Kristen Martin
@kwistent.bsky.social
Author of THE SUN WON'T COME OUT TOMORROW, out now from Bold Type / critic with words in NYRB, NYT Mag, WaPo, The New Republic, and elsewhere / member Freelance Solidarity Project and National Book Critics Circle / Philly / kristenmartin.net
Pinned
Kristen Martin
@kwistent.bsky.social
· Nov 9
The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood a book by Kristen Martin
The real history of being an orphan in America is nothing like the myth, and nothing like the American dream. The orphan story has been mythologized: Step one: While a child is still too young to fo...
bookshop.org
Hi new pals! I am a cultural critic based in Philadelphia, and my first book, THE SUN WON'T COME OUT TOMORROW: THE DARK HISTORY OF AMERICAN ORPHANHOOD, comes out the day after the inauguration (gulp). bookshop.org/p/books/the-... (1/2)
Reposted by Kristen Martin
If you like a writer's work, tell them! Email, LinkedIn message, DM, even in person at an event. It can make a huge difference in their lives, especially right now with declining freelance budgets, layoffs, stagnant salaries, the threat of AI, and dwindling book advances.
November 26, 2025 at 6:12 PM
If you like a writer's work, tell them! Email, LinkedIn message, DM, even in person at an event. It can make a huge difference in their lives, especially right now with declining freelance budgets, layoffs, stagnant salaries, the threat of AI, and dwindling book advances.
My book on the history of orphanhood—and childhood, parenthood, and poverty!—in the U.S.: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
November 27, 2025 at 1:36 AM
My book on the history of orphanhood—and childhood, parenthood, and poverty!—in the U.S.: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by Kristen Martin
everyone knows the number one quality of rigorous, responsible journalism is waiting months and months to reveal urgently newsworthy information until it can cause the most harm in your personal vendettas
November 26, 2025 at 10:53 PM
everyone knows the number one quality of rigorous, responsible journalism is waiting months and months to reveal urgently newsworthy information until it can cause the most harm in your personal vendettas
Reposted by Kristen Martin
People will die, and are currently dying, because RFK was granted one of the most powerful megaphones in the country. Two people who could have thrown barriers in front of his climb decided not to; there's a sex scandal here but it is not the biggest scandal.
November 26, 2025 at 11:30 PM
People will die, and are currently dying, because RFK was granted one of the most powerful megaphones in the country. Two people who could have thrown barriers in front of his climb decided not to; there's a sex scandal here but it is not the biggest scandal.
Reposted by Kristen Martin
“Fostering the Future,” which aims to support young people aging out of the foster-care system, is paired with an effort to put the religious rights of people who wish to foster above the civil rights of L.B.G.T.Q.+ youth.
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/vRetrp
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/vRetrp
For Trump, “Fostering the Future” Looks a Lot Like the Past
By putting the religious rights of potential foster parents above the civil rights of L.G.B.T.Q. youth, a new executive order reënacts the original sin of the child-welfare system.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 26, 2025 at 10:00 PM
“Fostering the Future,” which aims to support young people aging out of the foster-care system, is paired with an effort to put the religious rights of people who wish to foster above the civil rights of L.B.G.T.Q.+ youth.
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/vRetrp
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/vRetrp
Reposted by Kristen Martin
Kristin Collier’s mother took out hundreds of thousands of dollars of private student loans in her daughter’s name. But as @kwistent.bsky.social explains, Collier’s new book on student debt doesn’t cast her as a villain.
The Family Loan | Kristen Martin
The American student loan system assumes and reinforces familial financial entanglement.
thebaffler.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Kristin Collier’s mother took out hundreds of thousands of dollars of private student loans in her daughter’s name. But as @kwistent.bsky.social explains, Collier’s new book on student debt doesn’t cast her as a villain.
Reposted by Kristen Martin
Poverty isn’t neglect.
Most kids in foster care aren’t there because of abuse, they’re there because their parents couldn’t afford food, housing, or childcare.
The solution isn’t foster care. It’s ending poverty.
#adopteesky
Most kids in foster care aren’t there because of abuse, they’re there because their parents couldn’t afford food, housing, or childcare.
The solution isn’t foster care. It’s ending poverty.
#adopteesky
November 26, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Poverty isn’t neglect.
Most kids in foster care aren’t there because of abuse, they’re there because their parents couldn’t afford food, housing, or childcare.
