Sign in

Petula Dvorak

@petulawrites.bsky.social
460 followers 27 following 329 posts

Columnist, reporter, Persister, formerly at The Washington Post

PostsRepliesMedia
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 5h
These student journalists showed the three qualities our nation needs most right now…
petuladvorak.substack.com
Just give them the Pulitzer right now (seriously)
Student journalists Cereese Qusba and Sophia Dasser at The Cornell Sun have exemplified everything a free press should be.
010
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Here we go again, a reboot. The Cornell 7 gang rape investigation reminds me of the way men have ALWAYS seized the process and narrative on sexual assault investigation — even when they’re the “good guys.”
petuladvorak.substack.com
The 'rape kit' was a woman's idea. Why was it named for a man?
It was first known as a "Vitullo Kit", for the police sergeant who put his own name on Martha Goddard's groundbreaking idea
011
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Some hate my kids’ song, “Frat Guy”. Cornell? “Objectifying girls It's become a sport Why is this something that colleges support? Frat guy Frat guy Tied to the college What a waste of knowledge White privilage what's that? Your morals as backwards as your hat” open.spotify.com/track/2vmjQi...
open.spotify.com
Frat guy
LOSER · No Thanks to College · Song · 2026
020
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Capitol Hill is speaking up today for the thousands of USAID workers fired a year ago. Here’s my story about one of them who refuses to disappear…
open.substack.com
Trump killed USAID. But some of them keep working.
A group of Persisters is quietly continuing to impact foreign aid and - behind closed doors - congress is hungry for their help.
021
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
It was 250 years ago that patriots wrote a scathing indictment of King George — we know it as the Declaration of Independence and launch fireworks every year to celebrate it. Here’s another one of the grievances they listed, conditions they refused to live under, why our nation is based on #nokings:
010
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The Persisters who wrote the Declaration of Independence were pissed about the shit King George was doing and that document was a list of the grievances against him. Check out another one that made it clear we want No Kings:
040
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
More of the grievances the Founding Fathers had when they made that Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and why they wanted #nokings
010
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
The Declaration of Independence had some catchy one-liners, but most of it was an epic rant against King George. Let’s revisit some of the (many) grievances explaining why the Founding Fathers wanted #nokings
020
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
They heard the Declaration and decided to kill Gold George Any of this sound familiar?
open.substack.com
They heard the Declaration and decided to kill Gold George
Today is the 250th anniversary of America's first statue takedown. They turned it into ammo to kill British troops.
110
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
011
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
We've dealt with the mask thing before...
open.substack.com
The Persisters who unmasked bigots
Since 1870, leaders fed up with racist nonsense have persisted in banning the masks that let hate hide
031
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Bathroom graffiti at National Airport does NOT mess around…
000
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Hundreds of deployments, dozens of years of service. Trump and Hegseth - men who never came close to achieving what these military women have accomplished - fired all of them. Then they cancelled the day to celebrate them. Guess what? They're still persisting.
open.substack.com
Trump's fragile men fired these badasses
But women of the military persist. And have since 1775.
040
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
AA, which began the day Bill gave Dr. Bob a beer before he performed a surgery, turned 91 today. Check out their story.
open.substack.com
'My name is Bill, and I'm a Persister'
By persisting to find a solution and founding Alcoholics Anonymous 91 years ago, Bill W. and Dr. Bob changed millions of lives across the world.
010
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
open.substack.com/pub/petuladv...
open.substack.com
This Easter Bunny is a brown, feminist Persister here to teach us a lesson.
The shocker? She's been around since 1939.
020
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/petuladv... The Wright Sister was a sensation in Europe. Has the U.S. forgotten her?
open.substack.com
Should we be saying the 'Wright Siblings'?
The world believed Orville and Wilbur Wright owed their success to their sister, Katharine, something it took America a while to understand
010
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Read about this woman who dazzled on so many fronts — a pioneer, a Persister who worked her way to the top and still got her hands dirty, a woman who defied politics to get sh*t done! open.substack.com/pub/petuladv...
open.substack.com
The secretary who took over the Metro.
Carmen Turner headed one of the railway's biggest expansions, dazzling Capitol Hill with her ability to get public transportation funding during the Reagan era
131
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
substack.com/@petulant/no...
substack.com
What's left after 19 suicide attempts? A lot.
She starts most days with a message - she's still here.
000
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/petuladv...
open.substack.com
The 'rape kit' was a woman's idea. Why was it named for a man?
It was first known as a "Vitullo Kit", for the police sergeant who put his own name on Martha Goddard's groundbreaking idea
131
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone who wants to remember this Irish immigrant and hell raiser who fought for workers’ rights and against child labor. (And who would be appalled that Arkansas meat packing plants can hire kids again thanks to Gov Sarah Huckabee Sanders!) substack.com/@petulant/no...
substack.com
America's "Most Dangerous Woman" was an Irish immigrant
Mother Jones was a Persister who survived famine, a coffin ship, yellow fever, the Chicago Fire, prison, death threats and so much hate.
040
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/petuladv... It’s been 12 years. Will Epstein give her case more urgency? Meet the Persisters who think so… #blackandmissing #relisha #sextrafficking #epstein
open.substack.com
The Persisters who think Relisha is alive
It's been 12 years since Relisha Rudd's disappearance from a D.C. homeless shelter jolted the nation's capital. Could the Epstein scandal be the key to her fate?
001
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/petuladv...
open.substack.com
She told men to get into the kitchen - in 1926
Lillian Gilbreth was a psychologist, industrial engineer, the thought leader presidents regularly consulted with and mother of 12. Yes, 12.
030
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
This is why we love the Olympics…
substack.com
