Last weekend, I made my 2026 Bingo card. I used magazine clippings to make a background and added in some things that I know I’ll do, things I have already planned to do, and some stretch goals. When I look at my list, which includes everything from “write my novel” to “visit my friend Anna” and “commit to a lipstick,” I feel very satisfied. This Bingo card is not about self-help. It’s about loving the life I’m making.
We’re probably going to wear you out on America250 this year. I think Sarah and I are excited about it for (characteristically) different reasons. For me, celebrating America’s anniversary right now, in this environment, provokes a question: can we be better?
We discuss Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense, in today’s new episode. I was really struck by Paine’s observation that nations do their best work early. Once commerce is established, we get lazy.
I think we can all agree, regardless of place or party, that America has really, really done commerce. We excel at commerce.
Can we still be better?
It’s easy for me to say “it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better” when I consider all-of-this. But that’s a lazy, passive way to look at this country. I think Thomas Paine would be appalled by that kind of thinking.
“Want a better country?” I imagine Thomas saying, “make it.”
There will be many hard ways that we work toward a more perfect union this year. There are people in the street, at protests, at hearings, in non-profits doing grueling, dangerous work. There will be more of that work to do.
There will be elections, which bring their own kind of work, which require the frenetic work of knocking doors and hosting town halls and the patient work of influence.
In the midst of all this, there is the necessity of building community, enjoying the benefits of citizenship, maintaining an active and disciplined hope. So I made us a citizen’s bingo card. It includes things I know I’ll do, things I already have plans to do, and some stretch goals.
I recognize how inadequate these activities seem in the face of out-of-control ICE operations, America’s international recklessness, and the lawlessness of this administration. It is diametrically opposed to the mood right now. I think that’s why it feels important to me. I diametrically oppose the majority of this administration’s action, and I diametrically oppose its mood, the mood it seeks to impose on us.
I’d love to see your bingos as the year goes on. I’d love to see what you take pictures of, what you write down, what you bake and share and hear and learn. I’d love for this to be a community of cover-all cards. I believe in us. I believe in what we’re trying to do and be. And I believe in loving the country that we’re still making. - Beth
What would you add to the BINGO card? Join us in the comments.
This week on Pantsuit Premium, Beth started a 5-part series on Special Education in America that we’ll air on Wednesdays. She did focus groups with 80 members of the Spice Cabinet - parents, administrators, therapists, School Board representatives - to discuss their experiences and what the dismantling of the Department of Education means for our most vulnerable students.
What We’re Reading (or into) this Week
Beth: Young men want to get big. For some, it’s becoming an obsession (NPR)
Alise: Do I Like It? Reflecting on Divergent After 15 Years (Veronica Roth Newsletter)
Maggie: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Copyright (C) 2026 Pantsuit Politics. All rights reserved.
I love this! I've been working on my own 2026 bingo. One thing I'm doing is helping with a citizenship class for people who are hoping to become citizens (although some of them come from countries who are not eligible to apply for citizenship alright now).
Participate in a peaceful protest.