Writer Spotlight: Lorelei Kelly 🔆 @loreleikelly.bsky.social's a leading expert on the U.S. Congress, democracy innovation, and civic technology. She's a Principal with the Public Good Group.  In her latest series, she reports on women leaders who are institutionalizing methods to defend democracy:

Need a new book rec? See what The Conversationalist staff has been reading. From "Against White Feminism" to "The Odyssey," there's something for everyone. 📚: bookshop.org/shop/Convo_ist

Staff Reads from our Social Media Manager: "As I get older, it has sometimes been easy to forget about the hobbies from my youth, but this article about skating at any age is a reminder of why we should always center what we love. Who knew skating in a Costco parking lot could be so inspiring?"

Happy Pride! Maybe it's time to start a queer commune? "For the past few years, I’ve been pitching friends, my girlfriend, and pretty much every person I meet on the idea of starting a queer commune. To me, it’s an easy and perfectly logical sell."

Convo Reads: "What becomes of Black women when we are treated as if hypervisibility is a legitimate substitute for structural protection?" Story by @theflytrapmedia.com.

“He told me that if I told anyone, he would kill me." Since the start of the war, Russian soldiers have targeted vulnerable Ukrainian women for sexual abuse. These are just a few of their stories.

Today's the day! Join the Conversation Club, a free online event where we’ll be discussing @leilaseiitbek.bsky.social's recent piece, “We Must Hold the Line,” about rising global authoritarianism and billionaire-driven power.

"To appear rich or famous is to look embalmed while alive." The latest on vanity and beauty standards by Cara Marsh Sheffler.

For our podcast season finale, founder @alindguzik.bsky.social reads her essay reflecting on her experience as a first-time expectant mother, and the surprising surge of hopefulness she experienced while pregnant with her daughter. Listen now 🎙️: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

“I knew that the answer to breaking the cycle that I had been going in since I was 15 was going to come through education." How women impacted by incarceration are building new futures for themselves and their communities. Originally published on @msmagazine.com.

This season on The Conversationalist podcast we've dug deep into a wide variety of topics: everything from how global nonprofits are combatting gender inequality to why aunties are so important. We talked to experts about menopause, how to break the cycle of abuse, and so much more. Catch up now!

How do you build community?

Staff Reads from Newsletter Editor @mrsslrss.bsky.social: "Lately, I've noticed chatter online about antacids being an unexpected cure for menstrual mood swings. This article explores that claim, along with the reasons women often turn to off-label meds when the medical system ignores their pain."

"No matter what we’re covering, from global inequalities to personal triumphs, our goal is always to center underrepresented voices and highlight solutions—and, most importantly, to tell stories that foster hope, empathy, and community." Read more in our newsletter ✉️ ➡️ mailchi.mp/conversation...

Come to our next Conversation Club, a new-ish community gathering where a Conversationalist writer does a deep dive into a recent story. Mark your cals for May 29th! 💥 It's free. 💥 It's informative. 💥 It's a chance to build community.

“In a capitalist society, creative work is not valued as a productive or profitable field, which often means that artists are being underpaid for their work, if they’re paid at all.” But in Ireland, there's an alternative model. Story by @nicolefroio.bsky.social.

How do you express care through food? Kovie Biakolo chats with food writers @aliciadkennedy.bsky.social and @bettina.bsky.social in our latest podcast about how food and care connect, dinner parties, and "girl dinner" being a form of self-care. Listen 🎙️: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Staff Reads from our Executive Assistant: "As children, we learn early on that likability paves a smoother path in life. As adults, this notion becomes almost engrained in us. At some point, this thinking is worth questioning, and this article embraces that."

Getting an education in prison comes with a unique set of challenges: Students often struggle to get basic supplies, let alone textbooks. Here are the college-in-prison programs fulfilling those needs. Story originally published on @msmagazine.com; written by @victorialaw.bsky.social.

“It is my sincere hope that intersex advocacy…adopts a much more decolonial framework and approach which embodies and centers the entire experiences of intersex people, such as their everyday lives." Why intersex activists are fighting for constitutional protections in Ghana.

💥 Connect with real Conversationalist writers 💥 Learn more about global feminism 💥 Build meaningful community Join the Conversation Club, a new-ish community gathering! Our next free event will be on May 29th.

One thing I love about @conversationalist.org is their explicitly international perspective that ALSO surfaces underrepresented stories, like this about intersex activists in Ghana.

In a world increasingly shaped by political violence and authoritarian reflexes, peacebuilding can feel abstract. But these women are taking on the challenge. A new series by @loreleikelly.bsky.social on young women leaders who are institutionalizing new methods to defend democracy.

Welcome back to our artist series where we highlight talented artists across the globe. Meet Marine Buffard @marinebuffard.bsky.social, who creates dreamlike art that utilizes fuzzy textures and soft colors. Her work blurs outlines and sparks the feeling of wandering inside a dream.

