Leslie What
@lesliewhat.bsky.social
Nebula Award–winning writer & Oregon Book Award finalist. Former Charge Nurse, Tap-Dancing Gorilla, Member of New Orleans Maskmakers Guild. WWW.LESLIEWHAT.COM
I have a 5-year-old grandchild. It breaks my heart to think about her being abducted. Children being disappeared by representatives of the United States government is reprehensible. We've reason to fear monsters, even when they try to pass as elected or appointed officials.
Q: A school district alleges ICE agents detained a 5 year old after preschool. Are you proud of how you're conducting this immigration crackdown?
JD VANCE: The 5 year old was not arrested. His dad was an illegal alien. So the story is that ICE detained a 5 year old -- what are they supposed to do?
JD VANCE: The 5 year old was not arrested. His dad was an illegal alien. So the story is that ICE detained a 5 year old -- what are they supposed to do?
January 24, 2026 at 4:53 AM
I have a 5-year-old grandchild. It breaks my heart to think about her being abducted. Children being disappeared by representatives of the United States government is reprehensible. We've reason to fear monsters, even when they try to pass as elected or appointed officials.
Reposted by Leslie What
Incisive post by Cory Doctorow on AI. Worth reading and sharing imo
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage | Cory Doctorow
AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. A serious fight against it must strike at its roots
www.theguardian.com
January 18, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Incisive post by Cory Doctorow on AI. Worth reading and sharing imo
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Been asked to return to Berlin to speak about war, hatred, loss, and reconciliation. I don't know if I can do it. Feels like you should only have to say this stuff once.
January 19, 2026 at 1:21 AM
Been asked to return to Berlin to speak about war, hatred, loss, and reconciliation. I don't know if I can do it. Feels like you should only have to say this stuff once.
r/NewIran on Reddit has a lot of information I'm not seeing here. I think we're all OD'd on horrible news but I do hope awareness can bring action that results in change for the better.
January 16, 2026 at 11:07 PM
r/NewIran on Reddit has a lot of information I'm not seeing here. I think we're all OD'd on horrible news but I do hope awareness can bring action that results in change for the better.
I fear I have made a critical mistake by saying OK when the 5-year-old volunteered to bake my cake (she watches the Kid's Baking Championship show) and now I worry I will not get to enjoy the one thing that reminds me of the reasons to get through the next year.
January 15, 2026 at 5:59 PM
I fear I have made a critical mistake by saying OK when the 5-year-old volunteered to bake my cake (she watches the Kid's Baking Championship show) and now I worry I will not get to enjoy the one thing that reminds me of the reasons to get through the next year.
Reposted by Leslie What
@theguardian.com "The streets are full of blood," reports that the Iran uprising is moving beyond the regime's control. Despite 538+ killed and 10k+ arrested, thousands are marching in the dark, chanting for a new future!
#IranProtests #21Dey #IranRevolution #Tehran #FreeIran #HumanRights #iran
#IranProtests #21Dey #IranRevolution #Tehran #FreeIran #HumanRights #iran
‘The streets are full of blood’: Iranian protests gather momentum as regime cracks down
Demonstrators recount experiences on the frontlines as protest movement rapidly moves beyond government’s control
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:26 AM
@theguardian.com "The streets are full of blood," reports that the Iran uprising is moving beyond the regime's control. Despite 538+ killed and 10k+ arrested, thousands are marching in the dark, chanting for a new future!
#IranProtests #21Dey #IranRevolution #Tehran #FreeIran #HumanRights #iran
#IranProtests #21Dey #IranRevolution #Tehran #FreeIran #HumanRights #iran
Sometimes I pad my resume after looking at my subscription address labels so I can say, "Leslie What has appeared on 'The New Yorker' and 'The Atlantic'."
If she gives it to him, why can't Donroe say "Donald Trump is the recipient of a Nobel Prize." even if it's not official?
If she gives it to him, why can't Donroe say "Donald Trump is the recipient of a Nobel Prize." even if it's not official?
NOBEL COMMITTEE STATEMENT:
“Once announced, the Nobel Prize cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to another person.”
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
“Once announced, the Nobel Prize cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to another person.”
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
January 10, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Sometimes I pad my resume after looking at my subscription address labels so I can say, "Leslie What has appeared on 'The New Yorker' and 'The Atlantic'."
If she gives it to him, why can't Donroe say "Donald Trump is the recipient of a Nobel Prize." even if it's not official?
If she gives it to him, why can't Donroe say "Donald Trump is the recipient of a Nobel Prize." even if it's not official?
Two years after liberation from the Nazis and collaborators in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and The Netherlands, my mom began a new life in the US. In 1946, on NYE, refugees& Holocaust Survivors found the courage and strength to celebrate the future. May2026 bring hope, joy, strength, and wisdom.
