Power is more important than the truth and no one knows that better than survivors of sexual assault. Here are some facts: one in five women and one in 71 men will be raped in their lifetime; one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they are 18; sexual assault is one of the most underreported violent crimes, with only 37% reporting to police and only 12% of child sexual abuse being reported to the authorities (NSRC 2021).
This is the backdrop against which we are watching people in power attempt sweep the Epstein files under the rug to protect other people in power, including Trump. The perverse and outrageous lies told by the administration continue to gaslight Trump’s victims and trigger millions of survivors of sexual assault. As Rebecca Solnit writes, “in patriarchy, no one can hear you scream”.
Many of us have experienced some form of sexual assault and violence. The lesson we learn time and time again is that there is no accountability, especially when it comes to institutions of power. We know it’s a tough time, especially as we watch Epstein survivors relive their horrors and get no justice.
We continue to scream into the void, about children dying of starvation in Gaza, about masked ICE agents violently and illegally kidnapping people off the streets across the US, about institutions capitulating to fascists, about cuts to foreign aid that will cost thousands of lives, about unnecessary and damaging tariffs, about the lack of justice for rapists, and about so much more.
We must keep screaming, giving up is not an option.
Weekly wins
We are a week late in congratulating Ilona Maher for winning “Breakthrough Athlete of the Year” at the ESPYs -- if you haven’t watched/listened to her acceptance speech it is worth a minute of your time
Venus Williams, at 45 becomes the oldest woman since Martina Navratilova, to win a majors single tennis match.
A judge blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
weekly wonder
Genetic modification could prevent mosquitos from transmitting malaria - a disease that leads to approximately 500,000 deaths per year.
check it out
Finally, people across the world decry the starvation and genocide of the Palestinan people.
The Trump administration cut critical food and health aid to Americans and Palestinians.
RFK Jr. continues the Trump administration’s war on mothers, trying to limit access to critical health care via misinformation.
NASA is set to lose 20% of its workforce via deferred resignation program, after the president’s budget cut funding to the agency by 24%.
The White House is planning to end operation of the only remaining U.S. scientific icebreaker - this move would hamstring polar research.
And here is to the formal end of Columbia’s academic independence. Here is hoping other institutions learn something here and figure out how to stand up against fascism together.
The Oversight Project, founded by the Heritage Foundation, requested materials from more than 70 courses at UNC, identified by using search terms like “DEI” and “gender identity”.
Weaponizing Europe’s borders imperils wildlife (coverage of the work here).
perennial reads
A year-long investigation from Reveal into how for-profit health care operators bankrupt hospitals and leave communities in shambles.
The European Press Prize’s Public Discourse Award this year goes to Mothers At the End of the World by Katarzyna Boni.
Check out this interview with Dr. Olúfémi O. Táíwò in The Drift, where Dr.Táíwò proposes (among other things) that campus is not a distraction from “real” politics and worth defending.
book nook
Pre-order Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s The Edge of Space-Time.
all ears
Tom Lehrer, a brilliant satirical song writer who helped many of us remember the periodic table, died this past weekend at 97.
watch this
To add some levity to your week - including a home built around boulders and the Rainbow House - check out Zillow Gone Wild!