Maggie Downs
@maggiedowns.bsky.social
Author of BRAVER THAN YOU THINK and the forthcoming 50 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU’RE FIVE. Really good at traveling and coffee-ing.
Reposted by Maggie Downs
There are violent extremists on the left but they are not in charge of the party. You can find them on social media, not in the halls of power.
The violent extremists on the right are in congress, on courts, and sitting in the Oval Office.
The violent extremists on the right are in congress, on courts, and sitting in the Oval Office.
September 11, 2025 at 1:48 PM
There are violent extremists on the left but they are not in charge of the party. You can find them on social media, not in the halls of power.
The violent extremists on the right are in congress, on courts, and sitting in the Oval Office.
The violent extremists on the right are in congress, on courts, and sitting in the Oval Office.
Reposted by Maggie Downs
How often do we assign an entire imagined role—sometimes a villainous one—to a stranger? In @maggiedowns.bsky.social's essay, a group hike on the Inca Trail comes w both thinning air and thinning patience before things take a surprising turn.
Read here: buff.ly/jC7Fjma
Read here: buff.ly/jC7Fjma
July 13, 2025 at 9:37 PM
How often do we assign an entire imagined role—sometimes a villainous one—to a stranger? In @maggiedowns.bsky.social's essay, a group hike on the Inca Trail comes w both thinning air and thinning patience before things take a surprising turn.
Read here: buff.ly/jC7Fjma
Read here: buff.ly/jC7Fjma
Reposted by Maggie Downs
The air was thin and the effort arduous on the Inca Trail. To make matters worse, another hiker ahead of @maggiedowns.bsky.social seemed to taunt her by carrying two backpacks. Why two? The answer, when revealed, left the author floored, just as it leaves readers breathless: buff.ly/C1ns1TM
July 2, 2025 at 4:11 PM
The air was thin and the effort arduous on the Inca Trail. To make matters worse, another hiker ahead of @maggiedowns.bsky.social seemed to taunt her by carrying two backpacks. Why two? The answer, when revealed, left the author floored, just as it leaves readers breathless: buff.ly/C1ns1TM
Reposted by Maggie Downs
@maggiedowns.bsky.social and @zackbornstein.bsky.social
I think we need to give this one more shot. Third time’s the charm, right?! We ride at dawn…I’ll bring farro and the kale.
Although, maybe we need breakfast tacos and coffee instead this time?
I think we need to give this one more shot. Third time’s the charm, right?! We ride at dawn…I’ll bring farro and the kale.
Although, maybe we need breakfast tacos and coffee instead this time?
June 13, 2025 at 4:58 AM
@maggiedowns.bsky.social and @zackbornstein.bsky.social
I think we need to give this one more shot. Third time’s the charm, right?! We ride at dawn…I’ll bring farro and the kale.
Although, maybe we need breakfast tacos and coffee instead this time?
I think we need to give this one more shot. Third time’s the charm, right?! We ride at dawn…I’ll bring farro and the kale.
Although, maybe we need breakfast tacos and coffee instead this time?
Reposted by Maggie Downs
"Finally—finally!—we can reroute those dangerous funds from writing workshops and elementary school jazz ensembles into more important things. Like tax breaks for billionaires. And tanks."
Phew, for a Minute There, I Thought the Arts Were Going to Get Too Much Funding
“Dozens of US arts organizations have been notified that offers of government grants have been terminated, hours after Donald Trump proposed elimin...
buff.ly
May 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
"Finally—finally!—we can reroute those dangerous funds from writing workshops and elementary school jazz ensembles into more important things. Like tax breaks for billionaires. And tanks."
If there’s anything the past 24 hours have taught me, it’s that my group chats are boring
March 25, 2025 at 8:40 PM
If there’s anything the past 24 hours have taught me, it’s that my group chats are boring
Reposted by Maggie Downs
WaPo's Ron Charles, in his Book Club newsletter, on Meta's repeated questions about his plans to review Sarah Wynn-Williams's "Careless People":
"In my 27 years of reviewing and editing newspaper books sections, no company has ever done this with me."
"In my 27 years of reviewing and editing newspaper books sections, no company has ever done this with me."
March 14, 2025 at 5:12 PM
WaPo's Ron Charles, in his Book Club newsletter, on Meta's repeated questions about his plans to review Sarah Wynn-Williams's "Careless People":
"In my 27 years of reviewing and editing newspaper books sections, no company has ever done this with me."
"In my 27 years of reviewing and editing newspaper books sections, no company has ever done this with me."
Reposted by Maggie Downs
It feels like if you shut down four airports by blowing up your science project, you should go to jail?
Elon Musk is such a menace to society. Lock this weirdo up already.
March 7, 2025 at 4:24 AM
It feels like if you shut down four airports by blowing up your science project, you should go to jail?
Reposted by Maggie Downs
The US military has removed photos of the B-29 bomber “Enola Gay” — which dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan — apparently because it contains the word “gay,” which violates their new anti-DEI rules.
War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge
References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and women and minorites are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts ma...
apnews.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:08 AM
The US military has removed photos of the B-29 bomber “Enola Gay” — which dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan — apparently because it contains the word “gay,” which violates their new anti-DEI rules.
Reposted by Maggie Downs
These ten Democrats should just quit. To censure Green when there have never been consequences for MTG for egregious behavior whereas Green was protesting fascism. We are drowning in shit.
US House voted 224-198 to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas)
Republicans 214-0
Democrats 10-198 (with 2 Ds voting "present")
Republicans 214-0
Democrats 10-198 (with 2 Ds voting "present")
March 6, 2025 at 3:52 PM
These ten Democrats should just quit. To censure Green when there have never been consequences for MTG for egregious behavior whereas Green was protesting fascism. We are drowning in shit.
