I posted a short reflection to TikTok last week, and it landed harder than I expected. It’s about the emotional double-life I believe many of us are living: one foot in the adult world of political vigilance and despair, and one foot in the child-world of curiosity, play, and care.

Today I’m expanding that theme and pairing it with another challenge: how suspicion-driven Left analysis shapes our emotional availability, our social trust, and our parenting. How do we balance vigilance with openness? How do we keep our melancholy from becoming our children’s inheritance? And how do we stop feeling like orphans in a world where radical elders have been scattered, suppressed, or lost?

I’d love to hear your experience with this:

• Best way: send me a voice memo on Signal @antifascistdad.71. Try to keep messages under 2 minutes!


• You can also DM me on Bluesky and Instagram, or join me on Patreon @antifascistdadpodcast where my DMs are open.


• I’m also on TikTok and YouTube @antifascistdad.

Preorder link for Antifascist Dad (North Atlantic Books, April 2026)