In moments of rising authoritarianism, disinformation, and historical amnesia, artists matter more, not less. From U2’s decades of confronting political violence and inequality to today’s new activist music responding to war, protest, and repression, the tradition is clear: music doesn’t just entertain us. It documents. It humanizes. It refuses to let cruelty become normal. At a time when fear politics tries to make silence feel safer, artists remind us that hope is not naïve. Hope is resistance. And democracy doesn’t defend itself. People do.

In my interview the day after Rep. Deborah Ross questioned AG Pam Bondi, Rep. Ross reflects on how she centered the Epstein survivors and refused to let their voices be sidelined in a high-stakes oversight moment. She explains why accountability isn’t just about politics: it’s about respect, truth, and justice for those who were harmed. It’s a powerful reminder of what principled leadership looks like when it puts people first. That’s how you make history.

Every day has felt unbearably heavy.

But tonight, on the frozen streets of New York City, something shifted.

I haven’t seen this many young people out marching in a long time. And not just college kids, high school students entered the chat. Young people speaking. Chanting. Marching. Organizing.

I stopped to talk with a few groups and asked what brought them out. They told me they had joined school walkouts earlier in the day, then came together in groups to march to Foley Square. No influencers. No spectacle. Just collective action.

They said they’re out here for their friends and neighbors for the immigrant communities that are integral to this city. Communities that are New York City.

I’ve always said movements only work when they’re intergenerational. Tonight, I saw that in real time.

Yes, things are bleak as hell right now. But hear me when I say this: get off your laptops. Put down your phones. Pause the podcasts. Turn off the TV. And get outside.

The revolution isn’t happening on a screen.

It’s happening on these frozen streets—fueled by people power, by young voices, by a growing demand to abolish 🧊 and push fascists out of power.

I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Yohuru Williams tonight about what’s happening on the ground in Minneapolis right now. People always say to “find the helpers” in challenging times but I prefer to find the historians, the people who can help us navigate forward with the wisdom of our past.

Here is his excellent and inspiring article that he references in our discussion. I have been returning to it a lot:

Dr. Williams is a historian and author of 11 books on Black freedom struggles, including Call Him Jack. He is a History Channel contributor featured on PBS, CNN, and NPR, he co-created Paradox: Echoes of Police Reform. He is the Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History and Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas

Trump has been weirdly obsessed with William McKinley: invoking him, elevating him, even tying him to symbolism like the mountain renaming.

Like, remember this Executive Order entitled “Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness”

And then, suddenly, you see why: McKinley represents not just tariffs but the dawn of America’s imperial era.

William McKinley (1897–1901) was the 25th president of the United States, best known for championing high tariffs and presiding over the Spanish-American War which was an inflection point that launched the U.S. into a more openly imperial role. During his presidency, the U.S. took control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, among other territories, and established dominance over Cuba through U.S. occupation and the Platt Amendment. In other words: McKinley isn’t just a “tariff guy.” He’s a symbol of America’s turn toward expansion, coercive power, and empire.

This video breaks down what Trump is signaling when he keeps resurrecting McKinley and why it matters when “inspo” starts looking like policy.

I’ve lived in New York City for decades, since college, since the 1990s, since becoming who I am.

I’ve taught 24 years of high school kids here. Five classes a year. Usually thirty-four students per class. Thousands of lives woven into mine, and mine into theirs.

I have begun again and again in this city.

New apartments. New friend groups. New crushes. New loves. New heartbreaks. New versions of myself.

I grew up here.

I loved here.

I cried on street corners and ran through its parks.

I met people from every walk of life who cracked my world open and made it bigger.

And somehow, I never grow tired of this place of its noise, its grit, its tenderness, its refusal to give up on itself.

New York City raised me. It challenged me. It held me when I was breaking and dared me to keep going.

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

And with Zohran Mamdani as our mayor, more of us are going to make it, together.

On Sunday, December 14, 2025, I didn’t just watch history, I stood inside it. For twelve straight hours, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani sat across from New Yorkers from every borough and did something radically simple: he listened. No speeches. No spin. Just people, one by one, taking a seat and being heard. By the end of the 12-hour day, Mamdani met with 142 New Yorkers.

I was there to document it, not as a spectator, but as someone talking directly with the New Yorkers brave enough to show up, sit down, and say what they needed to say about the city they love and fight for.

This video is a snapshot of that day: the voices, the emotion, the urgency, the hope. I interviewed participants who waited, who spoke, who walked away inspired and what comes through is this truth: democracy doesn’t live in soundbites, it lives in moments like these.

This wasn’t performance. It was practice. And I’m proud to have been there to help tell the story.

I just want to take a minute to thank each and every one of you who subscribes to this newsletter. Truly. Attention is our most valuable asset right now, we’re all getting pummeled with posts, texts, emails, breaking news alerts, and about twelve newsletters we forgot we signed up for. So the fact that you choose to spend any part of your day here with me? It means a lot.

And because some of you only know me as a history teacher/person-who-yells-about-history-and-the-news-on-the-internet… I don’t want you worrying that I’m wandering around in permanent “democracy emergency” mode.

So, to restore balance (and your faith that I do sometimes experience joy), here’s a video of me this morning being… extremely not serious. Enjoy. 💖🖤📚

I hope you are all getting some rest and joy as well!

This week, Donald Trump crossed a line no U.S. president has ever crossed: invoking the language of execution against sitting members of Congress.

Not during the Civil War.Not during McCarthyism.Not even at the height of Watergate did a president target lawmakers this way.

In this video, I break down why this moment is historically unprecedented, what it means for our democracy, and why every civics and U.S. History teacher in America felt a chill run down their spine and honestly, why every American who doesn’t want to live under an authoritarian government should be paying attention.