Christina Cauterucci

Victoria’s Secret Is Returning to “Sexy.” You’re Not Going to Like Why. I hate to be the person who brings up Donald Trump in conversations about thongs, but ...

Trump is concocting a world that rewards unabashedly manufactured femininity. Who better to capitalize on it than the company that insists the sexiest thing in the world is a stiff, sculpted bra that hides our softest body parts behind a wall of foam?
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The Old Climate-Activism Playbook No Longer Works. What Else Can?

In this "darkest moment" for climate activism, Bill McKibben is trying to recapture the magic of the first Earth Day, when so much more seemed possible. Can a message of beauty, collective liberation, and the magic of the sun resonate in today's cynical, politically polarized times?

The Old Climate-Activism Playbook No Longer Works. What Else Can?

Climate activists told me that they're having to completely rethink their strategies.

That the window for stopping warming "has closed, and perhaps never really existed.”

That "everything that I’ve worked on in my entire professional life has gone down the toilet in the last six months.”

The Old Climate-Activism Playbook No Longer Works. What Else Can?

For the NYT Magazine, I wrote about this moment as an existential turning point for climate activists.

Just as solar power became cheaper than fossil fuels, global politics swung to the right. Where does the movement go from here? I went to Vermont for creemees with Bill McKibben to find out.

they yassified Amanda Knox

The Image That Defines Trump’s Reign of Terror Is … a Subway Sandwich? Sometimes, the only way to fight fascism is with a $5 footlong.

I wrote about the first indelible image of Trump's D.C. invasion: a sandwich bouncing off a bulletproof vest.

“The D.C. public spaces that will be militarized and overpoliced in the weeks to come are exactly where you can best observe the interdependence and plurality that make cities great, and that conservatives view as a threat to their own ideological ends.”

slate.com/news-and-pol...

I Walked Through Trump’s D.C. Hellscape. It’s Now Clear What Exactly the Feds Are Doing Here. It’s not what the president would have you believe.

I took a stroll through D.C., trying to see my city through the tactical Oakleys of a DEA agent patrolling the National Mall

slate.com/news-and-pol...

It’s Raining Dildos on WNBA Courts. You’ll Never Believe Who’s to Blame. The WNBA needs to get tough on spectators behaving badly.

I really wish the phrase "WNBA dildos" had come into my life in a more positive and celebratory (read: merch) context but this is the society we live in

slate.com/culture/2025...

It’s Raining Dildos on WNBA Courts. You’ll Never Believe Who’s to Blame. The WNBA needs to get tough on spectators behaving badly.

Probably the most ridiculous photo illustration I've ever had to cook up in my almost 12 years at @slate.com. (And I've done some doozies.) Shouts to @c-cauterucci.bsky.social for breaking down one of the most idiotic things going on in pro sports right now. slate.com/culture/2025...

excellent work 🎖️

hmm I agree

Democrats Are at a Historic Low Point. A Certain Kind of Advice Brought Them Here—and They Can’t Stop Listening to It. During the Reagan revolution, Democrats settled on a new way to win—and it’s destroying them now.

a searing and aggressively sensible (and, because it's @benmathislilley.bsky.social, fun) piece on the trap Democrats have laid for themselves and how they can get themselves out

slate.com/news-and-pol...

For the Love of God, Please Stop Putting Up This One Pride Flag Do this instead.

I'm sorry in advance. Once you read this, you won't be able to unsee it.
slate.com/life/2025/06...

that's wonderful!

I Am Beyond Thrilled That Corporations Are Defunding Pride. No, Not for the Reason You Think. I really think we’ll be fine without the Raytheon float, you guys.

“Crowds of queer people cheering for rainbow-clad straight people on a day meant to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community—it’s as dissonant as sending a model of a drone down the parade route, and it’s a sign of how far Pride has drifted from its origins as a show of queer visibility and power.”

