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Elizabeth, 38, has been thinking about only one thing since last spring: moving her family to Portugal. But, neither she nor her husband, who she says is onboard with the idea, have ever been to Portugal, nor do they speak the language or know a single soul there. Yet, the two TV writers in L.A. have soured on the competitive nature and long hours of their unpredictable freelance jobs and have begun to imagine, as she puts it, “what else our lives could be.” Plus, their two-year-old daughter has barely seen another child this year; just one reason it seems like high time to look for a lifeline.

While Elizabeth had thought about moving abroad ever since the pandemic started, her interest in moving to Portugal, specifically, began when a friend bought a place in the city of Porto and raved about the wonderful food, climate, and cost of living. Elizabeth soon learned that the visa-application process is relatively straightforward for Portugal, and after five years of living there part-time, you could apply to become an EU citizen. She was sold, and began researching the possibility in-depth; at first, she spent about three hours a day on this activity, although now it’s more like an hour.

“I am DEEP on every real estate site,” Elizabeth told Refinery29. “I have researched all the regions. I know the visa options. Would you like to know the exact limits to remodeling an apartment in Lisbon? Would you like to know which regions qualify for a Golden Visa? Are you curious about affordable pod homes you can put on ancient vineyards?! I have spent hours doing this research.”

Will Elizabeth and her family ever actually relocate to Portugal? Truth be told, she says, she is not 100% sure, but if it does happen it won’t be for another several years. She has, however, also begun to make concrete steps toward making the dream a reality, starting a grad program in marriage and family therapy, both because the new career could let her work remotely from anywhere and so that she is able to leave L.A. and the TV-writing world.

Elizabeth is one of many people who has developed a pandemic “hobby” that is at once extremely engrossing, all-consumingly detail-oriented, and involves planning for an eventual post-pandemic future. For many, it can’t exactly be called “planning,” though — it’s more like “optimistically mapping out” or even just “active daydreaming,” considering the uncertainty that the future will pan out exactly the way they want it to. I’ve talked to dozens of people who fit into this pattern: They put together in-depth travel guides to places they may not be able to visit for a long time, they spend hours picking out outfits (without actually buying them) for far-off special occasions, they make elaborate dream-house Pinterest boards even as they rent for the foreseeable future. I, too, frequently engage in similar activities: My honeymoon was supposed to be in April 2020, and everything was planned out. Now it’s, let’s just say, a lot more planned out. This type of behavior can best be described as “pandemic window-shopping” — it’s somewhat like real window-shopping except we’re all on our phones or computers 24/7 and retail is dead, so we use Pinterest, save things to Instagram, and build spreadsheets. 

It’s logical that so many of us are engaging in these activities, experts say. “The pandemic has obviously been really traumatic and era-defining,” Vinita Mehta, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Washington, D.C., told Refinery29. “I think that one way to understand it and cope with the trauma is by staying future-oriented. Very often, when people are going through something extremely difficult or distressing, they handle it by focusing on the future. All of these activities, it all sounds to me like ways to think about what one’s future could look like.” 

On top of that, future-oriented activities that employ our imagination can actually be good for us and boost our mental health. Given that we’re in a national mental health crisis, this is no small thing. “This fantasy-like behavior can be quite therapeutic and serve a variety of adaptive and satisfying functions,” Dana Dorfman, PhD, a psychotherapist in New York City, told Refinery29. “One of the many purposes that fantasies and daydreaming can serve is they simulate emotional experiences that we yearn for. In the exercise of ‘imagining,’ we can glean some of the satisfaction of the actual experience.” 

“One of the many purposes that fantasies and daydreaming can serve is they simulate emotional experiences that we yearn for. In the exercise of ‘imagining,’ we can glean some of the satisfaction of the actual experience.”

Dr. dana dorfman, psychotherapist

This is the case for Natalie Held, 21, in Connecticut, who has been meticulously curating Pinterest boards with names like “pink Harry Styles aesthetic” where she pins inspiration for her future life in London and interior design for a future apartment. The London board helps her look forward to hopefully living there with one of her best friends next spring, “if all goes well.” It’s full of places they want to visit together, cute cafés, and pastel-pink doors. 

“This all drastically improves my mental health,” Held told Refinery29. “It not only gives me things and places to look forward to, but goals that I can work towards. My friend and I frequently send each other posts from Instagram and TikTok with inspiration for our future flat and fun adventures we can go on. If I didn’t have these little pockets of reprieve, I know I’d be in a lot worse shape.”

A lot of people I’ve talked to echoed Held in saying that their pandemic window-shopping helps them feel better day-to-day and gives them something to look forward to. Martine Elyse Philippe, a dance educator in Atlanta, says she has online shopping carts full of outfits on several sites with no intention of buying (at least not most of them) thanks to her pandemic-impacted budget. “I have outfits planned for future trips and vacations, weddings, baby and bridal showers, in-person work, concerts, birthday parties, happy hour with my girlfriends, and more,” she explained. “Thinking about and shopping for future events brings me a sense of hopeful anticipation.” Meagan Fredette, 35, a writer in Brooklyn, has a “secret Pinterest board for clothes/etc. to buy when the stimmy arrives.” (That would be the long-awaited $1,400 COVID-19 relief stimulus checks from the government.) Meghan*, 36, in Boston, has spent the pandemic planning a trip to Japan in such depth that she says she could write her own travel guide. Her wedding and honeymoon had both been planned for April 2020 and had to be postponed more than once since. “It’s self-soothing for sure,” she said. “Creating these spreadsheets makes the planner part of me feel better since everything has gone to shit. It’s more elaborate than previous trips to start because it’s for our honeymoon and I wanted it to be perfectly done. It started out as wedding-planning levels of detail, but has morphed into something more intense as I’ve built up more and more vacation time and credit card points.” 

Dr. Dorfman says this type of detailed planning can also be beneficial because it can help mitigate “impulse-buying” and the subsequent regret that comes with it. It can also help to take the feelings of inertia, ineffectiveness, and lack of productivity some are experiencing during the pandemic and sublimate them into forward-thinking tasks. For Julie Bogen, 29, an editor in Bethesda, MD, this means checking three different real estate apps multiple times a day, in hopes of finding the right house to buy with her husband — even while they theoretically have another year to do so until their apartment lease runs out. “I’m rolling over in the middle of the night and checking my phone to see if things have come on the market,” she told Refinery29. “It’s been a way to channel all of this pent-up energy that I would otherwise be putting towards things like researching restaurants to go to, or planning vacations.” 

Others don’t have such realistic plans of turning their window-shopping activities into reality. Suzanne Frush, 28, a product manager in Astoria, Queens, has been hard at work on something she calls “Zillow HGTV.” This involves finding fixer-uppers to “buy” on Zillow in upstate New York cities like Albany and Poughkeepsie that are far more affordable than New York City and have plenty of beautiful old houses, and planning out exactly what renovation projects she would do — complete with fake-but-plausible contractor estimates — using Pinterest for inspiration and Excel spreadsheets for budget planning. Frush lives in a rental apartment and doesn’t have enough saved for a down payment, but she says the activity has helped her use her dormant planning skills. “I’m an extroverted planner, and not being able to plan anything — travel, seeing people, work — has been really hard for me,” she said. 

And then, there are others who are procrastinating on acting on their window-shopping plans because, well, we’re in a pandemic. Sansa*, 25, in Washington, D.C., moved into her own studio apartment in May 2020 and has been researching potential couches to buy ever since. She keeps a spreadsheet of her options, complete with a list of pros and cons based on reviews from Reddit and real life. “But I have yet to buy a couch,” she said. “Because no one is coming over.” She added, “It’s fun to think about my mom visiting me and my friends coming over.” For now, however, her bed seems like enough — and, she reasons, why spend money on a couch if she’s moving away to go to law school in a couple of years anyway?

