Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist)

Building Solidarity in this Deeply Divided Moment Much of my research on social movements and protest has focused on understanding who protests and how they’re connected to one another. Since we know that pushing back to power requires movem…

My newest on the need to build solidarity in this deeply divided moment and why listening to my conversation with @sociologistray.bsky.social will help us all understand how it can (and should) be done from episode 2 of the pod.
danarfisher.com/2026/02/28/b...

Not funny (tho, given current US policies, we're just on track to get more dirty coal)...

Seven-year-old Mathias Bermeo, a detainee at Dilley wrote: “I’m writing this letter so that you can hear my story. I need you to help us I have been detained for 23 days with my mom and my 3-year-old sister. I cry a lot I want to get out of here go back to my school they don’t treat us Well here there are many children we are kidnapped help!”

“I’m writing this letter so that you can hear my story. I need you to help us... I cry a lot I want to get out of here go back to my school they don’t treat us Well here there are many children we are kidnapped help!”

- Mathias Bermeo, Dilley detainee, 7yo

www.propublica.org/article/dill...

No doubt Tulsi Gabbard is drafting her resignation letter as we speak.

We need a global assessment of avoidable climate-change risks To understand the urgency of emissions reductions, policymakers and citizens need a full analysis of what is at stake.

With the failure of efforts to limit the climate crisis, climate shocks will come more frequently and hit with more severity. This new comment in @nature.com makes a convincing case that we need a global assessment of avoidable climate change risks www.nature.com/articles/d41...

a woman with a ponytail says seriously in front of a christmas tree ALT: a woman with a ponytail says seriously in front of a christmas tree

Waking up in LA to find out that we're at war with Iran was not on my 2026 BINGO card, but I suppose it should have been.

YouTube video by Science Talk Stop Exporting Fossil Fuels

Stop exporting fossil fuel @fisherdanar.bsky.social
youtube.com/shorts/GSV_3...

NSF officials break silence on how AI and quantum now drive agency grantmaking Leaders acknowledge White House role in controversial moves

The National Science Foundation is systematically being converted to the National AI and Quantum Research Foundation.

“I see it as the administration exerting political control over what has traditionally been NSF’s ability to fund the best science.”

Anyone watching UK politics today, this is a must listen:

😱😱😱

The polycrisis is nigh 👇

News and culture is very rapidly being dominated by administration-aligned companies. It's actually astonishing how fast this has happened. And it's not stopping.

Today will be a significant detail in the many, many textbooks that will be written about the era I fear we're still at the start of.

Well you an I both know the audience tho 🙄

Daaamn, girl. This is a powerful rebuke. It establishes her authority as a credible truthteller and builds and builds until you feel overwhelmed with the veracity of the conclusion. Only a partisan would deny the power of this testimony.

Well there is also the flip side: indirects coming in from external grants (which is where my uni makes money from me—and many of those engineers I’m sure…)

The hard road back from overshoot - Nature Climate Change As global temperatures move beyond 1.5 °C, overshoot now defines the landscape ahead, sharpening legal claims, exposing economic risks and revealing how far politics still trail the pace of change.

The idea that we can “overshoot now, fix later” is simplistic.

Overshoot relies on massive CDR, but temporary warming can trigger tipping points and long-lived changes: ice sheet loss, permafrost thaw, ecosystem shifts.

Cooling later doesn’t guarantee reversal.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

a woman is standing in a room with the words `` sounds about right '' written on her face . ALT: a woman is standing in a room with the words `` sounds about right '' written on her face .

Well, yeah.

Apocalyptic Optimist Episode 2: Why Solidarity Is So Hard — and How We Build It Anyway - Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE) In Episode 2 of the Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast, Dana talks with Dr. Rashawn Ray about  the realities of building solidarity in a deeply divided moment. From his work with communities-of-color and po...

How do we build solidarity in this deeply divided moment? Check out my conversation with @sociologistray.bsky.social about what works, what doesn’t, and how people can show up as more effective racial justice advocates right now.
cece.american.edu/apocalyptic-...

Why Targeting Activists Will Backfire As I mentioned in my last installment, the federal government has been increasing its surveillance of activist groups that focus on immigration and more. There are numerous accounts of the Trump Ad…

For anyone looking for more detail, my recent newsletter digs deeper: danarfisher.com/2026/02/21/w...

I spoke with @richard.wickedproblems.earth about the Trump Administration's investigations into climate groups, how it's connected to a broader policy of limiting free speech and assembly, and why it will backfire. Check out the full conversation (with a nice cover) here 👇

Listen to Dr. Rashawn Ray talk about how to get young Black men to buy into the political system and support them as they get engaged. Then, check out the full episode of the Apocalyptic Optimist where we discuss why building solidarity is so hard here: cece.american.edu/apocalyptic-...

These are “low enrollment” majors but the classes are regularly at capacity. They changed the funding structure a few years ago here, switching the allocation from course enrollments to majors then blamed these departments for a structural, top-down change. This is entirely a political choice.

I know it's been an exhausting 13 months, but EVERYONE needs to be paying attention to this (especially if you care about a woman's right to birth control)👇

💯

a woman wearing glasses and a blue shirt is asking what a week huh ? ALT: a woman wearing glasses and a blue shirt is asking what a week huh ?

Mood

Tagging @sociologistray.bsky.social here (he's a must follow IMO) 👇

a woman in a red jacket is sitting at a table talking to a man ALT: a woman in a red jacket is sitting at a table talking to a man

I swear Alexa is screwing with me this morning

The BBC has now fact-checked Trump's false or misleading claims

The Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast - Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE) Real talk about what’s broken and how to fix it. In each episode, CECE Director Dana R. Fisher will host conversations with activists, decisionmakers, and experts as they discuss the threats to our de...

For the complete collection of discussions (and more to follow), go here: cece.american.edu/explore/apoc...