Vanessa Larson
@vanessahlarson.bsky.social
Journalist in D.C. after Istanbul. Bylines/copy editor at The Washington Post. Write on M.E. arts+culture. Formerly at Foreign Policy; Fodor's Travel Turkey guidebook writer. Türkçe.
Pinned
Review | The story of Turkey’s tumultuous present — and its long history
In “To the City,” Alexander Christie-Miller examines the modern lives of those who live alongside Istanbul’s ancient walls.
wapo.st
For @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed @achristiemiller.bsky.social’s finely written “To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul,” one of the best journalistic accounts so far of the past 15 years in Turkey: wapo.st/3ZZPJcG
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
😍 lucky @vanessahlarson.bsky.social for getting to see this gorgeous show. wapo.st/41RSLQw
Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war
Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.
wapo.st
September 15, 2025 at 4:59 AM
😍 lucky @vanessahlarson.bsky.social for getting to see this gorgeous show. wapo.st/41RSLQw
I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “All Manner of Experiments,” a sweeping show on Iraqi art and the influential Baghdad Modern Art Group at Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies, with many works on view in the U.S. for the first time: wapo.st/46oxfnZ
Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war
Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.
wapo.st
September 15, 2025 at 1:46 PM
I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “All Manner of Experiments,” a sweeping show on Iraqi art and the influential Baghdad Modern Art Group at Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies, with many works on view in the U.S. for the first time: wapo.st/46oxfnZ
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.
I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.
substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
“Most people did not assume that there is a modern, contemporary culture and artists working” in Iraq, said Nada Shabout.
@vanessahlarson.bsky.social
in the @washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2025/09/11/baghdad-modern-art-iraq-war-bard-college/?itid=sf_style_toptable_1_0
@vanessahlarson.bsky.social
in the @washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2025/09/11/baghdad-modern-art-iraq-war-bard-college/?itid=sf_style_toptable_1_0
Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war
Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.
washingtonpost.com
September 12, 2025 at 11:07 AM
“Most people did not assume that there is a modern, contemporary culture and artists working” in Iraq, said Nada Shabout.
@vanessahlarson.bsky.social
in the @washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2025/09/11/baghdad-modern-art-iraq-war-bard-college/?itid=sf_style_toptable_1_0
@vanessahlarson.bsky.social
in the @washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2025/09/11/baghdad-modern-art-iraq-war-bard-college/?itid=sf_style_toptable_1_0
For @washingtonpost.com I wrote about Pakistani-born artist Shahzia Sikander's mesmerizing video installation “The Last Post” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on the legacies of British colonialism in South Asia and China: wapo.st/4eTBMme
Review | Shahzia Sikander mesmerizes at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Shahzia Sikander’s “The Last Post,” a video installation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, mesmerizes as an abstracted examination of colonialism.
wapo.st
July 17, 2025 at 2:02 PM
For @washingtonpost.com I wrote about Pakistani-born artist Shahzia Sikander's mesmerizing video installation “The Last Post” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on the legacies of British colonialism in South Asia and China: wapo.st/4eTBMme
As the Smithsonian and National Museum of African American History and Culture in particular come under attack, I reviewed “In Slavery’s Wake” at NMAAHC — which explores the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for freedom and justice — for @washingtonpost.com: wapo.st/42qxBbN
Review | At NMAAHC, ‘In Slavery’s Wake’ lays bare the long road to freedom
The Smithsonian’s “In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World” uses artifacts, art, audio and video to explore the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for justice.
wapo.st
April 11, 2025 at 5:19 PM
As the Smithsonian and National Museum of African American History and Culture in particular come under attack, I reviewed “In Slavery’s Wake” at NMAAHC — which explores the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for freedom and justice — for @washingtonpost.com: wapo.st/42qxBbN
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
Today, hundreds of tech workers at The Washington Post publicly announced their union @wapotechguild.bsky.social and requested voluntary recognition. ✊
We’re so proud of our members and all the solidarity received from the @postguild.bsky.social along the way!
We’re so proud of our members and all the solidarity received from the @postguild.bsky.social along the way!
April 7, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Today, hundreds of tech workers at The Washington Post publicly announced their union @wapotechguild.bsky.social and requested voluntary recognition. ✊
We’re so proud of our members and all the solidarity received from the @postguild.bsky.social along the way!
We’re so proud of our members and all the solidarity received from the @postguild.bsky.social along the way!
