February 28 Friday roundup

This week’s “Next Comes What” podcast episode looks at the many court cases brought against the Trump administration that moved forward in various ways on Monday. I also consider effective protests around the country, as well as the role of violence and the tipping point for sheer numbers when it comes to resisting oppressive government. You can watch the episode on YouTube or listen to it via Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts.

(As I’ve mentioned eleventy-billion times already, Tuesday’s posts are usually history and politics. Friday posts provide links to the podcast episode based on the Tuesday written post—along with links for other reading or actions you can take, as well as occasional news about other things I’m up to. Occasional Thursday posts are on other topics, including stories from my reporting or from childhood.)

This week’s DIY try-something-new project isn’t done yet. But I’m about to start to make naan for the first time. (No yogurt, because apparently that’s less ideal if you’re cooking stovetop instead of in a tandoor.) Above are the ingredients, and below is (in theory) what the finished bread will look like. Several steps exist between these two where things can conceivably go wrong, but sometimes you have to just move forward and give life a shot.

If you’re looking for links to the podcast episode, there’s Garrett Buck’s “Thirty lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now,” as well as Joe Katz’s Bluesky feed, which is always filled with info on upcoming protests and specific calls for reaching out to key elected officials. I mentioned research by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, and you should know their book, Why Civil Resistance Works. No single idea is a silver bullet, but if you read and listen to smart people, you’ll begin to get a sense of where what might be useful overlaps with what you can actually imagine yourself doing. (And honestly, the more you do, the bigger lifts you’ll be able to imagine.)

I also want to share this great writeup from Dan Sinker about George Dale’s long battle against the KKK, in which he lost everything but then won. This fight took place at a time when the Klan had completely dominated much of America, and to call it an uphill battle would be an understatement. Here’s hoping we can all develop a little bit of Dale’s spine in standing up to monstrous acts and the dead-end ideologies that fuel them.