Leah Sottile

@leahsottile.bsky.social

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Books: Blazing Eye Sees All (Out March '25), When The Moon Turns To Blood. Podcasts: Burn Wild, Two Minutes Past Nine, Bundyville. Hired hand OPB & High Country News + Freelance. Be a pal, subscribe to Substack

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Leah Sottile

Best pre-order of the summer, right here

During times of fear and crisis, New Age leaders offer answers. I got curious about the way New Age-ism was surging during the worst of COVID and... that turned into an entire book. It's called Blazing Eye Sees All. Out next March. Pre-orders live now: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/leah-...

Blazing Eye Sees Allwww.hachettebookgroup.com An investigation of the New Age movement in America aims to understand its appeal to women and the self-proclaimed prophetesses, like Love Has Won's&#16...

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Can. Not. Wait.

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You know what this story could have used to answer the question posed in the headline? An expert on fucking militias. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/n...

A Trump Ally Is Training 75 Armed Citizens. Is That a Militia?www.nytimes.com Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, is recruiting “special deputies” to deploy during disaster or unrest. Opponents say the move is dangerous.

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NEW: I discover our now-vintage metal detector in the attic as I go searching for all I’ve missed & all that’s changed since I left at 23. Essay out in Beach Badge, the jersey shore’s lit zine - eightstonepress.com/beach-badge-...

Beach Badge #5, We Envy Your Journey and Wish You Every Successeightstonepress.com By Joseph O'Sullivan I’VE PARKED MYSELF in the sand at Ship Bottom, watching a procession of waves unfurl under a naked winter sun, when I spy a beachcomber in the distance, waving a device back and f...

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This month on Substack, I wrote about being the child of a news reporter, becoming a reporter, and worrying about the state of reporting. leahsottile.substack.com/p/48-pressure

48. Pressureleahsottile.substack.com But milkmen weren't holding up democracy

This month on Substack, I wrote about being the child of a news reporter, becoming a reporter, and worrying about the state of reporting. leahsottile.substack.com/p/48-pressure

48. Pressureleahsottile.substack.com But milkmen weren't holding up democracy

OPB's podcast, The Evergreen, interviewed me this week about Twin Ray, the strange Ashland group we wrote about last month. Listen to the end for a tiny tease, too: @ryanjhaas.bsky.social and I have a new podcast dropping next month. It's a doozy. www.opb.org/article/2024...

‘The Evergreen’: Is there a cult in Ashland?www.opb.org A spiritual group known as TwinRay is based in Ashland, Oregon. The leaders dress in all white and charge thousands of dollars for online classes. Are they a cult?

Wow, really is just a Choose Your Own Doom Adventure kind of day, isn't it?

The Supreme Court's reversal of the Grants Pass, Ore. homelessness case allows for the continued criminalization of unhoused people in the west - people like James Plymell: a man who came into contact with police 103 times before he was tased to death. www.hcn.org/issues/53-3/...

Did James Plymell need to die? - High Country Newswww.hcn.org How homelessness is criminalized in small cities and towns across the West.

An update to my story in @highcountrynews.bsky.social : Yesterday this plaque, honoring the IWW victims of the 1919 tragedy, was installed in Centralia’s Washington Park next to the Sentinel, which remembers the Legion victims. Dedication ceremony this weekend. www.hcn.org/issues/56-6/...

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To understand Chad Daybell, who was sentenced to death by an Idaho jury last week, understand Brian David Mitchell first: Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapper, who called himself Immanuel David. leahsottile.substack.com/p/471-origins

47.1. Originsleahsottile.substack.com Is there something about Mormonism that produces fringe characters?

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NEW: Why did US hesitate to let Ukraine hit Russia w/ American weapons? President Biden's concerns on escalation slowed American assistance & gave Putin sanctuary, say US lawmakers. For the Kyiv Independent, my first freelance piece in a zillion years: kyivindependent.com/why-did-us-h...

