Danielle Kurtzleben
@titonka.bsky.social
NPR White House correspondent. National Murrow Award Winner. Former Vox, USN&WR. Tariff explainer. Masculinity politics expert. Native Iowan. Jesus freak. Real piece of work. daniellekurtzleben.substack.com
Have had four minor surgeries in a year and a half and is this just what aging is? Letting doctors make minor, moderately painful tweaks to your body, over and over again?
I present to you a movie that has aged poorly…in a way I have never encountered before. open.substack.com/pub/danielle...
The 2026 tragedy of Lars and the Real Girl
When reality makes you fall out of love with your once-favorite movie
open.substack.com
I present to you a movie that has aged poorly…in a way I have never encountered before. open.substack.com/pub/danielle...
The 2026 tragedy of Lars and the Real Girl
When reality makes you fall out of love with your once-favorite movie
open.substack.com
Not the point here but you could not waterboard me hard enough to get me to talk about my poops for a news story.
Oh my god the dietician who is telling everyone in the White House to only eat steak and sauerkraut doesn't wipe his ass.
I wrote about masculinity again. This time about a movie about the nicest gentlest kindest man. …And how the world has broken my brain and I can’t process Lars and the Real Girl anymore. open.substack.com/pub/danielle...
The 2026 tragedy of Lars and the Real Girl
When reality makes you fall out of love with your once-favorite movie
open.substack.com
(With an aside about how Midwestern Nice is a totally overblown phenomenon, let’s be real)
I wrote about masculinity again. This time about a movie about the nicest gentlest kindest man. …And how the world has broken my brain and I can’t process Lars and the Real Girl anymore. open.substack.com/pub/danielle...
I wrote about masculinity again. This time about a movie about the nicest gentlest kindest man. …And how the world has broken my brain and I can’t process Lars and the Real Girl anymore. open.substack.com/pub/danielle...
The 2026 tragedy of Lars and the Real Girl
When reality makes you fall out of love with your once-favorite movie
open.substack.com
Come for the reexamination of an indie favorite of mine, stay for the *hyper specific* delineation of the place and culture as a fellow Northern Tier County Iowan.
Today in timely writing -- an essay about the 2007 classic, Lars and the Real Girl: daniellekurtzleben.substack.com/p/the-2026-t...
Today in timely writing -- an essay about the 2007 classic, Lars and the Real Girl: daniellekurtzleben.substack.com/p/the-2026-t...
The 2026 tragedy of Lars and the Real Girl
When reality makes you fall out of love with your once-favorite movie
daniellekurtzleben.substack.com
I need funny stupid internet videos. The more vintage the better.
Convos with frustrated journalist friends have convinced me that 500% of news outlet job postings in fact go to internal hires.
My late take is: The Emily Wilson essay is a mix of smart feminist criticism (Charlize indeed had little to do) and comic book store guy energy ("ACTUALLY Sinon was BAD okay?" [huff]).
OK so I know I'm a reporter and I don't get to weigh in. But hear me out. Doxing is pretty hellish. Can we tell people where Iran lives and just send them some nasty messages? Some pizzas? SWATting seems too harsh but hey we can discuss.
PENTAGON: Anyone got any ideas? @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...
I have seen the Odyssey and my main takeaway is that it’s time to give John Leguizamo an award for not only being great but singlehandedly improving EVERY FILM HE IS IN.
MYST no I have not played a game in at least 20 years MYST MYST MYST
Name a videogame that deserves a comeback.
Marty series coming let's fuckin GOOOOOOOOO (but also feeling protective of last temptation since it's my fave please please pick someone good as a guest)
I'm going to tell you how to spin straw into gold in 45 seconds flat, and anyone can do it. But first, hi, i'm rumpelstiltskin, I tell you hacks for escaping the evil king, and here's how i get ready for a day as a full-time imp. [5 min later] Come back for part 2, where we'll spin that straw.
Do I want Zendaya's haircut or do I just want to look like Zendaya?: An investigation
So like AI has encountered Terminator and Battlestar, so….we’ve given it *ideas* right?
This is honestly one of the most shocking images coming out of this administration and that’s saying something
“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
Have repeatedly tried to write a nuanced response that wouldn’t get me absolutely ruined on here and decided I’m not QUITE that masochistic so anyway
What the fuck?? “While Mr. El-Sayed is fringy and radical, he’s also a Muslim man. Ms. Stevens is a white woman. This puts her at a disadvantage in the identity Olympics that internal Democratic Party politics have become.” www.wsj.com/opinion/free...
Remember when two prominent political commentators jokingly suggested Hillary Clinton drink a Mad Bitch beer and then remained highly paid and successful for years and years after?
A short story about a woman who suspects a friend in the group chat of faking her wordle/connections results
I’m very new to the beat/organization but I fully agree.
When “hate click is still a click” is your editorial strategy:
Don’t know about you but I watched a tense, upsetting experience (Dunkirk) from the comfort of my own home tonight.
I continually fear I’ll get laid off right when I’m at unemployable-old-bag age.
Working in media is traumatic. You cover terrible things; talk to people at their lowest moments; while also expecting, every day, to get fired.