The solution isn’t foster care. It’s ending poverty.
#adopteesky
Most kids in foster care aren’t there because of abuse, they’re there because their parents couldn’t afford food, housing, or childcare.
The solution isn’t foster care. It’s ending poverty.
#adopteesky
Reposted by Kristen Martin
“In reframing who is to blame for her student debt, Collier opens up a broader view of what justice would look like—one that seeks to free millions of student debtors from a system that the government has chosen to trap them in.”
The Family Loan | Kristen Martin
The American student loan system assumes and reinforces familial financial entanglement.
thebaffler.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:03 AM
“In reframing who is to blame for her student debt, Collier opens up a broader view of what justice would look like—one that seeks to free millions of student debtors from a system that the government has chosen to trap them in.”
If you asked me in the past couple of months if I’ve read anything interesting for review lately, I would have talked up Kristin Collier’s WHAT DEBT DEMANDS. If you ever filled out a FASFA, you’ll find solidarity here. My review for @thebaffler.com: thebaffler.com/latest/the-f...
The Family Loan | Kristen Martin
The American student loan system assumes and reinforces familial financial entanglement.
thebaffler.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:34 AM
If you asked me in the past couple of months if I’ve read anything interesting for review lately, I would have talked up Kristin Collier’s WHAT DEBT DEMANDS. If you ever filled out a FASFA, you’ll find solidarity here. My review for @thebaffler.com: thebaffler.com/latest/the-f...
Reposted by Kristen Martin
American student borrowers owe more than $1.8 trillion. The system that made this possible demands a reckoning.
The Family Loan | Kristen Martin
The American student loan system assumes and reinforces familial financial entanglement.
thebaffler.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
American student borrowers owe more than $1.8 trillion. The system that made this possible demands a reckoning.
I shout out books by Alice Bolin, Grady Chambers, Kristin Collier, Barbara Demick, Jarvis Givens, Haley Cohen Gilliland, Brian Goldstone, Stacy Horn, John L. Lennon, Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Karen Palmer, Mary Annette Pember, and Bee Wilson:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Books We Love
Here are 380+ great reads from 2025 handpicked just for you by NPR staffers and trusted critics.
apps.npr.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:07 AM
I shout out books by Alice Bolin, Grady Chambers, Kristin Collier, Barbara Demick, Jarvis Givens, Haley Cohen Gilliland, Brian Goldstone, Stacy Horn, John L. Lennon, Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Karen Palmer, Mary Annette Pember, and Bee Wilson:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Reposted by Kristen Martin
Huge thanks to @kwistent.bsky.social for her incredibly generous words.
You can see the rest of the nonfiction list—including amazing books by @imaniperry.bsky.social, Julian Brave Noisecat, @bridgetgillard.bsky.social, Haley Cohen Gilliland, and many others—here:
You can see the rest of the nonfiction list—including amazing books by @imaniperry.bsky.social, Julian Brave Noisecat, @bridgetgillard.bsky.social, Haley Cohen Gilliland, and many others—here:
Books We Love
Here are 380+ great reads from 2025 handpicked just for you by NPR staffers and trusted critics.
apps.npr.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Huge thanks to @kwistent.bsky.social for her incredibly generous words.
You can see the rest of the nonfiction list—including amazing books by @imaniperry.bsky.social, Julian Brave Noisecat, @bridgetgillard.bsky.social, Haley Cohen Gilliland, and many others—here:
You can see the rest of the nonfiction list—including amazing books by @imaniperry.bsky.social, Julian Brave Noisecat, @bridgetgillard.bsky.social, Haley Cohen Gilliland, and many others—here:
Reposted by Kristen Martin
The Administration’s latest child welfare Executive Order signals major shifts. But what does it actually do — and what risks does it pose for children and families?
!!!! So gratified to have this story enjoy a wide reach, especially since foster care is a really under-covered topic. Read it here: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
November 24, 2025 at 10:26 PM
The Administration’s latest child welfare Executive Order signals major shifts. But what does it actually do — and what risks does it pose for children and families?
!!!! So gratified to have this story enjoy a wide reach, especially since foster care is a really under-covered topic. Read it here: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
November 24, 2025 at 4:46 PM
!!!! So gratified to have this story enjoy a wide reach, especially since foster care is a really under-covered topic. Read it here: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Kristen Martin
“Fostering the Future,” which aims to support young people aging out of the foster-care system, is paired with an effort to put the religious rights of people who wish to foster above the civil rights of L.B.G.T.Q.+ youth.
