Beth DeSombre
@bethdesombre.bsky.social
Songwriter, professor (Wellesley College, ES), activist, dog mom, runner. Songs that are “smart and uplifting...focusing on the quiet meaning to be found in ordinary life." Last year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
I am currently sitting in a meeting while we plan how to handle this. We will be pulling teachers from regular classes in order to teach our hybrid students. Classes are being rearranged, learning disrupted. The federal government is at war with us and we are feeing it at every level of society.
Saint Paul Public Schools, one of the biggest school districts in the state, is closed for the next two days because teachers need time to build hybrid learning because unaccountable masked, armed federal government goons have made it too difficult for nonwhite children to leave their homes.
January 20, 2026 at 3:39 PM
I am currently sitting in a meeting while we plan how to handle this. We will be pulling teachers from regular classes in order to teach our hybrid students. Classes are being rearranged, learning disrupted. The federal government is at war with us and we are feeing it at every level of society.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
It's hard to sum up the Trump Doctrine of International Affairs, but "But I want an Oompa-Loompa now!" goes a long way
January 20, 2026 at 2:29 PM
It's hard to sum up the Trump Doctrine of International Affairs, but "But I want an Oompa-Loompa now!" goes a long way
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Saying Trump was "snubbed" for the Nobel Peace Prize is like saying Goonies 3 was snubbed for the Best Picture Oscar.
He was never in contention because he is a war mongering fascist.
He was never in contention because he is a war mongering fascist.
January 19, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Saying Trump was "snubbed" for the Nobel Peace Prize is like saying Goonies 3 was snubbed for the Best Picture Oscar.
He was never in contention because he is a war mongering fascist.
He was never in contention because he is a war mongering fascist.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
January 19, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Being required to present proof of citizenship to someone not required to present proof they're actually law enforcement is one hell of a dichotomy
January 18, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Being required to present proof of citizenship to someone not required to present proof they're actually law enforcement is one hell of a dichotomy
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
I dunno man, I feel like "let's not go to war with Denmark" and "stop executing Americans in the streets" are a bigger deal than the egg thing right this second
NEW: In this interview, Chuck Schumer describes the "five buckets" Dems think are key to their possibly winning a Senate majority in 2026: housing, "the high price of food [and] food monopolies playing a major role there," electricity, "the high cost of childcare," and health care.
Zero Chucks Left to Give
Chuck Schumer now sees a path back to the majority. Can he manage his way through it?
www.thebulwark.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:01 AM
I dunno man, I feel like "let's not go to war with Denmark" and "stop executing Americans in the streets" are a bigger deal than the egg thing right this second
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Really wish John Roberts hadn’t torched the Constitution.
January 18, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Really wish John Roberts hadn’t torched the Constitution.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
The stakes are real. The choices being made in the coming weeks, months, and years will matter - maybe for the rest of our lives.
These coming years will be the greatest challenge of our lifetime - can Trump consolidate power fast enough, or will pro-democracy forces prevail? In this fight, distinctions between "moderate" and "progressive' are outdated, and we should stop using them. They are meaningless.
that’s right
January 17, 2026 at 10:09 PM
The stakes are real. The choices being made in the coming weeks, months, and years will matter - maybe for the rest of our lives.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Yes in thunder. My syllabus statement:
January 17, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Yes in thunder. My syllabus statement:
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
I have also voted Democratic in every election since I turned 18 and I will always vote Democratic but I do not want Newsom to be the nominee and I will continue to speak out against him. And luckily we have plenty of time to find someone else.
PSA: I have voted for, donated to, and advocated for every Democratic nominee in every national and state election since I turned 18 and will continue to do so.
I also have the total right to criticize prospective candidates years before primaries even occur.
I also have the total right to criticize prospective candidates years before primaries even occur.
January 16, 2026 at 8:11 PM
I have also voted Democratic in every election since I turned 18 and I will always vote Democratic but I do not want Newsom to be the nominee and I will continue to speak out against him. And luckily we have plenty of time to find someone else.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
For my own part, if I felt I knew exactly the right way to fight climate change, I would just go fight climate change that way! Show it works! I would not devote all my energies to shitting on people doing it differently.
Odd, then, that approximately zero of the critics make that choice.
Odd, then, that approximately zero of the critics make that choice.
January 16, 2026 at 6:35 PM
For my own part, if I felt I knew exactly the right way to fight climate change, I would just go fight climate change that way! Show it works! I would not devote all my energies to shitting on people doing it differently.
Odd, then, that approximately zero of the critics make that choice.
Odd, then, that approximately zero of the critics make that choice.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Cripes a’mighty people, Steven Miller is not staging a militarized ethnic cleansing and sending the border cops to murder people in the street to distract from the Epstein files. He’s doing it because he and Trump (and Vance and Homan and Noem etc) really really want to.
