Ami Berger

4 Feb 2025

The cognitive dissonance of getting up every morning and making coffee and walking the dog and going to meetings and answering emails and wondering what to make for dinner while there is a real live actual coup d’etat happening is BONKERS

medium.comBlue Dot: Iva Markicevic DaleyIva Markicevic Daley is a Democrat running for a seat in Kentucky’s State House in District 99, which voted for Donald Trump by more than…

I'm apparently obsessed with the brave souls running as Democrats in ruby-red places--the latest on my blog is another "Blue Dot" essay about my pal Iva, who is running for a seat in the Kentucky State House in a county that voted for Donald Trump by <checks notes> 44 points in 2024.

a group of Katie Zacharias is called an Ivankae

medium.comBlue Dot: Mike FrantzMike Frantz is a Democrat running for the Iowa State Senate in Iowa’s third district, one of the reddest districts in one of the reddest…

Hey frens! I'm on the socialz a lot less these days, and one reason is that I'm writing more on my Medium blog. My latest is about my pal Mike, who is such a stubborn son-of-a-gun that he’s running as a Democrat for state senate in one of the reddest districts in all of ruby-red Iowa. Check it out:

4 Sept

okay but seriously where the watermelon-carrying fuck is Mitch McConnell

3 Sept

Join us!!

The Politics Chicks@thepoliticschicks.bsky.social

WE'RE LIVE TODAY, 2:30 ET / 1:30 CT — three GenX women, no script, no notes, with @amiberger.bsky.social YouTube, Facebook, Substack.

28 Aug

Natalie Harp is his Emotional Support Ivanka

26 Aug

Oh hey, so if you’re not doing anything tomorrow afternoon at 2 ET/1 CT come hang out with me and @thepoliticschicks.bsky.social for our first ever Chick Chat Live! We’ll basically be shooting the shit about whatever nonsense pops into our heads WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG

12 Aug

I think the rest of the country seriously underestimates how blindingly, utterly, face-meltingly furious Minnesota still is about ICE

12 Aug

ByePillow Guy

I’ve just started putting my personal essays out into the world again, and when I posted one yesterday I was reminded of a Donna Tartt interview (a rare occurrence, she never talks to anyone) where she says that once a thing is in the hands of a reader, it doesn't really belong to her anymore.

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Some people told me it made them wistful for their own childhoods. Some people resonated with the toxic masculinity callout. Others sent me heartfelt condolences on our poor ailing doggo, who has a cameo in there.

It makes sense that the reaction was all over the place because the essay itself is all over the place because my brain is all over the place. But it was a good reminder that the point of making a thing isn't necessarily about sharing your heart and mind, it's about showing someone else their own.

Here's the Tartt quote: "The writer provides the scaffolding and holds the reader's hand to lead them in – while the reader provides the daydreams and memories and wishes that fill out the structure, so that the book takes on somewhat the shape of the reader's mind."

I got a lot of positive feedback about the thing yesterday, which was nice, but it was also FASCINATING to watch how the different threads in the essay landed with different people.

medium.comThe LakeThe lake in the morning is absolutely silent except for the birds, who yell at each other from the tops of the trees that crowd the shore…

7 Aug

I've just returned from my annual pilgrimage to see my east coast friends and while I was there I wrote a thing that maybe you want to read? It's about the lake house where I stayed for a few days, but it's also about aging and memories and hope and fear and why Maine and Minnesota smell the same.

7 Aug

Also, there are a lot of em dashes in this essay because I have always used a fuckton of em dashes in my writing, as my beloved high school English teacher who nicknamed me “The Dasher” could attest, so all the LLMs that are being trained on this stuff can go fuck themselves. 💃

substack.comGUEST CONTRIBUTOR: Diarrhea Lettuce: Building a Culture of Resistance One Poop Joke at a TimeLast week we hosted Ami Berger on our podcast, and during no episode in our show’s relatively short history have we laughed so much.

