Hello friends,
When I finish a new issue of Kazoo, and send it off to the printer, I celebrate by writing to you. I usually look forward to sharing the things I've come across while writing. But, these last 3 months? WHEW.
The great news: I'm still here and I'm not about to go away quietly. And, I'm so happy you're here, too. Read on for all the HECK-YEAH inspiration I can muster. But first, let me introduce our next issue: Kazoo #36, The Strong Issue, shipping to subscribers right now.
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• Feeling overwhelmed? Do something. It doesn't have to be anything huge or radical. If you need inspiration, here are 30 lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now. Why? Because others will see you doing something and it will make it easier for them to take their own (slightly less lonely but equally beautiful) actions. I often feel overwhelmed and I am trying to do at least one thing a day. It helps.
• Kazoo Goes Viral (for a terrible reason): I scrolled into a story about workers at NASA being told “drop everything” and delete any Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from their organization. A stupid but also impossible task, obviously. This request was sent to all federal agencies. NASA's compliance hit us hard because we had featured so many women from NASA in Kazoo. One woman, Rose D. Luna, who had landed a dream job at NASA, posted that her story had been erased from NASA's website, as well. So, we made a little reel about all this for Kazoo's Instagram. It now has 23K likes and 600 comments. (And whew if this whole story didn't already make me question humanity, the comments under it did. I blocked and deleted so many.) We don't do much posting online, so anything over 10 comments is remarkable. When we do post, we try to make it inspirational. So, I'm kind of sorry that this heartbreaker is the one that went viral. But, the silver lining: We all made so much noise about it that Rose D. Luna's story is back on the NASA site. You know, we can't be erased.
• I don't know her: In the recently re-issued Right Wing Women, Andrea Dworkin, who died in 2005 but left us with a stack of books and the most famous image of the overall-clad, radical feminist, reminds us that right wing-women, like all the rest of us, are also living under patriarchy and are "having one hell of a hard time.” Dworkin said, “Every woman’s fate is tied to the fate of women whom she politically and morally abhors.” I'm trying to find empathy for the women who voted for all of this and will suffer for it too, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having a hard time with that right now. How are you all handling it?
• She hoped Tr*mp would change her life. He did. This Michigan woman voted for Tr*mp because he "promised" free IVF (or, at least, she saw something about that on TikTok) and she and her husband have been trying to start a family. Instead, she immediately lost her job in the U.S. Forest Service as part of the indiscriminate DOGE cuts. And of course the IVF promise was a lie. She is mourning for the daughter she wanted, who she was going to name "Charlotte." Half the internet yelled FAFO, and half seemed to want to place blame anywhere else. It's just all so sad.
• And the rest of the women are furious. Just after the election, Clara Jeffery at Mother Jones (whose insight I always value) said, "This has all happened before. Women in the 1940s were sent to the factories and then back to the kitchen. The feminist movement of the 1970s led to big gains—we finally got those credit cards, ladies!—and then to a backlash, as Susan Faludi famously chronicled. An 'anti-PC' movement arose too. But eventually the pendulum swung back, and new waves of female empowerment began to swell." So, maybe this anger can be productive?
• Plant the Seeds, Grow the Garden: I still know all the words to The Carrot Seed which my daughters loved when they were little. And I guess it stuck with me, too, so much that you may notice it served as the inspiration for our Strong cover. But I never knew the author Ruth Krauss and illustrator Crockett Johnson (who also wrote Harold & the Purple Crayon) were a husband-and-wife team that were so defiantly leftist in a time of McCarthyism that they were under FBI surveillance for years! Over in The Horn Book, Betsy Groban shares scenes from their remarkable marriage. And basically, I want to have them over for dinner. I make a great carrot soup.
• Woke & Winning! I'm so proud that Kazoo has been named a finalist for the ASME National Magazine Award for General Excellence. This 2025 nomination marks the seventh for Kazoo. Since our launch in 2016, Kazoo has won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, Special Interest (2019), and has been named a finalist for six other National Magazine Awards. Kazoo was also named a finalist for the ASME Award for Design, Photography, and Illustration five times. Our nominated issues are on sale for 20% off in Kazoo’s shop.
• Here's some fun stuff that's been helping me keep my chin up. >>>
• Kazoo Klassifieds: Here's to Quinn! I love all these adorable messages to our readers. Want to surprise your kid in print? Messages received before April 1 will appear in our Summer Issue (#37), out in June. Click here to write your own. 
• Dr. Keisha Blain, taught us why love always wins. But, she also reminded us, it takes work. From Kazoo #19: "As Fannie Lou Hamer said, ‘Freedom is not something that’s put in your lap.’ She meant that people must push for a positive outcome for it to happen. Love will always have the final word—if we are determined to make sure that’s the case.” We are.
• Jennifer Beals, who I will always adore, reminds us how important is to turn away from the bad news sometimes, and remember our purpose, joy and community. Anything for you, Bette.
• Is there anything funnier than a perfectly placed Kazoo? (via Amy Sedaris on Instagram)
• It is possible. In 1980, a particularly conservative time in the US (when Ronald Regan was president) Barbara Smith and Audre Lorde decided to "do something about publishing." So they formed Kitchen Table Press, to publish books, zines & pamphlets by and for women of color. Their work changed publishing. And it was all printed on paper, which means no billionaire could swoop in an summarily delete everything. What can we do?
• Buy Nothing Day: Join us in the Economic Boycott Friday, Feb 28. It will probably be the first of many. It's the easiest thing to do and a reminder that we have power. (illustration by Martha Rich)
• And couldn't we all use Dolly Parton singing Purple Rain? Play on repeat until you feel it in your heart.
YES WE DID:
With your help, we hit the fundraising goal for the Radio Kazoo podcast and we've sent out all your rewards. Now we just have to finish the episodes! Stay tuned! In the meantime, we have a few Kazoo posters left in our shop.
• What We're Reading: Out in March: The Night War by #1 NYT bestseller and Kazoo #15 short story contributor Kimberly Brubaker Bradley; In and Out the Window by Nebula Award winner and Kazoo #6 short story contributor Jane Yolen; and the second Warriors graphic novel (my kids are obsessed!), illustrated by Kazoo #29 contribs Sara Goetter and Natalie Riess. Oh, and The Tiny Editor is eagerly awaiting the newest Hunger Games book Sunrise on the Reaping, out on the 18th. In April, we're looking forward to: Candle Island by Newbery Honor winner and Kazoo #36 and #25 short story contributor Lauren Wolk and For a Girl Becoming, a picture book by US Poet Laureate and Kazoo #17 expert Joy Harjo. Also: Huge shout-out to Erin Entrada Kelly for winning her second Newbery Medal! You can find original short stories by her in Kazoo #35, #24 and #16. (Yes, we love her that much!)
• What We're Watching: On the nights when The White Lotus and Yellowjackets aren't on, my wife and I are watching just the silliest stuff to take our minds off the news after the kids go to bed. There is a show on AppleTV that we call "Prime Numbers" which is not the name of it and has a ridiculous storyline and puts us right to sleep, but we keep "watching it." Basically, really low expectations of the teevee these days, but this show about a video game studio has been fun. One episode Mythic Quest (S1.E5) tells the story of a couple of video game creators over the course of their 20 year relationship, from their chance encounter in a video game store, to their success, to their selling-out. It was surprisingly touching, a little sad, and kept me thinking about what success really means in a creative life, and partnership.
• What We're Eating: This "Orange Soup" is my go-to winter weekend meal. Basically a pot of carrots, butternut squash, and a tart apple. I make it sort of like this recipe (but I skip the celery, and add milk rather than water so really it's creamy). It feels like eating energy, my kids even love it. I'd like to think Ruth and Crockett would approve.
• Thank you for being here. I am so happy I get to make this magazine for girls, and I couldn't do it without your support.
Our latest, The Strong Issue, is landing in mailboxes in fully different world than when I started writing it. But, now more than ever, our kids will need something that encourages them to keep being strong, smart, fierce, and looking for the light. So, I'm going to try to keep giving them a magazine that does just that.
I'm now turning towards Kazoo #37, which will come out in June, in time for summer. It's going to be full of fun, and adventure. We could all use more of both.
In the meantime, if you come across anything interesting, please send it my way. You can always find me at erin@kazoomagazine.com.
xo,
Erin
Kazoo magazine
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
