Today’s reality can be depressing. However, we need to hear about your stories so problems can be fixed and problem solvers can be supported. Many thanks for all the work you do.
“Now every news story feels like a tired rerun. The Temu version of 2016.” So true. “… our fights are not in vain and that our stories matter, even when it feels like no one is listening.” Also true. I once had someone walk out of a conference that I created. My brother-in-law said that if everyone likes what you’re doing, you have aimed too low. Keep aiming high, Lyz.
Great stuff, and always good to be reminded (by Rebecca Solnit especially!) to keep up the fight. Do you typically share your other journalism links here? I don’t remember that being a thing, but it would be great if you did!
I signed up to be a delegate from my state legislative district to the WA state Democratic convention, and wow is it interesting! Reading the party platform, cover to cover. I have feedback!! And mostly it feels better to be contributing than to be dejected. (Plus I am meeting some fun new people!)
On my way home from work, I pass a house with a large (like, the kind you install) Protasiewicz sign in the front yard. To me, leaving it up feels like a statement.
Keep shining a light in the darkness. Yes it's pretty depressing out there, and I'm often tempted to tune it all out and pull back into my shell. But if we ignore the cancers plaguing us, the cancers win. Thank you for your work!
The day to day news is depressing. I keep talking to people who think a tRump comeback is too possible and they sound like they’ve given in to the idea. BUT we must keep standing up for our ideals and calmly, rationally, and sincerely JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD. Your writing makes a difference and every one of us who digs in for the truth does too. Shine that light, lady.
I am literally vibrating in my chair, fuming about Sherry Moler's horrific and courageous odyssey (since 1975?!!!) to bring this deviant physician to justice. The system is palpably rigged against women, and justice .
We women represent the majority gender on the planet. Aren't we all sick as fuck of being diminished, having less rights than men? Aren't we all sick of old white men making laws that don't serve half the world's population?!
We women need to STEP UP, speak out, be actively a pain in the ass to any old flaccid male that proposes anything that denigrates the rights of women, or anybody else for that matter! Yeah, it's tiresome and frustrating, but we need to fight the testosterone-laden insanity that is the DAILY dose of violence and diminishment we all fume about, but feel that we can do nothing but complain. If we don't act together, we will continue to be treated as if it is 1864.
Sometimes I feel like unsubscribing to everything and everyone I follow, but then I laugh at the Temu comment and think "I can't stop being informed." Things are really depressing right now in Tennessee, but I have to support those people showing up every day at the state capitol building and email my representative and put a sign in my yard, etc. I hope for changes, but I can't just hope; I have to stay informed as well.
Just writing in to say, I live in the Northeast and I subscribe because I believe the Midwest is a critical piece of this country and I want to understand the fights people are fighting there. You do great, important work and yeah, it's depressing but so is my local news, for that matter and I won't know where to fight the dragons if I just close my eyes
And I’m on the left coast - and also read this and other journalists to understand the state of the so-called UNION. Millions of us stand United, across the 50 states and territories to fight those flaccid men (best word in today’s comments!) and the women who serve them.
Your substack is one of the few that I open on the regular -- I appreciate these updates that you've made and also the poke to not succumb to defeatism. I feel like all I can do in 2024's election is donate money (which I don't really have) and vote myself. I'm glad you are out there writing these pieces which help change people's minds. And I also appreciate the humor that you bring to your work -- like the title of your newsletter.
Just want to thank you so much for your work. I read it religiously (figuratively speaking), and share it with my family often!
I understand how some people feel it's depressing. I think that's a measure for how truthful your writing is - the world is very depressing right now (maybe always has been for those who face it squarely and have good hearts?).
Both my children, in University, feel a little adrift - they went through high school during covid, which was disorienting, and have watched fellow citizens storm the capital, watched Israeli genocide and war in Ukraine, and they are keenly aware of the warming climate and our changing future. The Democratic party's response to these have been pretty feeble. I'm depressing myself just recounting this very incomplete list.
