I woke up to the news that Bette Dangerous is officially a Substack bestseller thanks to all y’all. I am pleased as punch, because when my fingers are dancing across a keyboard like Fred Astaire hoofing in Follow the Fleet, I am in my happy place. Thank you for your support. It is everything.
I was at a crossroads in December. I had to choose between security and a life without writing or insecurity and a life with writing. I called Ruth, Pepper, Wellman, Marty, and Goldberg. And of course, my RadPod guys, who always have my back. Ruth told me I’d be in anguish if I couldn’t write. Pepper told me I was needed to fight the Big Battle.
It was the words of my podcast partner Sean Conner that resonated the most: “Bet on yourself, babe,” he said.
As artists, I think you’ll understand.
The various jobs I have worked in order to support my independent investigative reporting habit - fundraiser, grants manager, campaign manager, campaign media director, writing OPBs (other people’s books) - you get the picture.
Thanks to you, I wake up every morning thinking, “How can I best be of service today? What is the most useful information I can relay? And how can I entertain and comfort the troops during this troubling and traumatic time in history?”
And each day, I can’t wait to start slapping the keys.
Just, thank you.
I know people are busy and do not have the capacity to slog through every email flooding their in-boxes, so I am going to attempt a Bette’s Weekly Roundup - one email that incorporates a list of some of my recent reporting that I think is pertinent to our fight for democracy and truth. And for those who are paid members, DO NOT MISS the next ‘Speakeasy’ on 2/12. Our guest is OMG.
Please read on for this week’s top stories…
‘The Silence of the Grave’ - Remembering Boris Nemtsov
Summary: This month marks the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Russia’s last great hope - Boris Nemtsov - the opposition leader who defied Putin, who recognized him as a thief, and who wanted to mobilize the Russian people toward a “peaceful path to democracy.” His legacy is incredibly important, and the lessons he left behind are relevant to our fight today.
A Question of Treason - ‘The FBI Failed Miserably’
Summary: We have endured six years of front-page traitors thumbing their noses at the law because “the FBI failed miserably,” as American Kompromat author Craig Unger said on the latest episode of RadPod. In this post, I recap Unger’s visit and review the McGonigal indictments - which in time will be revealed as the biggest spy scandal in American history for the ramifications on the 2016 election.
Make Empathy Great Again - Fighting the War on Kindness
Summary: As I noted on the latest Ep of RadPod and in my column here, Kindness Is Contagious. If everyone can remember to be a bit kinder in this time of heightened stress it has a ripple effect.
We can create virtuous circles with each act of kindness, as a counterpunch to the toxic people trying to harm our world. Yes, we have to defeat authoritarianism that is being promoted by toxic people - we have to take action, it does not go away on its own - but we can be decent people at the same time.
Summary: As I celebrated my 10th anniversary of walking out the door of Fox 11 Los Angeles, I tell stories from the trenches of broadcast news. What I hadn’t anticipated was the loving support I received from many of my former colleagues. It has been a very healing week for me. As a loud and independent media voice in this war, I have been harmed online and offline by operatives on the payroll of Kremlin cutouts - shamed in malinformation attacks. Nothing like the catharsis that comes with owning your backstory in a post-privacy world. I yam what I yam.
Conspiracy Theories Are Weapons of War
Summary: All the lies we are being fed, all the unreality being carpet-bombed online, all those Kremlin propagandists loitering in corporate green rooms and Twitter Spaces - waiting their turn to plant poison in our brains - all of it is intentional.
Repetition, chaos, destabilization - designed to create the illusion that liberal democracies are broken. They are not - wounded, yes, but not broken. The people delivering the lies, chaos, and destabilization are broken. Recall, Keir Gile’s explainer on the broken people delivering Russian propaganda.
“Fascist politics creates a state of unreality, in which conspiracy theories and fake news replace reasoned debate. As the common understanding of reality crumbles, fascist politics makes room for dangerous and false beliefs to take root.”-Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works
The reason I wrote this post is because it is important to spot the fascist tropes and recognize them and call them out. When George Santos plays victim on Kremlin-propaganda network OAN, recognize him as a chaos agent deploying the victimhood weapon of cognitive fascist warfare.
Watch Films, Fight Fascism + Read Books, Fight Fascism
Summary: Both of these posts include the films and series I have watched and the books I have read that I believe are most useful in understanding the 2016 election theft, and both pre- and subsequent battles. I am working on a Part 2 of both, thanks to great suggestions from the Bette Dangerous community and because the initial posts were drawn from the heart - the collection that I found most useful in confirming what I suspected and have been investigating - that we are a target nation of active measures and the attacks are ongoing.
Thank you again for all the kind words and support. Onward and upward.
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Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine and Substack bestseller. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you as well to all those who support my work with coffee tips and who buy my books. My reflection, Confessions of a ‘Fox Blonde’ was just published in Byline Supplement. In a review of my latest ebook, the erotic novella Fox Undercover, I’ve been called “The punk rock Anaïs Nin” and a “powerful woman - the book is smart and sexy AF.”
Save the date: the next Bette Dangerous ‘Speakeasy’ Zoom for paid members is Sunday, 2/12 at 4 pm PT 🤍. Who will be our special guest? 🤔.
You have a wonderful natural way of writing. I'm so happy you are being read. By me of course.
Namaste Heidi, your hard work, excellence in reporting, finding answers and truth telling, has become a staple for the Substack faithful, thanks, your rewards are deserved!