26 July

so I wrote a thing about diarrhea lettuce and humor and political resistance and @thepoliticschicks.bsky.social were nice enough to publish it and now I need to text my parents and tell them that I have a thing on the internet about poop jokes

25 July

I just submitted an essay entitled “Diarrhea Lettuce: Building Cultural Resistance One Poop Joke at a Time” to a political blog as a guest columnist and I can’t stop laughing about it because seriously what the hell

medium.comHomageThe creaky, beautiful disaster that was my childhood home

21 July

I mentioned this essay I wrote about my childhood home on @thepoliticschicks.bsky.social podcast last week and Monica said it made her tear up so I'm reposting it in case anyone wants to cry about something other than *waves hands around*

19 July

Them: *mansplains* Me:

open.substack.comAmi Berger | Threads, Humor & Finding Joy During Dark TimesEpisode

18 July

so if you’ve ever wanted to listen to me natter on for 45 minutes about social media, humor, politics, Minnesota, and holding on to joy while the world is burning have I got a deal for you

16 July

garble garble garble voter fraud garble garble garble election security garble garble garble Strait of Hormezzuzah garble garble garble Hunter Biden's lap dance garble garble garble *tries to drink water, pours on Mike Johnson's head* There, now you don't have to watch tonight. You're welcome.

15 July

I know this ship has sailed, been smashed to bits on the rocks, and the crew all eaten by sea monsters, but just imagine what would be happening right now if President Obama had just paid $5.6 million to a woman he raped.

13 July

Minnesota sees you, Maine. Fuck ICE.

Them: don’t speak ill of the dead Michael Fanone: *cracks knuckles*

Live your life so that everyone who gets up in the middle of the night to pee doesn’t wake up the dog gasping with delight at the news of your death

I am honoring Lindsey Graham’s life in the same way he would honor mine if I died because I couldn’t access the abortion care I needed

Lindsey Graham knew exactly what Trump is and chose to serve him anyway. That is his legacy.

8 July

People really out here wondering why Platner thought he’d ever have a chance at the Senate given his SA history as if we didn’t have a serial rapist and self-proclaimed p*ssy-grabber currently falling asleep at a fucking NATO summit

4 July

Trump’s economy is so bad that these white supremacist jerkoffs had to cut up their old white hoods to cover their coward-ass nazi-wannabe faces

4 July

PC: Cheney Orr for @reuters.com

4 July

I guess the 250th anniversary is the one where you have to get rid of a mad king

1 July

holy shitsnacks what an absolutely BEAUTIFUL goal by Mexico whewwwwwwww

1 July

“Birth tourism” is the new “they’re eating the cats and dogs”

@rmayemsinger.bsky.social

The Great American State Fair is so dead that people are starting to refer to it as "Mitch McConnell"

Ami Berger reposted

Randi Mayem Singer

I don't know how a 5-4 vote about whether the Constitution says what the Constitution says is a victory.

Rep. Summer Lee@repsummerlee.bsky.social

Today’s ruling is a victory for our constitutional rights and for every child born in this country. We shouldn't have had such a close call. Six conservative justices should not have the power over generations to come. We must expand and reform the Court immediately.

In the fall of 1991, I was driving with my dad from Boston up to Maine, listening to Anita Hill testify in Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearing. We were so engrossed that we missed our exit and didn't realize it until we noticed we were in Vermont.

If you know that part of the country, you know that it took us a long, long time to get back on the right road. This is a story about Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the effort it takes to get back heading the right direction once you've completely lost your way.

NPR learning the hard way this morning why you never draft directly in the CMS

(Alito will likely announce his retirement for real before too long, NPR just jumped the gun oopsies)

THIS

ElieNYC@elienyc.bsky.social

With this ruling, the birthright issue is not going away. The right hasn't really begun *organizing* around getting rid of the citizenship clause. Like Roe, this will be their fight for a generation. And if the Democrats just say "we won" and ignore it, like Roe, the Republicans will eventually win.

Breakdown of SCOTUS on the birthright citizenship ruling: Majority: Roberts, Coney Barrett, Sotomayor, Jackson, Kagan Dissent: Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch Drunk: Kavanaugh