Kate Cohen
@katecohen.bsky.social
Author of "We of Little Faith," former columnist at the Washington Post, parent, cook, reader, atheist, leftie (both kinds).
For fellow artists (ok, home cooks) whose muse is zucchini . . . scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/mission-zu...
Mission: Zucchini
why do I give myself this Herculean task year after year?
scratchcolumn.substack.com
August 19, 2026 at 7:34 PM
For fellow artists (ok, home cooks) whose muse is zucchini . . . scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/mission-zu...
I love @eileenj19.bsky.social with the same passion that she hates a Christopher Nolan movie.
jacobin.com/2026/07/film...
jacobin.com/2026/07/film...
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: A Dissenter’s View
I know I’m in the minority here. I really did try to like it. But Christopher Nolan has taken the wiliest, most delightful hero in Western literature and turned him into one more Nolan sad sack, trudg...
jacobin.com
July 28, 2026 at 2:53 PM
I love @eileenj19.bsky.social with the same passion that she hates a Christopher Nolan movie.
jacobin.com/2026/07/film...
jacobin.com/2026/07/film...
I can't (or, OK, don't) always avoid Amazon, but I try not to celebrate the Capitalist Pride holiday of "Prime Days."
I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without ...
I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without ...
June 23, 2026 at 6:19 PM
I can't (or, OK, don't) always avoid Amazon, but I try not to celebrate the Capitalist Pride holiday of "Prime Days."
I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without ...
I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without. I don't need the best price on a thing I can do without ...
Stop Sending Me Slop
"This hollowing out of words, this emptying writing of effort, may feel like freedom. But we will pay a hefty price for it. " A screed. (Plus humor, I promise.)
"This hollowing out of words, this emptying writing of effort, may feel like freedom. But we will pay a hefty price for it. " A screed. (Plus humor, I promise.)
Stop Sending Me Slop
in which I take offense in defense of writing
open.substack.com
June 18, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Stop Sending Me Slop
"This hollowing out of words, this emptying writing of effort, may feel like freedom. But we will pay a hefty price for it. " A screed. (Plus humor, I promise.)
"This hollowing out of words, this emptying writing of effort, may feel like freedom. But we will pay a hefty price for it. " A screed. (Plus humor, I promise.)
"Fixing mistakes is the skill that jogs behind the original skill, like a worried parent or a Secret Service agent."
Please enjoy this brief excursion to the King Arthur Baking School, where I went to give my baguettes the attention they deserve @kingarthurbaking.bsky.social
Please enjoy this brief excursion to the King Arthur Baking School, where I went to give my baguettes the attention they deserve @kingarthurbaking.bsky.social
“Better” and the Baguette
King Arthur Baking School and the pleasure of improvement
scratchcolumn.substack.com
June 3, 2026 at 6:46 PM
"Fixing mistakes is the skill that jogs behind the original skill, like a worried parent or a Secret Service agent."
Please enjoy this brief excursion to the King Arthur Baking School, where I went to give my baguettes the attention they deserve @kingarthurbaking.bsky.social
Please enjoy this brief excursion to the King Arthur Baking School, where I went to give my baguettes the attention they deserve @kingarthurbaking.bsky.social
Wealth is . . . all your drawers glide open and your cabinets close softly.
(visiting a friend)
(visiting a friend)
May 28, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Wealth is . . . all your drawers glide open and your cabinets close softly.
(visiting a friend)
(visiting a friend)
Working Out Without the Mean Girls
Trying to look at anything in a new way is a challenge. Trying to rethink something personal that's been drummed into you since puberty? Yikes. But I'm trying.
Trying to look at anything in a new way is a challenge. Trying to rethink something personal that's been drummed into you since puberty? Yikes. But I'm trying.
Working Out Without the Mean Girls
can exercise be divorced from diet culture?
open.substack.com
May 26, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Working Out Without the Mean Girls
Trying to look at anything in a new way is a challenge. Trying to rethink something personal that's been drummed into you since puberty? Yikes. But I'm trying.
Trying to look at anything in a new way is a challenge. Trying to rethink something personal that's been drummed into you since puberty? Yikes. But I'm trying.
Reposted by Kate Cohen
Finally, a major American newspaper whose editorial board is courageous enough to stand up for the rights of big tech companies.
May 5, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Finally, a major American newspaper whose editorial board is courageous enough to stand up for the rights of big tech companies.
What would I change about DC journalism? Well I do have one little idea . . . How 'bout we try not to repeat lies?
