@katiejwells
i study how labor platforms shape the way we live in cities. geographer. senior fellow @ainowinstitute.bsky.social. newish book: DISRUPTING D.C. (Princeton Univ Press 2023 and 2025 paperback) http://katiejwells.net
From one perspective, this is a story about grit and determination.
From another, it's a damning portrait of a country where someone working full-time at $11/hour lives in a $60-a-night motel with her toddler—then spends evenings DoorDashing with her kid because affordable childcare is nonexistent.
Amazon “said that all interactions with Health AI happen within a HIPAA-compliant environment, and that conversations are protected by “encryption and strict access controls.” However, Amazon didn’t share how exactly conversations are encrypted and who has access to them.”
A Texas woman spent 22 years of her life behind bars for a terrible crime she didn’t commit, finally was released & exonerated, but b/c the wrongful conviction destroyed her legal status, she’s now set to be deported. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic... @texasmonthly.bsky.social
Georgia House chamber inside the Georgia State Capitol during a legislative session. A state representative speaks at a podium while others stand nearby, including someone holding a copy of “There Is No Place for Us.”
Framed resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives honoring Brian Goldstone and his book “There Is No Place for Us,” with an official gold seal at the bottom.
Well, this wasn't something I ever expected: today several state representatives honored THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US with a resolution at the Georgia State Capitol.
I'm very grateful—and hopeful it helps shine a light on Georgia's predatory housing market and the need for stronger tenant protections.
Two brothers from South Texas and their high school mariachi bandmates were recognized by their congresswoman last June for winning a state mariachi competition. Nine months later, the brothers, along with their parents and younger brother, are in ICE detention and facing deportation.
Urbana County, Ohio, a county of just 11,000 people, just passed a 12-month moratorium on data center construction.
open.substack.com/pub/marysvil...
Thank you so much for this honor! All thanks to the wonderful organizers in Philly who let me document these struggles and approach to educational justice in the city!
Emmanuel Damas in a patterned dress shirt and striped tie leaning against a metal railing on a sunny residential street with red brick rowhouses and flowering trees in the background.
Emmanuel Damas, 56, died in ICE custody on Monday.
Damas came to the U.S. from Haiti seeking asylum. After six months in ICE custody—the last four at CoreCivic's Florence Correctional Center—he died from complications from a tooth infection.
A tooth infection.
1/3
tucson.com/news/local/b...
My research is on working class women and AI and the ONE consistency among all of the interviews we’ve done so far is concerns about data centers and environmental impact. We do not bring it up - they do. Every single one.
Paperback edition of There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone
Today the paperback of THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US is out.
It's arriving in a country once again waging war—a country that can spend tens of billions on bombs without blinking, while millions of Americans are one missed paycheck, one rent hike away from homelessness.
Let's take stock of where we are.
TODAY at 1:00 ET — join us to hear from leading thinkers on how powerful corporations are using pricing algorithms to fleece shoppers, and what cities, states, and the federal gov't can do about it.
"an island of illumination in a sea of darkness" is Sandeep Vanheesan's newest proof of concept for public power. www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...
The Ohio EPA released a draft for a new permit that would allow data centers to release untreated wastewater directly into rivers and streams.
www.nbc4i.com/news/local-n...
NEW: We obtained 911 audio from the Texas detention center housing hundreds of immigrant kids and their parents.
Since mid-September, EMS crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress.
Burning fevers. Low oxygen. Seizures. A broken leg.
My report:
Pricing algorithms deployed by powerful corporations are inflating prices, undermining competition, and threatening independent businesses and communities. On 3/3, Katie Wells joins @ilsr.bsky.social and others for a conversation on algorithmic pricing & market power.
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Two years ago AI people were predicting the imminent arrival of the Singularity but what we’ll really get is intrusive surveillance Taylorism.
"The utility has pointed to the region’s historically cold winter as a cause of rising heating demand and costs...But in an email to The 51st, Pepco’s own data show that their D.C. customers actually used more energy in January 2025 than January 2026."
A blind Rohingya man survived a genocide in Burma, escaped to the United States, and then died because immigration officers treated him with such callousness. This story is a tragedy www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/20...
On Friday, @nelp.org laid off six additional members of our staff union. This brings the size of our bargaining unit down to eight total members - a nearly 80% reduction in six months.
Read @politico.com on why we see this as a sign of larger leadership failures: www.politico.com/newsletters/...
You can help build billionaire-free local news.
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Let's fight misinformation, help good journalists to make a decent living, and stick a big ol' finger in Jeff Bezos' eye.
What's more shocking than ICE's plan to cram as many 8,500 humans into massive, soul-crushing warehouses?
Seeing the actual DHS floor plan that echoes slavery ships and history's worst gulags with no rec space but a gun range for guards
My new column on the camps www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
!!!! !!!! !!!! <3 <3 <3
Reinstate the Fired Six at VSU!
Six tenured & tenure track faculty members were abruptly fired at Virginia State University without cause or any semblance of due process.
Sign this petition to demand their reinstatement & a public commitment from VSU to honor tenure & end arbitrary dismissals.
ICE agents grabbed a 16-year-old asylum seeker--which they aren't supposed to do
They kept him from his parents -which they aren't supposed to do
They shipped him out of state, to a Christian ministry, which they aren't supposed to do.
Then they *lost* him.
www.startribune.com/how-ice-labe...
The Trump administration fired Alexis Goldstein for confronting members of DOGE last year over access to sensitive personal information of U.S. residents at a key watchdog agency. Now she's running for Congress.
still remember the "it's too early/hyperbolic/irresponsible to compare these guys to Nazi Germany" Reasonable Posters - whom, I imagine, are waiting for the renovations to be completed before they update their priors
Yesterday, those who teach Intro to Sociology at Florida colleges (as opposed to universities) received a ready-made curriculum from the state and were ordered to teach it.
Yes, you read that correctly. The *state* is enforcing a curriculum on college profs, complete w/ the following restrictions:
Great event on March 3: How powerful corporations — including Amazon, Instacart, and major landlords — are using pricing algorithms to inflate prices and undermine competition. With Doha Mekki, Katie Wells, Ted Tatos, and moderator Geoffrey Fowler. Register here: ilsr.org/article/inde...
"Every time teachers post a classroom wish list on Amazon, they’re essentially voting against their next pay raise."
Terrific — and very actionable — post from my colleague @kennedysmith.bsky.social