We find hope, strength and peace in our family and our community of friends - which you are a active if unknowing part. We don't dwell - we continue to search constructive uses for our time and money - and we've been actively trimming the list of who we engage with (endless online "debates" with trolls are enraging - I've learned that lesson hard).
But your voice - from Iowa, of all places - is such an unending source of.... energy? It's like the Voice of America in the old Soviet Union, or something less kitchy, perhaps. It might not feel that way from your end - but that's how it presents to us.
So keep on, please!, and know that you're having an effect, and being read avidly in Arizona.
I teach Sociology and just last week (semester, year) a student said the same thing: “this is all so depressing.” Rebecca Solnit lights my way for this, in both Hope in the Dark and Not Too Late. This post is great for sharing with my students, for whom I’ve been trying to highlight the long game of social change, where losses sometimes/often build into wins.
There is a difference between depressing and enlightening, even when the information is not uplifting. Those three stories (and others, I'm sure) are critical. I don't come here just to be entertained, though that happens in spades, rather - I need to read clear-eyed writing about what is happening in the world, without the gauzy "both-sides" bullshit I see on the morning shows. I feel like you carry on the tradition of writers I admire like Molly Ivins and Barbara Ehrenreich. My two most regular Substack reads are you and Dan Pfeiffer's Message Box. I also follow Michael Harriot and a few others because I need these perspectives to expand on my thinking.
I think your point about progress being slow is important. While incrementalism has been a delay tactic by some politicians, it is also a way things happen, especially at the local level. Thanks for this.
Today’s reality can be depressing. However, we need to hear about your stories so problems can be fixed and problem solvers can be supported. Many thanks for all the work you do.
I’m glad you have the strength to push that boulder uphill. Your work is necessary. We see you. Thank you!
“Now every news story feels like a tired rerun. The Temu version of 2016.” So true. “… our fights are not in vain and that our stories matter, even when it feels like no one is listening.” Also true. I once had someone walk out of a conference that I created. My brother-in-law said that if everyone likes what you’re doing, you have aimed too low. Keep aiming high, Lyz.
I concur
Great stuff, and always good to be reminded (by Rebecca Solnit especially!) to keep up the fight. Do you typically share your other journalism links here? I don’t remember that being a thing, but it would be great if you did!
I signed up to be a delegate from my state legislative district to the WA state Democratic convention, and wow is it interesting! Reading the party platform, cover to cover. I have feedback!! And mostly it feels better to be contributing than to be dejected. (Plus I am meeting some fun new people!)
Rebecca Solnit’s early book Savage Dreams had such a huge influence on me as an artist. Plus, she’s clearly a soul sister of yours, Lyz!
I link to my other journalism in the Sunday links sometimes but I need to be better at follow ups like this
On my way home from work, I pass a house with a large (like, the kind you install) Protasiewicz sign in the front yard. To me, leaving it up feels like a statement.
Keep shining a light in the darkness. Yes it's pretty depressing out there, and I'm often tempted to tune it all out and pull back into my shell. But if we ignore the cancers plaguing us, the cancers win. Thank you for your work!
The day to day news is depressing. I keep talking to people who think a tRump comeback is too possible and they sound like they’ve given in to the idea. BUT we must keep standing up for our ideals and calmly, rationally, and sincerely JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD. Your writing makes a difference and every one of us who digs in for the truth does too. Shine that light, lady.
I am literally vibrating in my chair, fuming about Sherry Moler's horrific and courageous odyssey (since 1975?!!!) to bring this deviant physician to justice. The system is palpably rigged against women, and justice .
We women represent the majority gender on the planet. Aren't we all sick as fuck of being diminished, having less rights than men? Aren't we all sick of old white men making laws that don't serve half the world's population?!
