Culture Study

Culture Study

Essays

I'm Just So Mad

The particular exhaustion of working to restore rights YOU ALREADY HAD

Nov 05, 2024
∙ Paid

Charlie took this pic during the 60 MPH windstorm yesterday that felt very ON BRAND for this moment

A quick note: Election Day writing is fraught, and I’ve become wary of doing it in a way that can circulate widely or be readily decontextualized and used for trolling purposes. For that reason, today’s essay is behind the paywall. If you want to read what I’m so mad about, and get a few links to make you feel even slightly less nauseous, subscribe below.

Upgrade Your Subscription

(As always, if you don’t have the means for a subscription right now, you can email me a request, no questions asked, at [my full name] at gmail dot com)

I’ve spent the last few months trying to figure out what I’m feeling — it’s not apathy, although the reality of the electoral college makes me feel alienated from the concept of American democracy. It’s not fear, exactly, because I know what Trump will do, and I have a good idea of how the next four years will play out, and I know how much work will need to happen to protect those vulnerable to his policies. What I’m feeling, it’s flat and banal, enormous and expanding.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2026 Anne Helen Petersen · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture