Kazoo News: January 2026

Hope from Kazoo

Hello friends,
 

I'm sitting here in Brooklyn, watching the snow gently fall, and while it looks so beautiful and peaceful outside my window, my mind is about 1,200 miles away with the people of Minneapolis, including many of our young readers and our amazing designer Sarah.  

It's hard to feel optimistic these days, when so many things are going so wrong. Every time I sit down at my laptop to work on Kazoo's spring issue, more terrible news breaks, and it feels near impossible to carry on as if everything is fine and normal. It's hard to be creative and write joyfully while my heart is constantly breaking.

I won't list all the bad new here, because I'm sure you already know it all. And I realize I'm ignoring huge swaths of history when I say this, but I still find myself in a state of disbelief that people can be so bad. I've always told my kids that most people are good, and I still do believe that. And so to reassure myself of this (and maybe you too), I've spent some time this morning looking for hope.  

Let's start with a poem from Andrea Gibson: 

"Acceptance Speech After Setting the World Record in Goosebumps"

•  Make a Joyful Noise: Clergy members braved the freezing cold in Minneapolis to rally against the ICE campaign of terror. Here is they are, all singing together, just before they are arrested.

• Sleigh!!!: Minneapolis had their annual Powderhorn Art Sled Rally. A community organized event that this time featured de-Icer sleds and bowling pins named for world leaders. A very Minnesotan way to protest ICE!

•  No Kings! A group of ten local residents climbed 800 meters above the city and lit 450 torches to form the message: "No Kings." This is how Davos welcomed Trump.

• Run for ... Dinner!: Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, made a 2025 New Year’s resolution to host a dinner every weekend. She reports that it was the most political thing she's done: "To get to know your neighbors and build deeper amore meaningful relationships is what enables us to not just survive this era but possibly even thrive in and after it." Inspired and warmed by all this love. (And it comes with peach tart!)

• Listen up. I swear this new gilded age is making me rethink everything. (At least in the old gilded age, they were building railroads. What are they even building now?) Listen to Carsie Blanton singing about "Rich People"  in honey-soaked outrage and you'll want to join the revolution, too. Another song of hers I love: "I believe in the future, cuz the future is you and me."  (Hat tip to Tressie McMillan Cottom, who shared on Bluesky.)

Thank you for Being a Friend: Speaking of finding community, it looked like a fun Hot Moms Night: Golden Girls Edition at Booked in Evanston, IL. The event, billed as "a totally safe space for moms to take a moment for themselves" with friend-and-frequent-Kazoo-contributor Lucy Knisley drawing portraits, had the added promise of supporting an indie bookshop. (Their slogan: "Keep your money in your community and not in the pockets of bajillionaires!") Seems like a very worthy cause that should go national! Plus it looked like such FUN!

• We Got This: This incredible woman from Edina, MN—wearing two winter hats because it's so cold—gave the pep talk I needed this morning. She tells the story of what brought her out and how she helped another woman who was having a panic attack. "I walked up and gave her a huge hug and said to her 'We got this.' This is when we show our resolve, because we're better than this." If you need a pep talk too, this one's worth a listen.

• How do we help? Becca Good, released a beautiful statement after her wife, Renee Good, was shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis. As a parent, this is the part that got to me: "I am now left to raise our son and continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him. That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way."

• What We're Watching: We finally subscribed to Brit Box so we get to watch ALL the mysteries set in the lush countryside. We're quickly working our way through everything Olivia Coleman has ever starred in. Plus, the excellent Riot Women is such fun. Highly recommend!

• What We're Reading: I'm still making my way through this NYT list of The 100 Best Books of the Century. I'm currently enjoying Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It's a great book and it's even giving me insight into my video game-obsessed teen.  I also just subscribed to Aaron Rupar's substack: Public Notice. I have followed him online for years because he collects the best, most news-worthy clips. He lives in Minneapolis and his insight of the situation on the ground there so valuable. Highly recommend supporting his work.

•  What We're Eating: I've already told you about our go-to Friday night dinner, The "Mademoiselle," which is basically a baguette, cheese, salami, veggies, fruit, maybe a cornichon, if we're being fancy, all served with a french accent. Now, we use the leftover baguette to make our Saturday breakfast: this super eggy French Toast casserole. We serve it with a heap of fruit, not syrup, because it's already plenty sweet. You have my permission to also make this for "Breakfast Dinner," another fav around here. Your kids will love it.

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