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Kendzior, Sarah

This is the thing about creativity that’s rarely acknowledged: most people don’t actually like it… They crave the success of the result, but shun the process that produces it. The experimentation that may yield failure. The rejection of social norms that leads to rejection of the artist herself.

Don’t tell my friends I’m speaking at Medium Day 2026: Community and the stories we almost didn’t tell

Graeber, David & Wengrow, David

Security takes many forms. There is the security of knowing one has a statistically smaller chance of getting shot with an arrow. And then there is the security of knowing there are people in the world who will care deeply if one is.

Kendzior, Sarah

To warn of a threat and be dismissed is to have your own worth questioned, along with the worth of all you strive to keep safe.

Bishop, Kelly

You know those rare people you’re introduced to for the first time, and instead of saying “Nice to meet you” you’re tempted to say “There you are!” — The Third Gilmore Girl: Kelly Bishop

Wood Jr., Roy

We are a country founded on religious principles of forgiveness and turning the other cheek, yet every piece of infrastructure is set up to remind you of and hold you accountable for your past mistakes.

Hatmaker, Jen

I have barely even kissed a boy. I feel wildly embarrassed but can’t figure out why. All of a sudden, I am hyperaware of my body and burning with shame; did that first kiss with Gary Whipple in seventh grade cost me a petal?

Thompson, Shailee

If watching rom-coms has taught me anything, it’s that you don’t dim yourself for fear of shining too bright... And if watching slashers has taught me anything, it’s that you take chances whenever you can.

Ryan, Kennedy

There are women like me who are mothering in our own ways, but have never carried a child or been a parent. We’re teachers and mentors and social workers and godmothers. We find ways to pour love into the world, to shape the world for good without bearing a child.

Giuffre, Virginia Roberts

Bohannon, Cat

With eusocial species, not every individual has a chance to reproduce, but a caste of asexual members is useful, even essential, to the group’s success, most typically by helping care for the young.

Pulley, Natasha

When someone is that calm in a crisis, either they don’t know what’s happening, or you don’t.

Cullins, Ashley

Because you’re not afraid of being alone, right? You’re afraid you’re not alone. If you’re alone, nothing can happen to you. If there is another person who wishes you harm…that’s truly scary, especially when it’s someone you know and trust.

Spade, Dean

Johnson, Eleanor

Spade, Dean

Harris, Kamala

Throughout my career I’ve maintained that people in positions of power must be required to ask of themselves: Who am I not hearing from? Then make it their business to seek those folks out.

Goodall, Jane

Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I’m not going to do anything about it. This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement.

Chemaly, Soraya

Tang, Karen

Marie, I.V.

Carmichael, Jessica

Tyson, Timothy

I took the privacy of my own grief and turned it into a public issue, a political issue, one which set in motion the dynamic force that ultimately led to a generation of social and legal progress for this country.

Wynn-Williams, Sara

Henry, Emily

King, Steven

Davis, Angela

Lewis, Michael

Raymond, Edwin

El Akkad, Omar

Kimble, Megan

Stanley, Jason

Stanley, Jason

Poston, Ashley

Huang, Ling Ling

Brooks, David

Kelly, Kim

O’Clover, Ellen

Morris, Haley

Don’t tell my friends I’m speaking at Medium Day 2026: Community and the stories we almost didn’t tell

Higginbotham, Adam

Costello, Jane

Reid, Taylor Jenkins

Harpman, Jacqueline

Ciccarelli, Kristen

Rooney, Sally

Carter Jackson, Kellie

Schwab, V.E.

Khan-Cullors, Patrisse

Blackstock, Uché

And that’s when it hit me. The people in institutional power, mostly older white men, didn’t really expect me to do anything in my new role. They wanted a figurehead; they didn’t expect me to change anything.

Haidt, Jonathan

Smith, Kaylie

He was in the reflection of her hot chocolate at every café. In the heat of every fire. In the faces of the few lovers she’d had since he shattered her heart to pieces.

Paxton, Robert O.

Borison, B.K.

Ephron, Nora

McQuiston, Casey

Griner, Brittney

Nguyen, Beth

Burke, Tarana

Hendrix, Grady

Thorpe, Rufi

Weaver, Brynne

Alexander, Michelle

Coburn, Jennifer

Cullen, Dave

They had looked beyond that powerless afternoon determined they had been made powerless their entire childhood by gunmen who could strike at any moment. They set their sights on that larger problem and reclaimed their power by working to protect 74 million American kids… They didn’t start this as a form of therapy, but Dr. Lye said they could hardly have designed a better treatment plan.

Ford, Christine Blasey

As I budgeted out what we could afford, I thought how impossible this would be for so many other survivors. If you don’t have the resources, how do you even leave an unsafe situation? If I, with all my privileges, could barely afford to speak out, what did that mean for so many other women?

Gunter, Jen

Messenger, Tony

Smale, Holly

Gladwell, Malcolm

Abrams, Stacey

Monaghan, Annabel

Rothstein, Richard

Wynn-Grant, Rae

Montgomery, Sy

If I have a soul—and I think I do—an octopus has a soul, too.

McCammon, Sarah

Todd, Kim

Lenz, Bethany Joy

Pishko, Jessica

Benjamin, Ruha

As just one person, let’s band together with all the other just people who are equally hungry for change.

Carmon, Irin

Center, Katherine

Davis, Angela Y.

Duhigg, Charles

Gregory, Amanda Ann

Hendrix, Grady

In every book we read, no one ever thought anything bad was happening until it was too late.

Jackson, Sarah J.

This rapport building between members of the network does important discursive community-building work, shaping cultural solidarity and providing important emotional and psychological support.

Klosterman, Chuck

Moore, EbonyJanice

Napolitano, Ann

She carried a book at all times—to read, yes, but also as a handy shield for when she wanted to deflect the attention of other people.

Roach, Mary

Every now and then in life, a compliment is tucked so seamlessly into a insult that it’s impossible to know how to react.

Ronson, Jon