Dr. Mehta says that pandemic window-shopping reminds her of how children play and use their imaginations. “You will see this a lot when you’re doing play therapy with children,” she explained. “They will express what the things are that are making them anxious. And then, they’ll play out the things they want and the things they’re thinking about in their lives. It occurred to me that what adults are doing when they ‘window-shop’ is the same as how kids try to get a handle on their anxiety.” It’s possible to imagine that because our everyday activities have become so restricted, we have reverted to our inner child and gone back to the sandcastle. 

While most people window-shop in a way that is therapeutic for them, Dr. Dorfman notes that repetitively engaging in these types of activities could become unhealthy if it becomes a substitute for relationships or work and family obligations. (There are exceptions, though, like with Held, who shares her London dreams with her friend.) “If you’re consistently unable to tolerate or manage certain feelings and use these activities as the sole expression or as a way to avoid feeling negative feelings, the activity may be unhealthy or problematic,” Dr. Dorfman advised, particularly if it interferes with daily functioning like eating and sleeping. 

Dr. Mehta says that while it’s normal to attempt to cope with the all-encompassing trauma of the pandemic by focusing on your future, if you find yourself becoming “so future-oriented that you’re having a hard time focusing on the present,” it might be time to take a step back. Mary K. Alvord, PhD, a psychologist in Maryland and co-author of Conquer Negative Thinking for Teens, agrees and adds that overdoing the window-shopping could also interfere with our social lives, which have already been greatly affected during this period. “You want balance,” Dr. Alvord said. “So you can do that maybe for a few hours, but you need to get out and ideally have a variety of topics to talk to people about. You need to have contact with others.”  

Adequate and satisfying human contact is something that has been sorely missing from many of our lives, and something many people brought up during our conversations. Because while the often solitary nature of pandemic window-shopping can be soothing and therapeutic, as well as help us envision and be optimistic about our futures, it doesn’t replace an experience that is also key to our happiness: engaging and doing activities with other people. For Sansa, hanging out with family and friends was the drive for planning to buy a couch — and the inability to safely invite them over was a main reason for not buying one. A happy update occurred, however, as I was wrapping up this story: “My friends’ parents are giving away a couch, so I’m picking it up tomorrow,” she said. Here’s hoping she’ll be able to invite someone over very soon.

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The “baby boom” predicted at the beginning of the pandemic is now widely acknowledged to have been a baby bust. Though there was an assumption that people would take the opportunity to procreate while stuck at home, instead states have reported large declines in birth rates for December 2020, nine months after lockdowns began in March. 

This shouldn’t come as such a shock. As long ago as June 2020, the Brookings Institution predicted that there would be up to half a million fewer babies born in 2021 than in 2019 (3.3 vs. 3.8 million) due to the economic recession resulting from the pandemic. (They recently announced they believe that prediction is still on track.) They based this expectation on fertility trends during past cataclysmic events like the 1918 Spanish Flu and the 2008 recession; after the latter, the birth rate decreased by 9%. This would make 2021’s birth rate an all-time historic low.

This isn’t exactly surprising to economists, who say that financial stability plays a huge role in the desire to have kids. Meanwhile, higher unemployment, like the historic job losses we have seen in the past year, particularly among women; high-mortality events such as the pandemic; and the stress resulting from both, are all associated with lower birth rates. 

The “unromantic” part of fertility is that it’s always primarily been driven by economics, says Dr. Hannes Schwandt, an economics professor at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, who researches the connections between economics and fertility. What appears to be new during COVID, however, is that among wealthier and more financially stable people, fertility actually seems to have shot up. There is no firm data for this yet, and Schwandt said there isn’t likely to be for a while. But a survey conducted by the Guttmacher Institute in spring of 2020 shows that at least some people saw the pandemic as an optimal time to get pregnant. While one-third of surveyed women wanted to delay pregnancy or have fewer children because of the pandemic, with Black, Latina, and lower-income women more likely to say they want to do so, 17% said they wanted to have a child sooner or have more children.

“For some people, like those with the ability to work from home and who have reduced work travel, this may be an easier time to have a child,” study author and Guttmacher Institute Principal Research Scientist Laura Lindberg, PhD, told Refinery29. “Additionally, some families are increasing their savings — those with steady paychecks and less opportunities to spend their income on things like travel or dining out. This may also make those families feel more secure having children during the pandemic.”

Anecdotally, I’ve noticed quite a lot to support this phenomenon. I’m a white woman in my mid-30s who is financially stable — I am one of the people Lindberg has described as increasing their savings, though I wouldn’t classify myself as wealthy — and able to work from home, and I’m pregnant. I’ve also seen a deluge of pregnancy and baby posts among my friends on social media for months now, which makes sense based on all my demographic info. I had to ask Schwandt why that may be.  

“It could well be that this is the first time in a recession where some groups have increasing fertility,” Schwandt said. “This is something that is ahead of research, even though it’s almost certainly true, and it’s something very special about this recession and pandemic.” Unlike millions of others, this group hasn’t lost their jobs and still enjoy higher salaries. Many of them are able to work from home in their pajamas and take midday naps when they’re tired — no trudging through long commutes while pregnant. These workers are also more likely to have access to benefits such as parental leave through their companies. The wealthiest among them are able to pay for nannies, private tutors, and homeschooling, taking the childcare responsibilities off their plates during work hours — a constant burden on many working mothers during this era. And some have enough financial support not to work at all if they so wish, without worrying about dwindling savings or losing out on wages. Schwandt said that though scientists haven’t analyzed data about this group yet, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if his colleagues took it up in the near future.

It could well be that this is the first time in a recession where some groups have increasing fertility. This is something that is ahead of research, and it’s something very special about this recession and pandemic.

Dr. Hannes Schwandt, economist

“Being pregnant during the pandemic, I felt, was the perfect time,” Jocelyn Nemett, 34, in Centre Wellington, Ontario, told Refinery29. She is almost 38 weeks along, has two small children, and works part-time as a nurse in a family physician’s office, where she has proper PPE and isn’t exposed to actively sick patients. Plus, “because pregnancy can be so exhausting at times, I haven’t felt as though I have been missing out on much since there just isn’t much going on,” she says. “If we had waited for the pandemic to be over to become pregnant with our third baby, the timeline I had always hoped for would be severely delayed.” 

There are certainly upsides for pregnant people who are able to work part-time, like Nemett, or even from home, as well as for parents who can afford childcare. But in the long term, Schwandt said, this inequity could contribute to already-existing structural inequality and systemic racism, both of which the pandemic has already exacerbated. “Babies in a ‘normal’ recession become [on average] whiter, unfortunately, because economic disadvantage is strongly tied to race in the U.S.,” said Schwandt. “These distorting impacts are probably even more dramatic this time around.” Plus, unlike in a typical recession, we’re seeing a stronger imbalance of who is affected across industries because of the logistical differences between work-from-home jobs and jobs that require people to be physically on-site, like those in the service industry.

But the reproductive choices of many of those who do work from home have been affected by the economic downturn, too — in part because there is a stigma at some companies against remote workers, despite the fact that staying home is safer during the pandemic. Jen*, 35, told Refinery29 she was laid off shortly after the pandemic started and she began working remotely. 