January 15, 2026 at 2:39 AM
Cripes a’mighty people, Steven Miller is not staging a militarized ethnic cleansing and sending the border cops to murder people in the street to distract from the Epstein files. He’s doing it because he and Trump (and Vance and Homan and Noem etc) really really want to.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Bandcamp knows what's up: www.digitalmusicnews.com/2026/01/14/b...
Bandcamp Takes a Stand and Bans AI-Generated Music
Bandcamp takes an official stance against artificial intelligence by banning AI-generated audio and music from its platform.
www.digitalmusicnews.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Bandcamp knows what's up: www.digitalmusicnews.com/2026/01/14/b...
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
I cant imagine how fucked in the head you have to be to see the huge backlash to the murder of a woman done by one of your agents and your response to be "what if we go after her spouse that we made a widow out of?"
January 13, 2026 at 6:02 PM
I cant imagine how fucked in the head you have to be to see the huge backlash to the murder of a woman done by one of your agents and your response to be "what if we go after her spouse that we made a widow out of?"
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
A teenage boy was walking home in Minneapolis yesterday when four masked men jumped out of a van & questioned him - with no parent or guardian present.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
January 13, 2026 at 5:56 PM
A teenage boy was walking home in Minneapolis yesterday when four masked men jumped out of a van & questioned him - with no parent or guardian present.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
psa: if the government is offering you a free attorney, for any reason, regardless of your role in the proceeding, you should accept the free attorney
January 10, 2026 at 9:36 PM
psa: if the government is offering you a free attorney, for any reason, regardless of your role in the proceeding, you should accept the free attorney
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
via Minneapolis photographer Chris Juhn on Facebook
January 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
via Minneapolis photographer Chris Juhn on Facebook
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Oh my gosh you guys! The House just passed my bill to extend the health care tax credits for three more years!
January 8, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Oh my gosh you guys! The House just passed my bill to extend the health care tax credits for three more years!
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
"This is rather dramatic but lost in the general media turmoil over everything else - 🇺🇸 is withdrawing from 66 international organizations and treaties, most notably everything connected with climate change, democracy and rule of law."
www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...
www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Withdraws the United States from International Organizations that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
WITHDRAWING FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the withdrawal of the United
www.whitehouse.gov
January 8, 2026 at 3:10 PM
"This is rather dramatic but lost in the general media turmoil over everything else - 🇺🇸 is withdrawing from 66 international organizations and treaties, most notably everything connected with climate change, democracy and rule of law."
www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...
www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Trump pulls out of long list of international organizations, conventions, treaties.... including (of particular note to digital rights folks) the Freedom Online Coalition. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
www.whitehouse.gov
January 8, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Trump pulls out of long list of international organizations, conventions, treaties.... including (of particular note to digital rights folks) the Freedom Online Coalition. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
i think it is ok to reiterate that the victim as a us citizen. yes, noncitizens are equally entitled to human rights. but also, it's important to illustrate how ice isn't about immigration at all
January 8, 2026 at 1:41 AM
i think it is ok to reiterate that the victim as a us citizen. yes, noncitizens are equally entitled to human rights. but also, it's important to illustrate how ice isn't about immigration at all
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
"You’ve lived through several waves of feminism, and they’ve culminated in two women who were among the most qualified candidates in US presidential history losing to the same misogynistic con artist."
#McSweeneysTop25of2025
#McSweeneysTop25of2025
Signs You Are a Gen-Xer Who’s About to Turn Sixty
Our 5th most-read article of 2025. - - -1. You own music in so many formats that your collection could be housed in an audio museum. 2. Back in yo...
buff.ly
January 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM
"You’ve lived through several waves of feminism, and they’ve culminated in two women who were among the most qualified candidates in US presidential history losing to the same misogynistic con artist."
#McSweeneysTop25of2025
#McSweeneysTop25of2025
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
Whatever you might think of Maduro, the seizure and kidnapping of a head of state takes us to a very dark place. Vast, arbitrary, extra-legal power, which could be exercised almost anywhere, regardless of the character of the target government.
January 3, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Whatever you might think of Maduro, the seizure and kidnapping of a head of state takes us to a very dark place. Vast, arbitrary, extra-legal power, which could be exercised almost anywhere, regardless of the character of the target government.
Reposted by Beth DeSombre
You’re going to be okay. Someone will hate your book. You’re going to be okay. Someone will not get what you’re trying to do with your art and judge you. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to keep creating, in 2026, because you need it and because the world needs you to. Okay?
December 31, 2025 at 5:37 PM
You’re going to be okay. Someone will hate your book. You’re going to be okay. Someone will not get what you’re trying to do with your art and judge you. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to keep creating, in 2026, because you need it and because the world needs you to. Okay?