Colten Barnaby
@coltenbarnaby.bsky.social
📍Chicago
👨👩👦 Husband•Father•Entrepreneur
🤩 I build teams and consensus.
🚀 Not free until we’re all free
Writing at https://coltenbarnaby.substack.com/
👨👩👦 Husband•Father•Entrepreneur
🤩 I build teams and consensus.
🚀 Not free until we’re all free
Writing at https://coltenbarnaby.substack.com/
Who can teach me to dress like Ryo Takashima?
September 3, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Who can teach me to dress like Ryo Takashima?
Check out my latest post and Subscribe to get my weekly posts for free!
“We don’t have to devour to feel whole. We don’t have to dominate to feel safe. We don’t have to rule to be seen.”
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
“We don’t have to devour to feel whole. We don’t have to dominate to feel safe. We don’t have to rule to be seen.”
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Love or Yurugu
On Leadership, Healing, and the Fight for Our Collective Soul
open.substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Check out my latest post and Subscribe to get my weekly posts for free!
“We don’t have to devour to feel whole. We don’t have to dominate to feel safe. We don’t have to rule to be seen.”
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
“We don’t have to devour to feel whole. We don’t have to dominate to feel safe. We don’t have to rule to be seen.”
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Check out my new post!
Here I discuss the lost art of deep thinking, the pervasive nihilism in both secular and religious life and how we might be able to save the world.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Here I discuss the lost art of deep thinking, the pervasive nihilism in both secular and religious life and how we might be able to save the world.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
The Death of Thinking and the End of the World
Rediscovering Meaning in the Age of Apocalypse
open.substack.com
June 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Check out my new post!
Here I discuss the lost art of deep thinking, the pervasive nihilism in both secular and religious life and how we might be able to save the world.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Here I discuss the lost art of deep thinking, the pervasive nihilism in both secular and religious life and how we might be able to save the world.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Reposted by Colten Barnaby
Tonight only, if @neilkornutick.bsky.social and @jspencersharpe.bsky.social are posting about “lanes,” it’s because Game 7.
June 23, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Tonight only, if @neilkornutick.bsky.social and @jspencersharpe.bsky.social are posting about “lanes,” it’s because Game 7.
Check out my most recent article on Substack!
“Better to be ruled by the competent than the collective,” they argue.
That’s the neoreactionary bargain: Surrender your vote, your agency, and your messy freedom for the clean, cold certainty of rule by the efficient.
“Better to be ruled by the competent than the collective,” they argue.
That’s the neoreactionary bargain: Surrender your vote, your agency, and your messy freedom for the clean, cold certainty of rule by the efficient.
There’s a Moldbug Infestation in the White House
Inside the Elite-Funded Movement to Sideline Democracy and Install a New Digital Aristocracy
open.substack.com
June 16, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Check out my most recent article on Substack!
“Better to be ruled by the competent than the collective,” they argue.
That’s the neoreactionary bargain: Surrender your vote, your agency, and your messy freedom for the clean, cold certainty of rule by the efficient.
“Better to be ruled by the competent than the collective,” they argue.
That’s the neoreactionary bargain: Surrender your vote, your agency, and your messy freedom for the clean, cold certainty of rule by the efficient.
This week’s post is a little different. I sat down with Brady Goodwin—formerly known as Phanatik, the Christian rapper from the group Cross Movement—to talk about our journeys through faith, doubt, and the hard work of staying committed to love and truth. open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
After Certainty
Rethinking the Bible, God, and Faith – A Talk with Brady Goodwin
open.substack.com
June 9, 2025 at 5:09 PM
This week’s post is a little different. I sat down with Brady Goodwin—formerly known as Phanatik, the Christian rapper from the group Cross Movement—to talk about our journeys through faith, doubt, and the hard work of staying committed to love and truth. open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
I want to change your mind about participation tophies. Check out my new article and tell me if I made you think or why I'm dead wrong in the comments. THANK YOU!
👇 Read the full essay: Comment, Like Subscribe.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
👇 Read the full essay: Comment, Like Subscribe.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
In Defense of Participation Trophies
Why Effort Matters
open.substack.com
June 2, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I want to change your mind about participation tophies. Check out my new article and tell me if I made you think or why I'm dead wrong in the comments. THANK YOU!
👇 Read the full essay: Comment, Like Subscribe.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
👇 Read the full essay: Comment, Like Subscribe.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Is it fascism yet?
Linda McMahon: "Universities should continue to be able to do research as long as they're abiding by the laws and in sync, I think, with the administration and what the administration is trying to accomplish."
May 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Is it fascism yet?
So good. This is what I was trying to get at in this post open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
May 28, 2025 at 2:16 PM
So good. This is what I was trying to get at in this post open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Check out my most recent Substack post: Raising Strong Sons in the Age of Weak Men
What kind of men are we raising—and who are we asking them to become?