At that time, Jen and her husband were set on having a third child — they currently have two small children — but now, she said this prospect is looking more and more impossible. Jen has been unemployed for 10 months, feeling increasingly hopeless with each job interview that doesn’t go anywhere. Money is already tight in her family, so unless she gets another job soon, having a third child will take a huge financial toll. She’s had to cut a lot of corners. “For my kids’ birthdays now, we don’t do gifts — everybody just gets one little trinket from the front of Target, that’s like $3 or whatever,” and long-wished-for home-renovation projects are on hold, she said. She describes often feeling frustrated by the uncertainty of the experience. “It doesn’t really feel like my choice that this delay is happening, it feels forced on me and that’s frustrating.”

For some women who got pregnant before the pandemic and have given birth during it, staying home has proved to be a big advantage. 

Anita Patel, MD, 38, a pediatric critical care doctor and professor in the D.C. area, had her daughter Sita after IVF treatments in April 2020. While she experienced many difficulties — a last-minute emergency C-section, postpartum anxiety and depression — she says she feels lucky because she both gets to work from home and has a part-time nanny.

“One of the huge silver linings of the pandemic has been that when I’m not seeing patients in the hospital, I get to work from home,” Dr. Patel told Refinery29. “I do a lot of research, and I ended up writing a whole grant three months postpartum. My husband has been working from home the whole pandemic, too. We have both had steady jobs, and while we’ve had some loss of income, it hasn’t been as significant as what many others have experienced. We’ve also been privileged to have a part-time nanny to help out, and my parents [who live in the area] help out as well. So we have someone to help with childcare five days a week, so we can effectively work from home, but we also get to take our lunch break and play with Sita. I also truly don’t know if I would have been able to continue breastfeeding her if I had to be at work every day, because pumping is just a pain in the butt. The fact that I get to directly breastfeed her during the day has been just such an incredible, incredible gift.”

Hannah Morrison, 28, a lifestyle blogger from a suburb of Dallas who lives with her husband and two children, gave birth to her son Rory in April 2020 and says that, although she has always worked from home, the pandemic has meant she is able to spend more time at home while pregnant, and with the baby and her three-year-old son, Knox. “There have been so many silver linings, to be honest,” Morrison told Refinery29. “Being a work-from-home mom, I have always done the parent-from-home with a laptop nearby thing. However, I think the way I parent has been deeply impacted. I find myself having conversations with my three-year old I never thought I would have at such a young age, and it honestly has been really special.”

Economic privilege isn’t the only type that’s played an increasingly important role during the pandemic. Many women who want to have children but are dealing with fertility issues, have had to put fertility treatments on hold, delaying or canceling them due to clinics being closed or prohibitive costs. In this way, the crisis has exacerbated yet another inequality.

Christina Yannetsos, 37, an ER physician in Denver and the co-founder of Colorado Fertility Advocates, was diagnosed with a condition called hypothalamic amenorrhea in her 20s which contributes to infertility. In the beginning of the pandemic, Colorado stopped performing elective procedures, including IVF, which put an indefinite hold on Yannetsos — who, at the present time, has been through three unsuccessful rounds of IVF — and her husband’s goal of having a baby. At the same time, Yannetsos was facing an overcrowded emergency room, treating patients who were on ventilators and having to tell children that their parents had passed away. Layered on top of the punishing physical difficulty of fertility treatments, this was unbearably stressful. 

“[It was] intubating patients, putting them on ventilators, then coming home, disrobing in my garage, and jumping in the shower immediately hoping that I’m not going to bring something home to my husband,” Yannetsos recalled. “I remember having conversations with kids being like, ‘Your mom is really sick and we’re going to put her on a ventilator,’ and them asking me, ‘Is she going to die?’ And here I am, trying to become a mother and taking care of mothers who were being taken away from their kids. It was really tough.”

Finally, the treatments have been a struggle, too: She still has major student loans to pay off from medical school and has never had a job that provides insurance to cover fertility treatments — so she has had to diligently save in her flex-spending account and occasionally max out credit cards. 

Just as Yannetsos was about to attempt another round of IVF in November, the second wave of COVID hit and her emergency room filled up again. Soon after, Yannetsos tested positive for COVID the day before her egg transfer. “I got the result back and it was positive. I hysterically started crying. I mean, like absolutely ugly-cried because I was anticipating this so much, this hope that something good will happen. It was crushing,” she said. Yannetsos ended up recovering after two weeks of moderate illness, and subsequently getting vaccinated. She was then able to undergo her most recent round of IVF, which was unsuccessful. This spring, she plans to try again despite the setbacks.  

The “pregnancy privilege” divide is only one way in which the pandemic has made the lives of parents and pregnant people more difficult and even more unequal. Pregnancy discrimination is widespread, maternal mortality rates are some of the highest in the developed world, childcare costs are high, and the U.S. is still the richest country in the world with no mandatory paid parental leave. At the same time, women do a disproportionate amount of childcare and other unpaid domestic labor, which has contributed to why so many women have left their jobs during the pandemic. One in four women is considering either downshifting her career or leaving the workforce because of COVID-19, according to a survey by Lean In and McKinsey. 

So while there has been a lot of alarmist talk of how low birth rates are terrible for society, the real crisis is that this pandemic has further eroded our social safety net and created an even bigger economic and class divide. Why should people have more children when our government hasn’t prioritized policies that benefit parents and children for ages? As Moira Donegan recently wrote in The Guardian, “Pro-natalism arguments such as these are never entirely devoid of sentimentality about family life, and they tend to make assumptions about women’s roles and responsibilities that are grounded in regressive, sexist and simple-minded ideas.” 

Schwandt said that a lower birth rate is, indeed, not as disastrous a thing as some would suggest. “Everyone’s screaming about, ‘Oh God, fertility is going down. That’s so bad,’” he said. “No, that’s not bad. People always want to make a bad story out of everything because that is what sells, that’s what gets your headlines. In the really long run, we have to keep in mind that exponential population growth is one of the biggest dangers for the planet, in terms of the depletion of resources, extinction of species, civil conflict — all those things happen if we have continuous population explosion.”

Schwandt has a point — overpopulation is thought to be a big contributor to climate change, among other catastrophes. And yet, looking at the current baby bust in a holistic way means losing sight of the individual toll the pandemic is taking on those who just want to build their family, something which Schwandt notes is unequivocally bad. Because while I feel both relieved and fortunate to be in a position to have a baby right now, I’m also acutely aware that everyone who wants to have children should feel secure in their decision to do so — without having to worry that it will bankrupt them.

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Former White House Press Secretary. Harvard Law JD. Compulsive liar. Now, Kayleigh McEnany can add “Fox News contributor” to her Twitter bio. On Tuesday, the right-wing news network officially announced that Trump’s chief propagandist will join its ranks as an on-air commentator. 

“It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Kayleigh McEnany to the Fox family,” said host Harris Faulkner, who announced the news. “We will be seeing much more of her.”

What a perfect gig for McEnany to land, truly — and very likely her dream job, too. After graduating from Georgetown University in 2010, she spent three years as a producer on Fox News for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s show. Then, McEnany reportedly went to law school only because the network wouldn’t give her her own show. “I think one of the reasons that Kayleigh went on to law school was because she didn’t see she was going to have an on-air opportunity at Fox anytime soon,” Huckabee told The New York Times last year. She has also, of course, already appeared on Fox News multiple times, in the capacity of defending her then-boss, Donald Trump.

