sisters in law | Wing's World

“So, Renato,” begins the concerned-looking woman in the YouTube clip, “what’s the remedy when the Department of Justice turns into the Department of Injustice?”

“Ehhh…” responds Renato, “…it’s complicated.”

So begins another episode of “It’s Complicated”–legal analysis by two of the sharper legal tools in the briefcase: FBI agent-turned-Yale-law professor Asha Rangappa and her friend, former prosecutor Renato Mariotti. Sadly, this particular episode was the duo’s last (at least for now), but you can still tune in to plenty of past episodes and learn a TON about how the DOJ is supposed to work.

Being a legal nerd, I enjoyed those episodes. But what really lights me up are Asha’s deep dives into the MORAL complexity of our government’s current chaos.

That’s where Freedom Academy comes in. A teacher by heart, Asha runs weekly Q & A sessions for her Substack subscribers, where you can submit questions in advance, and then watch Asha engage with equal minds on questions like, “Why do some people cave in while others stand up?” “Where does moral courage come from?” “What does ‘complicity’ mean, anyway?”

Here she is most recently, talking with her friend, law historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, whom I featured in my previous post:

https://asharangappa.substack.com/p/our-collective-conscience

[Substack videos won’t “embed” in my blog like YouTube…but click on the link to watch]

Another aspect of Asha I enjoy is her relative youth. Many of my Guiding Lights are my age, Boomers. But Asha’s solid Gen X, with the cultural references to prove it. In my book, FBI agents are automatic badasses, and the fact that she made that pivot from gun-toting to Yale Associate Law School Dean is, to me…not complicated, but COOL.

As Asha explains:

The original vision of this Substack was a course called “Democracy in the (Dis)Information Age.” I built this course over three years, breaking down the content I teach at Yale into 52 bite-size lessons that each have an audio “lecture.” You can visit the syllabus here, and paid subscribers will have access to all the lessons to read/listen to at your leisure (and in any order you like!).

Beginning in 2026, I will be using this Substack to illuminate research that I am doing for my forthcoming book, Uncompromised: Activating Your Moral Compass in an Age of Complicity. My book will draw on my experiences assessing people in the FBI and as an admissions dean as well as research in psychology, leadership, and risk-taking to understand why some people go along to get along — even when they know it’s wrong — and why some people find the courage to push back.

If you’re at all interested in how humans tick, and how we can use that “ticking” to better shape a government that works for ALL of us, I hope you’ll join me in checking Asha out: on Substack, on YouTube, and–soon, I hope–at the bookstore!

Not that Joyce. Nothing against Dubliners or Ulysses; I just don’t think they’ll help get you through another week of our current presidency. I mean Joyce Vance, author of this book that was waiting for me, hot off its October 21st release, when I got home from my canvassing trip this week:

To judge a book by its cover, this one looks boring. To me, though, it looks like mental health. I thought I’d take a minute to explain why.

I’ve written in some detail about Common Power, the Seattle-based organization I’ve been teaming up with since 2019 to phone-bank and canvass in “red” or “purple” states.

In 2022 and 2024, I canvassed in my home State of North Carolina, where my folks still live. This year Virginia has some important elections, so I went there (visits to sister & niece a bonus).

Part of Team Fredericksburg on the canvass trail

Between doors (we knocked on about 2,000 during the days I participated in Fredericksburg, then Richmond), I split my awe between the lovely big deciduous trees of the east…

…and creative Halloween decorations.

But the best part of CP work, to me, isn’t actually the conversations on voters’ doorsteps (though those can be quite moving). It’s the TEAMWORK, the FELLOWSHIP.

especially at a dumpling restaurant at the end of a long day

Which brings me back to Joyce’s book, whose opening line is, “Could I have picked a worse time to write a book about saving democracy?”

My answer is: no, this is EXACTLY the right time. Because now more than ever, we need to know we “have friends everywhere” (as they say on Andor), and we need to get our hands on some how-to.

However, if podcasts are what your life has room for, Joyce is all over that landscape. I first discovered her via Substack, where her Civil Discourse unpacks the week’s latest legal WTF?!! as only a former U.S. Attorney (and current law professor) can. Each post ends with, “We’re all in this together.”

Or you might just as easily find her on the brilliant panel-pod, Sisters in Law…

…or untangling legal threads with her former U.S. Attorney boss Preet Bharara. I recommend ALL these pods as a way to feel a little more on top of things…a little more prepared for what’s coming, because–

“Hold UP, Gretchen,” I hear you say. “What makes you think I want MORE civics in my life? Don’t you understand what the news is DOING to me??“

Oh, I do. It was doing the same to me, before I found my people in Common Power, and now–with the magic of podcasts–people like Joyce Vance.

[Shoutout to another GREAT, whom you might already have discovered: historian Heather Cox Richardson.]

While I’m only halfway through Vance’s book, I’m happy to report that the final chapter–titled We Are the Cavalry–is chock-full of options for resistance, participation, finding community, pointing yourself towards hope…or, as one heading puts it, “Understand That Protecting Democracy Comes in a Lot of Flavors.” (146)

This is Fredericksburg’s Rappahannock River at sunset. Not a flavor; it just looks like one, eh?

In this moment when the bad guys want us to despair and give up, Vance offers this uplifting reminder:

“Although we may be on our own, we are not all alone. We truly are in this together. We have one another, a community of like-minded people across the country who care about democracy. That may seem to be a slender thread, but it’s how we, like others who have faced similar challenges in the past, are going to get through this.

So, gather your resources and take courage.” (138)

Joyce’s chickens also make appearances on her Substack, so I’ll close with this:

Do yourself a favor: Read Joyce. [Support her by clicking here to buy her book!] You will feel empowered–because, as she says, we’re all in this together.