Erin

FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?

My boyfriend has been trying to get my toddler into ~albums~ but joke‘s on him because now the album he’s into is the Cars 2 soundtrack.

This is especially confusing to me because there are multiple kinds of antipasti. Like…any of them?!

Ah, here it is.
bsky.app/profile/soci...

I think those personal testimonies matter especially in Austin where everyone knows everyone. And, again, says something about Talarico that he leaves such a strong positive impression.

The number of personal vouches for Talarico I saw was insane. Sure the internet can lie but this was like, “I taught him in high school and he’s the smartest student I ever had” and “I took pictures of him in 2016 and he is an incredible human being.”

I saw a post that I of course can’t find now about how Talarico did “Mamdani in Bushwick” numbers in Travis County.
I think this speaks to 1) Austin as a big small town 2) Talarico’s ability to leave an impression on people.

I know journalism is a rapidly deteriorating industry, but it also feels like fighting a losing battle when folks on here are mostly sharing articles to dunk on them, rather than solid pieces from journos and critics out here trying our best every day to stay working and writing

IDEA: An advice column but my advice is only either
1. talk to them about the problem
or
2. never talk to them again and move on with your life

Texas’s Best New Restaurants in 2026 These ten spots have one thing in common: audacity.

Love this, need to take an eating tour of Houston and Dallas immediately, and I am also weary of omakase restaurants.
Great work @paulaforbes.bsky.social !

www.texasmonthly.com/food/best-ne...

We had $18k in rent requests come in just today (so far).

We’re anticipating needs at our neighborhood school to be over $100k again this month, but this time donations are WAY down. We don’t have enough money to cover everyone.

Please help us keep our neighbors w/ young kids from being evicted!

This is an unimaginable crime.

I had no idea Paxton, who had 20 articles of impeachment brought against him due to abuse of office and bribery charges and who just got a divorce due to his infidelity, is polling ahead of Cornyn (who, to be fair, also sucks).

(Full Paxton scandal list: thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/17/k...)

Dan this is so good

We deported a 2 month old baby with bronchitis less than a day after he was unresponsive and treated at the hospital

When we say "the bar is on the floor" ...

Austin's Infamously Terrible for Dating. Is It Really That Bad? We Investigated. Austin has a reputation as a playground for Peter Pans and “velvet ruts.” Is dating in Austin as awful as it feels?

It turns out treating dating like doomscrolling isn't really working out well anymore.
(also...ahem thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/13/a... )

This genuinely might be the most important “follow the money” story in the history of journalism, and I deeply worry that the industry is too depleted and waterlogged to stay on it with the ferocity it requires

Michigan ICE detention center owner reports $254 million profit, record new business in 2025 The company that owns Michigan’s North Lake Processing Center, the largest immigration detention facility in the Midwest, reported $254 million in profit last year, up nearly 700 percent from $32 mill...

I can’t help thinking there’s so much money changing hands wrt ICE detention that there aren’t even enough investigative reporters to track

www.michiganpublic.org/criminal-jus...

We're pediatricians. We see how ICE is harming children. | Opinion Liam Ramos is one of more than 1,700 children to have been put in family detention centers since 2025. We call for these centers to close.

A group of pediatricians wrote an op-ed detailing the traumatic, lasting effects kids in detention centers will endure:

www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

One of the things I hate most about What Has Happened to Journalism is that now I have to subscribe to 100 substacks.

I talked to an absurd number of people for this article and the answer seems to be that dating in Austin might be...good, actually?

Drew Brees, Nick Foles, Ross Ulbricht…lotta options in very different arenas.

The Barbed Wire — All Things Texas TRENDING In Case You Missed It — The Best of The Barbed Wire! PERSPECTIVE AND OPINION

I'm writing a story for @thebarbedwire.com on the intersection between pro-immigrant and pro-LGBTQ+ resistance... if you you're organizing intersectionally please get in touch... DM or I also have Signal or encrypted email if you need.

Whistleblower Says Radioactive Fracking Waste Site Melted His Jaw. Now There’s an Elementary School There. Then an elementary school was built on top of it.

For decades, Texas let drillers spread staggering amounts of radioactive and PFAS-ridden waste on the fringes of the nation’s fourth largest metro area — while making it virtually impossible for the public to know where.

Absolutely fucking insane story from @saulelbein.bsky.social today

Whistleblower Says Radioactive Fracking Waste Site Melted His Jaw. Now There’s an Elementary School There. Then an elementary school was built on top of it.

EXCLUSIVE: A whistleblower tells @thebarbedwire.com he spent years burying radioactive fracking waste, which melted the bones in his neck and jaw. Then a residential community — and an elementary school — was built on top. 🧵

thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/11/a...

An answer that only inspires more questions.

Day 2 and I’m still not over the Bad Bunny halftime show.

My colleague got into Trump's sprawling family detention camp, which is full of toddlers, kids, & teens.

- Kids have cut themselves or talked about suicide

-There's worms & mold in food

-300 kids have been held for 30+ days, far longer court settlement allows

www.propublica.org/article/life...

Also I NEED to know how many dancers/performers/extras were on that set.