McEnany’s new role is a seamless transition from what she’s done in Trumpworld, which is deflect from the truth with well-placed right-wing talking points. (And call anyone who challenges her, like reporters asking questions, an “activist,” apparently.) With her former boss still looming large as a figure in the Republican Party, as evidenced by his recent speech at CPAC, it will be interesting to see just how far she will go to prop him up now that he’s no longer in the White House. As a commentator on CNN in 2015, she actually did criticize Trump during his initial presidential campaign, calling some of his comments “racist,” “hateful,” and “not the American way.” But after he won the election, she drastically changed her tune. As press secretary, she had moments that even Fox News seemed to disapprove of: The network cut away during a press conference she held in early November during which she pushed false claims of voter fraud after Trump lost the election. 

It also remains to be seen just how far she’ll buy into current Republican rhetoric, which seems to be more and more extreme with each day. As her new colleagues Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and others embrace dangerous conspiracy theories like QAnon, will she go their way? 

As much as we’d love to forget they exist, former Trumpers seem to keep joining Fox News. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, another of Trump’s former press secretaries, joined Fox News before leaving to focus on her run for Arkansas governor. Larry Kudlow, Trump’s former economic director, hosts his own show on Fox Business Network. Of course, one solution to the problem of never wanting to see these people again is just to never watch Fox News. And, well — done!

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Yesterday I was minding my business and eating a banana for an afternoon snack, when my husband walked in, immediately gave me a horrified look, and exclaimed, “Why are you eating your banana upside-down?” 

I looked at my banana. It looked very much like it was in the correct position to be eaten. I asked what he meant, wondering if this was some sort of elaborate marital troll. “You’re supposed to peel it from this side,” he said, indicating the stem, motioning that it should have been what was opened first. Meanwhile, I had peeled it from the darkened tip — what some consider the “bottom” of the banana — just like I had done my entire life, because it opens more readily and then you have the stem to hold onto, sort of like with a lollipop or popsicle. Duh. I wasn’t in the mood to be mansplained to. 

“Um, why exactly?” I argued. “The stem side is hard to peel back, and this side practically opens itself, ta-da!” 

“Look at your Chiquita sticker. It is UPSIDE-DOWN!” he countered. 

“SO WHAT? IT’S A STICKER ON A FRUIT!!” I responded, at this point feeling like my world was turning upside-down. We went back-and-forth for a while, and at one point he took a picture of my half-eaten banana, apparently so he could always remember how weirdly I peeled it.

Convinced that my husband had chosen the more laborious banana route for no good reason, I decided to query my coworkers on Slack. “How does everyone peel a banana?” I asked. “Um, there is only one way,” said my editor. Aha. My way. The majority of the team agreed that you open a banana from the “top.” I was satisfied. “Nick, you’re wrong!” I shouted. At this point, he was in a Zoom meeting and disinterested in my banana-peeling. 

“Monkeys do it from the bottom,” suggested our Money Diaries editor. 

However, a couple of dissenters admitted to doing it from the “bottom”:

“I do the bottom now,” said our health editor. “It’s easier, and you have the top to hold onto. When I open a banana from the top, the top gets squished, which I don’t like.” 

“I am a convert now and do it from the bottom,” one of our staff writers agreed. “It is easier, I endorse. Way less messy.” 

At this point, I had become unsure what anyone meant by “top” and “bottom.” And I was becoming increasingly embarrassed to be a grown adult who doesn’t understand the intricacies of banana-peeling.

“Wait, I am still confused which is the top and which is the bottom,” I gingerly typed out. I had already been judged today, I had no fear. My coworkers explained that the part that connects it to other bananas is generally considered the top part.

It finally began to click with me that what I had always thought was the top of the banana is actually the bottom to most people, and that peeling a banana from the bottom is not the usual way. After all, only a couple of others on my team of 10 did it like this, even though it is far easier to open it my way. Although, perhaps by making it about the ease of opening a banana, the real question was about the banana’s degree of ripeness, as my editor suggested? An unripe banana is harder to open, stem-side or not.

Then, things got a bit more complicated. “I’m not trying to throw the balance off, but what we call the top (the part with the sinewy bend) is actually the bottom. And the blackened part is the top. Google bananas growing on trees,” another one of my colleagues suggested.

I did. Thinking about it this way (they grow with the soft, darkened tip up) vindicated that I have always called it the “top.” But it didn’t change the fact that my mind was completely blown by what was apparently the “normal-people” way to peel a banana.

I queried the internet some more. It seemed that despite the fact that most people viewed peeling it from the stem (or “top”) the correct and accepted way, the tides had been turning. People are discovering my way! “You’ve Been Peeling Bananas Wrong Your Whole Life and It’s Time to Stop,” advised an article on Spoon University.  

“Until about a year ago, I spent my entire life peeling bananas from the stem down,” the author wrote. “Believing that this was the right way to peel a banana, I would often find myself wrestling with the dang fruit, only to end up with a half-mushed and bruised banana. After going through all that trouble, I wouldn’t even want to eat my mangled banana. Who would?” 

Yes, who would indeed! It goes against nature!

“The true, correct way to peel a banana is from the bottom up,” the writer went on. “Ignore that misleading stem and turn your banana upside-down.” 

I already do, thank you! And, I will continue to do just that, and peel bananas the way our closest banana-eating relatives, the monkeys, do. After all, they’re the experts. But this journey did make me question things just a bit. Like, how many other things do we do all day that we think are completely normal but are weird to most everyone else? And the longer that many of us remain at home, isolated, the more these habits will become ingrained, with us never having any idea that they’re considered weird to others. (What are yours? Drinking a glass of milk a day, perhaps?) 

“It’s just one of those things you don’t expect to see, especially with someone you know so well,” my husband explained, Wednesday-morning-quarterbacking our banana discussion. “You eat bananas multiple times a week. I just never observed you eating them, apparently.” And now, he can’t unsee it. Maybe it’ll even make him change his ways.

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Vice President Kamala Harris made history when she took office, but she is not the only one to do so in the new administration. Not only has President Joe Biden selected the most diverse cabinet ever — 12 out of the 25 people nominated for Cabinet or Cabinet-level positions are women, eight of those 12 are women of color — but his White House also boasts a record number of senior staffers who are women, including a history-making senior communications team led entirely by women.

Through our recent conversations with this team, we’ve learned that the White House top leadership’s priorities are quite different this time around, with issues like racial justice, climate change, loan forgiveness, and healthcare all being front-and-center. Ahead, we spoke with just a few of the young women stepping into top White House leadership positions about their goals for the future and more.

Emmy Ruiz, Director of Political Strategy and Outreach

Ruiz served as Hillary Clinton’s state director in Nevada and Colorado in 2016, and was a field director for the Democratic National Committee in Texas and Nevada in 2012 before serving as President Barack Obama’s Nevada state director during the general election. 

First of all, how are you doing amid this difficult time?

“I’m doing okay. I think every week it seems like there’s more heartbreak, and this has been going on for quite some time. I mean, thinking of Charlottesville, thinking of child separation. I’m really trying to channel that heartbreak into action, and I’m doing my best to stay focused and look at the task ahead.”

You have quite a bit of organizing experience. How do you believe that can contribute to this new role?

“I think there are a lot of similarities between my organizing work here. I mean, Joe Biden won this election with a broad coalition of people from all walks of life, all ages, all backgrounds, geographies, and demographics. I’m really excited to do my part, to make sure that they are reflected day in and day out and that they have a point of contact.”

What are you most excited about accomplishing in the new administration?

“I am most excited to reach out to that broad coalition. I’m really looking forward to ensuring that people who don’t feel like they have a voice are part of conversations. My job will also entail working with a lot of the traditional political partners: The Democratic Party and the Democratic ecosystem are broad, diverse, and complicated, and it’s one of my personal missions to make sure everyone feels included. As the mom of a three-year-old, I’m also really excited about what we are going to try to accomplish. And I think that if I do my best, at some point when he’s a little older, he’ll be really proud.”