The battle over Columbia has sadly given me a ton of deja vu of the Erdoğan government's takeover of Turkey's Boğaziçi University in recent years. @abuaardvark.bsky.social has nicely drawn that connection here -- and reminded us of the importance of student and faculty resistance:
Columbia and the next front on the war on academia - it’s not just punishing students. Trump’s demands that a private university adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and put MESAAC into receivership would do damage far beyond one campus. My new piece.
abuaardvark.substack.com/p/columbia-a...
abuaardvark.substack.com/p/columbia-a...
Columbia and the next front in the war on higher education
It's not just punishing protestors - two of the government's demands are far worse.
abuaardvark.substack.com
March 14, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The battle over Columbia has sadly given me a ton of deja vu of the Erdoğan government's takeover of Turkey's Boğaziçi University in recent years. @abuaardvark.bsky.social has nicely drawn that connection here -- and reminded us of the importance of student and faculty resistance:
For @washingtonpost.com I reviewed “Maximal Miniatures” — a splendid showcase of 13 contemporary Iranian artists inspired by traditional Persian miniature painting, at the Middle East Institute's gallery in D.C.: wapo.st/3QlN6fa
February 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM
For @washingtonpost.com I reviewed “Maximal Miniatures” — a splendid showcase of 13 contemporary Iranian artists inspired by traditional Persian miniature painting, at the Middle East Institute's gallery in D.C.: wapo.st/3QlN6fa
Everyone's apparently an "expert" on the Ottoman slave trade now too 🤦♀️
February 8, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Everyone's apparently an "expert" on the Ottoman slave trade now too 🤦♀️
Solidarity with @klong.bsky.social, who is now being attacked by Musk and MAGA for having done her job as a journalist. Reporting on public officials isn't "doxxing."
Free speech absolutist Elon Musk calls for the firing of a journalist who revealed that one of the people Musk hired for DOGE bragged about being racist on social media
February 7, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Solidarity with @klong.bsky.social, who is now being attacked by Musk and MAGA for having done her job as a journalist. Reporting on public officials isn't "doxxing."
I interviewed D.C.-born Ethiopian American artist Tsedaye Makonnen for @washingtonpost.com about her new show “Sanctuary: Mekdes” at Smithsonian’s African Art Museum — a powerful tribute to Black victims of violence and migrants who died trying to reach Europe: wapo.st/40hpflJ
Review | A D.C. artist’s glowing monuments to Black lives
Tsedaye Makonnen’s ethereal pillars at the African Art Museum pay tribute to victims of violence and the perils of migration.
wapo.st
January 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I interviewed D.C.-born Ethiopian American artist Tsedaye Makonnen for @washingtonpost.com about her new show “Sanctuary: Mekdes” at Smithsonian’s African Art Museum — a powerful tribute to Black victims of violence and migrants who died trying to reach Europe: wapo.st/40hpflJ
Turkey’s intelligence service, MIT, has forcibly repatriated more than 118 Turks in exile — mainly in the Gülen movement — drawing from the post-9/11 “war on terror” playbook, @gregpmiller.bsky.social reports in @washingtonpost.com front-page story today: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
Turkey exploits post-9/11 counterterrorism model to target critics in exile
Turkey has drawn extensively from the U.S. counterterrorism post-9/11 playbook to go after exiled political enemies, in particular the Gulen movement.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 16, 2024 at 4:16 PM
Turkey’s intelligence service, MIT, has forcibly repatriated more than 118 Turks in exile — mainly in the Gülen movement — drawing from the post-9/11 “war on terror” playbook, @gregpmiller.bsky.social reports in @washingtonpost.com front-page story today: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
Turkish artist Inci Eviner says Qatari museum removed her video work "Harem" from its show at the last minute:
www.artnews.com/art-news/new...
www.artnews.com/art-news/new...
Artist Inci Eviner Says Qatari Museum Censored Her Work About a 19th-Century Harem
Inci Eviner said that Qatar's Mathaf museum censored her work 'Harem' from a show about Jean-Léon Gérôme.
www.artnews.com
December 15, 2024 at 4:32 PM
Turkish artist Inci Eviner says Qatari museum removed her video work "Harem" from its show at the last minute:
www.artnews.com/art-news/new...
www.artnews.com/art-news/new...
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
Kitabım Türkçe çevirisiyle çok yakında raflarda! The Turkish translation of my book is coming out very soon!
December 11, 2024 at 7:13 PM
Kitabım Türkçe çevirisiyle çok yakında raflarda! The Turkish translation of my book is coming out very soon!
