We started writing this one about a month ago, after the Wyoming primaries.

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Did you weep? So did we.

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We can’t help but continue to reflect on how this place–this tiny state and the infinitesimal number of people who live here with us–is really the Rosetta Stone for the state of the GOP. For the politics of the aggrieved. For the rising cult of identitarians.

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If you live in Wyoming and are aware of our state’s primary outcomes up and down the ballot, there is a good chance you saw it for what it was: a blow to the future of the state.

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And even as we watch people around us consider decamping to other states–states more hospitable to life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice–we know that now is the time we must carry on.

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Because there is hope.

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The Liz Cheney concession speech was *fire* (and the setting couldn’t have been more stunning). She is showing us how to hold the line. How to speak the truth. It is time for us to follow her lead.

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Essays, Poems

Books

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1. American Wildflowers: A Literary Field Guide edited and with an introduction by Susan Barba, illustrated by Leanne Shapton

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2. American Faith, Poems by Maya C. Popa | “I want a kind of betterness./ Want it desperately. Is that faith?”

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3. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | “A poignant, funny, sometimes scathing look at the reality of being a new immigrant in the United States — especially from an African perspective — Americanah is an unforgettable work of literature not to be missed,” according to Powell’s 25 Women to Read before You Die.

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TV Shows

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1. The Good Fight | The final season just launched on Paramount+ which is the a la carte offering from CBS which means you will have to pay them for the pleasure of watching Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski. You will not be sorry. Bring us more Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski.

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2. Never Have I Ever Season 3 | Because Devi + John McEnroe.

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3. Bad Sisters | “Bad Sisters is never boring.” – Hollywood Reporter

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Bonus watch: The Dropout.

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Movies

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1. Everything Everywhere All The Time.

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2. Don’t Look Up.

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3. Vengeance | Someone said Vengeance is good. So we watched it. Vengeance is good.

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Twitter Follows

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1. Maya C. Popa Editor @PublishersWkly | Poet @wwnorton & @SarabandeBooks | Teacher NYU | PhD writing on wonder in poetry | Rep Peter Straus @rcwlitagency

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2. Diana Butler Bass Author, historian, public theology | Religion, spirituality, politics | PhD Duke | 11 books, lots of bylines | The Cottage: http://dianabutlerbass.substack.com

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3. Maria Popova Reader. Writer. Author of #Figuring. Maker of #UniverseInVerse. Lover of trees. Petter of moss. Rider of a cobalt blue bicycle with a golden bell.

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Recipes

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Oof. This has been a summer of recycling easy recipes, throwing chicken and veggies on the grill, eating toast. We think that Grace Farris over at Cup of Jo pretty much nailed it:

Unsolicited Opinions

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1. You need to remember: The thing about fascists and nihilists is that everyone ends up in the woodchipper eventually. There’s no getting around it. They’ll put you in, too, you’ll never be pure enough.

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2. Appeasement doctrine doesn’t work when the end game is destruction.

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3. Your only chance–and your only choice–is to speak the truth and hold the line no matter how painful that is to do, no matter how tempting it is to equivocate. We’re reminded of the words of Alexei Navalny, the Russian dissident that Putin has tried repeatedly to kill: “Everything will be all right. And, even if it isn’t, we’ll have the consolation of having lived honest lives.”

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