Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist)
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fisherdanar.bsky.social
Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist)
@fisherdanar.bsky.social

Director, Center for Environment Community, & Equity and Professor, AU | NonRes Sr Fellow, Brookings | IPCCWG3 AR6 | www.danarfisher.com | TED Talk on being an Apocalyptic Optimist : go.ted.com/danarfisher

Dana R. Fisher is an American sociologist, professor of sociology, public speaker, and author. She is the director of the Center for Environment, Community, and Equity and a professor in the School of International Service at American University. Her areas of research and expertise are activism, democracy, the climate crisis, and environmental policy. .. more

Political science 27%
Environmental science 23%
Pinned
My TED Talk on Saving Ourselves is OUT! Tune in to learn why we ALL need to be apocalyptic optimists: Prepared for the climate shocks that are coming and ready to rally as activists, disruptors, and bridge-builders to save ourselves from the climate crisis. go.ted.com/danarfisher

Happy to see my work included in 'Why "Wine Moms" Are Right-Wing Media's Newest Target" at Katie Couric Media. Let me know if you're interested in more recent data about the "Daughters of Joan Baez" and how they're doubling down in 2026 @katiecouric.bsky.social ! katiecouric.com/news/fox-new...
From Invisible to Influential: Why "Wine Moms" Are Right-Wing Media's Newest Target
How menopause, money, and a long history of erasure converged to turn midlife women into a visible — and formidable — civic force.
katiecouric.com

Thought you’d appreciate this clip @jessicacalarco.com 👇
Watch Women's March ED Rachel O'Leary Carmona talk about how women are on the frontline building an ecosystem against fascism in this teaser from The Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast. Full episode out soon!
@womensmarch.com @piqueaction.bsky.social
👀 Every Senate Democrat + Collins and Murkowski just voted for the Bernie Sanders amendment to repeal the $75 billion in additional ICE funding under Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” The measure failed 49-51.

Protest in DC today

If you want to be notified when this episode of the Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast is out, reply “PODCAST” (or DM me)
FOUR journalists were arrested. Proving again that this administration isn’t “pivoting” or “turning down the temperature.” By targeting independent journalists instead of the murderers of Pretti and Good, this is ramping up. Not winding down. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Don Lemon arrested by federal authorities after protest at Minnesota church service
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Friday post on X that Lemon was arrested alongside three others "in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota."
www.nbcnews.com

How does media consumption vary by demographic and political affiliation? Check out the results of our national survey of adults in the US from November 2025 and how media diets have shifted since March 2025 (comparing to data from @pewresearch.org).
cece.american.edu/assessing-pa...
Assessing Patterns of Changing Media Diets in the US - Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE)
CECE conducted a survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,500 adults in the US through YouGov during the two weeks leading up to the 2025 election. The survey included a question about the pu...
cece.american.edu

💯🎯💪

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

Old ladies mad 😡!

Just love the term "Daughters of Joan Baez"--why didn't I think of that?? @dlknowles.bsky.social

Watch Women's March ED Rachel O'Leary Carmona talk about how women are on the frontline building an ecosystem against fascism in this teaser from The Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast. Full episode out soon!
@womensmarch.com @piqueaction.bsky.social

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

SIS professor @fisherdanar.bsky.social is featured in a recent @economist.com article, using her data to shed light on Minneapolis activists challenging ICE.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/01/29/inside-the-movement-challenging-and-disrupting-ice
Inside the movement challenging—and disrupting—ICE
A non-violent network of activists is forming across America
www.economist.com

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

CA's Gubernatorial Candidates Focus on Affordability at Climate Forum

“If you’re not going to be bold in an EnviroVoters convo, where are you gonna be bold? It’s not enough to be singing in the shower, get out on stage.”

@kqednews.kqed.org @kqedscience.bsky.social
www.kqed.org/science/1999...
California’s Gubernatorial Candidates Focus on Affordability at Climate-Focused Forum | KQED
The candidates promised action as climate disasters mount across California, but were short on big ideas.
www.kqed.org

Alex Pretti’s Killing Has Upended the Right’s Narratives About Government Overreach talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/alex-pr...
Alex Pretti’s Killing Has Upended the Right’s Narratives About Government Overreach
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and...
talkingpointsmemo.com

👀👀
Good morning! In the 9 pm ET hour then recommencing in the 5 am ET, the president posted or reposted more than 60 times, attacking President Obama, PM Carney, Gov Newsom, Gov Walz, Rep Omar, Alex Pretti, and sharing a bunch of untethered nonsense about the 2020 election. I

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

just a reminder as we look at whether Congress increases ICE funding: Congress already sent funding SOARING last summer. this is from then: boltsmag.org/how-the-gop-...

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

From me: Chuck Schumer's legislative demands for DHS funding are so narrow they almost mirror what ICE/CBP have just announced in Minneapolis. Just as Republicans were conceding the need to negotiate, Democrats pre-negotiated themselves into mush.
prospect.org/2026/01/29/c...
Democrats Determined to Squander Advantage on DHS Funding - The American Prospect
Democrats are succeeding in getting a showdown on new rules for immigration enforcement. But will those rules amount to anything?
prospect.org

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

Good morning! In the 9 pm ET hour then recommencing in the 5 am ET, the president posted or reposted more than 60 times, attacking President Obama, PM Carney, Gov Newsom, Gov Walz, Rep Omar, Alex Pretti, and sharing a bunch of untethered nonsense about the 2020 election. I

Happy to have our data from the Free America Walkout included in this piece about the activism taking place in Minneapolis in @economist.com. It summarizes the innovative and confrontational tactics that have spread to push back agasint the federal occupation. www.economist.com/united-state...
Inside the movement challenging—and disrupting—ICE
A non-violent network of activists is forming across America
www.economist.com

😍😍😍

Yes!

It should have been right under the other skeet I respected

We have reached the cultural production period of Resistance 2.0. Bring on the protest songs!! ✊🎶

YES!

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

God, I fucking love Bruce Springsteen. "Streets of Minneapolis", just released: m.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKS...
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
m.youtube.com

Reposted by Dana R. Fisher

Took too long... but some cracks are finally starting to show. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Live Updates: 2 Federal Agents Who Shot Minneapolis Man Are Placed on Leave
www.nytimes.com

I had an amazing conversation with the heads of @womensmarch.com! Stay tuned for the whole conversation coming out SOON on the Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast! @piqueaction.bsky.social
I'm calling bullshit on the media narrative that Trump is "pivoting" and "deescalating" on his ICE raids. The threshold is this: As long as the military occupations and the treatment of US cities as enemy territory continue, there's no pivot. ICE out. 1/

(New piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2057...
Donald Trump Is Frightened
Trump wants to appear eager to minimize out-of-control clashes between government militias and protesters. But he doesn’t want to stop the things causing those clashes in the first place.
newrepublic.com

Since folks like Zachary Basu at @axios.com are starting to draw comparisons between now and summer of 2020, I'm re-upping my piece from January 8th where I asked that EXACT question: danarfisher.com/2026/01/08/w...
Will Winter 2026 Be Like Summer 2020?
On Wednesday, January 7th, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good was shot in the head by an ICE agent less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. While the details of the…
danarfisher.com