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Caitie Whelan

Caitie Whelan

What's As Contagious As Fear

Hello Wonderful Human, I’m out of the office for the long weekend, so here’s a favorite from the archives for you. Wishing you all good things, Caitie On a quiet spring morning, the man in well-worn flannel eases himself down to sit on his front stoop. At his

The Secret Sauce to Changing Policy

While Michigan Congressman John Dingell might not be a big name in most households, his work touched nearly every person in this country. The Dearborn-area legislator got some of the most high impact legislation of the late 20th and early 21st century across the finish line, including Medicare, the Clean

Where to Find Power When It Feels Like You Don’t Have Any

A business mentor of mine always advised to go where there isn’t much traffic. If everyone’s online, be in person. If everyone’s doing hot takes, wait a beat or six to discern where you stand. If everyone’s at 101 degrees, be the shade that helps brings

An Easy Thing We Can Do For Each Other Right Now

At the play on Saturday evening, the man wearing a guayabera shirt sits in the front row. After the jokes, he laughs the loudest. After the songs, he's the first to cheer. And after the grand finale, he starts the standing O. The man just turbocharged love to

What Motivates Us in Hard Moments

I once heard a wildly successful athlete say that you can be motivated by one of two things: fear or love. I'd piggy back on to that – the first can get you pretty far, pretty fast. But the second will sustain you. Fear is the flashy, attention-getting hare;

Setting the Right Goals for Democracy

There is old tape of Andre Agassi returning Pete Sampras' serve. Sampras pounds the ball down the middle, and Agassi whips it cross court, leaving Sampras to watch the ball fuzz fly by. Before Agassi, the return of serve was pure defense: block the ball back, a prayer to

The One Note That Can Change a Vote

I'm off today for the long weekend, but I pulled out this favorite from the archives. Wishing you a wonderful long weekend and, as my Mum would say, many unexpected miracles ahead. Today, let's discuss some people who aren't household names, but who can

One Question that Explains Most of Politics

I once read that a good story starts from one of two driving questions: Why is this happening? One Hundred Years of Solitude kicks off with Colonel Aureliano Buendía standing before a firing squad. We've got to know why. Why isn't this happening? The play Waiting

Why August is a Great Time to Reach Out to Your Member of Congress

"A golden afternoon of August: every breath from the hills so full of life that it seemed whoever respired it, though dying, might revive." Safe to say Emily Brontë wasn't writing about August in Washington, D.C. However full of life the Hill might be, the

How to Shape a Politician's Thinking

It is true that things are pretty grim out there. It's also true that one guaranteed way to make them worse is if we all walk off the field. So should this note find you hiding way down under the covers, I get it; we're allowed