January 1, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Two years after liberation from the Nazis and collaborators in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and The Netherlands, my mom began a new life in the US. In 1946, on NYE, refugees& Holocaust Survivors found the courage and strength to celebrate the future. May2026 bring hope, joy, strength, and wisdom.
I'm guessing that I'm not alone in just learning that Keanu Reeves has a came role as a tumbleweed on Sponge Bob On The Run. Hurray for Movie Night with the grandchildren. www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
Keanu Reeves Is a Wise Ball of Tumbleweed in the Goofy New 'SpongeBob' Movie Trailer
Keanu Reeves plays a ball of tumbleweed who helps SpongeBob find his missing pet snail in the new trailer for 'Sponge on the Run.'
www.rollingstone.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:53 AM
I'm guessing that I'm not alone in just learning that Keanu Reeves has a came role as a tumbleweed on Sponge Bob On The Run. Hurray for Movie Night with the grandchildren. www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
Reposted by Leslie What
Still up. Glad I posted here and not YouTube. This is what Bari Weiss and CBS tried to hide from us.
BREAKING: WATCH the full 60 Minutes CECOT segment here. This was sent to me anonymously. It appears to be the segment CBS' Bari Weiss killed. www.muellershewrote.com/p/watch-the-...
WATCH: The 60 Minutes CECOT Segment
I was sent the CECOT segment anonymously in a group chat.
www.muellershewrote.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Still up. Glad I posted here and not YouTube. This is what Bari Weiss and CBS tried to hide from us.
I wasn't supposed to care for the children but they were here all day and my knee is throbbing and I feel rushed and stressed and the house is a mess and it didn't help when the 5 y.o. said I looked like I was 1000 y.o. and still looked older than my spouse, who looks like he's 2000.
December 24, 2025 at 1:29 AM
I wasn't supposed to care for the children but they were here all day and my knee is throbbing and I feel rushed and stressed and the house is a mess and it didn't help when the 5 y.o. said I looked like I was 1000 y.o. and still looked older than my spouse, who looks like he's 2000.
Rest in peace, Keskue Gratin. You were more than a keystroke error to me.
December 21, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Rest in peace, Keskue Gratin. You were more than a keystroke error to me.
Readers should check out Year's Best Death Stories, 2024, (not just because one of my stories is included). It's a good anthology edited by @shereereneethomas.bsky.social&Zines costpsychopomp.com/product/afte... Free if you join the Patreon www.patreon.com/c/the_deadla...
Afterlives: The Year's Best Death Stories, 2023 - PSYCHOPOMP.COM
Afterlives The Year’s Best Death Fiction 2023 Curated by Vajra Chandrasekera Death is an integral part of life, waiting on the other side for each of us. Writers, however, have no need to wait. They c...
psychopomp.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Readers should check out Year's Best Death Stories, 2024, (not just because one of my stories is included). It's a good anthology edited by @shereereneethomas.bsky.social&Zines costpsychopomp.com/product/afte... Free if you join the Patreon www.patreon.com/c/the_deadla...
Per Chabad Rabbi inviting me to a community event: "At times like these, we do not sit and mourn alone. We rise and we act. They try to spread fear. We answer with light....
They try to silence us. We respond with mitzvot.
They try to bring darkness. We fill the world with the light of the Menorah."
They try to silence us. We respond with mitzvot.
They try to bring darkness. We fill the world with the light of the Menorah."
I've got to say, this weekend, from students preparing for finals at Brown to Jews celebrating the festival of Hanukkah on Bondi Beach...it felt as if Yeats' awful vision were coming true:
"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned."
"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned."
December 14, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Per Chabad Rabbi inviting me to a community event: "At times like these, we do not sit and mourn alone. We rise and we act. They try to spread fear. We answer with light....
They try to silence us. We respond with mitzvot.
They try to bring darkness. We fill the world with the light of the Menorah."
They try to silence us. We respond with mitzvot.
They try to bring darkness. We fill the world with the light of the Menorah."
My heart breaks again. For Hanukkah I will work to rededicate my spirit, to reject hatred and seek joy and to care for those in my life with patience and love and compassion.
We were last in Australia in September and one theme we heard was concern over a surge of antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community there. The massacre at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach is a shocking culmination of what many had feared. For the latest: www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...
Live Updates: Police Say Jewish Community Targeted in Deadly Sydney Attack
www.nytimes.com
December 14, 2025 at 6:03 PM
My heart breaks again. For Hanukkah I will work to rededicate my spirit, to reject hatred and seek joy and to care for those in my life with patience and love and compassion.
Hanukkah Playlist 2025:
(start here and click on the ALT text for the full list)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3yR...
Mark Cohen Rock of Ages - Ma'oz Tzur
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnt...
