Becca Worby
beccaworby.bsky.social
Becca Worby
@beccaworby.bsky.social
I'm here, I guess! Writer, sometimes. Editorial director at Reasons to be Cheerful, an online news mag founded by David Byrne. She/her.
rebeccaworby.com
Reposted by Becca Worby
“We are the arsonists and the fire department.” An absolutely beautiful essay by my friend @beccaworby.bsky.social
The Best Story Collection About California Wildfires Isn’t a Book—It’s a Brand-New Record
On a summer afternoon early in the pandemic, the songwriter Will Stratton was riding his bike near where he lives in the Hudson Valley when he had an experience that felt strange at the time but ha…
lithub.com
March 11, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Come for the discussion of @willstratton.bsky.social's gorgeous record, stay for the wild tangent about an arsonist who was also a fire investigator!!
March 7, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
Deeply grateful to Becca for this long read, a mixture of personal climate essay based on her own time in California, and overview of the scope of my album based on a conversation we had last month. Thanks again Becca 🙏
March 7, 2025 at 6:09 PM
For @literaryhub.bsky.social, I wrote about "Points of Origin," songwriter @willstratton.bsky.social's beautiful new short story collection about California wildfires — which happens to be a record lithub.com/the-best-sto...
The Best Story Collection About California Wildfires Isn’t a Book—It’s a Brand-New Record
On a summer afternoon early in the pandemic, the songwriter Will Stratton was riding his bike near where he lives in the Hudson Valley when he had an experience that felt strange at the time but ha…
lithub.com
March 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
We can't be having news like this right now. I'm going to need somebody to check on that "remarkably plump" beaver in Chicago immediately
npr.org NPR @npr.org · Mar 4
The aquarium helping Chappy — a nod to the New Haven, Conn., neighborhood where he was rescued last month — said he died of gastrointestinal issues and "was surrounded by love until the very end."
Chappy the baby seal has died, weeks after being rescued in a Connecticut city
The aquarium helping Chappy — a nod to the New Haven, Conn., neighborhood where he was rescued last month — said he died of gastrointestinal issues and "was surrounded by love until the very end."
www.npr.org
March 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
extremely stupid timing what with the coup and all, but

My spring teaching fell through and I'm looking for work. I do developmental editing for nonfiction books, copyediting & proofreading, and I've worked as an editor for essays and science journalism, too. Freelance or part-time. jaimegreen.net
Jaime Green | author and editor
Jaime Green is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of The Possibility of Life, and she offers online writing classes and editing services.
jaimegreen.net
February 5, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
still some space!
January 28, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
Maybe it fulfills your New Year's resolution, maybe it's a Valentine's Day gift to yourself: Scrivener for Creative Writers is back, 2/15 at 1pm ET. 📝📚✨ Info & registration at jaimegreen.net/classes, some testimonials below:
January 6, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
Happy New Year! Welcome to our annual look back at the boldest, most surprising ways the world has changed for the better. This epic list is a treasure trove of hopeful facts, each linked to one of our stories from 2024. We hope it brings you joy and inspiration for the year ahead. ow.ly/fhuE50UyMbs
January 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
If you're a writer who has had an essay collection or literary memoir published by an independent press, I would love to connect with you and hear more about your experience. Happy to share more about my own journey in a DM. Thank you!
December 2, 2024 at 10:12 PM
I currently have 1 book ready for pickup and 5 in transit .... and I already have 8 books checked out. I live 2 blocks from my local branch and my holds are my joy 😬
every time...honestly
November 21, 2024 at 3:55 PM
Happy rainy day, NYC
November 21, 2024 at 3:14 PM
Hey look, @rtbcheerful.bsky.social has arrived! Don't let the name fool you: RTBC publishes rigorous solutions journalism. Give us a follow for a daily dose of hopeful news.
Welcome to Reasons to be Cheerful, a place to stay informed about smart, effective solutions that make the world a better place. Stop by at reasonstobecheerful.world to stay informed about positive changes that don't always make the news.
