The Tragic Optimist
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Neither Mouse Nor Menace: What Alex Pretti Taught Us
How Minneapolis Exposed Two Failed Models of Manhood – and a Third Path
Feb 3
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Andrew Boyd
27
16
4
Strange rites of passage
War, hitchhiking, polar bear plunges and other odd things men do to “become men.”
Jan 1
•
Andrew Boyd
25
16
4
“Energy From Heaven” : How to culture jam our salvation
What if a religious pamphlet handed to you on the subway wasn’t about the afterlife, but about the energy transition?
Oct 8, 2025
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Andrew Boyd
20
5
1
Most Popular
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We shall not be overwhelmed
Feb 4, 2025
•
Andrew Boyd
114
29
13
Joanna Macy, Presente!
Jul 21, 2025
•
Andrew Boyd
29
7
4
Strange rites of passage
Jan 1
•
Andrew Boyd
25
16
4
Build a monument to hope or despair
Apr 22, 2025
•
Andrew Boyd
16
1
1
“Energy From Heaven” : How to culture jam our salvation
Oct 8, 2025
•
Andrew Boyd
20
5
1
Latke Vodka Babka Kafka Tchotchke
Dec 10, 2024
•
Andrew Boyd
29
9
1
Latest
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Discussions
Joanna Macy, Presente!
Yesterday, we lost one of our greats -- here's the interview we did together.
Jul 21, 2025
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Andrew Boyd
29
7
4
We Told Them to #GoFundYourself! - And They Actually Did! Huzzah!
Welcome to the inaugural Substack post from Trillionaires For Trump. From Ollie Gark, Chair, T$T (NYSE listed)
Published on Trillionaires for Trump
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Jun 19, 2025
June 9: Another Take On What Really Happened Last Week
Special Guest post! Some good news from Hawaii, and feminists who are sympathetically curious about the “crisis of masculinity”
Published on The Golden Hour: climate, children, mental health
•
Jun 9, 2025
Build a monument to hope or despair
In honor of Earth Day, I’d like to share a reflection about the cusp moment we’re in. Not everything is in our hands, but we artists and activists have…
Apr 22, 2025
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Andrew Boyd
16
1
1
We shall not be overwhelmed
How “selective denial” can help us survive Trump 2.0.
Feb 4, 2025
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Andrew Boyd
114
29
13
Tragic Optimism and other paradoxes
How The Tragic Optimist got his name and how tragic optimism is a philosophy for our “time of monsters.”
Jan 1, 2025
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Andrew Boyd
23
3
7
Latke Vodka Babka Kafka Tchotchke
For nearly 25 years now, my chosen family has been celebrating a very unusual Christmas tradition: Latke Vodka Babka Kafka Tchotchke. It’s an eclectic…
Dec 10, 2024
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Andrew Boyd
29
9
1
The Future is Unwritten
Personal reflection on election defeat and passing the torch.
Nov 6, 2024
•
Andrew Boyd
19
4
Pessimism of the intellect; optimism of the will!
This video (and the larger piece it draws on) gets at one of the core ideas in I Want A Better Catastrophe: how optimism and pessimism are not what they…
Aug 14, 2024
•
Andrew Boyd
15
8
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The Tragic Optimist
Dispatches from the better catastrophe, writings from Andrew Boyd.
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Recommendations
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Airplane Mode with Liz Plank
Liz Plank
We Are The Great Turning
Jess Serrante
Finding Sanity
Isabelle Drury
The Golden Hour: climate, children, mental health
Anya Kamenetz
Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Book Link
Better Catastrophe Website
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