Thanks for chatting with me!

🙇🏻‍♀️😍🤗

"'Women’s sports are just, like, objectively better and more entertaining and really gay—it's just beautiful,' Jane told me. 'I’m just tired of men’s sports in general. I'm just tired of men in general.'"

Nobody gets better quotes than @heatherchen.bsky.social (the rest of the blog is great, too)

Inside the “ICE Off Campus” Movement Amid repression from the Trump administration, students nationwide are forming alliances with faculty groups, unions, and alumni to protect undocumented and international students.

Across the country, new campus alliances are forming to resist ICE. For @thenation.com, I spoke with university students, professors, union leaders, and staff members about how they’re coming together to protect their noncitizen community members.
www.thenation.com/article/acti...

U.S. Tomahawk Hit Naval Base Beside Iranian School, Video Shows The evidence contradicts President Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for a strike at the school that killed 175 people, most of them children.

Breaking News: New video adds to evidence that a U.S. missile likely hit an Iranian school where 175 people, many of them children, were reportedly killed.

The Westminster Dog Show’s Youngest Handlers Don’t Know If They Want To Do This Forever | Defector When Emerson Jaquish’s mother decided 10 years ago to get a saluki, the contract for the dog said that the canine needed to be “shown.” In other words, if they were to buy the dog, they would be…

The Westminster Dog Show’s youngest handlers don't know if they want to do this forever: defector.com/the-westmins...

A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.

The Secrets Of Human And Canine Fashion At The Westminster Dog Show | Defector NEW YORK — “I don’t think that bitch looks fit,” a woman next to me murmurs. She’s carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, wearing Hermes riding boots, and speaking, of course, about one of the three female Can...

" It matters if the bitch is fit because that’s the name of the game."

defector.com/the-secrets-...

Mahmood Mamdani on the making of the modern university A lot has changed for professor Mahmood Mamdani since he went on medical leave from Columbia in September 2025.

Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, scholar and father to NYC’s mayor, began teaching at Columbia in 1999. Since then, “Columbia has lost the trust of its key constituencies,” Mamdani told me and Isha Banerjee in an interview. “That’s a basic problem it has to confront.”
www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/02...

The Garden State Parkway's Jon Bon Jovi Rest Stop Is Playing Fast And Loose With Famous Quotes | Defector CHEESEQUAKE, N.J. — Have you ever scored a touchdown? I never played real football, so my own experiences have been pretty low-key, but man, did they feel great. I think I remember almost all of them—...

Here's a thread of some Dan McQuade blogs that we really loved 🦅

The Garden State Parkway’s Jon Bon Jovi rest stop is playing fast and loose with famous quotes: defector.com/the-garden-s...

Federal law enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 according to local police officials. DHS told Fox News that the man was “armed with a gun”. A video of the shooting appears to show that a gun was taken from the man before the first shot was fired. x.com/BillMelugin_...

Detained by ICE, two women became first responders during agent’s seizure The women say they guided agents through the emergency, later raising concerns about medical protocols, weapons safety and accountability.

Two women trained as first responders were abducted by three ICE agents. One of the agents starts seizing. The other two don’t know what to do. The women jump into action and save the agent’s life, only to be re-handcuffed and processed.

www.startribune.com/detained-by-...

Abdul El-Sayed Wants to “Throw Some Righteous Punches” As the Democratic Party debates its identity, this progressive primary candidate and doctor is primed for a breakout moment in the race for Michigan’s Senate seat.

For my first of the year, I spoke with Michigan US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed for @thenation.com. We talked about speaking to young voters, the role of legislators in defending our universities, Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani, and more. Read it here:
www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Yay Owen!!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I attended the NYC “Make Billionaires Pay March” on Saturday. Here’s what it can tell us about where the climate movement is headed—away from fossil fuel divestment and toward broader resistance, with fewer young people.

For @thenation.com:
www.thenation.com/article/envi...

Thank you for helping me out with this one!

How Climate Change Is Transforming The Soundtrack Of The Natural World | Defector It is easy enough to read about the climate crisis through the dozens of devastating stories that run each week, warning us of the people who will be displaced or otherwise harmed by the planet’s…

Can we hear the climate crisis? defector.com/how-climate-...

Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, arrives at Newark Airport after release from ICE detention <i>This is a developing story. Check back for updates. </i>

Columbia Spectator’s Tsehai Alfred is at the scene covering. Read our coverage here:
www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/06...

Khalil was released from ICE detention yesterday evening. “The fact that they put me in that place, that didn’t mean that I was not free,” Khalil said. “I continued to pray for Palestinians, for the immigrants who are left behind in that facility.”

Mahmoud Khalil, who arrived at Newark airport today, spoke to press alongside his wife, newborn son, and AOC. “Israel is still waging full war against Palestinians across Palestine, the U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,” Khalil said.

Pete DeBoer Just Loves Making Conference Finals And Getting Fired | Defector Oh, you think Thibs has a gripe? Pete DeBoer has made six out of the last seven conference finals, with three different teams—and been fired by them all, after the Stars announced today that they thin...

Pete DeBoer just loves making conference finals and getting fired: defector.com/pete-deboer-...

NEW DEFECTOR INTERN LET'S GO

Letter from the Editors: Columbia and Barnard are failing their student press <i>Editor’s note: This article deals with topics of police brutality.</i>

A letter from the EIC & Managing Ed of Spec on last week's catastrophe. The irony of a Spec staffer being suspended merely b/c she was writing her First Amendment final essay in Butler Library & stayed to report on the police action should be lost on no one. www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...

🙏🏼

Columbia to adjudicate Milstein sit-in cases without witnesses or legal representation for student hearings <i>Updated April 8 at 10:27 a.m. </i>

From the Columbia Spectator: Columbia is adjudicating disciplinary cases for students involved in the March Milstein sit-in without allowing legal representation or witnesses to be present at their hearings, according to documents & emails obtained by Spec.
www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/04...

Have a tip for @ColumbiaSpec? Send an email to tips@columbiaspectator.com or email me a message on Signal at heather.21

A Letter to Columbia <i>Editor's Note: This op-ed was dictated by Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA </i>’24<i>. Spectator verified this with his Attorney Amy Greer and conducted its regular editing process. Khalil is currently detaine...

In his second public statement since he was arrested by ICE, Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA '24, dictated a letter to the Columbia community in an op-ed for @ColumbiaSpec.

Spectator verified the op-ed with his attorney. Khalil is currently detained in Louisiana.
www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...

More news tonight: Amy Greer, lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, released an update.

Greer wrote that Khalil is “healthy and his spirits are undaunted by his predicament.” Local attorneys will visit him Monday and Tuesday in Louisiana.
www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/03...

According to a 2024 report from human rights groups, detainees often face “systemic abuse” and an “isolation from legal resources” at Louisiana detention centers.

Many advocates have called Khalil’s detainment a “kidnapping,” including the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC).