The Night Light with Joshua Johnson
The Night Light with Joshua Johnson
FROM MY HEART: Democracy In Despair
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FROM MY HEART: Democracy In Despair

My epiphany on a smarter way to talk about America's fatalism
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If you follow me on social media, you know it’s been a rough few days.

My posts on social media resonated with a lot of people, many of whom posted incredibly encouraging notes. Others said they felt the same as me.

My post was borne of exhaustion, frustration, rage… but most of all, despair. I’ve been pushing to make The Night Light a space for hopefulness in a world that sometimes can feel beyond saving, and it’s not working as well or as fast as I need it to. Not to keep it sustainable, to pay my bills so I can persevere. So many of the posts that were most popular were about the political fights and cultural shouting matches of the day: brought with my perspective and tone, granted, but not really breaking the kind of ground I came here to break.

It’s all so damn depressing. And this week, it caught up with me.

In a way, it’s fortunate that I took this time off from the live stream: my heart and my spirit needed to stop running in top gear long enough to see the damage it was doing. Now I have a much clearer sense of what’s wrong, and of what to do about it.

This episode was spontaneous, mainly because my mind was so frazzled I couldn’t clear it enough to write my feelings out. I tend to be sharper extemporaneously anyway, and it felt like a truer expression of my rough feelings than a carefully manicured essay. I welcome your thoughts on what I shared; it’ll help me figure out what this program means to you, and what it should become. I think we have an amazing opportunity to do good for so many people who’ve understandably checked out. But now is the time. Our window for making a difference is closing fast.

Despair doesn’t have to have the last word. But what should we say?

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The Night Light with Joshua Johnson
The Night Light with Joshua Johnson
Bright, nonpartisan insights on news & culture from former NPR & MSNBC host Joshua Johnson.