“Men who cannot feel cannot build. Men who cannot grieve cannot change. Men who cannot be vulnerable cannot be trusted with power.”
What kind of men are we raising—and who are we asking them to become?
“Men who cannot feel cannot build. Men who cannot grieve cannot change. Men who cannot be vulnerable cannot be trusted with power.”
Raising Strong Sons in the Age of Weak Men
On Trading Donald Trump for Ward Cleaver
open.substack.com
May 27, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Check out my most recent Substack post: Raising Strong Sons in the Age of Weak Men
What kind of men are we raising—and who are we asking them to become?
“Men who cannot feel cannot build. Men who cannot grieve cannot change. Men who cannot be vulnerable cannot be trusted with power.”
What kind of men are we raising—and who are we asking them to become?
“Men who cannot feel cannot build. Men who cannot grieve cannot change. Men who cannot be vulnerable cannot be trusted with power.”
In a follow up to last week's post I explore what it mean's to be a good father and where to go when your model of goodness has been found wanting. You can read it here: open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Creation and Accountability Pt. 2
On Being a Good Father
open.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
In a follow up to last week's post I explore what it mean's to be a good father and where to go when your model of goodness has been found wanting. You can read it here: open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
New post today! Short and sweet.
I get a little vulnerable in this one and talk about my faith journey. It's part 1 of a 2 part series that I will finish next week.
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments of the post. Thank you for taking time to read and engage.
I get a little vulnerable in this one and talk about my faith journey. It's part 1 of a 2 part series that I will finish next week.
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments of the post. Thank you for taking time to read and engage.
Creation and Accountability
Doubting the Goodness of God
open.substack.com
May 12, 2025 at 6:25 PM
New post today! Short and sweet.
I get a little vulnerable in this one and talk about my faith journey. It's part 1 of a 2 part series that I will finish next week.
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments of the post. Thank you for taking time to read and engage.
I get a little vulnerable in this one and talk about my faith journey. It's part 1 of a 2 part series that I will finish next week.
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments of the post. Thank you for taking time to read and engage.
Personal growth isn’t politics.
Self-expression isn’t justice.
I wrote about how liberals traded working-class struggle for elite self-discovery and what Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers can teach us about rebuilding a progressive political movement.
Self-expression isn’t justice.
I wrote about how liberals traded working-class struggle for elite self-discovery and what Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers can teach us about rebuilding a progressive political movement.
Priced Out of Progress
Trading Solidarity for Personal Fulfillment
open.substack.com
May 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Personal growth isn’t politics.
Self-expression isn’t justice.
I wrote about how liberals traded working-class struggle for elite self-discovery and what Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers can teach us about rebuilding a progressive political movement.
Self-expression isn’t justice.
I wrote about how liberals traded working-class struggle for elite self-discovery and what Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers can teach us about rebuilding a progressive political movement.
Y'all christians better start outbreeding the muslims if this is the world ya want because in a generation or two this logic is gunna get you some sharia law at the current rate of growth in your respective religions.
Trump on his faith advisers: "They work right out of the White House. That's never been done before. No other president allowed that. They say 'separation between church and state.' I said, alright, let's forget about that for one time."
May 1, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Y'all christians better start outbreeding the muslims if this is the world ya want because in a generation or two this logic is gunna get you some sharia law at the current rate of growth in your respective religions.
Reposted by Colten Barnaby
When I was a kid I fantasized about being a faithful disciple in the crowd before Pontius Pilot, demanding justice for my Lord.
That is no longer how that fantasy plays out in my imagination.
I wrote a little bit about that here.
It's free to read and subscribe.
That is no longer how that fantasy plays out in my imagination.
I wrote a little bit about that here.
It's free to read and subscribe.
Give Us Barabbas
Blood and the Shape of Hope
open.substack.com
April 21, 2025 at 12:24 AM
When I was a kid I fantasized about being a faithful disciple in the crowd before Pontius Pilot, demanding justice for my Lord.
That is no longer how that fantasy plays out in my imagination.
I wrote a little bit about that here.
It's free to read and subscribe.
That is no longer how that fantasy plays out in my imagination.
I wrote a little bit about that here.
It's free to read and subscribe.
Family. Community. Responsibility.
These aren't conservative values—they're human ones.
My latest essay explores how the left can reclaim the moral high ground that both Republicans and Democrats have surrendered to chaos, celebrity, and consumerism.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
These aren't conservative values—they're human ones.
My latest essay explores how the left can reclaim the moral high ground that both Republicans and Democrats have surrendered to chaos, celebrity, and consumerism.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Virtue's New Vanguard
With Morality Off the Right’s Agenda, the Left Must Put It Front and Center
open.substack.com
April 16, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Family. Community. Responsibility.
