Worthy of BRAINSPACE: August 17 2025
Two weeks of reporting and resources to steady you when hope feels thin.
Hope has been harder to hold lately.
I confess that I’ve been struggling these last few weeks; it’s beyond disheartening to see the leaders of my country acting in ways that are so antithetical to the values I was raised with. It’s even harder to reckon with the amount of capitulation I’m seeing from fellow citizens, and even in myself.
On a personal level, my finances and my future have never felt more precarious; I currently have no car, and with more than half my income going to rent (even with 2 roommates), it’s a PAINSTAKINGLY slow process to save up the money to acquire transportation. I’ll have to pay in cash because a car payment won’t be possible after having my credit destroyed by a $594K hospital bill from having emergency back surgery with no health insurance.
This won’t be forever; I’m actively applying to higher-paying jobs, and my lease is up in December so I’ll be able to pay lower rent. Still, the simple truth of not being able to see even six months into my future with any level of certainty is a frustrating, scary place to be.
Even as I admit all that, part of me feels guilty for talking about myself at all; in the grand scheme of things, I’m still pretty damn blessed compared to some of my fellow citizens. When you compare my story to the reality of actual families being ripped apart in these United States, my struggles seem insignificant. When we’re hearing about concentration camps on U.S. soil, it’s rather hard to feel sorry for onesself.
If you find yourself a bit lost these days, I’m sorry to report I haven’t yet found a way out of this feeling… but I can absolutely confirm you’re not alone.
Anyway, here are the nuggets from the last two weeks that were SO GOOD, I felt compelled to share them all. I hope you love it <3
Awesome Articles
Democracy Will Survive Trump
Mark Mansour - America’s Fractured Politics - August 17 2025
There is so much to worry about these days, and it’s exceedingly easy to despair and lose hope; That’s why this is the first source I’m sharing today. Read this if you need a bit of resolve.
August 16, 2025
Heather Cox Richardson - Letters from an American - August 16 2025
Letters from an American is one of my favorites because it’s typically less than 15 minutes long, employs EXCELLENT citations and sourcing, and (Richardson being a historian by profession), weaves in elements of American history with every letter. I highly recommend it!
More National Guard Soldiers Head to D.C. and Prepare to Carry Weapons
Vera Bergengruen, Lara Seligman and Micah Maidenberg - Wall Street Journal - August 17 2025
After being told by defense officials earlier this week that soldiers would not be carrying weapons, this is a troubling development. I think we all need to take a moment and reckon with the reality that America’s citizens are being treated like insurgents, and what that means for our future.
America’s Largest Landlord Makes Deal WIth DOJ to Settle Price-Fixing Claims in RealPage Case
Heather Vogell - ProPublica - August 12 2025
ProPublica’s Vogell writes: “The DOJ’s moves against RealPage — and its landlord customers — for using shared data and technology were seen as an indication that authorities were willing to wade into a fraught corner of federal antitrust law. In the past, collusion happened with “a formal handshake in a clandestine meeting,” federal prosecutors wrote in one filing. “Algorithms are the new frontier.”
Thought-Provoking Podcasts
I have to admit, the podcast section this week packs the biggest punch in terms of informative sources and hard-hitting journalism. I plan to listen to every one of these a second time just to make sure they stick!
Trump's battles with data, DC, and world trade
Post Reports - Washington Post - August 8 2025
After Bezos’s moves with the Post in this last year, I’ve stayed away from the publication AND all things Amazon, expecting their coverage of this administration to be tempered, forgiving… Post Reports (Washington Post’s flagship podcast) has proven me wrong time and again; their coverage of the Trump administration has been thorough and hard-hitting, and I’m really impressed with this show.
We the People: Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Throughline - NPR - August 7 2025
TUNE INTO THIS ONE, Y’ALL! NPR’s Throughline has been working its way through a series called “We the People,” where they dive deep on a different Constitutional amendment each week. Considering the current administration feels some parts of the Constitution don’t require adherence, it’s a VERY good time to brush up on our rights.
Trump’s Authoritarian Instincts | Roundtable
The Dispatch Podcast - The Dispatch - August 15 2025
Personally, I’ve always felt it important to seek out and listen to those opinions which are different from mine; That said, I do not entertain viewpoints that are based in nonsense. This simple criteria of fact-based information rules out A LOT of Trump-supporting publications. The Dispatch is one of the few places Americans can go for good-faith conservative viewpoints that are actually based in reality. I don’t know if they actually support Trump, but I do know that this podcast has a knack for making me see issues in new ways.
Trump’s Strongman Summit is a Gift to Putin
Pod Save the World - Crooked Media - August 13 2025
Ben Rhodes was the former Deputy National Security Advisor under President Obama, and Foreign Policy magazine named him as one of the top 100 global thinkers in 2015; I find Pod Save the World fascinating because Rhodes lends real-world insight to how the sausage is made behind the scenes, and as someone who used to occupy some of the very positions that the Trump administration seems determined to change now, his viewpoints have been essential for processing the sheer scale of how much is changing in our country.
When Is It Genocide?
The Ezra Klein Show - New York Times - August 13 2025
I wish everyone in America could listen to this episode, because it’s journalism in its very best and most effective form. Ezra Klein, who is Jewish himself, fully admits he was skeptical of employing the word “genocide” to describe what’s happening in Gaza. He goes on to say “But over the last year, I have watched a slew of organizations and scholars arrive at the view that whatever Israel’s war on Gaza began as, its mass assault on Palestinian civilians fits the definition of genocidal violence. This is a view now held by Amnesty International, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and the president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, among many others.” So, he sits down with Phillipe Sands, a lawyer specializing in genocide cases and scholar of genocide in international law, and they walk through every possible definition and argument from both sides. Each person is left to draw their own conclusions at the close of the episode, but you leave with a profound sense of being well-informed and hearing a good-faith viewpoint from both sides. I SO wish this was required listening!
2X Longer TikTok Collections
This week’s TikTok collections cover from August 4th to the 17th, so there are a few more videos this time around!
Worth Watching - 8/4-8/17
Twenty-two (22) videos this week covering a whole BEVY of topics from the ongoing nationwide protests that nobody is reporting on, to the reality student loan borrowers are facing, and even to an interesting non-traditional economic indicator. Plus, Steve Vladeck is on TikTok now, y’all! Give him a follow!
Fun & Funny - 8/4-8/17
And since we have two weeks’ worth of videos, you’ll find FORTY-TWO (42) videos in this week’s playlist for clearing your palette and having a laugh. Heaven knows I just gave you a boat load of heavy and important material, so the least I can do is give you something to wash it all down :)
I appreciate the work you do and the daily effort you put in.