Maccabeats Kpop Demon Hunters Hanukkah
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEn8...
Jacob’s Ladder - Mi Yimalel
(start here and click on the ALT text for the full list)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3yR...
Mark Cohen Rock of Ages - Ma'oz Tzur
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnt...
Maccabeats Kpop Demon Hunters Hanukkah
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEn8...
Jacob’s Ladder - Mi Yimalel
December 14, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Hanukkah Playlist 2025:
(start here and click on the ALT text for the full list)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3yR...
Mark Cohen Rock of Ages - Ma'oz Tzur
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnt...
Maccabeats Kpop Demon Hunters Hanukkah
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEn8...
Jacob’s Ladder - Mi Yimalel
(start here and click on the ALT text for the full list)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3yR...
Mark Cohen Rock of Ages - Ma'oz Tzur
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnt...
Maccabeats Kpop Demon Hunters Hanukkah
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEn8...
Jacob’s Ladder - Mi Yimalel
1 month post-op report: I'm exhausted and sometimes uncomfortable, but the discomfort is tolerable. Recovering from knee replacement surgery has been tough but I can now stand on my surgical leg long enough to put on my own socks.
December 13, 2025 at 7:50 PM
1 month post-op report: I'm exhausted and sometimes uncomfortable, but the discomfort is tolerable. Recovering from knee replacement surgery has been tough but I can now stand on my surgical leg long enough to put on my own socks.
Looking for the perfect holiday present? Give them something they didn't know they needed. www.ebay.com/shop/empty-t...
November 29, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Looking for the perfect holiday present? Give them something they didn't know they needed. www.ebay.com/shop/empty-t...
Another difficult post-op day, and the children unexpectedly dropped by at naptime (for me). The kid who argues for 20 minutes about writing one word wrote *five* without prompting. With his sweet and sincere message, I've been reassured that my life has purpose and my work has value. Yay.
November 29, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Another difficult post-op day, and the children unexpectedly dropped by at naptime (for me). The kid who argues for 20 minutes about writing one word wrote *five* without prompting. With his sweet and sincere message, I've been reassured that my life has purpose and my work has value. Yay.
Wearing pajamas for 2 weeks got me thinking: why wear street clothes at all? Just wear Zoom appropriate pajamas for meeting. Delivery people may offer to bring stuff inside once they see you in pajamas and after 10:00 AM,. You never have to sniff your bra ciups to see if it can last another day.
November 25, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Wearing pajamas for 2 weeks got me thinking: why wear street clothes at all? Just wear Zoom appropriate pajamas for meeting. Delivery people may offer to bring stuff inside once they see you in pajamas and after 10:00 AM,. You never have to sniff your bra ciups to see if it can last another day.
Today I did laundry, showered, did PT, made myself a tuna fish sandwich, and took care of a youngster who did his best Eddie Izzard Cake or Death routine, except the choices were going to Math Class or Someone's gonna die.
It's 6:00 PM and I'm in bed. I think that's enough for a Thursday.
It's 6:00 PM and I'm in bed. I think that's enough for a Thursday.
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Today I did laundry, showered, did PT, made myself a tuna fish sandwich, and took care of a youngster who did his best Eddie Izzard Cake or Death routine, except the choices were going to Math Class or Someone's gonna die.
It's 6:00 PM and I'm in bed. I think that's enough for a Thursday.
It's 6:00 PM and I'm in bed. I think that's enough for a Thursday.
Reposted by Leslie What
Chula Vista residents will be getting more information about how their police officers interact with federal immigration officials after the City Council voted yesterday evening to develop a new disclosure process. @kpbssandiego.bsky.social
My latest: www.kpbs.org/news/border-...
My latest: www.kpbs.org/news/border-...
Chula Vista plans to tell residents when police contact federal immigration agents
ICE has arrested at least 35 people in Chula Vista this year, according to the Deportation Data Project.
www.kpbs.org
November 20, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Chula Vista residents will be getting more information about how their police officers interact with federal immigration officials after the City Council voted yesterday evening to develop a new disclosure process. @kpbssandiego.bsky.social
My latest: www.kpbs.org/news/border-...
My latest: www.kpbs.org/news/border-...
Being a Chipper Depressive personality usually has ups and downs but this week's been a total downer. Pain, frustration there's no food to rip open &eat immediately, +plumbing issues. At 5:00PM, 8 days post surgery, we can finally wash sheets, clothes, dishes, flush at will, & boil an egg or two.
November 20, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Being a Chipper Depressive personality usually has ups and downs but this week's been a total downer. Pain, frustration there's no food to rip open &eat immediately, +plumbing issues. At 5:00PM, 8 days post surgery, we can finally wash sheets, clothes, dishes, flush at will, & boil an egg or two.