Lauren Barton
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laurenbarton.bsky.social
Lauren Barton
@laurenbarton.bsky.social
Freelance journalist and Communication Studies student at East Tennessee State University. I'm not the coolest they/them you’ll ever meet but I'm pretty dang close.

laurenbarton.carrd.co
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I’m currently watching Frankenstein and I think “I am obscene to you but to myself I simply am” perfectly captures how I feel about being trans when trans people are despised just for existing
November 15, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:
November 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
Dammit I love libraries. What an unbeatable institution and idea.
November 14, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I submitted it today. Fingers crossed I get chosen as one of the lucky six! 🤞🏻
November 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
November 14, 2025 at 10:39 PM
November 14, 2025 at 10:36 PM
This is what it feels like when I send an email with a typo in it
November 14, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
For my newsletter, I wrote a little about how there seems to be a recent rash of trans people taking their own lives. Please take care of yourselves this holiday season, I promise you that there are people who want to help you if you're struggling. www.burnsnotice.com/if-youre-tra...
If You're Trans, You Have to Live - Sick Burns
Content Warning: This post will have light discussion of trans-related suicide, please take care of yourself. Here is a recap of my last two weeks! Apologies again for not getting out a recap last week. Every time there is an election, the week after election day is my busiest of
www.burnsnotice.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
its newsletter day and i have a *very* scoop-filled edition.

like, woah nelly.

if you work in renewable energy, tech or climate policy, and you don't already subscribe to Heatmap Plus and The Fight...

you're about to see why that's a mistake worth correcting.
Heatmap News
Heatmap is focused on the biggest story of our time: climate change.
heatmap.news
November 14, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Making a TEDx application video is really fucking hard HAHAHA it’s all or nothing HAHAHAHAHA
November 13, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
Hey Chicago! I will be teaching a pop culture criticism course in the spring through @storystudiochicago.bsky.social.

If you love all things pop culture, then you’ll love learning how to write a critical essay about your favorite tv shows, film, etc.

www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/clas...
A Master Class: Criticizing Pop Culture with Taylor Crumpton - StoryStudio Chicago
Pop culture is power, and power needs to be critiqued by those who are impacted by it. Students will discuss instances of pop culture that are important to them and come away with strategies for criti...
www.storystudiochicago.org
November 13, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
literally like

but instead they focused on trying to get trans people killed
At what point does the New York Times get charged as organizationally conspiring to abet human trafficking of minors.
November 13, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files:

splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
Epstein Document Search
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
November 13, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
I received this email about Democrats caving to end the shutdown from one of the SNAP recipients I spoke to:
November 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 AM
When the anti Charlie Kirk video is so subtly anti Charlie Kirk nobody understands your references anymore… (it’s a class project) (the target audience is ETSU students who are predominantly center or right leaning politically)
November 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
just want to say how proud i am to know and be friends with @katmabu.bsky.social, her courage and bravery standing up to ice goons outside of broadview has been inspirational and something i know ill never forget about this era of politics
November 8, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
Anybody who has watched the Times pull this shit for ages knows this game. Good piece.
November 8, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
The chaos adds to the stress. Young adults I spoke to while reporting named the uncertainty around SNAP and the back-and-forth as part of what was taking such a heavy toll—not knowing what to prioritize, or how to plan. Even as benefits begin to go out, that kind of uncertainty is devastating.
Breaking: A federal appeals court just denied a last-minute bid by the Trump admin to temporarily halt some SNAP funding during the shutdown.
November 7, 2025 at 11:39 PM
On November 7th at 2:55pm, the game as been cleared…
a girl with long blue hair is holding a sword in her hand
ALT: a girl with long blue hair is holding a sword in her hand
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
Hey everyone, thank you so much for the outpouring of support.

I need to pay rent, and I launched a GoFundMe spot.fund/LahutRentFund
Click here to support Jake Lahut's story *LahutRentFund
*spotfund is the easiest place to create beautiful and free online fundraisers. It takes just minutes to start raising money today.
spot.fund
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Lauren Barton
Teens overwhelmingly used negative words like "biased," "boring," "chaotic," and "bad" to describe the news media and journalists in a new @newslit.org survey.

Those doing the hard and important work of teaching media literacy to high schoolers are unsurprised. www.niemanlab.org/2025/11/bias...
“Biased,” “boring,” “chaotic,” and “bad”: A majority of teens hold negative views of news media, report finds
About half of the teens surveyed believe that journalists frequently “make up details, such as quotes” and “pay for sources.”
www.niemanlab.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM