“Bet On Yourself, Babe”

I’m supposed to be cooking vegan Yorkshire Pudding, sweet potatoes, and my world famous krabby mushrooms. But instead, I’m dreaming. Thinking of all the ways we can collectively make this world a better place, habitable, empathetic, and safe for our children.

We in America have allowed our freedoms to be exploited, treated as weaknesses by those corrupt of heart and jealous of our very freedoms. We are being cognitively hacked by countries that have no freedom, and that irony is not lost on me.

I received a call today from someone in despair, who believes things are too far gone. I assured him not to fear, that this is only the passing of greed, and that we have easy solutions. Putin, Prigozhin, and Dugin must be vanquished, and traitors such as Trump, Flynn, Bannon, Musk, and others, who are working with Putin and his frens must be indicted, prosecuted, and incarcerated. And Democrats must remember how to make big moves again by regulating Big Tech and putting guardrails on capitalism. And yes, either flood the Supreme Court, remove those who were appointed by a traitor, and/or add term limits.

Now, back to the joy of cooking. I don’t know about you, but when I’m listening to the audio version of How Fascism Works while mincing ginger for the sweet potatoes, I think about ways to make this world better.

It starts by never losing our empathy. One way to do so is to block all trolls, foreign and domestic. Be kind to those who are under the influence of digital poison, and stay true to yourself.

I spent this year in the trenches of political warfare and am so proud of my team’s work. We participated in the labor of democracy and the fruits of our labor include making herstory - a record number of women were elected in my community, and we were part of that win.

Now, as I look to the future, I return my gaze to the big fight. My podcast partners and I spent our 50th episode interviewing war correspondent Zarina Zabrisky, who is among the millions of people in Ukraine and neighboring countries without power because a terrorist state is taking out energy stations in its cruel war against democracy.

We will stay focused on the fight, bringing the truth during this time of grave deception.

And dear friends, I am upping my game. I will be joining the Byline Times team in increasing coverage and our presence in the United States, so look for more news on that soon.

We have the fight of our lifetime on our hands. We have a future that does not and will not include waking up to messages about mass shootings. We have a new generation more sensible than ours that will see to it that our future includes gun control, and not GOP cult leaders causing further harms.

I had big choices to make this week, and my friend Sean Conner, the brilliant artist and musician who created the look and sound for RadPod, said: “Bet on yourself, babe.” And I did.

I recommend you join me and dream a better future and take action to make it a reality. This is not time to be passive. Bet on yourself.

🤍