November 20, 2024 at 6:18 PM
Recently I've had multiple (nonviolent) dreams about cats and raptors. Like imagine there's a cat sitting tall with its back to you and when you look again, it's a hawk. I'm here to tell you this happened to me FOR REAL on a run this morning. Saw a sitting creature, assumed cat, and then it flew.
November 20, 2024 at 5:16 PM
"I think this is important: memories and ideas happen in a place. An essay is a place for ideas; it has to feel like a place. It has to give one the feeling of entering a room." I have been thinking about this Elisa Gabbert essay every day since I read it. www.thegeorgiareview.com/posts/the-es...
The Essay as Realm - The Georgia Review
When I was nine or ten years old, my grandmother gave me a book full of so many random, interesting facts and tidbits of science and history I sometimes think it’s the secret source of all my adult ob...
www.thegeorgiareview.com
November 19, 2024 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
YOU GOTTA EAT is finally out in the world! It’s a Cheetos and caviar for breakfast kind of day!!!! bookshop.org/p/books/you-...
You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible a book by Margaret Eby
A trained chef teaches you how to keep yourself fed--and maybe even enjoy it!--in the face of stress, burnout, and exhaustion. Delivery is expensive. Eating a spoonful of peanut butter is depressing. ...
bookshop.org
November 19, 2024 at 2:09 PM
Long ago, I used social media to share things I read and loved. It's a nice thing to do, so maybe I'll do it again on this here platform — starting with this total joy by Elizabeth McCracken on libraries as "engines of optimism": texashighways.com/culture/texa...
Texas Libraries Are Engines of Optimism
At the frontline of their communities, libraries connect people to information, resources, and each other
texashighways.com
November 18, 2024 at 3:58 PM
Just here to scream into the void about the LA Times layoffs!!!
January 23, 2024 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Becca Worby
A few years back, magic happened in Maine when two dams on the Penobscot were removed and *millions* of sea-run fish returned. I wrote about the effort and joy for Reasons to Be Cheerful with edits from the brilliant @beccaworby.bsky.social:
'Take It Down and They'll Return': The Stunning Revival of the Penobscot River
A historic project in Maine shows that when dams are removed, a river and its fish can recover with surprising speed.
reasonstobecheerful.world
December 11, 2023 at 5:35 PM
Always astonished and delighted to find out how many wild cats out there are no bigger than house cats news.mongabay.com/2023/10/meet...
Meet Japan’s Iriomote and Tsushima cats: Ambassadors for island conservation
Japan is home to two rare subspecies of leopard cat, one found only on Iriomote Island and the other on Tsushima Island. Neither larger than a housecat, each subspecies has an estimated population of ...
news.mongabay.com
October 25, 2023 at 2:37 PM
This led me to find the archived version of my Catapult piece from 2016. It, uh, hits different now. All that musing about leaving NY, which I did not long after this was published, is pretty weird to read now that I just moved back after 7ish years in CO, CA & TX 🤸‍♀️ web.archive.org/web/20230127...
waiting to see if they do the right thing and fix/restore the links before I blast them on the site formerly known as Twitter, but I've been informed that all the Catapult magazine links redirect to the books page. Writers will have lost links to their essays, short fiction, poems.
October 5, 2023 at 5:17 PM
I don't know how to post anymore so here's what I just texted to a friend: I just read this story and I LOVE it, it is extremely my thing, I will be thinking about it all day. electricliterature.com/find-water-n...
Even the Smartest Phone Can't Find Water in a Desert - Electric Literature
"Find Water Near Me," a short story by Jessie Ren Marshall
electricliterature.com
August 23, 2023 at 1:37 PM
For my first post here, I'm letting you know that the bears are back in the stream. The bear stream is back. Watch the bear stream. Bears in a stream. Eating salmon. It's beautiful. Enjoy. https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls
Brown Bear Cam - Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park | Explore.org
Watch LIVE as hundreds of Alaskan Brown Bears descend on a mile-long stretch of the Brooks River to feast on the largest Sockeye Salmon run in the world.
explore.org
July 10, 2023 at 4:34 PM