Micah Sifry ❌👑

Remember how just a few years ago during the worst of the pandemic when we saw how the govt can actually do big things and saw that our collective health & well-being are intertwined, and then corporations got mad that they lost a modicum of power and helped fund a backlash of amnesia and fascism?

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @didikuo1.bsky.social about political parties. Give it a listen now. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

How Zohran Mamdani's "Tremendous Force" is Remaking New York Politics With NYC's mayoral election a week away, the upstart democratic socialist has built a movement that is already changing the status quo.

My full post on this topic here open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

How Zohran Mamdani's "Tremendous Force" is Remaking New York Politics With NYC's mayoral election a week away, the upstart democratic socialist has built a movement that is already changing the status quo.

Per capita, Zohran Mamdani has more volunteers working on his mayoral bid than Obama did on behalf of his '08 campaign. Assuming he wins, the big question will be: how does he keep this force together in order to help enact his progressive agenda? More here: open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

90,000 campaign volunteers in a city of 8 million is more, per capita, than the 2 million Barack Obama had in 2008. A “tremendous force,” indeed. #ZohranMamdani

And the crowd interrupted Hochul multiple times to chant “tax the rich” until she finally said, “we hear you.”

For anyone who follows NY politics, the fact that state Democratic leaders Kathy Hochul, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Carl Heastie are about to appear on stage at Zohran Mamdani’s big Forest Hills rally (which is also being headlined by AOC and Bernie Sanders) is tectonic.

Early to the Bernie/AOC/Zohran rally at Forest Hills Stadium. Any of my peeps here?

Episode 10 of #ThisOldDemocracy is officially out now. Tap on the link below to tune in to @msifry.bsky.social and Tom Rogers discussing fusion voting

We Have More Friends Everywhere Notes on how we are organizing ourselves nine months into Trump II. And why status quo Democrats can't win the moment or the future.

No Kings protests have spread to more places that backed Trump in '24, a sign of how things are shifting. But if Democrats don’t jettison their status-quo leaders, wavering GOP voters may still back what, to them, appears to be the lesser of two evils. More here: open.substack.com/pub/theconne...?

In Loving Memory of Rabbi Arthur Waskow z”l - Arlene Goldbard A great soul passed this morning. Rabbi Arthur Ocean Waskow, scholar, activist, teacher, spiritual leader, and so much more celebrated his 92nd birthday on October 12th with a Zoom hosted by The Shalo...

If you’ve ever experienced a Freedom Seder or any of the many variations that followed, take a moment to celebrate the life and work of Rabbi Arthur Waskow, who left us just after celebrating his 90th birthday. My friend Arlene Goldbard remembers him here arlenegoldbard.com/2025/10/20/i...

Start your day with something new: our latest #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode is here. Discussing the
@americanbar.org report with @msifry.bsky.social and Tom Rogers

Listen now: centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

#nokings
Portland frog brigade

Leah and I just got off the stage in DC. More than 200k. Double what we saw for Hands Off! This movement is incredible.

We’re better than fear. We’re braver than billionaires. We’re bigger than ever. And we will win. #NoKings

dei_bedfordny on Instagram: "#NoKings#Brewster @delgadoforny" #NoKings#Brewster @delgadoforny

“Love demands more!” Impressive #NoKings speech by @delgadoforny.bsky.social in Brewster, NY. Watch here: www.instagram.com/reel/DP9f2F0...

Finished marching. Now looking for my check from George Soros. #nokings

Some of my favorite protest signs #nokings

NYC #nokings Looking north up 7th Ave from 36th St.

JD Vance brushes off racist texts by adults in Republican group chat as ‘what kids do’ Vice-president downplays messages such as ‘I love Hitler’ in chat by 24 to 35-year-olds to ‘stupid jokes’

For those of you keeping score, 18-22 year-old students calling for an end to slaughter in Gaza are so racist they need to be expelled or deported, but 24-35 year-olds celebrating Hitler, rape, and, um, racism are just kids being kids so chill.

Also, racism is over so no need for Voting Right Act.

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @bradlander.bsky.social. Give it a listen or watch now.

David Brooks on X: "This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible. https://t.co/1qeV9qOBL3" / X This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible. https://t.co/1qeV9qOBL3

This guy? x.com/nytdavidbroo...

A Silver Lining in the Middle East? The Trump-Witcoff-Kushner-Qatar-Turkey-Egypt peace deal is clearly flawed, but maybe now that the hot Gaza war is (hopefully) ending, peace-makers can seize the moment.

While the Gaza peace deal sure looks like an agreement among mob family bosses, there's a chance that real peace-builders could seize the moment. Some thought on how that could happen in my latest newsletter. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

Image shows the cover of a new book: When Doves Try: israel's Peace Now Movement 1978-1983--With an Epilogue for the Post-October 7 World. Learn more at micahsifry.com/whendovestry

40+ years ago, a peace initiative from Egypt triggered a sea change inside Israel, led by the Peace Now movement. My new book recalls that history and offers some lessons for today’s fraught conflict in Israel-Palestine. Details here: open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

🎙️ New #ThisOldDemocracy podcast episode alert! A closer look w/ @msifry.bsky.social & @jrdresden.bsky.social from @protectdemocracy.org. We dive into promising election reforms like proportional representation and fusion voting — you won’t want to miss it. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @jrdresden.bsky.social from @protectdemocracy.org about fusion voting and proportional representation. Give it a listen now. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

We are Not "Good Germans" While echoes with the 1930s abound, a closer look at how Germans failed to stop Hitler suggests that America's antibodies are much stronger.

Sebastian Haffner’s memoir Defying Hitler is terrifying, but a close reading suggests we are (so far) doing much better than the 56% of Germans who *didn’t* vote for Hitler in March 1933 but put up no meaningful resistance to him when they still had the chance. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...

#FusionVoting isn’t new—it’s part of America’s political DNA. Ongoing lawsuits in NJ, KS, and WI aim to restore it. For much of U.S. history, fusion was common. It still is where legal. Time to remember: there’s more than one way to do democracy. @protectdemocracy.org @jrdresden.bsky.social

Investors have splurged $10M on sperm racing The instantly viral F-1 races for semen are given a big boost by backers who see a fertile future in the health-meets-entertainment company.

Immigrant rights groups are desperate for funding to help hire more lawyers. Meanwhile, we also live in this country. sfstandard.com/2025/09/27/s...

How Radical Love Could Depolarize America Why pro-democracy folks should avoid strategies that deepen the political divide and increase the chances of defections from Trump's base.

Some ideas on ways to combat the Trump-Vance-Miller juggernaut that unite all the Americans who do not approve of what they’re doing and that doesn’t also give fuel to the other side’s resentments. open.substack.com/pub/theconne...