Susan Philpott

Mr. Douglass rose, and, taking the violin, played once more to the delight of the PRESS representative "The Star Spangled Banner, and the goodbye was exchanged, and thus closed the longest interview ever obtained with the "Sage of Cedar Hill."

How to end an interview:

In 1889, Frederick Douglass told a visitor to his DC home that any government that would "grant the right of suffrage and deny itself the power to protect that right is...a sham and a fraud."

Then he grabbed his violin and played the Star Spangled Banner.

In 1854, after watching the federal government deploy 2000 federal troops and spend $40,000 sending Anthony Burns back into slavery, Boston's Amos Adams Lawrence said “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.”

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

I didn't think it could get any better, but this is golden

Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs. The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

An amazing read.

Lessons from Minnesota.

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

One of my favorites!

Hi, I’m John Marks, I’m a public historian and writer. I’ve been helping history museums prepare for the nation’s 250th anniversary for 9 years now. Despite everything else happening in history, I’m still excited about this anniversary—and you should be too. Here’s why. 🧵 /1

I'm going to share my CPTSD-informed end-of-year reflective exercises. I'm not a therapist, just a veteran of it and this is the kind of language that works for me.

1) a) One sheet of paper, 10min: what moved forward this year, even A TINY BIT: progress toward a goal or an internal shift, whatever.

Liking this from work at a historic site with sold out tickets this morning. Very aware what day it is.

Statue of Black teen who fought segregation replaces Robert E. Lee at U.S. Capitol Barbara Rose Johns was only 16 when she led a walkout in 1951 to protest horrendous conditions at her segregated high school for Black students in rural Farmville, Virginia.

This is incredible news. Today, Virginia officials will unveil a statue of Barbara Johns at the Capitol to replace one of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that had stood for more than a century. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

The Takeover of Malheur Kicked Off a Decade of Lawlessness The wildlife refuge occupation set the stage for Trump, January 6, and so much more.

If you can believe it, January 1, 2026 marks ten years since the armed takeover of Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. For Portland Monthly, I wrote about how the ensuing decade was dominated by anxious men and a culture of lawlessness.

www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-cit...

My hot take: Pies are good. All of them. Anytime is a good time for pie.

> @samsteindc.bsky.social

Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.

BREAKING: Colorado voters approved a ballot measure that would raise state income taxes on higher-earning households to fund free meals for all public school students.

Follow AP for live updates.

Video by Audrey Akin. 9:37pm, November 4, 2025.
Brooklyn, New York--the moment the results were announced.

That's the sound of HOPE, America 💙 ✊ 🇺🇸

When Daylight Saving Time ends in the second month of your furlough, sleep time becomes 6:30 pm - 2:30 am.

You've got my vote

It is an amazing grade. Well done!

I'm at Ford's Theatre watching The American Five and getting fired up.

sherman, for the love of god!

Every time you use ChatGPT or something like it, you’re helping to train an algorithm that is actually being developed to do things like this

If it helps, for every hateful person, there are many, many of us who are so happy to see your beautiful and wise self on camera.

Sharing so I remember to read this

I didn’t know until now that in the original Rosie the Riveter painting, she is crushing a copy of Mein Kampf under her foot. Happy feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, remembering all the women who crush the serpents of Satan under their heel.

I'm distraught about that community. I drive by during my commute on the weekends. They've been there for years.

I was right about which encampment but wrong about the reason. It's because it is near the Kennedy Center. Or was