With another hurricane causing mass devastation and more to come, my thoughts - like yours - are with the folks trying to save their homes and get to safety.

For those of us who aren’t concerned for our immediate safety, but are feeling overwhelmed by the onslaught of awfulness, a quick recommendation: reach out to one person you know who could use help, and offer it. Just one.

Whether they need some advice, a place to stay for a night, or a little help with homework – doing a small act of kindness for someone is not just a nice thing to do, it can do a little for our own sense of helplessness.



Glass Half Full

Students at Denver schools walked out in protest after Trump’s Daca announcement. If anything should give you some hope these days, it’s young people.

What I’m RTing

andrew kaczynski 🤔 (@KFILE) Love how quickly this moved from "no evidence of collusion" 2 "I wanted to collude but the information was no good"https://t.co/UEENkiHV2V pic.twitter.com/SBYt62OhxF

nevona (@nevona) someone has been replacing the NYC MTA ads with their own way more subversive (and subtle) versions pic.twitter.com/cXtfVn3UfV

Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) it is kind of wild that trump is pulling one of these "donation" PR stunts as president of the united states https://t.co/VhC60K8UJZ

E. Alex Jung (@e_alexjung) *hair flip pic.twitter.com/5sXAD6c3AM

Who I’m reading

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Trump as the “first white president”; Lindy West giving Ivanka Trump the evisceration she deserves; and my colleague Julia Carrie Wong on Dreamers’ anxieties after the president’s Daca announcement.

What I’m writing

As students head back to college this month, maybe it’s time to think about ending Greek life once and for all.

How outraged I am

Betsy DeVos announced the administration’s desire to roll back Obama-era protections for college sexual assault victims this week, in a speech where she spent an awful lot of time talking about the rights of accused rapists instead of the rights of their victims. On a scale of one to 10, I’m a solid eight.

How I’m making it through this week

Watching this Irish family try to catch a bat in their kitchen is hilarious, and somehow – inexplicably – soothing.

Sign up for Jessica Valenti’s weekly newsletter on feminism and sexism