photos, found this from the Franz Kafka Museum. Welcome, Franz.
I've had this on my "to-read" since @ruthgraham.bsky.social raved about it years and years ago (her review here: slate.com/culture/2017...). It's extraordinary, perfect mix of psychologically insightful plus dramatic plus existential.
October 5, 2025 at 6:52 PM
I've had this on my "to-read" since @ruthgraham.bsky.social raved about it years and years ago (her review here: slate.com/culture/2017...). It's extraordinary, perfect mix of psychologically insightful plus dramatic plus existential.
Reposted by Angela Chen
If you want to understand open adoption, it makes sense to start with birth parents—yet studies of them are few. 2+ yrs ago, I began talking w/ birth mothers to try to understand what living in an open adoption is like for them, and what rights or options they might have if challenges were to arise.
When Adoption Promises Are Broken
Many birth mothers hope to maintain contact with their child. But their agreements with adoptive parents can be fragile.
www.theatlantic.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:30 PM
If you want to understand open adoption, it makes sense to start with birth parents—yet studies of them are few. 2+ yrs ago, I began talking w/ birth mothers to try to understand what living in an open adoption is like for them, and what rights or options they might have if challenges were to arise.
I have an essay in the latest
@kenyonreview.bsky.social. It circles questions I've been asking for almost ten years now: how should a medical diagnosis shape the past? When does biology require reconciliation? And what does it mean to be emotionally fair? kenyonreview.org/piece/disease-disposition/
@kenyonreview.bsky.social. It circles questions I've been asking for almost ten years now: how should a medical diagnosis shape the past? When does biology require reconciliation? And what does it mean to be emotionally fair? kenyonreview.org/piece/disease-disposition/
October 2, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I have an essay in the latest
@kenyonreview.bsky.social. It circles questions I've been asking for almost ten years now: how should a medical diagnosis shape the past? When does biology require reconciliation? And what does it mean to be emotionally fair? kenyonreview.org/piece/disease-disposition/
@kenyonreview.bsky.social. It circles questions I've been asking for almost ten years now: how should a medical diagnosis shape the past? When does biology require reconciliation? And what does it mean to be emotionally fair? kenyonreview.org/piece/disease-disposition/
IVF automation in Mexico City: "Over the past three years, babies have been conceived — and at least 20 of them have been born — through clinical trials that involve automation with little to no human intervention." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Robots are learning to make human babies. Twenty have already been born.
One in six people of reproductive age suffer from infertility. Start-ups are using AI-powered robots to increase IVF success rates and lower costs.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 1, 2025 at 3:13 PM
IVF automation in Mexico City: "Over the past three years, babies have been conceived — and at least 20 of them have been born — through clinical trials that involve automation with little to no human intervention." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Angela Chen
Seeing ice cream cones during their spawning runs really takes your breath away. They’ll only do this once in their entire lives.
September 24, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Seeing ice cream cones during their spawning runs really takes your breath away. They’ll only do this once in their entire lives.
At an Italian restaurant in Westchester and the waiter says to me: “Has anyone told you you look like…”
I brace myself.
“…Lisa Su, the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices?”
I brace myself.
“…Lisa Su, the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices?”
August 29, 2025 at 6:42 PM
At an Italian restaurant in Westchester and the waiter says to me: “Has anyone told you you look like…”
I brace myself.
“…Lisa Su, the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices?”
I brace myself.
“…Lisa Su, the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices?”
"Merging two of America’s most iconic snacks, was a deeply complex undertaking, requiring cloak-and-dagger tactics reminiscent of the Manhattan Project." www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Oreos Combined With Reese’s? Inside the Manhattan Project of Snacks.
The combination of two of America’s favorite treats sounded simple. It wasn’t.
www.wsj.com
August 11, 2025 at 4:46 PM
"Merging two of America’s most iconic snacks, was a deeply complex undertaking, requiring cloak-and-dagger tactics reminiscent of the Manhattan Project." www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Perhaps everything is easier said than done, but I do believe that if I were the most notorious traitor in CIA history, I would have tried harder to cover my tracks. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...
August 5, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Perhaps everything is easier said than done, but I do believe that if I were the most notorious traitor in CIA history, I would have tried harder to cover my tracks. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...
Years ago, my dad gave me a hard drive and said, somewhat morbidly, "in case I die, I want you to have these family photos." I finally opened it and it's 80% photos of him at ping pong tournaments.
July 30, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Years ago, my dad gave me a hard drive and said, somewhat morbidly, "in case I die, I want you to have these family photos." I finally opened it and it's 80% photos of him at ping pong tournaments.
Truly, unintended consequences for everything.
July 27, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Truly, unintended consequences for everything.
Reposted by Angela Chen
AI systems could become conscious one day. What if they hate their lives?
Is it our duty to make sure they're happy? To make sure Claude is always enjoying spiritual bliss? What could that even mean for an AI?
My new piece:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Is it our duty to make sure they're happy? To make sure Claude is always enjoying spiritual bliss? What could that even mean for an AI?
My new piece:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
AI systems could become conscious. What if they hate their lives?
How to not torture ChatGPT and Claude’s successors.
www.vox.com
June 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM
AI systems could become conscious one day. What if they hate their lives?
Is it our duty to make sure they're happy? To make sure Claude is always enjoying spiritual bliss? What could that even mean for an AI?
My new piece:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Is it our duty to make sure they're happy? To make sure Claude is always enjoying spiritual bliss? What could that even mean for an AI?
My new piece:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
I do like this Muriel Rukeyser poem, but have less sympathy each time I remember she wrote it in the 60s. "Various devices"? I'll show you various devices! www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47657/...
