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Matt Vanderwerff

@mavander.bsky.social
114 followers 187 following 62 posts

Senior Technical Advisor at IREX | focused on trust-building and civic engagement | Passionate about community | backpacker, dad of three, and veggie gardening enthusiast. 🥾🪴

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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
As someone who came from the same denomination as Du Mez, I think part of it is that we never quite fit in evangelicalism and were taught a kind of skepticism toward it. That's changed recently, but I think it sharpens her awareness of the media and publishing ecosystem around white evangelicalism
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I think this is right, but it's even more than sincere quasi-religous piety. There really is a sense that upholding this ideal will prove that that they really are neutral truth-tellers and this is how they ensure they are trusted.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Don't forget the Serbs! (though that national mythology is more about sacrificing themselves for the sake of the Christendom ...)
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James Medlock @jdcmedlock.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Inject it into my veins.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
I find it genuinely surprising that "research institutions" is at the top of this list.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
This is super cool
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
How would you reckon with a lot of 90s dem messaging on immigration being explicitly much farther right than today? I agree that GWOT completely melted a lot of brains, but I'm genuinely unsure there was the level of support this approach seems to assume.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Thank you for this. I admit to being skeptical that we can just pick back up the pre-GWOT cultural moment, but haven't chewed on it in this way.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Can you work this strategy out in more detail for us?
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
It sucks. I'm breaking it into 15-20 minute sprints
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Indeed! OTPOR and the anti-Milosevic movement veterans are *literally* some of the most experienced trainers and advisors to pro-democracy non-violent movements around the world. Srdjan Popovic's book is a great starting place.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Are you familiar with CANVAS? It is literally one of the leading global orgs training activists in non-violent resistance and founded by veterans of the anti-Milosevic movement in Serbia.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Let's check in on non violent resentence movements from India, Serbia, or the American South and see how long it took to meet this definition of success. We are winning this thing.
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Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 16/01/2026
For giving, this is a very good resource for mutual aid orgs, personal fundraisers, and nonprofit/community org donations. www.standwithminnesota.com Besides that, the best thing you can do is prepare your own communities. If it can happen here or Lewiston, Maine, it can happen anywhere.
standwithminnesota.com
Stand With Minnesota
A directory of places to give to as Minnesota defends itself from ICE occupation
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
what kind do you drive?
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
This is the basic point that Chris Hedges made in "War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning" 20 years ago
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
"And in my best behavior I am really just like him Look beneath the floorboards For the secrets I have hid" - Sufjan Stevens
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
At a certain point, when org. leadership loses trust/credibility you have to just accept that and move on to dealing with it, rather than trying to keep litigating whatever led to that point. The reason this doesn't happen is that it's *painful* for those involved.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
thank you
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
can you say more about what you mean by "sincere secularizing?"
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Small point, but I think it's more "we're trustworthy because we're *on your side*" than "telling you what you want to hear". And vast sums of resources are being invested to demonstrate and cultivate those sides.
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Boo!-per Lund @cooperlund.online · 23/09/2025
To go along with that, we live in an era of low trust voters, and they're just going to keep voting out incumbents over and over because they're mad at "The System" and aren't traditional ideological actors. You can't heal America without making people trust the government more.
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Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
among the issues with people not having any knowledge of hybrid regimes in the global South is the fact that everyone assumes contemporary authoritarian governance looks like 20th century totalitarianism
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Also, see "Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland"
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
This one is a very good book IMO!
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
The videos we are all seeing on social media are *after* the backups have been called in. I imagine this varies depending on the situation and how many people are around/observing. T
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Again, just my own observation from what I've witnessed: They seem to be patrolling in smaller groups of 3 in unmarked small cars (kia sedan) and then when they stop a delivery driver or (what I observed) a construction worker walking to his truck), they detain and call in backups
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
I've seen one disappearance personally (north of petworth) and a few different groups of ICE/CBP and other feds. My observation is that they are no longer using only big black SUVs/vans, but also more regular looking small cars.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
