Just keep going
🎬 On choosing Armageddon over apocalypse - optimism from Maria Ressa
I watched an interview last Thursday that really struck me, has stayed with me, and I want to share with you. More than that, I want to strongly encourage you to watch it.1
It’s an important topic and an engaging conversation. Maria Ressa is amazing, communicates clearly, and the interplay between her and John Stewart made this among the best 15 minutes I’ve seen this year.
🎬Maria Ressa and John Stewart
I watched it cold without any context and have intentionally not shared much here. If you prefer to know more before you watch it, here is the official blurb from YouTube:
“It’s both deja vu and PTSD.” Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist and author of the book “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” sits down with Jon Stewart for a conversation about Trump’s authoritarian attacks on free speech in the wake of Disney taking Jimmy Kimmel off the air in fealty to the president and his hand-picked FCC Chair. Ressa, who in 2020 was jailed in the Philippines for her journalism criticizing the country’s former president Rodrigo Duterte, warns about the similarities between the dictatorship she lived under and the Trump administration. They also discuss how tech companies use authoritarian governments as case studies to inform their algorithms and manipulate democratic elections, and the importance in this political moment for Americans to take peaceful action before their rights are continually stripped away.
Seriously, you owe it to yourself to watch it.
Don’t take my word for it. Here are a few of the more than 4,000 comments to date on this video:
Watch it. You won’t regret it. I promise.
I’d love to hear how the interview landed with you. Share with our community here:
Be well,
-Bryce
PS: Today is the first day of fall and this is the first time you’ve heard from me since late August. I apologize for going dark these past few weeks. The transition from summer to fall has proven even more challenging this year than last from a capacity perspective with the confluence of major projects active in academic, professional and personal spheres right now. I will write when I can but it may be a bit less consistent this fall. TBD. Thank you for your grace and understanding.
It’s 17:22 long so if you don’t have time right now, save this and watch it when you can.