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/_MyqtC
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/_MyqtC
For Trump, “Fostering the Future” Looks a Lot Like the Past
By putting the religious rights of potential foster parents above the civil rights of L.G.B.T.Q. youth, a new executive order reënacts the original sin of the child-welfare system.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“Fostering the Future,” which aims to support young people aging out of the foster-care system, is paired with an effort to put the religious rights of people who wish to foster above the civil rights of L.B.G.T.Q.+ youth.
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/_MyqtC
https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/_MyqtC
IDK what I was expecting of the women who run the freebirth society investigated by the Guardian but I was not expecting them to not believe in GRAVITY
November 24, 2025 at 12:55 AM
IDK what I was expecting of the women who run the freebirth society investigated by the Guardian but I was not expecting them to not believe in GRAVITY
Had to write about it: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
November 23, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Had to write about it: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Kristen Martin
For more on the long history of religious hegemony in child welfare and how this affects queer and trans youth, check out my book! bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood
The Dark History of American Orphanhood
bookshop.org
November 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM
For more on the long history of religious hegemony in child welfare and how this affects queer and trans youth, check out my book! bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by Kristen Martin
Thrilled to make my debut in @newyorker.com today with this piece on Trump’s new foster care exec order, which pairs an initiative to help kids aging out of the system with efforts to put the religious rights of foster parents above the civil rights of LGBTQ+ youth: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
For Trump, “Fostering the Future” Looks a Lot Like the Past
By putting the religious rights of potential foster parents above the civil rights of L.G.B.T.Q. youth, a new executive order reënacts the original sin of the child-welfare system.
www.newyorker.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Thrilled to make my debut in @newyorker.com today with this piece on Trump’s new foster care exec order, which pairs an initiative to help kids aging out of the system with efforts to put the religious rights of foster parents above the civil rights of LGBTQ+ youth: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Kristen Martin
🥚
Thrilled to make my debut in @newyorker.com today with this piece on Trump’s new foster care exec order, which pairs an initiative to help kids aging out of the system with efforts to put the religious rights of foster parents above the civil rights of LGBTQ+ youth: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
For Trump, “Fostering the Future” Looks a Lot Like the Past
By putting the religious rights of potential foster parents above the civil rights of L.G.B.T.Q. youth, a new executive order reënacts the original sin of the child-welfare system.
www.newyorker.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:54 PM
🥚
Thrilled to make my debut in @newyorker.com today with this piece on Trump’s new foster care exec order, which pairs an initiative to help kids aging out of the system with efforts to put the religious rights of foster parents above the civil rights of LGBTQ+ youth: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
For Trump, “Fostering the Future” Looks a Lot Like the Past
By putting the religious rights of potential foster parents above the civil rights of L.G.B.T.Q. youth, a new executive order reënacts the original sin of the child-welfare system.
www.newyorker.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Thrilled to make my debut in @newyorker.com today with this piece on Trump’s new foster care exec order, which pairs an initiative to help kids aging out of the system with efforts to put the religious rights of foster parents above the civil rights of LGBTQ+ youth: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
I think @brian-goldstone.bsky.social’s THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US deserves a shout in this regard! Also Andrea Elliott’s INVISIBLE CHILD
Ok BlueSky: what are your favorite history books in terms of sheer page-turning, narrative propulsion? Thinking along the line of Killers of the Flower Moon, etc. Nonfiction chronicles that read like novels or movies.
November 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I think @brian-goldstone.bsky.social’s THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US deserves a shout in this regard! Also Andrea Elliott’s INVISIBLE CHILD
Reposted by Kristen Martin
November 19, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Honored to talk with Mesha Maren about the value of professional criticism, the work of the Freelance Solidarity Project, and what authors deserve from publishers for this excellent Zona Motel essay!: substack.com/home/post/p-...
ESSAY: Amazon Reviews, Bots, and Democracy
I am old enough to remember when Amazon mostly sold books.
substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Honored to talk with Mesha Maren about the value of professional criticism, the work of the Freelance Solidarity Project, and what authors deserve from publishers for this excellent Zona Motel essay!: substack.com/home/post/p-...