Who is somebody else who you have admired in your career whom you would consider a mentor?

“Oh man, there are so many. On a macro scale, I really had the opportunity to learn from and be mentored by Hillary Clinton; as much as she’s a proud Democrat, she worked hard to build consensus and trust and to work with not just Democrats, but people across the aisle, and is really proud of that. And then, [deputy chief of staff] Jen O’Malley Dillon is someone that I’ve admired for a really long time, and I’m really excited to have the opportunity to work with her, to learn from her, and to really dig in and reimagine what is possible.”

Kate Berner, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications 

Berner was the Deputy Communications Director for Messaging for the Biden-Harris campaign. She also served as Director of Outreach and Deputy Director of Administration in the Office of the Vice President and as a Special Advisor at the Department of Commerce in the Obama administration.

Pili Tobar, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications 

Tobar served as the Communications Director for Coalitions on the Biden-Harris Campaign. Before that, Tobar worked as the Deputy Director for America’s Voice, where she advocated on behalf of immigrants.

While it must undoubtedly be exciting to start a new role in this new administration, it’s also an incredibly hard time for many people after the attacks on the Capitol. How are you two doing during this time?

KB: “I’ve lived in D.C. since 2011 and it’s hard to see the city that we love and is home occupied with 20,000 National Guard troops. I think it’s a real symbol of how divided our country is, but I’m also excited and hopeful and optimistic. The President’s first executive orders will reverse some of the worst offenses of the Trump administration, such as the Muslim ban, and move our country forward and act on the coronavirus crisis, the economic crisis, the racial equity crisis, the climate crisis, and so much more. So while it’s a dark time, I also feel hopeful about the work that we have ahead of us.”

PT: “Seeing the amount of law enforcement around D.C., tanks on the streets, and everything closed down is difficult; it’s not just the place we work, it’s the place we’ve lived in for many, many years. But I think there’s no better time to have someone like Joe Biden and like Kamala Harris in the White House than now.”

What are you most excited about accomplishing in the new administration?

KB: “I think we’ve seen in the COVID crisis why government matters, why policy matters. And I think we have a huge opportunity to move the ball forward to contain the crisis, to deliver relief to families. It’s exciting to have a role to play in putting policies in place that are going to help people — like my fiance’s mother, who’s a nurse in a hospital working throughout this crisis — it’s just a really meaningful and moving thing to be a part of.”

PT: “I have a four-year-old daughter, and I’m looking forward to telling her, this is what actual leadership looks like. This is what a real president looks like. This is what the first female vice president and the first Black woman and the daughter of immigrants looks like. Also, having a better sense of what normal life is like under a president who has the best interest of the American people at the forefront — that’s something that she’s never seen while she’s been alive. I’m also looking forward to the different policy changes that are coming. I’m looking forward to an immigration bill, in particular, having worked so much in immigration. I’m looking forward to getting back to normal. I think the day my daughter is able to go back to school. I might throw myself a party — even if it’s a party of two, my wife and I. I’m looking forward to not having to worry, Is she going to be sick? Do I hire a nanny?”

Since you’ve worked with President Biden before, what have been some of your favorite experiences and what are some things you’ve learned?

KB: “I have learned so much from him over the last few years, the way he looks at politics, the way he looks at policy, and his unrelenting focus on the individual. He has this test: If you’re walking him through talking points or a policy idea, he says, ‘Call your brother. And if he understands what you just said, then I will do it that way. And if he doesn’t, then we’re rewriting it.’ He wants to make sure that everything is accessible and understandable to the American public from a communication standpoint, so I’ve learned so much from that. I’ve also learned from the way he approaches life, that you’re not too good for anyone. Everyone is worth your time.”

PT: “I have worked with him less in-person than Kate has, but one of the things I love the most is the stories he’ll tell, talking about the sayings his dad would say. When I look at my upbringing in Guatemala, we use a lot of sayings. Some of these phrases come from his father and that’s  something I value so much. One of the most important people in my life was my father.”

Do you have a favorite saying of Biden’s?

PT: “I think one that in particular resonates very much right now is where he tells the story about his father telling him that you’re going to get knocked down several times, but what’s important is that you get back up. That couldn’t resonate more at this moment for certain people across the country and everything that we’re going through.”

What is the toughest part of a communications position?

KB: “You never know what’s going to happen on any given day. Any crisis can happen that we have to respond to. But I love a good plan. Remaining flexible and adaptable for whatever is going to happen is the part that I find the most challenging.”

PT: “For me, the most difficult thing is the fact that you’re always on. That’s something that I struggle with. It’s a blessing and a curse. We can’t afford to miss things. It’s also hard in terms of family life. Last week it was my daughter’s birthday, and I had one headphone in one ear while I was trying to play soccer with her outside.”

KB: “You know, we are hoping the pace will be a little more normal in our administration. At the very least, reporters won’t have to wake up in the middle of the night and wonder what Joe Biden tweeted.”

PT: “We’ll definitely keep you busy. But we promise not to have things be a dumpster fire and the way that they have been all over the place in the past four years.” 

KB: “That’s our goal. We’ll keep you busy, but not at 2 a.m.”

Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations

Williams served as Trip Director on the Biden-Harris Transition and as Trip Director to the president-elect on the Biden-Harris Campaign, and is the first Black woman to hold this role for a successful presidential candidate. Before that, she worked as an advisor for global women’s issues at the State Department. Williams also served as Senior Assistant to Dr. Jill Biden in the Obama administration. 

How are you doing amid this difficult time?

“For me personally, I try to just stay grounded with my family and friends. I also work for two people who truly believe that when Americans come together they can do anything and the possibilities are endless. So I remain optimistic and really hopeful.”

You worked closely with Dr. Biden during the Obama administration. What are your favorite past experiences when it comes to working with her?

“I love Dr. Biden. She is simply the best. I was given the privilege to talk about her in her convention video for the DNC back in August, and I said that essentially we would be getting one of the best humans we have if she were to become first lady, and I truly, from the bottom of my heart, believe that, and I’m so excited that the rest of the country and the world will get to see her magic. One of the things that I admire about her is her passion and her commitment to issues that she holds dear to her heart. The biggest takeaway from my time working with her when she was second lady, when I was just starting my career, was her passion and how she never took any day or opportunity for granted. And I know that’s what she’ll do as first lady.”

Who is somebody else who you have admired in your career whom you would consider a mentor?

“Deesha Dyer, who was one of the social secretaries under the Obama administration, who launched a number of initiatives, including a scholarship called Black Girl 44, to provide scholarships for young Black women who are interested in public policy and government. She also recently started an organization called Impact of a Vote, which exposes African-American college students to non-traditional careers and pathways in politics and public service, driven out of a need to provide exposure to these opportunities during the pandemic. I believe investing in mentorship is so critical, and I’ve been invested in by so many people. I believe you should pay it forward, and that’s what I’ve been committed to doing. And I’ve been incredibly blessed and fortunate, I cannot emphasize that enough.”

What are you most excited about accomplishing in the new administration?

“I am an optimist, and the president is an optimist as well. He will oftentimes say that he is a forever optimist. And so I am just really excited about this moment in history. We are at such a pivotal moment and there’s so much opportunity to create so much change. The president ran on uniting this country, in addition to rebuilding the middle class and restoring the soul of this nation. And so I’m excited for that, and I believe profoundly in what he has envisioned for this country.”

