Archive for November 2020

On episode #105 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Elysha and I are back, talking storytelling! In our follow up segment, we discuss Elysha’s recent brush with COVID-19 and our upcoming shows. In our Homework for Life segment, Matt talks about seeking surprise and contrast when finding stories in our lives and allowing seemingly small…

Just in case you missed it: Trump’s attorneys, led by Rudy Giuliani, scheduled a press conference yesterday at the Four Seasons to discuss their legal strategy. Except instead of calling the Four Seasons Hotel, someone on the Trump team accidentally called Four Seasons Total Landscaping, which is located next door to a sex shop and…

Saturday was a day I will never forget. Back on November 4, 2008, I sat on my couch, talking to my friend, Donna, on the phone as the networks declared Barack Obama as the President-elect of the United States. It was a historic moment in the history of our country that I will never forget.…

I’m feeling so much relief today. An enormous weight has been lifted. Four years of constant vigilance is finally coming to an end. As someone who was one of 21 defendants who sued Trump and won at the Supreme Court, I knew that I was probably on some enemies list. If Trump became some authoritarian…

If you have a good hearted fool in your life who has somehow bought into the nonsense that this election is being stolen, here are some cold, hard facts that you might offer to save the person from their own stupidity: Trump claimed that Republican poll watchers were not permitted in voting centers in Pennsylvania,…

It took me more than 3 minutes to complete the crossword puzzle below, which isn’t entirely unusual given I’ve never done crossword puzzles until a couple of years ago and only do the New York Times mini crossword every day. But in this case, it was one clue, 4 across, that really stuck me: Stop…

Find five minutes. Five minutes absent of people and pets and pending responsibilities. Five minutes to listen and watch this. A poem. An extraordinary poem read by the poet, Tanya Davis, and brilliantly animated by Andrea Dorfman. A poem perfect for our day and age. Perfect for this very hour and this very minute. Don’t…

Seven years ago, I made a list of 13 things that make me happy after being inspired by former acquisitions editor Jennifer Pooley and her own list (which no longer exists on the internet). Narrowing it down to just 13 items was impossible, so it was by no means an exhaustive list. Just the first…

I think things will turn out alright today. I’ve been following the polling and early voting registrations closely enough to believe that if the election is fair and just, America should elect a new President today. But I thought that same thing four years ago, so it’s good to prepare for all contingencies. May I…

Four years ago, Elysha and I spent election night in Brooklyn as part of Slate’s Election Night Celebration. I shared a stage alongside the likes of Samantha Bee and Mike Pesca, telling a story about running for class president in college. Halfway through the story, election returns began to shift in favor of the self-described…