Wetter January

Wow. January. Which Horror do we even comprehend at the moment. January felt like being punched in the face by 2026. “you THOUGHT it couldn’t be worse?? lol. lmao even.” With this introduction of the death squads into American cities, we’re really not beating the “shithole country” allegations. If Minnesota is their blueprint for the rest of the country, then so is it ours. The rapid and awe inspiring turnout of legal observers and witnesses shows the rest of us that there are still people every day ready to put their bodies on the line for others.

If you, like me, are feeling guilt over what you’re doing or not doing vs what you thought you would be like when you learned about this shit in middle school then I once again invite you to consider what in your life screams out against all of this. Are you making things - physical or interpersonal? Do you have queer joy in your life? Do you know who you can trust and feel trusted by? Do you protect others? All of this will help us get through this. If “all you can do” is amplify voices on the ground, that’s great. “Just” give money if you can. You’re here reading this subversive newsletter, we’re going to get through this and we are going to win.     

As always! We've included things coming in the upcoming month, and a look at what's happening on our Patreon (which you can join for ~as little as a dollar~) & Discord which is open to all!

Feelings????:

STELLA:

I have no idea how any person who gives birth isn’t immediately radicalized. It’s a mindfuck to be quietly nursing your baby and accidentally watch a man get murdered. I feel beyond useless and guilty that I’m simply at home. But then I remember that raising thoughtful, kind, empathetic, critical children is radical, is punk and, frankly, is necessary. Especially, if like me, you’re raising (what for now is) a cis white male. 

Speaking of #boymom (vomit) I found this video of the gender icon themself Judith Butler talking about becoming a parent to a boy. Good reminder that even when being critical we can fall into binary thinking. 

Prison Culture (Mariame Kaba) is one of my fav blusky follows and newsletter subscriptions. I highly recommend giving them a follow. Their end of year essay “We Don’t Know Where We Will End Up…” is a great place to start. 

One fan's inspiring journey into not letting the market dictate your love of the game.

RIP to a real one. 

january gill o’neil, “i was lt. uhura”

You want a fantasy book with real relevant cultural criticism? I cannot recommend Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang enough. 

I watch Star Wars now. I wouldn’t call myself a fan (because Star Wars fans suuuuuuuuuuck #bringbacktheacolyte) but I will say it’s a wild time culturally to be watching the franchise in chronological order.  

ERIN:

It is January 8th and I am overwhelmed!

It is January 12th and I feel like I’m fiddling while Rome burns

It is January 19th and i would like to go onward to precedented times

It is January 26th and I am once again overwhelmed!

Last month sucked! Holy shit! But, as demonstrated below, there are things happening at such speed and devotion it's really miraculous to watch. Horrifying, but miraculous.

In burning Rome fiddling updates:

• I got to see a bunch of my friends in January and it helped keep me sane. I cannot recommend enough reaching out to your friends and having lunch, it’s good for your soul.

• Decided not to do any real defined goals for 2026. I want to take a no social media bout but I haven’t really figured out the terms for that yet. Generally, I want to keep my social schedule at the pace I live at now and not feel like I have to do anything I really don’t want to do.

• I did a bunch of prep for #februllage (the yearly prompt a day collage challenge), it was weirdly satisfying to not plan to actually make something and just do the grunt work. I’m sure I won’t use 90% of it, but that’s fine.

  • If you want to follow along while I do this challenge you can either follow me on Bluesky or Instagram.

  • I also got inspired to make a bunch of new collages (go figure when I’m elbow deep in prep) and you can see some of those here.

I really enjoyed (is that the right word? jury is out) this essay about the community that's solidified during the horrors in Minnesota.

I'm also recently obsessed with THE FALL GUY, a movie almost exclusively about how the Oscars should have a Stuntwork category. And it's right. Seriously, it rips, I am recommending it to everyone.

If you're not following Josh and Jace in America i really recommend it. Somehow Brits in Michigan makes me terribly proud of my home state.

PRODUCER BOBBY:

My month’s soundtrack was my own mediocre bass playing, the whir of the rowing machine’s fan, and the floor creaking as I paced uncontrollably for what has to be a few hours cumulatively. Maybe even a full day. I will admit to being very lost in the face of all of this, and it’s made me very quiet. I will admit to deleting several paragraphs I wrote for this because nothing felt right but saying nothing also didn’t feel right. But I have always advocated for open expression of mental health issues so if I also admit to losing the past few weeks to utter depression it’s so that if you did too, you know we both tried our best. 

I forget how, but I came across a poem this month that I’ve read every single day since. I don’t remember the last time I bought a book of poetry, but I bought Killer by Kimmy Walters when I learned that’s where it was from because I just wanted to own a page that poem was on. It hasn’t arrived yet so I don’t even know if I like her other work. The only link I have of the poem is from reddit, so... Sorry about that. But here: Content warning for discussion of suicide (no that’s not the name of the poem this is an actual content warning), nothing graphic.  

Here’s a whole other book of poetry. Someone important to me said it might bring me some hope: Revolutionary Letters - Diane di Prima

Anyways:

Midwest Immigration Bond Fund: https://www.mibfc.org/

Organized Communities Against Deportation: https://www.organizedcommunities.org/

Ok maybe an actual meme as well:

This month’s Links 4 U:

• How to help when you are outside Minnesota

• Reddit's Minnesota masterlist

• Immigrant Rapid Response

• Emergency Rent Fund for Minnesota workers

• GoFundMe for The Jackson Family aka the family whose 6month old got tear gassed. 

• In heartening news people are showing up for their neighbors

Normally I would enthusiastically link to the comments section for the proposed horrifying entry conditions for 42 countries, HOWEVER, they do want you to email your comments in and i can see why people would maybe not want to do that. If you feel comfortable emailing the federal register (or you want to use a burner) you can use this link.

Things coming this month:

• We’re currently on mat leave for Not Your Demo so this is subject to change

• Still, Instagram?? at @nydproductions you can get show announcements, hilarious clips, an unhinged array of reposts, and general revelry. (Is anyone on Upscroll? We’re dipping our toe)

• Help us shape our Tumblr! 

• Poor Bluesky is languishing at @nydproductions

Exclusive to our Patreon (it's only a dollar!) and open for all Discord!

• Join the book club in February! We're meeting on the 12th so you still have time to read a holiday themed book of your choice. Discord has all the (virtual, do not worry) meetup information!

• Xtras on the Patreon include:

  • Omg you guys I still can’t believe Xtreks is over 

  • Surprise content mini episodes

  • and more peeking around the corners!

  • Unofficial Channels archive is there 4 u

And in the Discord, let’s hang out! We’ve got lots of cool little internet rooms.

• Memes - Hit us with some weird stuff

• Come talk gay hockey with us, we are always ready

• Erin is liveposting fanfic in Stella’s Link Lounge! She’s also documenting it on our Instagram highlights. She needs Peggy/Stan Mad Men fic, it’s imperative (i still don’t understand how to search effectively).

• Give us your raves and rants in the Not Your Demo channel!

What a fucking year, huh? Wait what