New podcast alert! 🚨 Executive Editor @ginamei.bsky.social reads "Who Throws a Shoe, Honestly?", an op-ed from our Soapbox column on why throwing shoes as a form of protest is due to make a comeback. Listen here 👞: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Book of the Month: “On Eating” by @aliciadkennedy.bsky.social "To truly consider our own appetite is a way of connecting us to ourselves and to each other. Seen through that lens, the ethical choices we make about our food aren’t a burden, but a gift.”

Staff Reads from our Social Media Manager: "As a food writer, Jess Mayhugh never considered the perspective from the other side—actually being on the plate. This story is a fascinating read about a food writer's journey with breastfeeding."

What’s a book you keep returning to?

At a time when governments are willfully failing to preserve all their records, librarians and activists are using archival work to do more than document history. Guerrilla archives—whether digital or analog—are generally nonpartisan acts of preservation to serve the public good.

Hope & beautiful badassery: Check out my series on young women leaders--institutionalizing new methods to defend democracy. The first two are from Colombia & Kenya, respectively. @conversationalist.org conversationalist.org/2026/04/22/d...

"As many nations around the world are experiencing threats to their democracies, Nerima’s and Diana’s work serve as reminders of the way collective action can point us towards lasting change." Read more in our latest Conversationalist newsletter ✉️ ➡️ mailchi.mp/conversation...

Convo Reads: "La Voisin helped women get abortions, which were illegal in 17th-century France, where the Catholic Church had significant influence over the country’s laws. Sound familiar?" Story by @jezebeldotcom.bsky.social.

Peacebuilding does not always unfold slowly. Sometimes, it happens in moments of crisis—when institutions fail, when violence is imminent, and when the only thing standing between disappearance and survival is collective action. This is where Nerima Wako Ojiwa enters the story.

New podcast alert! 🚨 Contributing Editor Kovie Biakolo speaks with educator Lisa Sibbett and author @priscadorcas.bsky.social about all things aunties, including who they are, how they show up, and why they're so important to our lives. Listen here ➡️ podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

"As data and information is getting purposefully disappeared from the internet—an increasingly fertile ground for fascist ideology—archiving becomes increasingly necessary." #MsReads via @conversationalist.org

Staff Reads from our Social Media Manager: "I love this story about the 13 dishes to eat to understand food. It explores tacos in Mexico where something beautiful is made from scraps to pizza in Naples where each ingredient is linked to somewhere local. This piece shows how food reflects history."

Convo Reads by @msmagazine.com: "Getting an education in prison comes with a unique set of challenges: Students often struggle to get basic supplies like pens, calculators, and paper, let alone textbooks and research materials. Here are the college-in-prison programs fulfilling those needs."

Come join us!

In a world shaped by political violence, authoritarian reflexes, and digital harm, peacebuilding can feel abstract. But for Diana Dajer, peace is neither theoretical nor inevitable. It is something that must be built carefully, collectively, and often quietly, through democratic practice.

“Because once we’ve lost press freedom, it’s only a matter of time before we lose everything it protects.” @katiedd.bsky.social on the growing restrictions of press freedom around the world. This World Press Freedom Day, we're reflecting on what needs happen to uphold journalistic independence.

"Archives can be a means of preserving an accurate historical record and holding the media—and the government—to account." Read more in our latest Conversationalist newsletter by @mrsslrss ✉️ ➡️ mailchi.mp/conversation...

We’re back with another Conversation Club event, and you’re invited! ✉️ Join us Friday, May 29th, when we’ll be discussing Leila Seiitbek's (@leilaseiitbek.bsky.social) recent piece, “We Must Hold the Line,” about rising global authoritarianism and billionaire-driven power.

As if the gig economy wasn’t exploitative enough, it’s now filling a gap in another exploitative industry that values profits over lives—both the lives of those needing the service and of those providing it. This International Workers' Day, we're looking back on this story by @sesmith.lol.

April Book of the Month 📚: “On Eating” by @aliciadkennedy.bsky.social The writer’s new memoir is a feast, exploring how food can be both deeply personal and impacted by forces much larger than ourselves.

A great review of my new book at The Conversationalist: conversationalist.org/2026/04/29/b...

What's an issue more people should be paying attention to?

Convo Reads: "In a refugee camp in eastern Chad, one woman who fled Sudan’s war now works to help others heal from violence, loss, and displacement."

New podcast alert! 🚨 Writer Ana María Betancourt Ovalle reads her essay "Emergency Contact", exploring why friendships between immigrants often develop differently than friendships at home. Listen here ➡️ podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Staff Reads from Newsletter Editor @mrsslrss.bsky.social: "What starts as a kooky, slightly silly quest for free carbs blossoms into a meditation on humanity's relationship with wheat, the diversity of taste, and the nature of grief—an absolute delight."

"If the French figured out how to stop deifying the king, maybe someday we can figure out how to stop deifying billionaires." Cara Marsh Sheffler on Jacques-Louis David's paintings and the unlearned historical lessons from them.