These aren't conservative values—they're human ones.
My latest essay explores how the left can reclaim the moral high ground that both Republicans and Democrats have surrendered to chaos, celebrity, and consumerism.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
These aren't conservative values—they're human ones.
My latest essay explores how the left can reclaim the moral high ground that both Republicans and Democrats have surrendered to chaos, celebrity, and consumerism.
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
New Substack Post:
America didn’t collapse. It got converted into passive income.
The jobs got gigged. The pensions got privatized. The middle class got converted into passive income for someone else’s portfolio.
The Squeeze Out is your guide to how it happened—in five polite, bipartisan steps.
America didn’t collapse. It got converted into passive income.
The jobs got gigged. The pensions got privatized. The middle class got converted into passive income for someone else’s portfolio.
The Squeeze Out is your guide to how it happened—in five polite, bipartisan steps.
"The Squeeze Out"
How Radical Centrism Is Destroying America in Five Acts
open.substack.com
April 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
New Substack Post:
America didn’t collapse. It got converted into passive income.
The jobs got gigged. The pensions got privatized. The middle class got converted into passive income for someone else’s portfolio.
The Squeeze Out is your guide to how it happened—in five polite, bipartisan steps.
America didn’t collapse. It got converted into passive income.
The jobs got gigged. The pensions got privatized. The middle class got converted into passive income for someone else’s portfolio.
The Squeeze Out is your guide to how it happened—in five polite, bipartisan steps.
This week’s post is the most personal thing I’ve published. I write about despair, deferred dreams, faith, suicide, capitalism, and Camus. It’s about what happens when hope becomes another form of escape—and how choosing to live, authentically and absurdly, might be the most radical act we have left
Biting Into Life
The Politics of Existential Freedom
open.substack.com
March 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
This week’s post is the most personal thing I’ve published. I write about despair, deferred dreams, faith, suicide, capitalism, and Camus. It’s about what happens when hope becomes another form of escape—and how choosing to live, authentically and absurdly, might be the most radical act we have left
Reposted by Colten Barnaby
every person involved in this needs to be in prison
“One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, ‘I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.’ I believed him. *** He “began to whimper,” as his head was roughly shaved, “folding his hands in prayer as his hair fell.” He “asked for his mother & cried as he was slapped again.”
What the Venezuelans Deported to El Salvador Experienced
Exclusive photos of the arrival of Venezuelan detainees deported from the U.S.
time.com
March 23, 2025 at 12:40 AM
every person involved in this needs to be in prison
1️⃣ Democrats didn’t just lose the working class—they pushed them into MAGA’s arms. And if we don’t challenge the Democratic establishment, the next Trump will be even worse. 1/8 🧵
March 18, 2025 at 4:53 PM
1️⃣ Democrats didn’t just lose the working class—they pushed them into MAGA’s arms. And if we don’t challenge the Democratic establishment, the next Trump will be even worse. 1/8 🧵
Reposted by Colten Barnaby
oh this is a big mystery
Gifted | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put an end to Black History Month and other celebrations of identity. But St. Patrick's Day got a pass, and some are asking why. The questions come from the troops as well as administration critics. www.expressnews.com/news/article...
Hegseth's ban on cultural celebrations gave St. Patrick's Day a pass
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put an end to cultural awareness events throughout the military. But the Irish holiday got a green light, and some wonder why.
www.expressnews.com
March 17, 2025 at 7:32 PM
oh this is a big mystery
Reposted by Colten Barnaby
Once you establish that people can be punished because the administration doesn't like their speech, expanding the bounds of who can be treated that way becomes inevitable.
March 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Once you establish that people can be punished because the administration doesn't like their speech, expanding the bounds of who can be treated that way becomes inevitable.
Reposted by Colten Barnaby
For all those people who think “the left got more radical,” this is what the evolution of the GOP has looked like over the past few years.
March 17, 2025 at 7:31 PM
For all those people who think “the left got more radical,” this is what the evolution of the GOP has looked like over the past few years.
New Substack post!
We often talk about politics and economics in abstractions. But one simple question—"Who should own it?"—cuts through the noise.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
We often talk about politics and economics in abstractions. But one simple question—"Who should own it?"—cuts through the noise.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
Who Owns Tomorrow?
How Our Children's Inheritance Is Being Sold to the Highest Bidder
open.substack.com
March 11, 2025 at 6:57 PM
New Substack post!
We often talk about politics and economics in abstractions. But one simple question—"Who should own it?"—cuts through the noise.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...
We often talk about politics and economics in abstractions. But one simple question—"Who should own it?"—cuts through the noise.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
open.substack.com/pub/coltenba...