Why did US hesitate to allow Ukraine to hit Russia with American weapons?kyivindependent.com As U.S. President Joe Biden sought to avoid escalation with Russia over military aid to Ukraine, the American government delayed the supply of tanks, ATACMS missiles and the delivery of F-16 jets to U...

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Great job from @leahsottile.bsky.social on the hate (and history of hate) lying underneath some of the tourist-pretty parts of Washington (and Oregon) states. #pride @highcountrynews.bsky.social www.hcn.org/issues/56-6/...

How Western Washington history explains the rise of hate groups - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Not everyone was surprised when white supremacists disrupted a Pride celebration in Centralia. Some say bigotry has been a fixture here since 1919.

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Just read this piece, and holy cow is it good. Also, I'm a sucker for identifying historical parallels to contemporary phenomenon! (In this case, local hostility to IWW a century ago looks an awful lot like local hostility to LGBT folks today....)

www.hcn.org/issues/56-6/... A great piece from @leahsottile.bsky.social that's a great examination of what can happen when we forget and misconstrue history.

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www.hcn.org/issues/56-6/... A great piece from @leahsottile.bsky.social that's a great examination of what can happen when we forget and misconstrue history.

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Not everyone was surprised when white supremacists disrupted a Pride celebration last year in Centralia, Washington. Some say bigotry has been a fixture here since 1919. My latest long feature for @highcountrynews.bsky.social. www.hcn.org/issues/56-6/...

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Great piece about the long history of right wing hate in the Pacific Northwest...tracing an arc from the Centralia Massacre of 1919 and the American Legion to the Silver Shirts and Patriot Front. Leah Sottile is such a marvelous chronicler of the far right in the PNW. www.hcn.org/issues/56-6/...

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He printed up "Rural Americans Against Racism" signs... Local Republican Party members publicized a different sign: "Rural Americans Against Communism." ...[T]he word by that point signified any anti-American boogeyman, like a cuss word lumping together every outsider. Great read.

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This piece is beyond excellent

Chad Daybell has been found guilty on all counts, including the first degree murder of Tammy Daybell, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan. This is a death penalty case; the penalty phase will begin in one hour.

Chad Daybell attorney John Prior, in closing statements, is characterizing his client's faith - that he is the leader of 144,000, believing in dark/light spirits - as "traditional Mormon beliefs." A lot of LDS people would not agree. Will the church issue a statement?

The jury in the Chad Daybell case is hearing their instructions just before closing statements begin. He and Lori Vallow's religious beliefs are at the heart of this case. If you're interested in learning more, here's a book you might like: www.amazon.com/When-Moon-Tu...

Some news: I wrote another book. Out next year.

Some sad news for anyone who has listened to Bundyville: Jesse Johnson, who helped us understand Marble Community Fellowship from the inside out, passed away in March. He was 38. www.legacy.com/us/obituarie...

Jessie Johnson Obituary (2024) - Colville, WA - The Statesman Examinerwww.legacy.com Jesse Irish Johnson Beloved son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin, uncle, and friend. Jesse died suddenly on February 3rd. He had recently celebrated his 38th birthday. Jesse was born friendly. He wa

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Oregon remains undefeated in the “weird shit” Olympics. opb.org/article/2024...

The TwinRay mystery: A spiritual group in Ashland raises eyebrows and worriesopb.org The organizers of TwinRay moved to Southern Oregon in 2020, opened a store and started hosting retreats. They claim to offer enlightenment. Not everyone is convinced.

Today two of the Daybell children took the stand in their father's trial. There was colloidal silver, Operation Underground railroad, dark and light spirits and... well, I break it down here: leahsottile.substack.com/p/46-the-bri...

46. The Brick Houseleahsottile.substack.com "The Lord worketh not in secret combinations."

Emma Daybell is testifying this morning. In discussion of whether her mother, Tammy, was training for a fundraiser 5K, Emma mentioned her husband organizing a race on behalf of Operation Underground Railroad - affirming connections I've made: www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-mali...

How the Malignant Faith of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell Went Mainstreamwww.thedailybeast.com The conspiratorial world that produced Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell may be extreme, but it is anything but fringe.