I Am Beyond Thrilled That Corporations Are Defunding Pride. No, Not for the Reason You Think. I really think we’ll be fine without the Raytheon float, you guys.

I wrote about the beginning of the end of corporate Pride, and the possibilities that await us when the companies leave

slate.com/life/2025/06...

The Conservative Wave Is Having a Very Unexpected Effect on Pride Against all odds, small-town Prides are multiplying and thriving—even in the country's most Trump-coded areas.

"But you don’t need the backing of business leaders to host a Pride event. Nor do you need the majority of your neighbors to endorse it. All you need is a few committed residents with a knack for party promotion and the chutzpah to overcome—or ignore—whatever opposition rears up in response."

The Conservative Wave Is Having a Very Unexpected Effect on Pride Against all odds, small-town Prides are multiplying and thriving—even in the country's most Trump-coded areas.

"They can’t stop LGBTQ+ communities from supporting and sustaining one another with art, whimsy, and a good dance floor. And they can’t roll back the cultural progress of newly out young people finding more supportive family members, teachers, and care providers." Pride! @c-cauterucci.bsky.social

I didn't see the full thread - thank you for actually reading the piece!

You Might Think Trump Has Destroyed Gay Pride in Conservative America. It’s Quite the Opposite. Against all odds, small-town Prides are multiplying and thriving—even in the country's most conservative areas.

"One seventysomething lesbian couple said they’d moved from Nampa to a blue state 30 years ago, seeking a more affirming community. They returned just for the Pride event and were overcome with emotion by what they saw. “I cried like 50 percent of the day,” Knapp said."

You Might Think Trump Has Destroyed Gay Pride in Conservative America. It’s Quite the Opposite. Against all odds, small-town Prides are multiplying and thriving—even in the country's most conservative areas.

I'm obsessed with the people profiled here, who are pushing past local right-wing opposition to have their Pride events.

There's one thing all these new Prides have in common. Organizers expected a few dozen or hundred people to show up, but thousands did. Demand is high!
slate.com/life/2025/06...

You Might Think Trump Has Destroyed Gay Pride in Conservative America. It’s Quite the Opposite. Against all odds, small-town Prides are multiplying and thriving—even in the country's most conservative areas.

I wrote about the boom in Pride celebrations in conservative areas, and the extreme measures organizers are taking to keep them safe in the face of violent threats.
slate.com/life/2025/06...

That is not the framing of this piece. The piece is about how that assumption is wrong. But also - Pride organizers in conservative areas *are* facing real opposition, and violence, and should be applauded for pushing past it.

that means a lot to me 💐

thank you!

Slow Burn Season 9 A nationwide moral panic, a California legislator who rode the anti-gay wave, and the LGBTQ+ people who stepped up and came out to try and stop him.

On what would have been Harvey Milk’s 95th birthday, I really strongly recommend people give @c-cauterucci.bsky.social’s Slow Burn podcast series on ‘Gays Against Briggs’, and Milk and others in 1970s San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community’s resistance to efforts to roll back gay rights.

Fur Is Back. I Know Why. Faux fur, shearling, even real fur—there’s a reason why this luxurious good is making its way back into our closets.

fur is in, handwringing about ethics is out
slate.com/life/2025/05...

People Are Losing Their Minds Over Pete Buttigieg’s Beard Again. There’s Something Much Bigger Going On. If you listen closely, you can hear hidden messages rustling through it.

on the return of a highly powerful political tool: Pete Buttigieg's beard

slate.com/life/2025/04...

Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Got Robbed. That’s Far From the Most Interesting Part of the Story. That robber really hit the jackpot.

Kristi Noem's supposedly stolen purse supposedly contained her passport, meds, driver's license & $3,000 in cash. Was it a go bag? If so, shouldn't the head of Homeland Security have kept an eye on it? Fun analysis from @c-cauterucci.bsky.social on @slate.com slate.com/life/2025/04...