A year ago, I was sitting in Spanish class at the senior center, trying to remember the difference between ser and estar, when my phone buzzed with the news that the conclave had elected a new pope. The room reacted in the gentle, unhurried way that rooms like that do:
A year has passed since that misty morning in Newtown, and the No Kings protests have not only endured—they have surged. What began as a handful of gatherings has become a nationwide insistence, a rising chorus of people who refuse to look away as excesses mount, as truth is
This is a two-part meditation on protest, perseverance, and the everyday labor of democracy. Some stories open with thunder. Mine began in a gentle drizzle. On a rainy Saturday in Newtown, I stood with neighbors, umbrellas open, feeling something shift in our small town. Back then, I had no idea
This is Keeping the Pan Hot: Notes from an Ordinary Democracy, a brand new site by Nancy McCarthy that's just getting started. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and