Megan Greenwell
@greenwell.bsky.social
I write narrative features about how systems affect people. Writing a book about how we teach literacy and what it means to be a good reader. Contributing writer, Bloomberg Businessweek. Author, Bad Company: https://bookshop.org/a/109816/9780063299351.
I've been WORKING so don't know why people are debating the merits of AI transcription, but there absolutely are options that don't train their models on your data. I pay $750 a year for mine, which is expensive (but a tax writeoff!) and has allowed me to do 37 interviews this week.
Money is energy. On a new Kicker, @greenwell.bsky.social interviewed @ruthannh.bsky.social about her road to philanthropy, how she makes her donation decisions, and why more people don’t follow her philosophy of giving. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
a lot of writers think being “thorough” means showing their work by quoting 1,000 people and trying to cram every possible point in. imo Nikole Hannah-Jones and Rachel Aviv are the masters at doing the opposite: stripping everything away to get at the heart of the matter.
I have so, so many thoughts — as a white person who attended a “bad” high school, works with FGLI high schoolers, and is reporting on the wildly different reading educations students receive — but my main one is: my god are we lucky that NHJ is willing to write about all the messy complexities.
In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?
A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.
nytimes.com
A fantastic interview with philanthropist @ruthannh.bsky.social by @greenwell.bsky.social on @columjournreview.bsky.social's The Kicker podcast. Ruth Ann is the primary sponsor of the forthcoming @oldstermag.bsky.social podcast, and I couldn't be more grateful. www.cjr.org/kicker/journ...
The Kicker: Journalism philanthropy, but make it fun.
Ruth Ann Harnisch on life as the fairy godmother of newsletters, podcasts, and blogs.
cjr.org
@katemckean.bsky.social Kate your recent newsletter motivated me to FINALLY create a keyboard shortcut for my Zoom link, and now I have no idea how I lived without it. 💜
If you had lots of money to give away, what kind of journalism would you fund? Ruth Ann Harnisch on life as the fairy godmother of newsletters, podcasts, and blogs, with @greenwell.bsky.social on a new Kicker. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
I’m writing a book about teaching reading and what it even means to be “a good reader.” I want to talk to as many teachers, librarians, parents, and students as possible. If you have thoughts about reading, please get in touch at readingmachinebook@gmail.com. (And please pass along!)
The way Annie Dillard reframed the idea of the role of “discipline” in writing really shaped my understanding of the job — work, she wrote, “does not require discipline. It creates its own discipline.” I cannot recommend The Writing Life highly enough. RIP to the best. bookshop.org/a/109816/978...
@annasplat.bsky.social, a veteran agent who represents Kicker host @greenwell.bsky.social, on how book writers should think about their platform. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
In August, the SF-based anti-trans group "Women Are Real" showed up before a Valkyries game. I stayed outside to witness & question their presence - leading to a strange interaction w/ security. I've been nervous but determined to write about this, and its implications for Valkyries fans:
Lavender Scare, Volume 5: Transphobes in Ballhalla (+ post-FIBA momentum)
Yes, even here. The question is: are Valkyries fans ready for them?
wnbaroughnotes.substack.com
A delight to be interviewed by the great Cristina Silva for @poynterinstitute.bsky.social about how to make it as a freelance journalist In This Economy. www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
Freelance journalism can be brutal. Here’s how successful writers make it work - Poynter
Successful freelancers balance steady, reliable work with stories they really want to tell — and put serious work into the pitches that get them there.
poynter.org
this story is so good. BAD COMPANY Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream bookshop.org/a/109816/978...
Courtney E. Smith@thecourtneyesmith.bsky.social · 3w agoGood morning and I hope you’re having a great day. I am about to ruin it with this long form story I did on how private equity is ruining cookies but also people are building shit cookie companies to get money from private equity on @weareravenous.com. www.weareravenous.com/the-curious-...
I am starting this as an occasionally updated thread of articles I’ve loved or learned something from. I want to be better about sharing cool stuff online instead of just making jokes about idiots (though I will never stop doing that).
Annie was a victim of pile-on of misreadings today. Annie has done more to elucidate the failures of standardized testing & its EdTech partners than anybody. The accusation that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about can only come from those who profoundly don’t know what they’re talking about.
Shortchanged
How Advanced Placement Cheats Students
press.jhu.edu
THE READING MACHINE How America Lost the Plot on Literacy publishing… someday
Elizabeth Spiers@espiers.bsky.social · 3w agoAs a parent in the NYC school system I think this needs context
WNBA commissioner Nneka Ogwumike, you're hearing it more and more.
as a Californian marooned in NYC with not nearly enough good taco options, I'm taking this one EXTREMELY PERSONALLY. (BAD COMPANY Private Equity and the Death of the American DREAM bookshop.org/a/109816/978...)
New York City’s Los Tacos No. 1 nabs private-equity investment
TSG Consumer — which has backed Crumbl and Dutch Bros — has made an investment of an unknown amount in the taco brand.
nrn.com
There's so much publishing wisdom from @annasplat.bsky.social in this interview with @greenwell.bsky.social that I might have to listen to the whole thing again.
Columbia Journalism Review@columjournreview.bsky.social · 4w agoSo are nonfiction books dead or not? Veteran agent Anna Sproul-Latimer on why people misunderstand who’s buying them and what writers should pitch, with @greenwell.bsky.social on The Kicker. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
I got the queen of publishing real talk, @annasplat.bsky.social, on the podcast to talk about what's really going on with the downturn in nonfiction book sales, and what it means for journalists who aspire to write a book. There's a lot of actionable advice in this episode!
Columbia Journalism Review@columjournreview.bsky.social · 4w agoSo are nonfiction books dead or not? Veteran agent Anna Sproul-Latimer on why people misunderstand who’s buying them and what writers should pitch, with @greenwell.bsky.social on The Kicker. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
my dad, who I adore, died five years ago today, which feels unbelievable. here's a video I love of him telling one of his signature stupid jokes.
Jim Greenwell Court
YouTube video by Colleen Smith
youtube.com
my dad, who I adore, died five years ago today, which feels unbelievable. here's a video I love of him telling one of his signature stupid jokes.
Jim Greenwell Court
YouTube video by Colleen Smith
youtube.com
I found it weird that this article doesn’t say what Galliano’s “past antisemitic and racist statements” are, especially at a time when a lot of not-antisemitic stuff is getting categorized that way, so I looked it up, and, uh, how did anyone ever think this exhibition was a good idea.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 4w agoThe Metropolitan Museum of Art cancels its 2027 Met Gala exhibit on controversial fashion designer John Galliano.
"The students’ lives, and hers, are dominated by the looming Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP), the set of annual standardized exams that measure their progress in language arts as well as science and math. Test prep is a year-round activity." www.wired.com/story/missis...
Stop Saying Kids Can’t Read
Everyone is talking about the reading crisis. But inside the “Mississippi Miracle,” it’s all about comprehension.
wired.com
Watching David persevere through all the NIH mishegas to get his brilliant, life-saving work funded for the next five years has been maddening and awe-inspiring in equal measure. The amount of unnecessary stress this funding process has caused is WILD, but he did the damn thing. I am very proud.
David J Heller@djheller.bsky.social · last mo.Thrilled and honored to have received an NIH NHLBI R01 grant to scale up and test our new chronic disease intervention in rural Ghana. We will use Ghana's renowned national community health program to bring hypertension care to the people's doorstep. Can't wait for our next steps.