Joelle Gamble, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy

Gamble served on the Biden-Harris Transition’s domestic economic policy team. Prior to that, she was Senior Advisor to the President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute and National Director of the Roosevelt Institute’s network for emerging leaders in public policy. 

How are you doing amid this difficult time?

“I’m of two minds right now. I’m both really optimistic about where the country can go and also, like many people, saddened and worried by where we are right now.”

How do you believe your past experience will contribute to what you do at the White House? 

“As a millennial in the United States, my life has been defined by crises; deep economic crises, climate change, the continual fight for racial justice, have just been constant in my life as a Black woman. And so for me, the need for change has been the default setting, and it’s exciting to be a part of an administration committed to making sure that that change is going in the right direction. Career-wise, I’ve spent my career both in youth organizing and think tanks, which are both things that have prepared me for this new job I’m about to take on.” 

Who is somebody who you have admired in your career who has helped shape your worldview?

“My mom has been an inspiration my whole life. As a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and then a preschool teacher, she is committed to public service. On the career side, my first boss out of college, Felicia Wong, who was the VP of the Roosevelt Institute, has been a huge, positive influence on my career and shaped how I think about the economy. Thinking about issues of inequality, the racial wealth gap, the importance of market power, the importance of protecting working people, these are all things that I learned under her guidance, and she really helped me develop a passion for economic policy.”

What are you most excited about accomplishing in the new administration?

“Tackling the economic crisis. The president is committed to bold action, including $2,000 payments and increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour. But one of the biggest challenges, we know right now, is that we are in a K-shaped recovery, which is contributing to inequality. Too many women have dropped out of the labor force, and many people of color are working in sectors that are perennially undervalued. The president is also committed to making sure care workers are paid equitably and have rights in the workplace. I think that it’s really important as we think about the economic recovery that we’re investing in building a clean-energy future and a more equitable future.”

Rosemary Boeglin, Assistant Press Secretary 

Boeglin served as a spokesperson for the Biden-Harris Transition and the Biden-Harris Campaign. She previously served as the Northeast Press Secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, and as a Deputy Press Secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

How are you doing amid this difficult time?

“I talk to my family and friends often, as often as I can, and I spend most of my days talking to my work family and they’re incredible. So there’s definitely a community and a camaraderie, and I think all of us are focused on the work ahead and what we need to be able to accomplish in the coming weeks and months and years.”

How do you believe your past experience will contribute to what you do at the White House? 

“The Bernie campaign was an incredible experience, and the president and Sanders have a really strong relationship. I think it’s been great that they’ve wanted to bring folks from across the Democratic Party into the fold on this team. But I’d say one aspect of my experience that’s helped me get ready for the White House is that I previously worked in New York City Hall and in the Mayor’s Office. The New York City press corps is notorious for being very persistent, I will say. It’s a large and dedicated press corps, and they’re awesome. Cutting my teeth with the amazing reporters in New York City will certainly help when working with a large and dedicated White House press corps.”

Who is somebody who you have admired in your career who has helped shape your worldview?

“One person who comes to mind who deserves a special shoutout is Karen Hinton [former press secretary for Mayor Bill de Blasio]. When she was my boss, when I first became a ‘real flack,’ she taught me that spokespeople don’t hide behind their computers, and they can’t be afraid to speak with reporters. They have to get out there and talk to them, build relationships, work their own angles. She also just believed in me early on, and I will always be grateful for her for the time she covered for me and totally saved my ass when I was in my early twenties and I overslept my alarm clock and was late to my own event on Staten Island. To this day, I don’t think she’s ever told Mayor de Blasio. And I hope he doesn’t read this!”

Are there any policies the president has laid out that you’re particularly excited about or connect with personally? 

“So before I came back to campaign work, I’d taken a little bit of time off to pursue a master’s degree, and that was focused on how to view public policy through the lens of intersectional equity and how to ensure that the way that policy is designed and implemented is thoughtful to rectifying questions of intersectional inequality. The president’s caregiving plan is a really perfect example of that. It’s just been incredible to see how questions of equity are integrated into every single aspect of the agenda, and that this is not a lens that’s added in after the fact, but integrated into the design of all of these policies.”

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Just two weeks after a terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol, watching the pomp and circumstance of the inauguration of 46th President Joseph R. Biden felt remarkably, maybe eerily, normal. But in truth, the day was anything but. As Biden’s motorcade made its way to the Capitol, the closed-off streets were lined with thousands of rifle-wielding National Guard troops, and the military band played to a limited audience of VIPs rather than the usual crowd of thousands. Plenty of extra security measures were taken in light of reports warning of potential new attacks, although things were thankfully relatively quiet in D.C. on Wednesday. And, of course, COVID put a damper on the usual celebrations: There will be no Inaugural Balls, and tonight’s concert will be virtual. Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. and Laura Bush, and others, walked into the ceremony wearing masks and social-distancing, rather than with the usual hugs and handshakes.

Despite the scaled-back inaugural events and a nation shaken by the recent insurrection, it is remarkable how much has already changed for the better since Trump departed for Mar-A-Lago, without so much as an acknowledgement of the new President. The changes represent a dramatic departure from the violence, bleakness, and selfish crassness of the Trump administration. And while there are countless demons to battle, the day has given us — dare we say? — hope.

Not wasting any time, Biden is set to sign a historic 17 executive actions later today, which will be major reversals from Trump’s policies. Tackling COVID-19 is a major priority: Biden plans to create the position of COVID-19 Response Coordinator, who will report directly to the President. He also plans to launch a “100 Days Masking Challenge,” asking Americans to mask up for 100 days and leading by example in the federal government. And, he will issue an order requiring masks and physical distancing in all federal buildings and by federal employees — quite the change from Trump’s COVID petri dish of a White House. Biden will also make sure the U.S. rejoins the World Health Organization, and will be sending Dr. Anthony Fauci as the head of delegation to its executive board meeting.

On COVID relief, Biden plans to extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums. He also plans to ask the Department of Education to consider immediately extending the pause on interest and principal payments for federal student loans.

On climate change, the President intends to rejoin the Paris Agreement and roll back many of Trump’s anti-environmental actions.

Additionally, today Biden will launch a whole-government initiative to advance racial equity, preserve protections for Dreamers, reverse the unconstitutional Muslim ban, revoke Trump’s order that directed harsh and extreme immigration enforcement, stop border wall construction, and more. On top of that, he is ordering every appointee in the executive branch to sign an ethics pledge — a much-needed reversal of Trump’s corruption.

It is worth noting, too, that with the inauguration and all of the festivities of the days before, this administration has already set a wholly different tone from the last one — a humble, reverent one that appropriately addresses our solemn historic moment rather than a bombastic, self-serving one. There was no gloating, and certainly nothing like the ostentatious display at the Republican National Convention with fireworks and an opera singer. Instead, on Monday, the Presidential Inaugural Committee organized thousands of volunteers across the country in a National Day of Service celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff filled bags with groceries at Martha’s Table, a food bank in D.C.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee also held a nationwide COVID-19 memorial to honor the nearly 400,000 lives lost to the pandemic, which included illuminating 400 lights around the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Hundreds of cities and landmarks around the country joined in a national moment of unity on Tuesday evening, with buildings like the Empire State Building and Seattle’s Space Needle’s lighting up to honor the deceased. It was, remarkably, the first nationwide event of its kind to mourn those who have died of COVID-19, a moving and needed moment.

It is impossible, also, to overlook the major firsts set forth by this administration, which were on display today. For one, the historic moment when Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to ever serve on the Supreme Court, swore in Vice President Kamala Harris — the first woman, first African-American, and first South Asian in her position — on a pair of Bibles including first Black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall’s. 

