An Interview With the Portland Chicken (Rachel Saslow for Wilamette Week)
A delightful conversation about the power of fearlessness, whimsy, and saying fuck you to the fascists, straight from the chicken’s beak.

“What they rely on is fear,” Jack Dickinson (aka the Portland Chicken) told Saslow. “So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid.”

Boston’s Food Forests Take Root as a Climate Equity Strategy (Ryan Krugman for Inside Climate News)
I will be the first to admit that I do not have a green thumb. My house and yard are full of plants and flowers, but I am Expressly Forbidden From Touching Them, due to the fact that I am,,,,,bad at it.

That said, one of my very favorite things my partner, who is the green-thumbed member of the family, has done with our yard and garden is essentially make it possible for me to achieve my dream of going outside in the summer and being able to have snacktime. I’ve always wanted to be able to wander around from bush to bush and making myself a fruit and veggie salad of deliciousness, and now (at least for another few weeks) I can!

But to me, the most important thing has been making it clear to our neighbors that these raspberries and blueberries and cherries and apples and tomatoes and zucchini (oh my god, especially the zucchini, send help) aren’t just for us — they’re for anyone walking by. That’s why I’m so obsessed with what Boston has done in transforming empty lots into edible forests, open to anyone and making a difference both in terms of the availability of healthy produce and the city’s climate footprint. More of this everywhere, please!

A Letter from an Organizer on How to Fight While Feeling Broken (Aaron Goggans, excerpted from Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis and featured on Mental Hellth)
This book, edited by veteran organizer and co-author of Let This Radicalize You Kelly Hayes, has been on my watch list since it was announced, and this excerpted letter makes it clear just why it’s going to be such an important resource in this moment. What stood out to me in particular was this:

“To organize well is to live on an alternative timeline in which we get free, and to start acting as if you already are.”
(emphasis added)

This concept falls along the same lines as Timothy Snyder’s do not obey in advance. When we fall into the trap of constriction, denial, and closing-off, we do the work of the oppressors for them. Instead, the work is to build something new: systems and structures of healing, for individuals and communities and societies alike.

Why fandom organizing is a powerful strategy for movement building (Natalie Green, Elana Levin, and Anthony Vidal Torres for Waging Nonviolence)
I fucking love fandom. I am shameless about this. My very first Creativity Q&A interview was all about a fandom coming together to fundraise for Palestine, and in the years since (and, obviously, for decades prior) fandoms have continued to use their connections, relationships, and platforms to mobilize around the issues they care about. This piece on the Andor fandom, the political ideology of Star Wars, and the Disney/ABC boycott in the wake of the Trump administration’s attempt to cancel Jimmy Kimmel is a brilliant analysis of why these movements work — and what we can learn from them.

The Twelve Days of Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood (Amal El-Mohtar on her website)
An oldie, but such a delightful goodie that it had to round out this week’s letter on whimsy and humor and impact. A viral tweet from a Trigun fan account took This is How You Lose the Time War, the speculative novella El-Mohtar co-wrote with Max Gladstone, from a genre secret to a multi-platform bestseller. It’s a true testament to the power of one single, silly voice to make a transformative difference — not just bringing awareness and attention, but introducing people to new concepts, new ideas, and new forms of connection.