Journalist. Former NYU J-school prof, current and forever dog parent. Editing at CPJ. Chills.substack.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mlvxatjenk2wA new report documents an ICE deportation flight that lasted 51 hours across Poland, Moldova, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Georgia. The people onboard reportedly remained physically restrained the entire time. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/they-were-shackled-on-an-ice-plane15 May 2026 18:23 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvxatjenk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mlvxatjenk2wA new report documents an ICE deportation flight that lasted 51 hours across Poland, Moldova, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Georgia. The people onboard reportedly remained physically restrained the entire time. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/they-were-shackled-on-an-ice-plane15 May 2026 18:23 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvxatjenk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mltdifzac224I'm poking my own eyes out https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/opinion/spencer-pratt-mayor-los-angeles.html14 May 2026 17:24 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mltdifzac224https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mlqxy52ag22iThey thought they were taking jobs in Russia. Weeks later, they were in trenches. A new investigation suggests some foreign recruits may not be mercenaries at all — but victims of human trafficking sent into “meat assaults” as disposable soldiers. On Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/they-thought-they-were-migrant-workers13 May 2026 18:52 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlqxy52ag22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mllwl5lclk2lI survived 9/11. Years later, I took a job reporting on the attacks for The New York Times — before I realized I was running back into my own trauma. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/i-ran-toward-the-story-that-traumatized11 May 2026 18:44 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mllwl5lclk2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3ml7dgwrio22nThis is the insane, racist point we are at. “There is no such thing as ‘reverse discrimination’; all race or sex discrimination is equally unlawful, according to long-established civil rights principles.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/05/05/eeoc-lawsuit-nytimes-discrimination/06 May 2026 18:29 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml7dgwrio22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3ml2mrpdqwc2aAs someone who attended the Met gala in 1996, I find the pomp and circumstance now gross. Back then, we dressed up, had a good time and even smoked in the main lobby (bad, yes). The cheap star/hero worship these days is absurd. The Met, where I worked for five years, is better than this.04 May 2026 21:33 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml2mrpdqwc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mkyakxfims2bI asked AI for an exact, sourced quote from a rape survivor in Sudan. It gave me a devastating first-person testimony. Then I asked where it came from. Answer: nowhere. As a journalist, this was the moment I stopped trusting AI. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/i-asked-ai-for-a-real-rape-survivors03 May 2026 22:49 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkyakxfims2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mkl3xpmtus2lDeported from the U.S. to Congo, migrants describe what they say is human trafficking: no guidance, no support, and no safe path — only pressure to choose between risks. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/sent-to-congo-left-with-no-safe-choice28 Apr 2026 17:22 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkl3xpmtus2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mkee6bkydc24Three-quarters of the journalists at the White House correspondents dinner kept standing after the shot like the journalists they are. Batshit26 Apr 2026 01:01 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkee6bkydc24https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mk674ysmg22aUS-Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin acquitted of all charges cpj.org?p=583673 https://cpj.org/?p=58367323 Apr 2026 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk674ysmg22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mjzp6thphk25I wrote about this yesterday, but now Trump is in talks to send as many as 1,100 Afghans who aided U.S. forces to the Democratic Republic of Congo. A travesty. https://www.nytimes.com/.../afghan-refugees-congo-us.html https://chills.substack.com/p/america-is-deporting-migrants-to21 Apr 2026 19:19 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjzp6thphk25https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mjwyp3lvg226The U.S. is deporting migrants to countries they’ve never been to. Some were just sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo — thousands of miles from home, with no guarantee of safety. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/america-is-deporting-migrants-to20 Apr 2026 17:31 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwyp3lvg226https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mjwyp3lvg226The U.S. is deporting migrants to countries they’ve never been to. Some were just sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo — thousands of miles from home, with no guarantee of safety. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/america-is-deporting-migrants-to20 Apr 2026 17:31 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwyp3lvg226https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mjq65i4g7s2yThis is INSANE It described the arrangement as a ‘temporary’ one that reflects Congo’s “commitment to human dignity and international solidarity.” https://apnews.com/article/congo-us-latin-america-deportations-3bcf9794c5cda0ec4c96a28c70686db218 Apr 2026 00:20 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjq65i4g7s2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mjkahl2bf22aSign CPJ's petition to free @ahmedeldin.bsky.social: https://cpj.movements.mov/pet/kuwait-release-journalist-ahmed-shihab-eldin-from-detention15 Apr 2026 15:45 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjkahl2bf22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3mjhy2c5g3s22They’re flying people like cargo. 1,794 ICE enforcement flights in March alone, moving people through detention centers and staging hubs. These are removals on a massive scale. New on Chills: https://chills.substack.com/p/theyre-flying-people-like-cargo14 Apr 2026 18:09 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjhy2c5g3s22https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3miyvbpwchk26Every time Trump talks about "acing" a cognitive test he's revealing something important: Doctors don't just give these tests regularly. They're monitoring his decline.08 Apr 2026 18:10 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3miyvbpwchk26https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3miyuttajwc26Ghada Dayekh, a presenter and reporter at the privately owned Sawt Al-Farah radio station, was killed when an Israeli strike hit her apartment building, completely destroying it, https://cpj.org/2026/04/lebanese-radio-presenter-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-her-home/08 Apr 2026 18:02 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3miyuttajwc26https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3miyuivbskc26A Vietnamese immigrant, Tuan Van Bui, 55, is the 46th person to die in federal custody during the current Trump administration https://abcnews.com/US/death-vietnamese-immigrant-indiana-facility-latest-ice-detainee/story?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=null&id=13180063408 Apr 2026 17:56 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3miyuivbskc26https://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3miwf26dzak2cJust a quick note to let you all know that Shelly is free. I’ll share anything else if and when I can — when/if I know it’s safe. Know that freedom is when a new struggle starts, the struggle of dealing with what captivity has done to you. https://chills.substack.com/p/shelly-kittleson-is-free07 Apr 2026 18:14 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3miwf26dzak2chttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3miw7ftkjds2mShelly Kittleson is officially out, according to multiple sources https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/world/middleeast/shelly-kittleson-journalist-iraq.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share07 Apr 2026 16:33 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw7ftkjds2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/laurenwolfe.bsky.social/post/3miw5ya6muc2mKataib Hezbollah: "In appreciation of the national positions of the Prime Minister whose term has expired, we have decided to release the American suspect, ‘Shelly Kittleson,’ on the condition that she leave the country immediately.”07 Apr 2026 16:07 +0000at://did:plc:e4azgbmvsygpanl2clt5nlbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw5ya6muc2m