These are the same two (along with others) who I saw detain a main in brightwood. They did it on private property, without a warrant.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
the city I live in is occupied by armed federal agents checking people's papers at random public transportation stops and people are still doing this
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
In DC today I watched masked secret police detain a brown-skinned man for simply walking on the sidewalk. No warrant. Refused to let him get his id. They shoved neighbors aside, threw him into an unmarked SUV, and vanished. Broad daylight. This is what our city is living with.
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Rocky Flats Chimney Sweep 🇺🇸 @midlifesuezcrisis.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
A Norwegian friend told me some months ago something to the effect of, look, American friend, you have never had to walk this dark path before. We have walked a very dark path ourselves. We understand. It will be very hard for you, but it is survivable. We are here when you are ready to rebuild.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
“.. The news on Israel’s main TV channel had just finished a segment on how hunger in Gaza is portrayed around the world when the anchor looked up and said: ‘Maybe it’s finally time to acknowledge that this isn’t a public relations failure, but a moral one.’” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Danny Miller @danielmilleresq.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
As dangerous as canceling Colbert was for our democracy, it made him infinitely more powerful. I mean, who exactly was watching him before now? Firing him was a signal that what he has to say is REALLY important. I don’t care if he just starts a TikTok, he’ll become one of the key voices in America.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Hey I grew up there!
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Kevin Riggle @kevinr.free-dissociation.com · 12/07/2025
“It took from the invention of the photovoltaic solar cell, in 1954, until 2022 for the world to install a terawatt of solar power; the second terawatt came just two years later, and the third will arrive either later this year or early next.” Moore’s Law eat your heart out. Jesus.
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James Martin, SJ @jamesmartinsj.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Laughing in front of cages designed to hold migrants and refugees, many of whom came to this country fleeing extreme violence and poverty, and hoping to raise their children in a more compassionate country. And many of whom followed all the legal procedures to enter the country.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Thank you for saying this
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 27/06/2025
i can’t express how much i stan rick steves
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lindsey adler @lindseyadler.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
IDF soldiers spoke to Haaretz about the military directive to shoot Palestinians seeking food. The on-the-ground soldiers say they are murdering Gazans for no reason and that the Israeli govt and military are hiding behind the idea of a "threat" that doesn't exist." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
This is Rhogena Nicholas & Dennis Tuttle. Police shot & killed them—and their dog—during a no-knock raid on their home. A Texas officer claimed an informant had bought heroin there. The problem? That cop lied. The couple hadn’t sold heroin—and there was no informant. A thread.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 24/06/2025
The Trump administration said on Monday that it would open up 58 million acres of back country in national forests to road construction and development, removing protections that had been in place for a quarter century. trib.al/VQXR96o
A view from high ground looking downhill over forest land toward a body of water dotted with islands. Text reads: Trump Administration to End Protections for 58 Million Acres of National Forests. Photo credit: Christopher Miller for The New York Times
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
If we are to do this, we will need very different systems of evaluating and understanding impact
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Andrew Quemere @andrewqmr.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
A man with a green card said ICE agents arrested him in #Lynn, Mass then took him to a detention facility—but first made a detour to a cemetery, where they took him out of their vehicle and beat him. #mapoli #Massachusetts
nbcboston.com
Worker arrested by ICE in Lynn, later released, says agents beat him in cemetery
A Massachusetts man said he told immigration agents multiple times that he's a legal resident and that he was brought to a cemetery where they assaulted him.
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Ted Cruz called the FBI on me @weareronin.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
San Diego neighborhood makes ICE agents retreat
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 30/05/2025
"Roughly 1,500 babies have been born HIV-positive every day since January 21, because Musk cut off their mothers’ medication." prospect.org/power/2025-0...
prospect.org
Go, Elon, and Never Darken Our Doors Again
The worst ultra-billionaire on Earth says he’s leaving government. Let’s hope he actually does it.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
I like to take handwritten notes during meetings. I use a Supernote e-ink device which feels similar to writing with a pen for me. I can separate notebooks thematically or by project. There's some handwriting recognition and syncing tools that I don't find useful.
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Matt Vanderwerff @mavander.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
What do you mean by "the US will need international assistance"?
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Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
did they just pick the guy most easily able to yell at JD Vance
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