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Gail Swanson

@joyinthecenter.bsky.social
506 followers 550 following 760 posts

Trauma-informed technologist | Writer | Artist | Motorcyclist I ask a lot of questions. I think a LOT. I make things.

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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Saying “ok” to the group you had repeatedly said “no” to after continued pressure is not consent. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“A Resistance History of the United States” articulates what is required to change the US based on patterns of our history. It includes a blueprint for what we need to do. Highly recommend. The audio book is narrated by the author and is a great listen too. steerforth.com/product/a-re...
steerforth.com
A Resistance History of the United States
• INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER! • #1 ABA Indie Bookstores (PB Nonfiction) • #6 New York Times (combined HC and PB Nonfiction) • #9 Publishers Weekly (overall PB) • #16 USA Toda...
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Anyone else remember the days when we’d get a different set of people running each election cycle? Not the same bunch of faces that lost multiple times already crowding the stage? Let’s give a shot at supporting a new, younger field of candidates. Just for funzies let’s give it a whirl!
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It’s called human centered design and it used to be a great career path.
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Haus of Decline @hausofdecline.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
As far as I can tell, Effective Altruists are Utilitarians who are relieved that in the Trolley Problem, saving 5 people justifies their innate desire to kill the one guy
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Dare to imagine a cooperative world organized without nations and rulers. We really could have that.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A marvelous thing. A shining example of what can be done to make the world accessible to everyone.
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Monteiro @monteiro.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Hello. They are going to try to fuck with your vote, and we are NOT going to let them. Last week I pinged my friend Dana Chisnell, who knows how elections work, and said "Hey, let’s make it hard for them to fuck with us.” Today, we are very proud to announce the HOW TO VOTE zine. howtovote.tips
howtovote.tips
How to Vote / Cómo Votar
A free field guide to what stops people from voting, and what to do about it. English and Spanish, ready to print.
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Reposted by Gail Swanson
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
JUST IN: A federal judge concludes that DHS leaders arbitrarily decided to cut FEMA staff by 50% even though it damaged the agency's ability to fulfill its mission — and leaders hid their comms about it on auto-delete Signal chains. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I just spent 8 hours in a service department waiting room. I had planned for 4 hours because they quoted it would take 2. If anyone speaks to me I’m going to start smashing things.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Stunning, gorgeous! May your day be soft and refreshing.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I muted the TV in the dealership service waiting room. You’re welcome.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Yup. Stealing Beauty is still my all time favorite film. Perfection.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The joy this brings me is immense.
Merry Melody as Mothra happy meal
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The Abridged Story
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I might throw caution to the wind and go buy some fresh fruit and vegetables for my family.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
As a little girl, I saw Dolly as proof that a woman can be unapologetically vibrant, live her dreams, and help lift up others. She was fantastically happy. I am thankful for every bit of her time here with us. She sure made the most of it.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Apparently it’s possible to injure your foot by flexing your big toe to far. You’d think being hyper-mobile would be cool, but nooooo.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Apparently box of cling wrap is my bottle of hoisin sauce.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
How it’s going… Chasing a fuel leak on a 1998 Moto Guzzi California V11 EV
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
There’s always a post with instructions from people who have previously done what I’m attempting on a Moto Guzzi. Next time I’ll actually look before I spill fuel all over myself.
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Bryce Covert @brycecovert.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Yikes. Women accounted for all of the job losses and all of the labor force decline in July, according to @nwlc.org
WASHINGTON — Women accounted for 100 percent of the decline in the labor force in July, according to a National Women’s Law Center jobs analysis of monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That brings the total net number of women who have left the labor force since January this year to 845,000. In comparison, there are 406,000 fewer men in the labor force now than in January. 

A total of 165,000 women, aged 20 and over, left the labor force last month — meaning they are neither working nor looking for work — while men's labor force participation was unchanged. Overall, the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July. Women accounted for all of these losses, losing 32,000 jobs, while men gained 9,000 jobs. Women make up 50.1% of the workforce.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My next door neighbor is the sweetest, helps run a food pantry, and gave me a bag of the best tasting pears from his tree.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
That glass cliff is real and harsh. They get even more mad when Black women turn those disasters around to success instead of being the scapegoat for the fall.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My upstairs neighbors want to hire an exterminator for the few rats he’s seen running through our Chicago backyard. Next door there is an abundant pear tree and a lush flower garden. We live in a posh neighborhood in Chicago. He thinks I’m an asshole for not being alarmed. The outside has animals.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I looked that up recently and oh how I laughed. It’s got to be one of the top ridiculous origins of present day culture. Right up there with “balls to the wall”.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
He’s a marketing professor. Somehow he turned that smooth delivery into convincing people he’s a social scientist, economist, and psychologist. In reality he’s a butthurt white misogynist. SMDH
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Remember what they put federal employees through with the shutdown and capitulation in 2025?
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Pretty sure someone slipped me decaf
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Reposted by Gail Swanson
Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Means-tested programs like SNAP are shaped not just by benefit levels, but by hassle. And hassle is regressive: it hits hardest when you lack a car, flexibility, cash, or time.⁣ ⁣ newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/…
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
My 20yo just asked our 35+ neighbor to stop smoking standing directly under our window. I’m as proud of his initiative as I am dismayed at the obtuseness of our neighbor.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
This is a Bloody Mary, right?
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I’ve spent a year exploring building my own consultancy. There are so many things I’m interested in doing and many I do well. But I found the current technology climate is not the right one for my brand of consulting. Thankfully I found a great product strategy role at a family owned company!
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
The good news is the toilet auger I bought first thing this Sunday morning worked.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
It’s lovely to go to work and not dread the experience. Underrated.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
My supervisor looks sus
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
It signals an absence of empathy for sure. If the only humans around were those who had never been a child, it’d be pretty lonely.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Had a dream that I was boarding an international flight and my id was in my checked suitcase. Pretty sure my dream got switched with someone else’s. This is so far beyond my actual behavior i dissociated in my own dream.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Rode motorcycle to lake. Jumped into lake. Basked in the sun. Took the long way home. It was good.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
*Picture of air for effect*
Chicago skyline obscured by wildfire haze
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Driving my teen through the hazardous air this morning, I gave a history lesson on clean air regulations. Topics covered: -We used to put lead in gasoline -Cities like LA were known for smog -CFCs and the ozone holes -Anti-environmental legislation people should be exiled to a rocky island
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
It happened. I inhaled a boba and it stuck in my throat somewhere it shouldn’t be. I can breathe so I guess my demise will be slow.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Is Dan Moraff’s entire business model scouting candidates that he can then manage in order to rake in campaign funds from donors like some political A&R man? paydayreport.com/platners-dan...
paydayreport.com
Platner’s Daniel Moraff Barred from Summer Lee’s Campaign Over Sexual Misconduct Complaints
Congresswoman Summer Lee barred Platner's strategist Daniel Moraff from her campaign after receiving sexual harassment complaints against him.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
This is what happens when you use AI to make a restaurant.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Saw some bees in some flowers.
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
These folks could tell you motorcyclecannonball.com
motorcyclecannonball.com
Home - Motorcycle Cannonball
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
And online video gaming?
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
this guy is currently Chief Design Officer of the US en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Geb...
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Hey Colorado, come get some a this!
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Gail Swanson @joyinthecenter.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
It was about 2 degrees cooler so I left my house and looked at art. Specifically enjoyed “Crowd” by Lee Ungno, inspired by the Gwangju Uprising. Zoom in.
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