Once again, we enter the territory of “the banality of evil.” Voter suppression acts and fighting for voter’s rights is the boring but integral work of defending democracy. Georgia’s asterisk governor Brian Kemp recently signed into law legislation which impedes voting rights by such means as limiting drop boxes, increasing restrictions and requirements for absentee balloting, and illegalizing the distribution of water to people waiting in line to vote. An earlier version of the bill included a ban on Sunday voting. Brian Kemp himself as Georgia Secretary of State enacted voter purges so draconian that he himself nearly could not…

Hopefully, I’m preaching to the choir here and no one who is not immunocompromised or otherwise unable to receive a jab has any doubts about this, but there have been a few reports of vaccine refusal among certain populations. So, in case any of you or any of your friends or relatives are still on the fence about being made immune from a potentially fatal and highly contagious pathogen, here’s four reasons to go forth and get your jab.

1. Immunity to a Potentially Fatal Disease

Spoiler Warning for the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and the Hitchcock movie of the same name.

Trigger Warning for abuse, cancer, murder, and suicidal ideation.

Initially, I had no interest in reading this novel or watching the movie because whilst I have a great interest in being that girl I am — in fact — not that girl. Someday I will be dressed in designer clothes from head to toe, know what to say in any situation, and drink wine in a candlelit bubble bath while reading philosophy and listening to Chopin or Liszt. In fact, some day…

Eating disorders are an unspoken pandemic throughout the world, but instead of being treated as the diseases that they are they are often stigmatized and even monetized. There is a pervasive idea that eating disorders only effect the over pampered rich white woman and should therefore be ignored and derided as a symbol of privilege.

But:

1. About 25% of individuals suffering from eating disorders in the UK are men.
2. Eating disorders may be associated with or even symptomatic of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
3. There’s no positive correlation between high socioeconomic status and eating disorders and for some eating disorders the correlation…

It’s not my place to judge you good or bad, but I’m so proud of you. I’m never going to stop making fun of the incredibly ineffectual way you reached for law tomes while playing a paralegal on Suits and you don’t need my approval, but I’m so thrilled you stood up for yourself and for your family. I’m really impressed that Harry found someone he could actually be in love with. You’re both terribly famous, but it looks like you hit the love jackpot as well. …

Every February we have a Black History Month during which white people complain about the length of the month of February and ask “when is White History Month.” Seriously. Every February. Without fail. And then it’s followed by Women’s History Month during which men make every effort to be worse than usual.

That may seem like a weird opening for an article about populism and democracy, but my point here is that this kind of prejudice and systemic racism and sexism is an integral part of both populism and fascism. Both populism and fascism require the exercise of power over…

I’m autistic. I did not suspect I was autistic until I was in my late twenties and I did not embrace it until later. But once I did, everything in my life made sense. I don’t really make sense as an autistic person because — as I say in all my personal statements for jobs — I am an excellent communicator. I give engaging talks, I can write persuasively, and I understand how to phrase complicated subjects so that non-experts understand. I would describe myself as an introverted person, but you wouldn’t know that if you didn’t know me.

I’m…

I knew my partner would get a kick out of the Golden Calf version of ex-President Trump. And he did. But the problem is, my partner is French and although he loves all things American — demonstrably — he doesn’t necessarily have the same knowledge of the United States as a native like myself. This meant I had to explain to him what exactly CPAC is.

My first definition was “it’s like Anime Expo except overtly racist,” and to be honest, I think that’s probably the best description I could have given. The second one was “It’s when all the…