Eliza Byard

How to stop a dictator I spent months studying how authoritarians like Trump lose. The answer is shockingly simple.

I have spent the past several months studying the cutting-edge research on modern democracies that have defeated authoritarian leaders.

I've learned that the conventional wisdom on the topic is wrong — in ways that have clear implications for the US going forward

THREAD www.vox.com/politics/479...

Mayor Mamdani Breaks His Promise to NYC Public Libraries The Struggle Against Defunding Libraries Continues...

My thoughts on how critical fully funded public libraries are to any Left political project in the U.S. open.substack.com/pub/prisoncu...

A man in a suit stands speaking, with text criticizing Mayor Mamdani for not honoring his commitment to allocate 0.5% of the city expense budget to NYC public libraries in his preliminary budget. Visit NYC PLAN.ORG for more information

The bottom line is that NYC Public Libraries need increased and most importantly STABLE funding annually. Mayor Mamdani promised both and this preliminary budget is a BROKEN PROMISE. There’s time for him to rectify this. NYC library patrons expect that he will.

🔊 Listen Now: Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to trans-Atlantic partnerships at Munich Security Conference Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR One | 3:50

Rubio’s speech in Munich is more of the same. Coverage emphasized openness to the EU, but he based the idea on shared “Christian” values & called the U.S. the “child of Europe.” Terrifying, with birthright citizenship itself in the balance before SCOTUS.

one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5708...

🔊 Listen Now: As white nationalist slogans, images, and memes become normalized, can we go back? Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR One | 6:30

Never forget: In 2016, Trump made Jeff Sessions head of the Justice Department. His first act? Ending DOJ’s program targeting racist domestic extremism. And now here we are:

one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5711...

Let’s make it viral folks. Thank you @histoftech.bsky.social.

We’re watching Best in Show

The NBA read things right, wish #USWNT would too. #ICEOut #AlexPretti

This match should not be played today. #USWNT

Wise words from WEB DuBois to gird us today: "It would be shame and cowardice to surrender this glorious land and its opportunities for civilization and humanity to the thugs and lynchers, the mobs and profiteers, the monopolists & gamblers who today choke its soul and steal its resources."

@schumer.senate.gov

Trump Administration Drops Appeal in School D.E.I. Lawsuit

In Feb 2025 the Trump administration tried to reverse 60 years of civil rights education law & threatened funding & sanctions if districts and colleges didn’t end everything concerning equity, diversity or inclusion. We sued; we kept winning & today they folded www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...

Carney’s speech at #Davos will be studied like Kennan’s “X” article for generations to come.

Bread AND Roses #Mamdani

Renee Macklin Good’s wife says she ‘nurtured kindness’ On Wednesday, Renee Macklin Good was fatally shot by a federal ICE agent. Becca Good, her wife, shared the following statement with MPR News.

On Wednesday, Renee Macklin Good was fatally shot by a federal ICE agent. Becca Good, her wife, shared the following statement with MPR News.

Thank you Eugene Goodman for saving Democracy during the Capitol insurrection #January6th

YouTube video by The Museum of Modern Art The Underground Archivist: 50 Years of Saving New York History

The Underground Archivist: 50 Years of Saving New York History - www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Px...

It turns out the “culture war” was the point all along, just like Black people said it was.

Every. Single. One.

Thank you so much for your work and this newsletter. Visiting the LHA in Joan Nestle’s apartment in the West 90s was a trans/formative experience for me. The preservation of communities’ histories remains a vital act.

Guess he’s on the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor plan…..

First on the list.

"Hunt: If he does run the city as a communist, are you going to have any regrets? Sliwa: Why should I have regrets? I trust people. People are going to make the choice. I'll live with the choice. I'd like them to choose me. But if perchance I lose on November 4th, I will improve, not move. I was born in this city. I was almost killed in this city. I'll die in this city. I'll be buried in this city."

I do not think he should be mayor, but this is so much healthier of an approach to take toward a democratic election than anything we are hearing from Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo is going to leave NYC the moment he loses. Sliwa seems to truly want to stay in this great city.

Important conversation with @ebyard.bsky.social who clearly and concisely explains what you've been feeling in your gut all along.

Red flag = consumer boycotts work, DEI is popular, and if you turn on your community partners shoppers will vote with their feet.

Tracking PPP: Search Every Company Approved for Federal Loans - ProPublica As part of the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal government has provided hundreds of billions in financial support to banks to make low-interest loans to companies and nonprofit organizations i...

If you see any business owners belittling SNAP recipients for accepting government money to get through tough times, maybe look them up on @propublica.org's PPP Loan Tracker to see if they got any of the $793B in bailout money (96% of which was forgiven)

projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...

Many of the propagandists of Autocracy, Inc., have learned from the mistakes of the twentieth century. They don’t offer their fellow citizens a vision of utopia, and they don’t inspire them to build a better world. Instead, they teach people to be cynical and passive, because there is no better world to build. Their goal is to persuade people to mind their own business, stay out of politics, and never hope for a democratic alternative: Our state may be corrupt, but everyone else is corrupt too. You may not like our leader, but the others are worse. You may not like our society, but at least we are strong and the democratic world is weak, degenerate, divided, dying.

This is from Autocracy, Inc, about how modern autocratic propaganda works.

I consider this every time I decide what to share and how to frame it.

On this week’s TLP episode, @imarajones.bsky.social talks with @ebyard.bsky.social about how anti-trans attacks in schools fit the right-wing authoritarian project, & with @neapresident.bsky.social on how communities and educators are responding.

https://open.spotify.com/show/3bKZAZDRPlB8ZRyUSpJ6t8

here’s some resources in Ohio 👇🏽

www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...