Take Heart! January 27, 2024January 27, 2024 We have every reason to be concerned for our democracy, and, with it, the world order — without which it’s hard to see our species coping very well with the climate crisis or any other. But we’re going to win. For one thing, we have to. For another, at the end of the day, Democrats are not going to vote for Trump and neither are most independents or Romney-Cheney-Bush-Mitch-McConnell-Lindsey-Grahm Republicans. Here’s 2 minutes that will give you a sense of what is possible. Eric Willoughby is 17. Another of my heroes, Zev Shapiro, is 21. He ran his first successful campaign at the age of 8. His drive to add a salad bar to the school cafeteria not only won, it was adopted city-wide. He now runs TurnUp, a non-profit he started between classes that has registered hundreds of thousands of young people, many of whom care about issues like climate, guns, abortion, LGBT rights, civil rights, and democracy. It’s non-partisan, so a tax-deductible 501c-3. Donate here. (Or — if you do your charitable giving through a donor-advised fund, as recommended in a certain investment guide Amazon is currently selling for $8.79 — here.) I connected the two of them, noting, when I did, that, combining their two ages, they were now fully half my own. So they’d better get a move on and start accomplishing something. (Speaking of age, Zev’s grandfather is the oldest professor still actively teaching at Harvard. He’s 94. And . . . here’s the part I love . . . he teaches not Icelandic poetry or Greek mythology or something. He teaches astrophysics.) Kevin Bacon, meanwhile, was 18 when I saw him on stage from the first row, about four feet away. He probably doesn’t remember. I do. Now 65, he and his wife are PUMPED about November (2 minutes) and hope you will be, too. (Or 9 minutes to watch in full). There’s a lot of energy out there, yours included. I could go on and on but want to leave time for the bonuses: BONUS Larry David on Steve Martin (7 minutes). BONUS Bob Newhart and Don Rickles, “a love story” by Judd Apatow (20 minutes). Have a great weekend!