We women need to STEP UP, speak out, be actively a pain in the ass to any old flaccid male that proposes anything that denigrates the rights of women, or anybody else for that matter! Yeah, it's tiresome and frustrating, but we need to fight the testosterone-laden insanity that is the DAILY dose of violence and diminishment we all fume about, but feel that we can do nothing but complain. If we don't act together, we will continue to be treated as if it is 1864.
BE INAPPROPRIATE, SISTERS!
Sometimes I feel like unsubscribing to everything and everyone I follow, but then I laugh at the Temu comment and think "I can't stop being informed." Things are really depressing right now in Tennessee, but I have to support those people showing up every day at the state capitol building and email my representative and put a sign in my yard, etc. I hope for changes, but I can't just hope; I have to stay informed as well.
Stay hopeful! And as one of my (wo)mentors told me years ago: “have hope, but hope is not a plan.”
My strategy is to read enough news to be informed but not so much as to lose my mind. It's like dancing on a knife's edge somedays.
Once again, your work moves me to tears! Yes, we see you. Keep goin' Lyz, keep growin, xoxox
Just writing in to say, I live in the Northeast and I subscribe because I believe the Midwest is a critical piece of this country and I want to understand the fights people are fighting there. You do great, important work and yeah, it's depressing but so is my local news, for that matter and I won't know where to fight the dragons if I just close my eyes
And I’m on the left coast - and also read this and other journalists to understand the state of the so-called UNION. Millions of us stand United, across the 50 states and territories to fight those flaccid men (best word in today’s comments!) and the women who serve them.
Your substack is one of the few that I open on the regular -- I appreciate these updates that you've made and also the poke to not succumb to defeatism. I feel like all I can do in 2024's election is donate money (which I don't really have) and vote myself. I'm glad you are out there writing these pieces which help change people's minds. And I also appreciate the humor that you bring to your work -- like the title of your newsletter.
Thanks for keeping the needle moving.
Just want to thank you so much for your work. I read it religiously (figuratively speaking), and share it with my family often!
I understand how some people feel it's depressing. I think that's a measure for how truthful your writing is - the world is very depressing right now (maybe always has been for those who face it squarely and have good hearts?).
Both my children, in University, feel a little adrift - they went through high school during covid, which was disorienting, and have watched fellow citizens storm the capital, watched Israeli genocide and war in Ukraine, and they are keenly aware of the warming climate and our changing future. The Democratic party's response to these have been pretty feeble. I'm depressing myself just recounting this very incomplete list.
We find hope, strength and peace in our family and our community of friends - which you are a active if unknowing part. We don't dwell - we continue to search constructive uses for our time and money - and we've been actively trimming the list of who we engage with (endless online "debates" with trolls are enraging - I've learned that lesson hard).
But your voice - from Iowa, of all places - is such an unending source of.... energy? It's like the Voice of America in the old Soviet Union, or something less kitchy, perhaps. It might not feel that way from your end - but that's how it presents to us.
So keep on, please!, and know that you're having an effect, and being read avidly in Arizona.
Thank you
I teach Sociology and just last week (semester, year) a student said the same thing: “this is all so depressing.” Rebecca Solnit lights my way for this, in both Hope in the Dark and Not Too Late. This post is great for sharing with my students, for whom I’ve been trying to highlight the long game of social change, where losses sometimes/often build into wins.
There is a difference between depressing and enlightening, even when the information is not uplifting. Those three stories (and others, I'm sure) are critical. I don't come here just to be entertained, though that happens in spades, rather - I need to read clear-eyed writing about what is happening in the world, without the gauzy "both-sides" bullshit I see on the morning shows. I feel like you carry on the tradition of writers I admire like Molly Ivins and Barbara Ehrenreich. My two most regular Substack reads are you and Dan Pfeiffer's Message Box. I also follow Michael Harriot and a few others because I need these perspectives to expand on my thinking.
I think your point about progress being slow is important. While incrementalism has been a delay tactic by some politicians, it is also a way things happen, especially at the local level. Thanks for this.