We close out this year from hell with a grounded kind of hope, not wishful thinking. Ushering us into a better new year is a montage of organizers, journalists, and activists reminding us that history isn't finished, and that power has always been built from the ground up.

We end with a simple reminder: convert hope into power through solidarity, defiance, and showing up, again and again. Be relentless, like water eroding rock. That is how we win.

As we face the year ahead together, what's giving you hope right now?

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Show Notes:

• • Erica Smiley — "Building Real Democracy Starts on the Shop Floor" (8/26/2025)

  • Katherine Stewart — "Money, Lies and God" (3/5/2025)

  • Gil Duran — "Nerd Reich" (3/11/2025)

  • Carter Sherman — "Brett Kavanaugh is Ruining People's Sex Lives" (7/1/2025)

  • Sandi Bachom — "Nazi Hunting" (3/25/2025)

  • Mona Eltahawy — "Smash the Patriarchy with Rage and Risk" (8/12/2025)

  • Irin Carmon — "Unbearable: The War on Women" (10/28/2025)

  • Kate Manne — "Naming the Rot: Kate Man Exposes the Lies Holding up the Patriarchy" (8/5/2025)

  • Leah Litman — "Lawless" (5/20/2025)

  • Shawn Werner (Sister District) — "The Midterms Start Now: Virginia is a Belweather" (9/23/2025)

  • Ahmed Gatnash — "Power, Profits and Protest: Trump, Russia and the Middle East" (9/16/2025)

  • Andrea Chalupa — "Nature Always Wins" (5/6/2025)