Sarah Gilman

Wind/Break Even the house of your skin is no shelter for long

Later or sooner, we will all be betrayed by our bodies. I drew this comic about a 2019 windstorm and a false-alarm emergency that underscored my mortality, and also my life's many graces. Maybe there’s something here for you, too, about finding your ground amid the gale?

A friend described me last night as identifiable from behind because I am a really tall woman with great shoes. I'll take it.

A wake-up call re: recent atmospheric rivers over Antarctica!

AR-assoc'd weather significantly impacts Antarctic ice-mass balances despite arriving relatively infrequently & they have been occurring more during satellite era in some sectors. Serious SLR implications!

cw3e.ucsd.edu/cw3e-publica...

Slow Comet Worlds beyond our own, right here on Earth

I am always the ninny standing onshore in like 18 layers while others swim in cold lake or cold ocean or cold river. UNLESS...there's bioluminescence! Latest art flashback is live at Terra Affirma sarahmgilman.substack.com/p/slow-comet

Congratulations and Welcome to TON’s 2026 Early-Career Fellows - The Open Notebook We are excited to introduce our newest early-career fellows, Elise Cutts, Xilena Pinedo, and Rohini Subrahmanyam. With generous support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Elise, Xilena, and Rohini will...

For the next year, our fellows will write articles for TON with the coaching of their mentors, @anilananth.bsky.social, @sarahmgilman.bsky.social, & @kamal-t.bsky.social.

Please join us in congratulating our new fellows and mentors! 🎉

www.theopennotebook.com/2026/02/19/c...

“Do you ever think about

how much life goes on around you

while you go about your business?”

My first new comics poem for Terra Affirma is live: sarahmgilman.substack.com/p/passages-f...

Passages from unknowable stories - The Last Word On Nothing If you liked this post, I hope you’ll consider becoming a subscriber to Terra Affirma, the weekly newsletter where I publish my comics poems and illustrated essays in hopes of building a new home for ...

For the first little while, most of my paid posts will also eventually turn up for free at the Last Word on Nothing, so here's the first part of that experiment! lastwordonnothing.com/2026/02/16/p...

“Do you ever think about

how much life goes on around you

while you go about your business?”

My first new comics poem for Terra Affirma is live: sarahmgilman.substack.com/p/passages-f...

New comics poem is live at sarahmgilman.substack.com/p/grace, along with five (mostly illustrated) book recommendations for this dark time

“You’re Not Going to Investigate a Federal Officer” It doesn’t happen often, but local law enforcement can arrest and charge federal agents. Legal experts say there’s a moral obligation to at least try to hold federal immigration officers accountable w...

NEW: Local police did not open investigations into six of the 12 shootings by on-duty federal agents that have led to the deaths or injuries of citizens and immigrants since September, a ProPublica analysis found.

hi friend!!!

def team sesquicentennial. I even have a Tshirt for Wisconsin's that has a cute bear on it.

I am just popping over here to say that the word semiquincentennial exists and people actually use it

stay safe out there, everyone. I have been so heartened by the ways people are standing up for one another and helping each other in Minneapolis. It's a vision of what this country COULD be, if its best were elevated and allowed to lead the way.

"The aim of documenting ICE is accountability, not to intervene in their operation."...“If they're saying to step back, step back...,” Zammuto says. “You can say, ‘I am exercising my First Amendment right to observe and document this interaction, and I'm complying with orders.' " Deescalate!

"When filming, you should start recording as soon as possible when you’re in the vicinity of an incident, and keep the camera rolling as long as you can. Filming horizontally rather than vertically includes more of the scene." helps guard against accusations of unfair editing

"Focus on ICE agents to document their activity, rather than using the camera to follow people impacted by agents’ actions. Keeping the lens on agents makes it more likely that you'll capture footage of visible badges, officers’ clothing, license plates on vehicles, or other identifying features."

"With cheap, easy-to-use video generation tools available to virtually anyone, it is straightforward to create AI videos of ICE agents and false scenes. Filming a slow 360 degree pan can show the full surroundings and make it harder for people to claim video footage isn’t real."

"We're seeing an increase of documenters being targeted—including journalists marked as journalists—even when they're doing it legally, even when they're respecting orders from the police. It's a massive risk; it's important for people to weigh that risk and their own comfort in taking it.”"

How to Film ICE Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.

Aaaand @wired.com is still slaying with the public accountability reporting amid current dystopia/the administration's assault on the constitution. A handy legal guide for documenting atrocity so that those responsible can be (hopefully) held to account:

Bird of two seas Terra Affirma is a reader-supported publication.

A bird that lives on the wing, a bird that splits its life between two seas. My latest new/old comics poem is live at Terra Affirma sarahmgilman.substack.com/p/bird-of-tw...

The Eyes Have It - bioGraphic The mysterious northern pygmy squid develops into a brilliant predator.

Our Spotlights start with a photo that makes readers ask: what the heck is THAT? Then we set a journalist loose to discover the answer. In this case, @sarahmgilman.bsky.social dives into the world of the northern pygmy squid, the world’s smallest known cephalopod.

Learn more:

Meanwhile, don't sleep on this not-normal-in-any-universe picture of DNI Tulsi Gabbard in Fulton County, abetting Trump's "investigation" of the 2020 election.

Hey friends! My substack is officially live today. Subscribe at any level to stay connected with my illustrated writing. sarahmgilman.substack.com/p/standing-b...

Hey friends! My substack is officially live today. Subscribe at any level to stay connected with my illustrated writing. sarahmgilman.substack.com/p/standing-b...

Terra Affirma | Sarah M. Gilman | Substack Weekly comics poetry and illustrated essays about the environment, natural history, and how we find home in our bodies and in the world, from artist and writer Sarah Gilman. Click to read Terra Affirm...

I've been noodling what to do with my illustrated essays and poetry since YES! stopped printing last year, and I finally decided to make a substack where I'll feature things from the archives alongside intermittent new work. Please sign up! Official launch 1-26-26! sarahmgilman.substack.com

Terra Affirma | Sarah M. Gilman | Substack Weekly comics and illustrated essays from Sarah Gilman, on wide-ranging themes including the environment, natural history, science, place, and how we find home in our bodies and in the world. Click to...

In bleak times, we need art to remind us that there is still beauty in the world. My dear friend @sarahmgilman.bsky.social is launching her regular installment of illustrated poems, Terra Affirma, as a Substack. You can sign up here, and I highly recommend you do

sarahmgilman.substack.com

I've still got your graphic of the dark lady with an open trenchcoat labelled "author has underlying feminist agenda." It still makes me laugh.

author has undeniably sexy trenchcoat

When I die, I want this on my epitaph: "She was gorgeous and had a little knife in her"