(Thanks for asking, @notus.com)
(Thanks for asking, @notus.com)
16 Washington Post veterans on what they would change about D.C. journalism.
Marc Fisher, Joe Stephens, Kate Cohen, John F. Harris, Helena Andrews-Dyer, Alyssa Rosenberg, Jonathan Capehart, Jose A. Del Real, Aaron Wiener, Krissah Thompson, Richard Just, Margaret Sullivan, Dana...
www.notus.org
May 11, 2026 at 1:41 PM
What would I change about DC journalism? Well I do have one little idea . . . How 'bout we try not to repeat lies?
(Thanks for asking, @notus.com)
(Thanks for asking, @notus.com)
Incredible piece on "Michael" — which I haven't seen and won't. Biopics are usually bad, combining the worst things about real life (boring) and fiction (untrue). Daramola argues eloquently why this one is not just bad but toxic.
May 1, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Incredible piece on "Michael" — which I haven't seen and won't. Biopics are usually bad, combining the worst things about real life (boring) and fiction (untrue). Daramola argues eloquently why this one is not just bad but toxic.
If you've got a broken lamp or a broken trust in human competence and compassion, I've got a place for you . . .
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
Things Break. Only Humans Can Fix Them
restore your hope at a Repair Café
open.substack.com
April 28, 2026 at 2:56 PM
If you've got a broken lamp or a broken trust in human competence and compassion, I've got a place for you . . .
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
sources say . . . once you start you can't stop. But why spend so much time and effort for something you can easily buy? That's the fun question I dig into with this newest column on Scratch.
scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/i-regret-t...
scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/i-regret-t...
I Regret to Inform You That You, Too, Can Make Maple Syrup
“sometimes you’re the victim of your own curiosity”
scratchcolumn.substack.com
April 17, 2026 at 5:45 PM
sources say . . . once you start you can't stop. But why spend so much time and effort for something you can easily buy? That's the fun question I dig into with this newest column on Scratch.
scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/i-regret-t...
scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/i-regret-t...
We can't defend our humanity while we're being deceived.
New column: scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/bring-back-the-robot-voice/
New column: scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/bring-back-the-robot-voice/
January 21, 2026 at 5:25 PM
We can't defend our humanity while we're being deceived.
New column: scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/bring-back-the-robot-voice/
New column: scratchcolumn.substack.com/p/bring-back-the-robot-voice/
January 8, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Kate Cohen
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
December 15, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
closing my browser now
December 15, 2025 at 3:50 PM
closing my browser now
I made a little list of all my fellow columnists who have left the Washington Post since fall 2024 — and where their work can now be found. Let me know who I'm missing, so I can add them!
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
Looking for Your Favorite Ex-Post Columnist? Start Here!
from my scratch pad
open.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I made a little list of all my fellow columnists who have left the Washington Post since fall 2024 — and where their work can now be found. Let me know who I'm missing, so I can add them!
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
Very happy to report I have started a new column and posted my first piece: "Starting from Scratch" about quitting my job at the Post. Check it out, please (& share, subscribe, etc.).
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
Starting from Scratch
on leaving the Washington Post and searching for something true
open.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Very happy to report I have started a new column and posted my first piece: "Starting from Scratch" about quitting my job at the Post. Check it out, please (& share, subscribe, etc.).
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
open.substack.com/pub/scratchc...
Here I’ll save you: mistaken mess of pseudo-profundities ending w/: “Eventually Americans, restless as any people on earth, will want to replace threat with hope and resume our national pilgrimage. When that cultural and spiritual shift occurs, a lot will change in our religious and political life.”
November 14, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Here I’ll save you: mistaken mess of pseudo-profundities ending w/: “Eventually Americans, restless as any people on earth, will want to replace threat with hope and resume our national pilgrimage. When that cultural and spiritual shift occurs, a lot will change in our religious and political life.”
🎯
Part of the transition from conservatism to authoritarianism is the shift from lies with some veneer of plausibility (wink wink) to lies that are demonstrably, obviously lies, such that accepting them involves an almost total subjugation of individual discernment or judgment.
October 8, 2025 at 8:52 PM
🎯
Ok ok I’ll watch “Adolescence.”Sheesh.
September 15, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Ok ok I’ll watch “Adolescence.”Sheesh.
@peterbeinart.bsky.social thank you for this sobering, compassionate, inspiring little book
September 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
@peterbeinart.bsky.social thank you for this sobering, compassionate, inspiring little book