What part of the Olympics are we 'f**king talking about'?
Not the times, scores and distances. The stories of persistence are what stay with us.
020
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
The Washington Post quit on so many of us, but I can’t quit writing. Please follow me on Substack and my newsletter, Persisters, where I write stories about (all kinds of) people who don’t give up!
open.substack.com
The Washington Post Quit you.
Here's how we're going to fight back
071
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The new generation of young punks have been speaking out about I.C.E….
000
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Thousands of guns at a protest? We’ve been there…
010
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
open.substack.com/pub/petulant...
open.substack.com
Stick. Shift.
A long post (or a short story) about transmissions and transitions
020
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
My Giving Tuesday list is back — open.substack.com/pub/petulant...
021
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Thank you, veterans. wapo.st/4nL9xZx
wapo.st
A rock icon and a 100-year-old WWII veteran tell America’s story
Kiss front man Gene Simmons paid tribute in D.C. to a man who helped liberate a concentration camp where his mother had been held.
020
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Oct. 19, 1925 — Calvin Coolidge’s progressive speech in Omaha focusing on a post-war America continued to ruffle feathers #100yearsagotoday :
041
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Wicked fun to be in Boston today — where true patriots began the “No Kings” movement in 1773! From dancing lobsters and Dunkin’ jokes to a woman standing in silence holding a single lantern — one if by land — high, Boston did it right.
052
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
October 15, 1925 — After the KKK marched on Washington, Calvin Coolidge hit on the danger of growing intolerance in America during a speech in Omaha. His remarks were highlighted in a full page ad in The Post #100yearsagotoday.
071
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
October 14, 1925 — The representatives from 24 tribes of the New England region gathered for their third-annual pow-wow in Rhode Island #100yearsagotoday. It was the year after Calvin Coolidge, who claimed to have “a trace of Indian blood”, championed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924…🧵
160
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Oct. 10, 1925 — New D.C. police superintendent Edwin B. Hesse made his first address to officers #100yearsagotoday. “Nothing is more important to the police department than the deportment of its individual members,” he said. Their duty is to citizens, he said, asking officers to prioritize courtesy.
021
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Oct. 8, 1925 - The Post made history #100yearsagotoday by using a motorcycle, airplane and car in a bold race to get readers photos from the 1925 World Series in Pittsburgh. Head to my Substack for more about the (sometimes dodgy) ways newspapers transmitted photos before we all had send buttons.
021
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
October 6, 1925 — St. Elizabeth’s was the first federally-funded asylum in the U.S. It aimed for more humane treatments, like hydrotherapy and views of nature. However, overcrowding — it was packed with Civil War veterans, and LGBTQ people subjected to electroshock therapy.. 🧵
120
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Oct. 4, 1925 — Star pitcher Walter Johnson heard about a disappointed D.C. baseball fan who said, upon giving birth to a girl: “Oh, I was wishing for a boy, so he could be a pitcher like Walter Johnson.”Well… 🧵
151
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
MAGA trolls sent death threats this alien barbarian open.substack.com/pub/petulant...
open.substack.com
MAGA trolls sent death threats this alien barbarian
After decades of slaying massive puppets of public figures, GWAR just got their first - very specific - death threat
010
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
open.substack.com/pub/petulant...
open.substack.com
What Hegseth wants is a GWAR department
Trump's world wants ferocious warriors on American streets. They were right there, at Riot Fest
000
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
September 29, 1925 — Yup, you get cancelled for being ageist #100yearsagotoday. Meyer’s Shop in D.C. ran a cheeky ad telling “old chap(s)” they had more than the wide-leg pants and suits in “ice cream shades” that young guys were wearing. The outcry was enough for an apology in print the next day.
030
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
open.substack.com/pub/petulant...
open.substack.com
"I love America!": The sounds of one ICE takedown
In a Maryland neighborhood, unidentified ICE agents struggled with a man crying for help and declaring his love for the country that ordered this
020
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Sept 24, 1925 — A mystery illness was killing babies #100yearsagotoday at the Florence Crittenton Home, a refuge for “fallen women” that was also an orphanage. Pictured is a window baby display in 1914, pet shop style…🧵
110
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
open.substack.com
Hundreds of 'citizen historians' are running ahead of Trump's censors
After an executive order calling for the whitewash of American history, a group of volunteers is racing to document museums before they are altered
051
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Sept. 16, 1925 — A DC woman met a small alligator outside her Foggy Bottom home #100yearsagotoday. He was captured and sent to the zoo, joining two other gators who also used to lived in that posh area, swimming in Herbert Hoover’s bathtub before he moved to the White House. #history #alligatorpets
141
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Sept 15, 1925 — A record was set in traffic court #100yearsagotoday. It was 45 days in jail +$165 for a Black man with no permit/registration/tail lights. Meanwhile, a white dude driving drunk who totaled his car after careening around Connecticut Ave. “was released” and charged with drunk driving.
051
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
D.C.’s young punks respond to the Trump invasion: open.spotify.com/track/2h79Tt...
open.spotify.com
Invasion
162
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Sept. 2, 1925 — The listing of everyone’s income taxes were on the front page of The Washington Post #100yearsagotoday! Three times in U.S. history, income taxes were made public …🧵
130
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
The Empty (still messy) Nest substack.com/@petulant/no...
substack.com
The Empty (still messy) Nest
Were the kids really the problem all along?
031
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
A reminder about leaders at war: www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...
071
Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
August 18, 1925 - A psych professor at George Washington University ran tests #100yearsagotoday to determine “the truth about the woman driver.” Conclusion? “…the woman stacks up higher than the male of the species”. (The first woman to get a license in the U.S. was Anne French — in 1900, in D.C.! )
041