International postcards are still truly snail mail: Just received (in D.C. area) a postcard friends mailed from Mexico ... over a month ago! When I lived in Turkey it once took 7 weeks for a postcard to reach me from India📬
November 23, 2024 at 7:34 PM
International postcards are still truly snail mail: Just received (in D.C. area) a postcard friends mailed from Mexico ... over a month ago! When I lived in Turkey it once took 7 weeks for a postcard to reach me from India📬
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
Killed, maimed, displaced & forced to work: war is exacting a heavy toll on Lebanon's children.
Over the past month we visited sites where kids were killed in airstrikes, hospitals treating the injured & displacement shelters.
Here are some of their stories: wapo.st/3AXiKLZ
Over the past month we visited sites where kids were killed in airstrikes, hospitals treating the injured & displacement shelters.
Here are some of their stories: wapo.st/3AXiKLZ
Israel’s war on Hezbollah takes terrible toll on Lebanon’s children
At least 231 children have been killed and 1,330 injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
wapo.st
November 20, 2024 at 6:14 AM
Killed, maimed, displaced & forced to work: war is exacting a heavy toll on Lebanon's children.
Over the past month we visited sites where kids were killed in airstrikes, hospitals treating the injured & displacement shelters.
Here are some of their stories: wapo.st/3AXiKLZ
Over the past month we visited sites where kids were killed in airstrikes, hospitals treating the injured & displacement shelters.
Here are some of their stories: wapo.st/3AXiKLZ
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
The all-important Türkiye starter pack is up. Some of the most interesting accounts from ye olde Turkish Twitter are here ⬇️
November 18, 2024 at 3:17 PM
The all-important Türkiye starter pack is up. Some of the most interesting accounts from ye olde Turkish Twitter are here ⬇️
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
Yes! Turkish Twitter is still going strong and that’s why I am not deleting my account 🤷🏻♀️
It is still an important platform for people outside the west. African Twitter, Palestinian Twitter, Ukrainian Twitter etc are one of the only convincing arguments imo for staying b/c they continue to make demands, inform us and connect w/ each other there. Not sure how long that can last though
November 17, 2024 at 2:44 PM
Yes! Turkish Twitter is still going strong and that’s why I am not deleting my account 🤷🏻♀️
Welcome to my brilliant @washingtonpost.com colleague @leloveluck.bsky.social!
Hello 🙋♀️ I’m a foreign correspondent with @washingtonpost.com, covering the war in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel. Over the past decade, my investigative work has focused on human rights abuses, corruption, and the plight of the most vulnerable in war.
November 16, 2024 at 4:44 PM
Welcome to my brilliant @washingtonpost.com colleague @leloveluck.bsky.social!
I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “An Epic of Kings” at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, showcasing a gorgeous 14th-century manuscript that brings to life the Shahnama, the Persian national epic: wapo.st/3YxICas
Review | A gorgeous manuscript shows the brilliance of medieval Persia
The Shahnama, the Persian national epic, comes to life in an intricate illustrated 14th-century text made under the Mongols, on view at the National Museum of Asian Art.
wapo.st
October 25, 2024 at 3:08 PM
I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “An Epic of Kings” at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, showcasing a gorgeous 14th-century manuscript that brings to life the Shahnama, the Persian national epic: wapo.st/3YxICas
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
One former Istanbullu (@vanessahlarson.bsky.social) gives thumbs up to the book by another former Istanbullu (@achristiemiller.bsky.social). A 3rd former Istanbullu sees a city she recognizes in the writing of both. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/1...
Review | The story of Turkey’s tumultuous present — and its long history
In “To the City,” Alexander Christie-Miller examines the modern lives of those who live alongside Istanbul’s ancient walls.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 11, 2024 at 6:04 PM
One former Istanbullu (@vanessahlarson.bsky.social) gives thumbs up to the book by another former Istanbullu (@achristiemiller.bsky.social). A 3rd former Istanbullu sees a city she recognizes in the writing of both. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/1...
Reposted by Vanessa Larson
Gift link. This book looks great!
For @washingtonpost.com, I reviewed @achristiemiller.bsky.social’s finely written “To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul,” one of the best journalistic accounts so far of the past 15 years in Turkey: wapo.st/3ZZPJcG
Review | The story of Turkey’s tumultuous present — and its long history
In “To the City,” Alexander Christie-Miller examines the modern lives of those who live alongside Istanbul’s ancient walls.
wapo.st
October 11, 2024 at 5:51 PM
Gift link. This book looks great!