Gabrielle Blair

New York, Normandie

NYT best-selling author of The Kids Are All Right, and Ejaculate Responsibly. Life in France. Mother of 6. Opinions & Essays. @designmom on IG & Threads.

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Articles

On My Mind

5 days ago | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

Hey there. Here’s a quick link list of things I’m thinking about today. -Apparently, there’s a dark roof lobby. As in lobbyists who fight for the benefit of companies who make roofs made from dark materials. I learned this in an article from The Guardian — How the little-known ‘dark roof’ lobby may be making US cities hotter. -I continue to think about how young men are moving to the right. This article in Salon gives some additional insight — Johnny Depp v.
A Dead Woman Being Used As An Incubator

6 days ago | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

Welcome to month of June! The house is full once again. Oscar is home from his second year of university in Dublin. Betty is home from her first year of university in Paris. Our niece, Sophie, is with us for one more month (possibly longer if she can get a visa and come back at the end of the summer). And relatives from England — our niece Cierra, her husband Ben, and their daughter Clem — have been visiting this week as well.
Billionaire Bunkers

1 month ago | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

Feel free to giggle and roll your eyes whenever you read about billionaires building secret bunkers with a plan to hole up if/when the world falls apart. Nothing is sillier than a secret bunker. And the fact that they take these bunkers very seriously makes them even more laughable.
A Few Things | April 24

1 month ago | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

Since every single person in America is either autistic or closely related to someone who is autistic, we need to make sure everyone is caught up on latest autism-in-the-news. This affects everybody. This bizarro and scary conversation started a week ago when RFK Jr. wrongly claimed that the recent rise in autism diagnoses was evidence of an “epidemic” caused by an “environmental toxin”. He also claimed he was going to find the the cause of autism (as if there is one sole cause) by September.
I Wish We Would Stop Calling This AI

1 month ago | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

A few weeks ago, I learned that Meta’s AI was trained on 3 of my books. If you’re an author or an artist, Meta’s AI was probably trained on your work as well. It’s not an exaggeration to say Meta stole our work and intends to make money off of it. And this isn’t the first time this has happened. My writing has been stolen and used to train other AI models as well. But it didn’t have to be this way, and an argument could be made that it’s not too late to change things.
Homesick Foods & Thoughts on Immigration

1 month ago | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

My two trips to the U.S. are complete. I went to California in March for Alt Summit (with a quick stop in Utah, too). Then I went to Florida last week to speak at another conference. On both trips I made sure to leave space in my suitcase (the first trip included a checked bag, the second was carry-on only) to bring home American treats. No doubt because of these recent travels, “homesick foods”, and how our list of homesick foods has changed over the years, has been on my mind lately.
FRIDAY ROUNDUP: Moms, Cults & Cozy Soup

1 month ago | emilyinyourphone.substack.com | Emily Amick |Anne Petersen |Gabrielle Blair

This week, I’ve written about recessions, Congress ignoring moms, and the creepy return of 1950s domestic propaganda disguised as Instagram inspo. So yeah, light stuff. It’s a lot. I know you’re holding a lot, too. Maybe you’re wondering if you should pull your money out of the market. Maybe you’re still mad about Trump bragging in the Oval Office about how much money his friends made from the market dip.
A Few Things | Mar 25

2 months ago | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

Ben Blair, Flora June, and I, arrived back in France on Friday. And then I slept the entire weekend. That is not an exaggeration. I was only awake for a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday. It was a very good, very full, very tiring trip. I think the last time I felt that exhausted was life with a newborn. Here are a few highlights, notes, and observations from our adventure:-With the help the talented and amazing Alt Summit team, I put on my 20th Alt Summit! That’s 20 conferences in 16 years.
The 51st State

Mar 9, 2025 | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

Donald Trump keeps referring to Canada as the 51st state. He has been very open about wanting to take over Canada and force this entire other country to become part of America. Why is he saying this and thinking this? Who knows what’s going on in his fucked up brain, but several possibilities come to mind. He’s watching Russia attempt to do this to Ukraine, and wants to follow their example. He thinks being an aggressor on this scale would make him seem more manly.
A Few Things | Feb 28

Feb 28, 2025 | designmom.substack.com | Gabrielle Blair

I’m headed to America in March. Ben Blair is coming too. And so is Flora June! Since we’re going to be in the U.S., my book publicist is working on a few book tour stops so I can connect with you. And I’ll tell you, it’s really good for me to have something to look forward to! Hopefully it’s good for you too.