About to get through yet another day by creating fictional people in my head and writing a rom-com about it
March 6, 2025 at 2:46 PM
About to get through yet another day by creating fictional people in my head and writing a rom-com about it
JD Vance strikes me as the guy who leaves his shopping cart in a parking space because “it’ll give the workers something to do”
March 6, 2025 at 2:51 AM
JD Vance strikes me as the guy who leaves his shopping cart in a parking space because “it’ll give the workers something to do”
Reposted by Maggie Downs
A reminder for these times.
March 1, 2025 at 10:24 PM
A reminder for these times.
Reposted by Maggie Downs
Started to type “it’s so fucked up that” and then I realized I didn’t even know how to finish that sentence right now
March 1, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Started to type “it’s so fucked up that” and then I realized I didn’t even know how to finish that sentence right now
Reposted by Maggie Downs
2025 vibes at the vet
February 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM
2025 vibes at the vet
Reposted by Maggie Downs
This is actually good news, frustrating as it is. People are so bad at thinking abstractly about risk, but as soon as a threat becomes real, they’ll act in the best interests of their children. It would be great if the rest of the country could see this and do the same!
As the measles outbreak in Texas keeps spreading, parents who previously chose not to vaccinate their children are now lining up to get their kids the shots needed to protect them from the serious illness.
As Texas measles outbreak grows, parents are choosing to vaccinate kids
At least 124 people, mostly babies, children and teens, have been infected. Eighteen people have been hospitalized.
www.nbcnews.com
February 26, 2025 at 1:31 PM
This is actually good news, frustrating as it is. People are so bad at thinking abstractly about risk, but as soon as a threat becomes real, they’ll act in the best interests of their children. It would be great if the rest of the country could see this and do the same!
Reposted by Maggie Downs
Quit buying shit, write poems, live más
February 25, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Quit buying shit, write poems, live más
Reposted by Maggie Downs
"I trust this guy. He’s not like the others. When the government tracks you, that’s tyranny. When a billionaire does it? That’s innovation."
Don’t Tread on Me—Unless You’re a Billionaire with a Ketamine Addiction, in Which Case I Enthusiastically Support It
Listen, I don’t know how to say this, but I think I’m finally okay with being trodden on. Just a little. Just enough to feel the reassuring weight ...
buff.ly
February 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
"I trust this guy. He’s not like the others. When the government tracks you, that’s tyranny. When a billionaire does it? That’s innovation."
What if, instead of fearing the iron fist of Big Brother, I actually feared the absence of a billionaire’s firm, guiding hand?
My latest for McSweeney’s
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/don...
My latest for McSweeney’s
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/don...
Don’t Tread on Me—Unless You’re a Billionaire with a Ketamine Addiction, in Which Case I Enthusiastically Support It
Listen, I don’t know how to say this, but I think I’m finally okay with being trodden on. Just a little. Just enough to feel the reassuring weight ...
www.mcsweeneys.net
February 21, 2025 at 6:46 PM
What if, instead of fearing the iron fist of Big Brother, I actually feared the absence of a billionaire’s firm, guiding hand?
My latest for McSweeney’s
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/don...
My latest for McSweeney’s
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/don...
With all the other news, it’s easy to have overlooked this story about the Department of Transportation prioritizing communities with higher marriage and birth rates 🙃
finance.yahoo.com/news/dot-say...
finance.yahoo.com/news/dot-say...
DOT says it will tie funding to birth, marriage rates
The agency issued a memo after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy authorized a series of actions to advance Trump’s agenda.
finance.yahoo.com
February 4, 2025 at 6:10 AM
With all the other news, it’s easy to have overlooked this story about the Department of Transportation prioritizing communities with higher marriage and birth rates 🙃
finance.yahoo.com/news/dot-say...
finance.yahoo.com/news/dot-say...
Reposted by Maggie Downs
Murphy: "This is a constitutional crisis that we are in today. Let's call it what it is."
February 3, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Murphy: "This is a constitutional crisis that we are in today. Let's call it what it is."
What do you suppose our well-regulated militia is doing these days
February 3, 2025 at 6:00 AM
What do you suppose our well-regulated militia is doing these days
Being a rapist wasn’t a dealbreaker. Being a convicted felon wasn’t a dealbreaker. Attempting to overturn an election by inciting an insurrection wasn’t a dealbreaker. The racism, the sexism, the inexhaustible idiocy … none of it mattered.
But now that money is on the line? Let’s see who flips
But now that money is on the line? Let’s see who flips
February 2, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Being a rapist wasn’t a dealbreaker. Being a convicted felon wasn’t a dealbreaker. Attempting to overturn an election by inciting an insurrection wasn’t a dealbreaker. The racism, the sexism, the inexhaustible idiocy … none of it mattered.
But now that money is on the line? Let’s see who flips
But now that money is on the line? Let’s see who flips
Reposted by Maggie Downs
The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...
End of Term Web Archive – Preserving the Transition of a Nation | Internet Archive Blogs
blog.archive.org
February 1, 2025 at 12:58 AM
The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...
Reposted by Maggie Downs
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a declassified World War II-era CIA guide to sabotaging fascism in the workplace has become one of the most popular free ebooks on the internet:
www.404media.co/declassified...
www.404media.co/declassified...
Declassified CIA Guide to Sabotaging Fascism Is Suddenly Viral
The World War II-era "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" is full of steps that office workers can take to resist leadership.
www.404media.co
January 29, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a declassified World War II-era CIA guide to sabotaging fascism in the workplace has become one of the most popular free ebooks on the internet:
www.404media.co/declassified...
www.404media.co/declassified...