Just a reminder that Muslims have been on this continent since the first arrival of non-Indigenous people. They were among the first generation of Americans, and have been here ever since.

If you’re roughly my age, it’s wild to reflect on the optimism for the future Americans felt when Obama was elected — young Americans spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate! — and contrast with what we face today. The falloff over the past 18 years is hard to process.

A bit about a pattern I've been seeing in how ordinary people are using coding tools in probably unproductive ways. If you are new to coding, you may thing the problem you want to solve is build more things. The reality is you want to build *less* things.

Not just any white hat. It comes from “The Trump Store." You can find it there for $55 & plenty of other stuff & links to Trump Hotels, Trump Golf, etc. Apparently, to Trump, nothing says great opportunity for pushing merchandise like bringing home fallen soldiers. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Softerware (new post) share.google/T1AajhhxRprb...

March 8, 2026

Lots of legal proceedings to read up on for the week ahead, and beyond. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

I talked about these DJT-centric semiquincentennial trademarks and national identity this evening. www.youtube.com/live/Ubotjjb...

We used to be a country that could summon outrage and turn it into courage. Now, MAGA watches Trump bomb a girls’ school in Iran and lie about it. Here are some ideas about what we need to do about it. joycevance.substack.com/p/bloody-sun...

March 7, 2026

Some judicial opinions have to be read in full, like the one I parse for you to night, from Judge Tunheim in Minneapolis. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

March 6, 2026

Noem is gone, sort of, but there are lessons to be learned from her tenure, how she was fired, and why it didn’t happen earlier, why the Senate confirmed her in the first place, that we can”t afford to ignore joycevance.substack.com/p/fired-but-...

March 5, 2026

I’m not mad she’s gone, but let’s talk about what’s really at stake here. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

This is a great article and got too little attention when it first came out. @propublica.org is doing amazing work.

March 4, 2026

Writing & calling your elected officials, even your Republican ones really does work: House Oversight Committee subpoenas Attorney General Pam Bondi www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

We shouldn’t have to fight just to be able to exercise a right, but primary night in Texas made it clear we will have to. Here’s what you need to know and how to get ready to do it. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

The administration is setting up the idea that anyone opposing Trump is engaging in "domestic terrorism," as Trump's EO set out. (This is a way to get around the specific definition of "domestic terrorist" in U.S. law.)

DOJ is supposed to be slow and deliberate when it makes decisions—take the time to get it right. It’s rare, in fact, I can’t remember any other time when we’ve seen the sort of whiplash change in position we’re seeing right now. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

March 3, 2026

The Deputy Attorney General just rescinded the policy against no knock warrants in most cases. That policy was an important public safety measure. Restricting their use saved lives. Breonna Taylor died because of one. www.cnn.com/2022/02/22/u...

This is what happens when the Secretary of HHS is a guy who snorts cocaine off of a toilet seat

March 2, 2026

Why go after Big Law? Courts can’t act on their own, they need lawyers to bring them cases. During the first Trump administration, that happened regularly. The new administration wanted to put a stop to it. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Chris Murphy: "It's just so disgusting to listen to the president be waxing poetically about the drapes he's buying while there are six Americans who are dead. There are six families who are about to bury their children because of a war of choice that no one in this country wanted, an illegal war."

Me either.

March 1, 2026

It’s not “the Department of War”

Lots of tails wagging lots of dogs this week. Trump clearly wants you to forget there are documents about him missing from the Epstein files. But I devote most of this piece to a quiet phenomenon: federal judges, declaring war on ICE open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Betting on warfare. Insider betting no less. Absolutely soulless.

What does it mean if the administration's strike on Iran wasn't lawful? It's not an abstract debate. First principles, like the rule of law, determine whether we live in a country governed by laws or by impulse. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

> @covie93.bsky.social

Heather and I had a LOT to say this morning about the attack on Iran. www.youtube.com/live/yiFHTyw...

Related point, if you are in misinformation research and have been launching study after study to see what Uncle Fred thinks after seeing misinformation PLEASE listen to what @katestarbird.bsky.social and I have been saying for years: effects on elite and official action is what matters most.

February 27, 2026

I hate to give this to you as you wake up but…here we are.

Authoritarianism scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat explains why she believes Americans are succeeding at developing systems to resist the slide into authoritarianism and why we shouldn’t give up. joycevance.substack.com/p/live-with-...

Follow the money. And IIRC, Epstein accused his friend Trump of laundering money for the Russians when he bought the estate Epstein wanted in Florida.

Congress and the courts are refusing to give Trump what he wants, so he’s concocting a new plan to seize control of the election. Here’s what you need to know: open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

February 26, 2026

Tomorrow on my live webcast “History Matters:” The (Real) State of the Union: And the State of DJT Friday 10AM ET m.youtube.com/@joannefreem...

Just reupping this image from my newsletter last week, that I hope people will feel free to save and liberally spred around the interwebs. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

I think we need to take a step back and acknowledge the absurdity of House Republicans targeting their Epstein investigation on HILLARY CLINTON (who says she never met him!) while ignoring DONALD TRUMP (who Epstein described as his best friend!) These are not serious people or good faith actors.

Yesterday’s conversation—on the SOTU address—and more. youtu.be/NTxvRcgt2_g