Standing up for trans folks isn't just the right thing to do—which it is!—it's also a way to win elections. Subscribe to Andrea Pitzer's Degenerate Art newsletter to support Next Comes What and get Andrea's posts first: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post that inspired this episode: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/stop-trans-scapegoating TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews  Our episode this week focuses on how trans people have been demonized by politicians, and why that approach backfired in elections around the country last week. To find out why this kind of hate mongering seems to be a weapon of choice for the Republican Party right now, Andrea Pitzer looks at the many prejudices that transphobia taps into, going back to the Lavender Scare, McCarthyism, and beyond. She considers how part of the hostility to trans identities also rises out of women gaining civil rights, and Republican frustration that they can't slot everyone into the roles they prefer.  Andrea looks at two trans lawmakers in office now, and suggests they (and trans people as a whole) shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of carrying the banner for trans rights. Recalling an interview with researcher Mike Jones from more than a decade ago, Andrea recounts how he found that heroes in policy narratives are even more effective than villains in getting people to come aboard. She analyzes the different ways that Abigail Spanberger and Zohran Mamdani addressed trans issues. Both campaign styles, she finds, offer strategies to effectively counter Republican demonization of vulnerable groups in America. Andrea ends by discussing ways that we can all embrace the hero narrative and show that we're strong enough to stand up for everyone's rights.
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We won. Now what?
Tuesday was a big day for democracy! But only if we follow through on its promise. Subscribe to Andrea Pitzer's Degenerate Art newsletter to support Next Comes What and get Andrea's posts first: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post that inspired this episode: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/just-a-wave-not-the-water Watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlDH54C4azc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews This week, we celebrate the immediate results of the November 4 elections— which delivered key victories for candidates running against Trumpism and offering concrete policies to benefit their constituents. Andrea Pitzer looks at how, win or lose, elections do matter. But they're only one tool. Pointing out how even winning candidates can abandon the platforms they ran on, or give into donor pressure once in office, she lays out how the ultimate power remains with the people. There are many other ways that voters and non-voters alike can impact their communities. Andrea considers the degree to which dedicated voters can sometimes demonize non-voters or blame them for failures at the ballot box. But nonvoters may have given up hope in our system altogether. And in any case, if getting out the vote is the goal, persuasion is more likely to work. She considers the ruptured promise of our republic, and the ways in which she still believes elections can lay the foundation to repair it. But only if we understand that Tuesday may have been a wave, but we ourselves are the water.
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Why Trump Wants Chaos
Trump's immigration policies may be echoing Nazi history, but that doesn't mean there's nothing we can do about it. Subscribe to Andrea Pitzer's Degenerate Art newsletter to support Next Comes What and get Andrea's posts first: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post that inspired this episode: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/when-bad-things-get-worse TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews This week's episode tracks the administration's shift in immigration enforcement as the power given to Border Patrol expands. Andrea walks listeners through the origins of and tactics used by Border Patrol and ICE in recent decades, as well as the ways unstable leadership and a lack of accountability have shaped their evolution. She turns to a conversation that she had last December with immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick in which he laid out the two paths detention and deportation would likely take in the new administration: one in which Tom Homan became ascendant, the other in which Stephen Miller took charge. Andrea notes that the Miller approach seems to have gained the upper hand for now, and it's far more dangerous for Americans across the board. Diving into Nazi history, she outlines the way that an abusive law-and-order model for governing was defeated by the reign-of-terror concentration-camp model, and sees the U.S. as now moving more fully into the latter mode. But she points out that even if you failed to imagine how quickly U.S. guardrails would give way to expanding violence against civilians, you don't have to let that earlier failure of imagination keep you from thinking of ways to protect yourself and others. The episode closes with mutual aid actions that can help those most affected, as well as thoughts on preemptively closing some doors to immigrant enforcement operations.
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What NO KINGS Means
Saturday's NO KINGS is the beginning of a movement. Thoughts on what it means and where we go from here. Subscribe to Andrea Pitzer's Degenerate Art newsletter to support Next Comes What and get Andrea's posts first: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post that inspired this episode: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/what-just-happened Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/-ozqcCEtRRc?si=nyvG3tY3-UGofGEd TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews This week, Andrea Pitzer looks at the October 18 No Kings marches and rallies nationwide and jumps into what seven million people showing up means for the country. She narrates the Saturday march from Arlington National Cemetery across the Memorial Bridge into DC and along the National Mall. Along the way, she talks to demonstrators, members of the National Guard stationed in the District, and DC cops. She recaps surveys of those who showed up and what matters to them, including data from Dana Fisher* and some great points made this week in a conversation between Erica Chenoweth and Steven Levitsky.** Addressing why police departments around the country put out press releases, Andrea wonders if—for their own reasons—they're trying to create some distance between themselves and the administration. She also reviews how shook the White House was by No Kings. Different people will play different roles in mass protests, and they may diverge even more in their approaches as mass protests become a mass movement. Andrea considers how this range of experiences, goals, and tactics can be a strength, rather than something that deepens conflict. And as always, at the end, she reviews ways to think about and take action in the moment, to push back against authoritarianism. * Fisher's topline data from Saturday is now available here: https://danarfisher.com/2025/10/23/nokings-2-0-brings-joyful-resistance-across-the-us/ ** You can see the whole conversation between Chenoweth and Levitsky in The Breakdown from the Ash Center: https://youtube.com/live/dqoSPLEK2Mg?si=C1f53eivbGGV2Pm3Â
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How to Spook a Fascist
Our society is descending deeper and deeper into authoritarianism, but hitting the streets this weekend is a good way to push back. Subscribe to Andrea Pitzer's Degenerate Art newsletter to support Next Comes What and get Andrea's posts first: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post that inspired this episode: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-opposite-of-complicity Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/DeOVwwATutg TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews This week's episode looks at the US crisis and how protest plays a key role in demanding a more accountable democracy. Andrea Pitzer considers the many ways that the administration is trying to suppress dissent. By calling the demonstrators terrorists, America haters, and supporters of Hamas, Trump's allies are trying to intimidate those who oppose them. But they're also revealing just how frightened they are. The government's response to inflatable frog and unicorn costumes, impromptu marching bands, and at least one naked bike ride has made them look ludicrous, and helps to expose the violence our expanding police state is unleashing on its own people. Andrea explores what protests are doing right now in the country, and what they have the potential to do. She addresses the limits and failures of democratic movements as well, with a nod to why it's crucial for you to get involved right now if you can. She covers how to take action if disability or your personal risk level makes it inadvisable or even impossible to march. Looking at recent research on the power of popular protest and at the risks of backsliding into authoritarianism, Andrea explains how developing communities of public dissent and mutual aid can help not only in building real democracy, but holding all leaders accountable going forward.
USA