June 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I do like this Muriel Rukeyser poem, but have less sympathy each time I remember she wrote it in the 60s. "Various devices"? I'll show you various devices! www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47657/...
Earlier this year I read an advance copy of PORTALMANIA — out this week! — and I really loved it (so did Karen Russell & Mary Gaitskill). It's a collection of unsettling, complex, sometimes melancholy sci-fi stories about escape, possibilities and asexuality. www.simonandschuster.com/books/Portal...
Portalmania
If you could go anywhere, where would you go? And what happens to the people you leave behind?From the author of After World comes a genre-busting ...
www.simonandschuster.com
May 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Earlier this year I read an advance copy of PORTALMANIA — out this week! — and I really loved it (so did Karen Russell & Mary Gaitskill). It's a collection of unsettling, complex, sometimes melancholy sci-fi stories about escape, possibilities and asexuality. www.simonandschuster.com/books/Portal...
Reposted by Angela Chen
“The pope will be from Chicago” sounds like an 1880s Republican’s dire prediction for if we don’t stop Irish immigration
May 8, 2025 at 5:26 PM
“The pope will be from Chicago” sounds like an 1880s Republican’s dire prediction for if we don’t stop Irish immigration
Reposted by Angela Chen
For a long time, I thought ditching beef would mean missing out on some grand connection I'd gain at the table. For @vox.com, I wrote about reconnecting with Indigenous foodways, while also acknowledge the cultural pull of beef — as a Texan. www.vox.com/future-perfe...
I’m the daughter of a cattle rancher. Could I ever ditch beef?
Beef is tied to my cultural identity — because of its complicated, colonial history.
www.vox.com
February 28, 2025 at 5:34 PM
For a long time, I thought ditching beef would mean missing out on some grand connection I'd gain at the table. For @vox.com, I wrote about reconnecting with Indigenous foodways, while also acknowledge the cultural pull of beef — as a Texan. www.vox.com/future-perfe...
There's a new push for employer-sponsored child care. Is this as good as it gets — or a mistake that repeats the problems of employer-sponsored health care? From @rachelmcohen.bsky.social www.vox.com/child-care/4...
This workplace benefit is helping parents — and boosting businesses. Could it backfire?
Most Americans have no access to employer-sponsored child care. That could soon change.
www.vox.com
March 3, 2025 at 5:53 PM
There's a new push for employer-sponsored child care. Is this as good as it gets — or a mistake that repeats the problems of employer-sponsored health care? From @rachelmcohen.bsky.social www.vox.com/child-care/4...
I grew up in Silicon Valley and first heard this phrase at 16. I am, shall we say, amused to see it recounted here as still the reasoning du jour. From an @nybooks.com piece reviewing new books on sexual ethics: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
March 3, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I grew up in Silicon Valley and first heard this phrase at 16. I am, shall we say, amused to see it recounted here as still the reasoning du jour. From an @nybooks.com piece reviewing new books on sexual ethics: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Got this notice while trying to access a paper with the subtitle "Is Mutual Love with a Robot Possible?" Not at this rate!
January 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Got this notice while trying to access a paper with the subtitle "Is Mutual Love with a Robot Possible?" Not at this rate!
. @allaboutchemist.bsky.social and I are developing different take-aways from Mexico.
Me: “I will never again go more than 3ft below land.”
Him: “The tuna is a revelation.”
Me: “I will never again go more than 3ft below land.”
Him: “The tuna is a revelation.”
January 16, 2025 at 10:39 PM
. @allaboutchemist.bsky.social and I are developing different take-aways from Mexico.
Me: “I will never again go more than 3ft below land.”
Him: “The tuna is a revelation.”
Me: “I will never again go more than 3ft below land.”
Him: “The tuna is a revelation.”
Reposted by Angela Chen
here is an ungated version from 2022 www.andreamatranga.net/uploads/1/5/...
January 15, 2025 at 11:16 AM
here is an ungated version from 2022 www.andreamatranga.net/uploads/1/5/...
.@art-s.bsky.social is creating floor plans for those in Altadena who lost their homes in the fires and might need a simple floor plan for insurance reasons (or just memories): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Eaton Fire Floor Plan Support - Altadena Families
Background: We are Ashley and Robert Thaxton-Stevenson, theater makers and educators in NYC. Ashley grew up in Altadena, CA and her parents lost everything when their West Altadena house burned down o...
docs.google.com
January 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
.@art-s.bsky.social is creating floor plans for those in Altadena who lost their homes in the fires and might need a simple floor plan for insurance reasons (or just memories): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
I've been thinking about "running to" versus "running from" and enjoyed this similar Orpheus/Odysseus parallel that apparently was a rhetorical parallel that MLK Jr used: davidepstein.substack.com/p/how-to-mak.... (Next line, of course, notes this didn't really work out for Orpheus.)
January 9, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I've been thinking about "running to" versus "running from" and enjoyed this similar Orpheus/Odysseus parallel that apparently was a rhetorical parallel that MLK Jr used: davidepstein.substack.com/p/how-to-mak.... (Next line, of course, notes this didn't really work out for Orpheus.)
This detail on anti-social architecture—from a smart @theatlantic.com feature on solitude—caught my eye. Just last week I was thinking about how my place (built 1910) had a "bad" layout because the living room was too large and bedrooms too small. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
January 8, 2025 at 5:51 PM
This detail on anti-social architecture—from a smart @theatlantic.com feature on solitude—caught my eye. Just last week I was thinking about how my place (built 1910) had a "bad" layout because the living room was too large and bedrooms too small. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...