Then there was the speech from Amanda Gorman, who, at 22, is the youngest inaugural poet laureate ever. She encapsulated the experience beautifully, saying: “There is always light if we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it… Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.”

Biden himself was appropriately somber, but also forward-looking in his inaugural address. “Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause: the cause of democracy,” he said. “The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded. We have learned that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile, and in this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.” 

He also directly addressed the violence at the Capitol, referring to, “The rise of political extremism, domestic terrorism, and white supremacy that we must confront and defeat.” His address sent a unifying message, asking for Americans to “open our souls” and stand in each other’s shoes, making Trump’s apocalyptic address four years ago seem like a bad dream.

Biden, who took his oath of office on a Bible that’s been in his family since the 1890s, quoted scripture in his speech’s conclusion, saying: “Joy cometh in the morning.” We can only hope he’s right.

Thank you all for joining us tonight for a moment of unity as we remembered those we lost to COVID-19. #COVIDMemorial pic.twitter.com/L0MrWNflGA

— Biden Inaugural Committee (@BidenInaugural) January 20, 2021

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As Donald Trump’s presidency sputters to its much-anticipated conclusion, few people doubt that he’ll be remembered as not only the worst president in U.S. history — not least because he brought the country’s most destructive tendencies to the forefront and encouraged the most violent impulses of its right-wing extremist factions.

It is difficult to perform an autopsy on Trump’s presidency without first mentioning the way in which he failed at performing the most basic duties of a U.S. president: to “preserve, protect, and defend” the U.S. Constitution and to protect the American people from harm. During his single term in office, he failed at this task in myriad ways, including by using his position for personal profit, encouraging foreign powers to dig up dirt on his opponents, and letting a deadly virus run rampant across the United States and his own White House. He behaved, and is still behaving, in ways that are so extremely cruel that many of us have had to develop coping mechanisms to numb ourselves to the very reality that this is the leader of our nation. His corruption surpasses that of Richard Nixon, and his enabling of white supremacists can only be compared to that of Andrew Johnson. No wonder he was impeached more times than both of them, combined.

Even as it’s clear that the violent coup on the U.S. Capitol that Trump incited on January 6 was a miserable failure when it came to accomplishing the task at hand — to stop Joe Biden from becoming president — it still was successful at endangering members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence, and is responsible for the deaths of a police officer and several of Trump’s own supporters. Of course, Trump doesn’t care. His goal has always seemed to be causing chaos and advancing the fortunes of himself and his family, and so it’s no surprise that he is refusing to make anything like a concession or any of the regularly scheduled overtures to the President-elect and his administration. Instead, he’s basically departing the White House with his middle finger up and an ominous promise to never really leave the national stage; political science and history experts warn of a coming rise in domestic terrorism from his supporters, and a continued fall in confidence in democratic institutions among the American population. Sadly, that is far from Trump’s only legacy.

Back when he first ran and even his candidacy, let alone a win, seemed implausible, Trump’s campaign was defined by two violent, xenophobic moments, showing that his supporters always knew who he was and either enabled his white supremacy actively or by ignoring it. The first was perpetuating the racist birther theory that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and not the U.S., which was gleefully perpetuated by the worst of right-wing fringes. The second was when he called Mexican immigrants “drug dealers, criminals, rapists” in his campaign launch speech, encouraging already-existent xenophobia among his followers and setting a tone for his administration’s ruthless immigration policy: The first 100 days of his presidency saw a prolonged court battle over the clearly unconstitutional Muslim travel ban, which generated mass protests against it in major airports. Then followed the separation of over 6,000 migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, the escalation of an already increasingly aggressive ICE deportation system, and stories of forced hysterectomies performed on migrant women.

All throughout, Trump made sure that he fulfilled his pledge of “draining the swamp,” only, to him, that actually meant getting rid of career public servants and enacting an extremist right-wing takeover of all of the country’s major institutions and taking an axe to civility, kindness, and progress. He hired Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, a billionaire know-nothing whose mission it is to destroy public schools. He hired Attorney General Jeff Sessions to help him carry out the Muslim ban, then Attorney General William Barr to help him discredit Robert Mueller’s findings of obstruction. He hired Mike Pompeo, who has helped destroy the State Department — as well as long-standing relationships with major foreign allies. And who could forget the trifecta of Federalist Society-darling Supreme Court judges, seemingly designed in a lab to be out of step with the values of the American public — one of whom has been credibly accused of sexual assault? The handpicking of the anti-abortion, anti-voting rights Amy Coney Barrett was surely the icing on the cake.

And then there was Trump’s grandest and most despicable failure, the reason we are sitting at home right now instead of living our lives — and the reason many of us now know someone who has died of a deadly virus and 10 million Americans are unemployed. Despite knowing that the coronavirus pandemic was coming and that it would be serious and deadly, Trump decided to ignore his advisors who pushed him to pursue aggressive measures to curb the spread of the virus. Instead, he fell lockstep with the saddest, most pathetic of his supporters, those who protested, often armed, in front of state capitols like that in Michigan in favor of lifting mask requirements and anti-lockdown measures. He tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA” like a brainwashed right-winger who has read one too many Facebook posts, rather than the president of the United States (admittedly, in the last four years, those two things are one and the same). Ignoring the pleas of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the media, and reason itself, he continued to hold gigantic rallies to stroke his own ego, which in turn caused spikes in infections, and even killed Tea Party leader and avid Trump supporter Herman Cain. He let Americans die — and was himself hospitalized — while assuring us that the virus was no big deal and would be over soon. It’s worse than ever; the death count now stands at over 400,000 Americans.

Trump’s willingness to see his opposition suffer knew no bounds. He unleashed the military on thousands of protestors in American cities this summer who marched for the Black Lives Matter movement against police violence, spread dangerous conspiracy theories about the protests, and supported white supremacist killers like Kyle Rittenhouse through his toxic Twitter account. But equally, he seemed not to care about his own supporters’ lives, sending them into the deadly turbulence of the Capitol on January 6 in a desperate last-ditch effort to derail the counting of Electoral College results and stop democracy at work.

He has completely ignored, and actually willingly exacerbated, the global threat of climate change, an act of negligence that follows his pattern of cruelty, selfishness, and corporate cronyism.
Now, as he reportedly sits in the White House “bitter” and in a “foul mood” awaiting his ceremonial farewell tomorrow morning — which some staff are apparently trying to skip because they don’t want to be seen there — Trump’s legacy has been written, and it includes not one, but two impeachments, a historic incumbent loss, and a series of anti-democratic (and embarrassing) attempts to overturn the election. And now, there are over 20,000 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., the largest military presence in an American city since the Civil War, to protect President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris from the domestic terrorists whom Trump himself has sent there.

In his goodbye speech this afternoon, Trump condemned political violence, but his Teleprompter-induced words belied his actions, and were at odds with recent events. Or, at least they were until he said, “We did what we came here to do.” It is important to remember that while history might see Trump as a failure, in his own eyes, he is a success: Violence is what he came here to do, and it is what he has accomplished, in countless, horrific ways. It’s why it’s hard to view his defeat as an uncomplicated victory; there’s still so much work to do, cleaning up the mess he’s left behind.

