2025: My Year of Living Bette Dangerously
A compilation of some of my best work of the year
***Please take out a membership to support the light of truth.***
On our weekly livestream RadPod & (Not So) Chill, my RADICALIZED Truth Survives podcast partners and I were supposed to be reviewing the year in news, highlighting some of our top episodes. As usual, the hour breezes by and when we finally came to offer our thoughts on the year, I offered a one-sentence review:
“We’re still here,” I said.
And that is something.
I’ve been moving through Europe, accumulating new contacts, interviews, and inspiration, as I fight for my country and now Europe, as well, with every investigation, report, column, and feature.
Today, while I was wrapping Christmas gifts, I received a notification from Substack on my phone that I am #44 Rising in US Politics.
I have all of you to thank for that.
Before I take time over the holidays to write up some important reports for this community, I want to offer this compilation of my favorite work of the year.
We are all veterans of the invisible war — a war we here see so clearly — and we need to win this war for the future of the free world. We need Europe and Ukraine to stay strong. We need to see Putin’s entire regime dismantled and defeated. We need to see Trump in front of an international tribunal for crimes against humanity. And I guess that’s where I’ll start. With my latest report, which identifies a Trump weakness — an area where we can apply pressure. Trump and the criminals in his corrupt regime need to be in prison in The Hague. He is aware of that or he wouldn’t be threatening the ICC.
2025: My Year of Living Bette Dangerously
A compilation of some of my best work of the year
The Last Defence Against’s Trump‘s Total Immunity
Donald Trump’s recent threat to the International Criminal Court is a sign that he is in far more trouble than he is willing to admit
Hot Type: A Return to the Dark Ages
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, I wrote an elegy for my country
September Rain: The Bombshell Reports on Russian Interference That Should Have Saved America
A compilation of my reports from Fall of 2024 that revealed the extent to which Russia hacked the minds of our citizens to create anti-democratic agents willing to destroy their own country
Who Went Nazi? A Compilation
An updated compilation of my reports highlighting lessons from World War II and beyond for clues on how to defeat this global assault on democracy
I Don’t Even Know Where to Begin
For a decade, I’ve been investigating Trump-Russia. Are people really just now catching on?
‘America, You Are Not Alone’
In my Hot Type column for Byline Supplement, I document Russia’s attacks on 22 countries to show that America is just another campaign for Moscow and Musk just another oligarch
PROJECT 2030: A New Democratic Agenda to Defeat the ‘Madness in the Air’
The co-founder of Open Democracy Anthony Barnett offers fixes for a better future and explains why China, the US, Russia see Europe as a spectre — a shared enemy due to its strong democratic values
Bandits from St. Petersburg
Part One of my reporting from Putin’s Kleptocracy, and how the blueprint for America’s new regime comes straight outta St. Petersburg
UNBROKEN GREY: How Václav Havel’s 1978 ‘Power of the Powerless’ Predicted America’s Downfall
And how his book of dissident essays can put the power back in the hands of the people
Europe Should Strike Now
While Russia Is Still Weak
The End of the Affair
Revisiting my Marci Shore interview on Trump’s public surrender to Putin and what it means for Europe; plus my new Beginner’s Guide to Russian influence interview in Byline Radio with Adrian Goldberg
An Undeclared War for All Mankind
Crossposting a report on how Russia formats identity and is trying to rule the world through a war on our minds. Research by Ukrainian historian Tetiana Boriak and originally published in InformNapalm
Make Facts Sexy Again
A suggested slogan to break the spell of conspiracy and possibly save the world
Further Over the Waves
Ignoring what happens in other countries is an invitation to fascism
The Real Public Enemy
Political technologists
‘It Was Like a Nightmare We Want To Wake Up From’
A personal story from Gaza
Before the Final Stage: America Is On the Edge of Genocide — A Q&A with Matthew Pearce
NAFO founding member Matthew Pearce led me to the work of Dr. Gregory H. Stanton on the Ten Stages of Genocide. This interview with Pearce shows we still have time to prevent the worst if we act fast
American Kompromat: A Sweeping Conversation with Craig Unger
New York Times best-selling author Craig Unger joined Bette’s Founder’s Day for an epic conversation on Russian hybrid warfare, Epstein’s Russian ties, and US traitors committing genocide on reality
RECONSTRUCTING REALITY: Disrupting Russia’s Dark Carnival
In this report on ‘Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible’ by Peter Pomerantsev, we see how Russia uses propaganda to destroy reality and how there’s still time reconstruct it to save the world
‘Musings from the Green Room’ — My Latest Hot Type Column in Byline
In my Hot Type column in Byline, I report from behind-the-scenes at the Byline Festival
Good Night America, How Are You?
From the buskers of Galway to the Parisian Metro, the spirit of America is living on through its music
Big love to Mo’, Marty, Dietmar, Marci, Alex, Joni, Matthew, MacKay, Zarina, Jen, Thom, Mindy, the Byline Crew, and all the incredible guest hosts, historians, activists, journos, and members of this loving and fierce community.
Onward and upward.
****
****
Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members.
I expose the corruption of billionaire fascists, while relying on memberships for support.
Thank you in advance for considering the following:
Share my reporting with allies
Buying my ebooks
A private link to an annual membership discount for older adults, those on fixed incomes or drawing disability, as well as activists and members of the media is available upon request at bettedangerous/gmail. 🥹
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
🤍
Begin each day with a grateful heart.
🤍