Sheera Frenkel

It’s no to everything for me today, (other than some beauty products I buy every few months that happen to be at a steeper discount today).

Did all the brands get together and decide that 30% was going to make us impulse buy our way through Black Friday? (In this economy?!?)

Not at all! When I teach journalism students I emphasize newsrooms have a range of different standards, and I’ve heard of editors asking for as many as five independent sources to verify any anonymously-attributed fact. This was my effort at being transparent about what my desk at the NYT does.

YUM

perfect, forever cornbread A pan of freshly-baked, thick, buttery, crisp on top cornbread perfect for sharing with friends. A pat of salted butter on top is mandatory.

I’ve always used the smitten kitchen recipe! smittenkitchen.com/2021/06/perf...

Please share your Thanksgiving traditions especially if (like me!) you grew up in an immigrant family and have created your own version of this holiday.

We make: Turkey mole, pickled onions, jalapeño cornbread, cranberry salsa, roasted corn, and sage salsa verde (thank you Samin Nosrat!).

Only as a reader.

So I can’t speak to every NYT desk, which is why I was careful to speak about my editor. I can say that the other desks I’ve written for, (such as international investigations), had the same practice, and the reporters I collaborated with had the same standards.

I think it’s important people know the lengths we go to make sure what we report is accurate. I know not every outlet does this, and as a reporter it can be frustrating to spend days/weeks looking for another source to verify a single detail for a story. But yeah, it matters.

The three people need to be in a position to know. We talk with our editor about why they know what they know. We tell our editor their names, titles, and why they asked to remain anonymous in our story.
If what they are telling us is especially impactful, she might ask for even more sourcing.

Because a lot of people might be talking about journalistic ethics this holiday weekend, I want to put out there how my editor at the NYT does anon sourcing for our stories.

If something is stated and attributed to an unnamed person, she wants us to have at least three people verify it.

What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality

The most thorough reporting I’ve seen on how Chat GPT is affecting some people’s mental health, (and what the company is doing about it). Great work from @kashhill.bsky.social and @Jen Valentino www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...

YouTube’s Right-Wing Stars Fuel Boom in Politically Charged Ads By Davey Alba Priyanjana Bengani Leon Yin Ashley Carman Julia Love Rachael Dottle Elena Mejía Technology Big Tech November 20, 2025 On YouTube’s conservative airwaves, podcast hosts tout products that let people buy into the MAGA crowd: Republican Red Winery vintages for toasting the “silent majority;” Black Rifle Coffee for caffeinating gun owners; XX-XY Athletics for workout clothes symbolizing opposition to the “lunacy of the left social agenda.”

The popularity of YouTube podcasts among conservatives is driving a boom in small businesses tailoring ads to their millions of listeners, paying hosts like Joe Rogan and Candace Owens to read out promotions in the hope that fans will place orders. The phenomenon has enriched both the hosts and YouTube, supporting further growth of the businesses using ideology to sell. A Bloomberg analysis of host-read ads across nearly 1,000 videos from eight of the platform’s top right-leaning podcasters found that advertisers on the shows routinely tapped into political identity in marketing. At least one host-read ad with a political message appeared in 91% of videos reviewed.

NEW: For months, my colleagues and I dug into YouTube's conservative airwaves and found a flourishing network of host-read ads on right-leaning podcasts. This phenomenon has enriched hosts, YouTube, and businesses that use ideology to sell. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w

Sounds like a blessed life

Cheat sheet for a perfect day: wake up on a small island in Fiji and pay a local to take you out on a boat. Snorkel wherever the water takes you until you get hungry. Breakfast is a sprouted coconut you found on the beach and some local fruit. Spend the rest of the day exploring tiny islands.

Just arrived in Paradise (aka Fiji). Going to check out of the world for 5 days.

Thank you!

Now making seasonal glazes for my mugs.

Executions and Mass Casualties: Videos Show Horror Unfolding in Sudan

The videos surfacing online from Sudan are horrifying, and I say this as a journalist who has sadly become an expert on violent videos and images uploaded to the internet over the last decade. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/w...

Lawsuits Blame ChatGPT for Suicides and Harmful Delusions

Allan Brooks, the corporate recruiter from Canada I wrote about in August who went into a 3-week-long delusional spiral with ChatGPT, sued OpenAI Thursday, alongside six other plaintiffs. They blame ChatGPT for their mental breakdowns and for four suicides. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/t...

The ‘Worst Test in Medicine’ is Driving America’s High C-Section Rate

“The worst test in medicine” is pushing women across the US to have c-section. (As someone who was forced to have a c-section, I appreciate this reporting so much). www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/h...

Love it

Disney: Be a beautiful princess and a prince will marry you and live happy ever after.

Kpop Demon Hunters: Start a girl band with your best friends and slay all the boy demons to save the world.

Was talking to my youngest about Kpop demon hunters, and said something about how the male lead really helped save the day by giving the female lead a piece of his soul.

Her response: “Mama, what do you mean, she would have killed him and saved herself either way.”

We have come so far from Disney.

Today, a member of my family sent me an AI-generated video (from Sora) with the watermark blurred over.
They had no idea it was AI.

Amazing, how that took no time at all.

I loved it🥰

Yes!

Sharp eyes will spot what they used in lieu of a clothespin.

“Mama, we made your office more fun.”

Elon Musk’s Father Accused of Child Sexual Abuse

Elon Musk’s Father Accused of Child Sexual Abuse www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/w...