Laura Helmuth
@laurahelmuth.bsky.social
Freelance writer, editor, columnist & consultant. Formerly at Scientific American, Washington Post, National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian & Science. Past president of National Association of Science Writers. Birder.
Many people who go through an ordeal emerge with one of two attitudes: “Nobody else should suffer like I did,” or “I got through it, so everybody else should suffer just like I did.” In this week's column, how to deal with a boss from the latter group. slate.com/advice/2026/...
I Just Returned to Work From Maternity Leave. My Boss Is Sabotaging Me.
She's being unreasonable.
slate.com
The goal is to satisfy the *emotions* behind every information need without providing real information.
Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · last wk.The cross-platform enshittification of search functionality is such an infuriating exercise of authoritarian creep. They would like to kill the inclination to find information & enforce satisfaction with be fed information.
FYI there is no "real" reason why Rome "fell." Its power waned for the usual, mundane reasons: widening gap between rich and poor, inability to maintain infrastructure, incompetent leadership, pointless wars, endless persecution of marginalized groups who performed vital labor, etc.
Just a reminder that there is probably someone in your workplace who feels left out and would appreciate your kindness (and snacks).
Laura Helmuth@laurahelmuth.bsky.social · last wk.I get a lot of questions to my advice column from people who are new to a job, lonely, and want to make friends. This week it's a new chemistry teacher who signs off as "A Lone Pair of Electrons." My advice varies but usually includes "bring snacks." slate.com/advice/2026/...
I get a lot of questions to my advice column from people who are new to a job, lonely, and want to make friends. This week it's a new chemistry teacher who signs off as "A Lone Pair of Electrons." My advice varies but usually includes "bring snacks." slate.com/advice/2026/...
My Boss Has a New, Unsustainable Lifestyle. She’s Determined to Make It Everyone Else’s Problem.
I've heard enough.
slate.com
This week's work advice column starts with one boss who has two incredibly annoying boss-isms: treating their direct reports as their audience, and trampling all over boundaries. slate.com/advice/2026/...
My Boss Has a New, Unsustainable Lifestyle. She’s Determined to Make It Everyone Else’s Problem.
I've heard enough.
slate.com
Every conversation in the greater DC area, given people enough and time, eventually comes around to how upset we are about what Jeff Bezos has done to The Washington Post.
if you’re getting behind on administrative tasks — car registration, doctor appointments, dental cleanings, passport renewal, organizing the house — I cannot recommend enough ✨writing a novel✨
Friends, if you are in the DC area this summer, I urge you to visit the Renwick’s exhibit on state fairs. americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/...
Who should lead the investigation: the kerning police or the apostrophe police?
Friend: How old is your step-kid / nibling / grandkid / etc. now? Me: I have no idea! It keeps changing.
I used to always know who the British Prime Minister was, what that signified & why they mattered.
WSJ op-ed page doesn’t like the answers science found, so it attacks National Academies, and also looks like incorrectly wrote C02 not CO2 in their subheadline. The National Academies are a national treasure and the staff are brilliant professionals. Leave them alone.
YOU CAN'T TELL ME NOT TO DRINK FROM THE BROAD STREET PUMP
Media Matters for America@mmfa.bsky.social · 3w agoFox host Brian Kilmeade dismissed the advice of the network’s own senior medical analyst, Dr. Marc Siegle, by saying there is “not a chance” he will wear a KN95 mask.
You've probably heard the saying "it's not enough to succeed; one's friends must fail." That's bullshit. The second item in this column is from someone who is genuinely happy for a work friend who got promoted and now manages them. Nice to see people be thoughtful, considerate & supportive.
I’ve Been Passed Over for a Promotion Because of My Co-Workers’ Sabotage. I’m Afraid It’s About to Get Worse.
It's making it difficult to work here.
slate.com
Having workplace peers give performance reviews makes some sense, but the process can be abused by cruel or conniving people. Here's how to defend against their sabotage. slate.com/advice/2026/...
I’ve Been Passed Over for a Promotion Because of My Co-Workers’ Sabotage. I’m Afraid It’s About to Get Worse.
It's making it difficult to work here.
slate.com
YIL that Woody Guthrie was a tenant of Trump’s slumlord father and wrote a song about the racist bastard. #woodyguthrie #Trump
"Old Man Trump" ~ Woody Guthrie
woodyguthrie.org
Laura Helmuth@laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 3w agoEarnestly for a sec: #TIL, for Today I Learned, is such a delightful, humble, generous hashtag and label for that burst of joy you get when you learn something interesting. What are some of your favorite recent #TIL experiences? lastwordonnothing.com/2026/07/15/t...
Please do not feel bad about your neck! "Aging is political; all beauty standards are. ... Complying with the mandates of capitalism should not be branded as empowerment." By @lyz.bsky.social
I do not feel bad about my neck | Men Yell at Me
Two years ago, just after turning 40, I read the Nora Ephron classic I Feel Bad About My Neck to prepare myself for aging. I love Nora Ephro
patreon.com
Earnestly for a sec: #TIL, for Today I Learned, is such a delightful, humble, generous hashtag and label for that burst of joy you get when you learn something interesting. What are some of your favorite recent #TIL experiences? lastwordonnothing.com/2026/07/15/t...
TIL, for Today I Learned, Is the Best Acronym. What Have You Learned Lately? - The Last Word On Nothing
TIL for Today I Learned is a beautiful acronym. It's humble, generous, delighted and delightful. It's the opposite of smug.
lastwordonnothing.com
Journalists: please, please get ready for this in ADVANCE. We know Trump's going to claim "new evidence shows the 2020 election was stolen". You've got 3 days to write a story that confronts that lie head-on before he says it - pre-write this like an obit. America is begging you: plan ahead. 1/
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w agoit's even dumber than you think
This is a beautiful essay on learning, unwillingly, how to hate. "He died, and all I can say is I wish it had happened sooner, and been more humiliating." By @magsvisaggio.com assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
I Am Not Sorry Lindsey Graham is Dead - Assigned Media
How a decade of hate made me a worse person
assignedmedia.org
Is the reason for having a garden to share stuff with friends, or is the reason for having friends to share stuff from the garden? I wish I could give you pocket friends some tomatoes.
To be a historian is to speak ill of the dead and the rest of you should take more history classes and join us.
Lindsey Graham was ashamed of what he should have been proud of and proud of what he should have been ashamed of.
I get a lot of workplace questions from people in nonprofits who thought they would work with nicer people (2nd Q). Unfortunately, kiss-up, kick-down monsters are everywhere. But we can fight them. slate.com/advice/2026/...
My Job Suddenly Has an Issue With My Side Gig. I Think One Person Is to Blame.
This shouldn't even be a problem.
slate.com
Today is going to be a historic global shared earworm day. RIP Bonnie Tyler.
Male brains and female brains are all just human brains.
Brain’s sex differences are subtle and contradictory, large MRI study finds
Sex-based behavioral differences do not match with variations in brain activation or structure in a study of almost 1,000 people.
thetransmitter.org