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On Wednesday, Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and 231 of her fellow congresspeople voted to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6. Jayapal was at the center of  the Trump-caused firestorm in more ways than one: When armed, right-wing extremists stormed the Capitol, she and some of her colleagues were in the gallery above the House chamber as the Electoral College votes were being counted; they sheltered-in-place together in a secured room, where some of the Republican representatives refused to wear masks. At that time, Jayapal predicted that the event would be “a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack.” Her words  ended up coming true and affecting her personally: Jayapal tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, along with at least four other Democratic colleagues. Ahead, we caught up with her to talk about Donald Trump’s future, unending Republican cruelty, and how she’s faring after her diagnosis.

First of all, how are you feeling after testing positive?

“Thank you. I am feeling better today, so that’s giving me a lot of hope. My fever and chills are gone, and it’s mostly a stuffy head and nose, kind of like a regular cold. So this thing is not going to win over me. I’m going to be fighting just as hard, if not harder.”

I bet you’re working through it all, which can’t make it a whole lot easier.

“I think that is part of it. We don’t really get sleep — though last night I got a great night’s sleep, so I’m feeling very chipper today.”

You voted to impeach Donald Trump on Wednesday, making this the second time that the House has voted to impeach him. Why is this vote particularly important now? And what implications do you believe it could have for his future?

“Donald Trump incited the insurrectionists, and he spent the last two months essentially using every platform he had as president of the United States to say that this election was fraudulent when it was free and fair, and to aid, affect, fuel, and ultimately incite a tactical, armed crowd to conduct the most violent assault on the Capitol since 1812. The whole time it was happening, he was reportedly cheering them on from the White House, not calling for peace, not allowing the resources that we needed, whether it was National Guardsmen or other assistance. And even his message, released very late as if he was taken hostage to read the words from the teleprompter, did not blame any of these people and said they were loyal patriots. So we have to take this action because Donald Trump is a threat to our national security every day that he is in office.”

What are your thoughts on what could happen in the Senate, particularly in light of the fact that Mitch McConnell seems to want to wait until after the inauguration to conduct a trial?

“My hope is still that maybe there could be some pressure from Mitch McConnell to take this up immediately. It doesn’t look likely, but I will tell you that a few days ago it didn’t look likely that we would have the most bipartisan vote ever on impeaching a president. I think if Mitch McConnell refuses to take this up, then it will proceed under the Democratic majority. And I hope that Republicans in the Senate understand how critically important it is that, even though Donald Trump is the ex-president they vote to convict him. And if that happens with a two-thirds majority in the Senate, then they can vote to ensure that he never holds office again. I believe that there are enough Republicans in the Senate who are horrified by what happened. At least, I hope there are.”

Like you said, this was the most bipartisan impeachment vote in history, but, as you know, it was only 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him. How does that make you feel about the future of their party and our country?

“It’s a tough question because obviously I’m glad that there are 10 Republicans who had the courage to put country over party, and I am horrified that it was only 10 Republicans. It shows you how much lunacy there is in people’s heads. It really worries me that this is essentially a cult following. I think the Republican Party is cleaving before our very eyes, and there will be one faction that is frankly terrifying for the future of the country, but there will be another faction that hopefully will begin to rebuild the depth of the Republican Party so that it is a party that is about at least something, even if we disagree with them. You know, some policy ideas instead of just an individual who is unhinged.”

What about the Democrats? Do you think this experience, as well as the new administration, might allow for a more unifying moment among the Democratic Party?

“I do, and I’ve already seen it, just in the incredible unity around the impeachment vote. There was really very little question that that would happen and very little if any opposition to it even initially. And, I also think that it has fundamentally shifted the conversation on race and the response of law enforcement to white nationalists versus to Black Lives Matter folks. The Republican party can no longer claim to be a party of law enforcement when we saw people dragging out Capitol police officers and beating them. But also I think the racism within how white nationalists are perceived versus how people who are simply speaking up against the injustice in law enforcement with Black people being murdered every day, that was so clear. I just hope that it leads to far more unity on race in this country, and what we have to do to fix our institutionally racist structures.”

You and two other colleagues tested positive for COVID on Tuesday after your Republican colleagues refused to wear masks and essentially made fun of you. What lingering feelings do you have about that experience, and what would you like to say to your colleagues, who put you in harm’s way?

“They did. And I’ve been clear about my anger about that because here we had just experienced a terrorist attack by white nationalists, and we were forced into that room with over 100 people and they were still mocking the idea of science and public health. The number-one guidance to prevent the spread of the virus is wearing a mask and socially distancing. We obviously couldn’t social distance in that particular situation with so many people in that room, but they absolutely could have taken the very simple steps of wearing a mask, which is really about protection of other people, not a personal liberty. I think their intransigence around that and the refusal to set an example for the entire country is absolutely part and parcel of why there are 3,200 Americans who are dying every day from COVID.

“So it’s an anger about the fact that they gave it to me, because I know I got it from that room. And, my husband has now contracted the virus as well because of his exposure to me. So it’s that frustration on a personal level, but it’s also this larger anger about how Republicans have treated the virus and allowed almost 400,000 people to die because they have taken it like a joke.

“I think it’s stunning, too, that in spite of them losing a colleague [Luke Letlow, congressman-elect from Louisiana] who just got elected and couldn’t take a seat in Congress because he died from COVID, they still are refusing to acknowledge that this is real. I just don’t understand it. I also don’t understand how it’s only Democrats who have been reporting testing positive since the January 6th attack. I’ve got to believe that there are Republicans, and they’re just not telling us. Which means they could be not getting tested, and could be spreading it.”

How are your colleagues doing who also tested positive? It sounds like it may be particularly tough for Bonnie Watson Coleman, who is 75 and a cancer survivor.

“I was checking in on her today. And luckily she also seems to be doing relatively well, though I don’t want to speak for her. Brad Schneider, I actually talked to him last night and he does not have any symptoms. Ayanna Pressley and Adriano Espaillat both also tested positive. So that means four out of the five Democrats who have tested positive are people of color. And I do think that reflects the larger story of the virus in this country and how people of color are disproportionately affected.”

Many of your colleagues such as Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have also spoken out since the insurrection, saying they feared for their lives on that day. What was your particular experience like?

“I was trapped in that gallery with about a dozen other members. For me, my biggest source of concern was that I could only walk with a cane because I couldn’t bend my knee; I had recently had knee surgery. So when they told us to duck under the banisters and go to the other side of the gallery, and then get on the floor, it was physically really challenging for me, on top of the fear of being trapped.

“At one point, we were trying to get the attention of the Capitol Police on the main floor, because we weren’t sure that anyone was going to come and get us. It was a deeply traumatic experience for those of us who were in the gallery. We were there when the gunshots were fired into the chamber, we heard that. We were also so close to the doors because that gallery is not very big. And so when the rioters were pounding on those doors, it was like, it was literally right there. We didn’t know the Capitol Police didn’t have anything to barricade those doors with. So it was literally just locking the door and then standing there behind it to try to keep them out.”

It’s been reported that there were police and even Republican lawmakers helping the rioters at the Capitol. What are your thoughts on some of your colleagues potentially being complicit in all of this? 

“I think that’s one of the most disturbing pieces of this, that we don’t know if we can trust our Republican colleagues. In fact, everything shows that a few of them were part of planning and inciting the insurrection and showing people around. There was the video of one of the main organizers talking about the three members of Congress that were helping to plan this. It also feels like people knew their way around. So the question is whether there were recon tours that were given ahead of time. I think we need to make sure that any member of Congress who was a part of planning and inciting these attacks is removed from Congress. And if they violate the rules that we have put in place around all of our safety, whether it’s walking through metal detectors or refusing to wear masks, then there have to be heavy fines levied on them, and they need to not be allowed onto the floor. You don’t follow our rules, you can’t vote. Period.”

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