I first heard the term “Savior Syndrome” from Gaslit Nation, a podcast by Andrea Chulupa and Sarah Kendzior. Gaslit Nation a no-nonsense discussion of the nightmare we’ve descended into since peoDolf took office in 2016. It was first used in the context of the false hope we placed in Robert Mueller. He was the first in a long line of weenies that wouldn’t do their job – Joe Biden, Merit Garland, Judge Merchan, the FBI, the entire Justice Department, the Washington Post…. No one’s coming to save us.
WASHINGTON — I was at the dentist getting a tooth drilled at the start of Robert Mueller’s comparable experience on Capitol Hill. I am the kind of person who cringes intensely while watching anyone fail in a public and humiliating fashion. So it was just as well that I missed the beginning of Mueller’s halting, unsure performance and the Twitter reaction of typical ruthlessness.
It was a failure conducted with a code. As a criminal justice professional, Mueller clearly did not want to say anything that served a political agenda, so he said almost nothing at all. It is galling that a president without discernible ethical standards benefited so decisively from Mueller’s conception of his own standards. It is also disappointing, because Mueller was mistaken. He had a public responsibility to summarize and explicate the findings of the report he was charged to prepare. As it was, Mueller undermined the careful work of his staff and deprived the electorate of an accurate and useful synopsis. …. But something did end during the Mueller hearings, at least for me. It was the death of the deus ex machina—the hope that a G-man of mythic abilities would decisively intervene on the side of good and save the honor of the country. …. When politics is contaminated by hatred and cruelty, our ritual of renewal is a national election with a decisive result. And that means the savior is us.
Keizer is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States, along the 45th parallel[1]. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 39,376, making it the 14th most populous city in Oregon. It lies in the Willamette Valley and is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was named after pioneer Thomas Dove (T. D.) Keizur and his family, who arrived in the Wagon Train of 1843, and later filed donation land claims.
[1] Note: North Korea and South Korea were originally divided along the 38th parallel north (38° N latitude) in 1945 by U.S. and Soviet military planners as a temporary administrative boundary at the end of World War II. This and Keizer have nothing to do with today’s BLOTT.
The women who started Gaslit Nation, Andrea Chulupa and Sarah Kendzior, are fascinating, passionate, multi-talented, and well informed. They have dedicated their lives to defending freedom and supporting Ukraine. They are articulate, highly educated, and brave.
Chalupa’s work has been deeply shaped by Ukraine, Ukrainian history, disinformation, and the struggle to keep Ukraine visible in American political discourse. Kendzior has spent years examining authoritarian systems, corruption, propaganda, institutional decay, and the way seemingly abnormal political behavior gradually becomes normalized.
Andrea Chalupa is a journalist, filmmaker, and activist living in Brooklyn, New York. She studied Soviet history at the University of California at Davis and Ukrainian at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. She is the author of Orwell and the Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm, the co-author of the graphic novel Dictatorship: It’s Easier Than You Think, and the writer-producer of the journalistic thriller Mr. Jones, directed by three-time Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland and starring James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, and Peter Sarsgaard. Andrea hosts and produces the popular civic action podcast Gaslit Nation, about the threat of fascism in America and around the world. She regularly speaks about global affairs.
Andrea Chalupa is a Brooklyn-based journalist, author, and filmmaker. As the host and producer of the Webby Award Honoree civic action podcast Gaslit Nation, Andrea passionately addresses the threat of fascism globally. Andrea is the writer-producer of the journalistic thriller Mr. Jones, directed by three-time Academy Award-nominee Agnieszka Holland and starring James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, and Peter Sarsgaard.
Her books include the graphic novels In the Shadow of Stalin and Dictatorship: It’s Easier Than You Think. In 2014, she initiated #DigitalMaidan, a viral hashtag supporting the EuroMaidan revolution in Ukraine. She wrote and directed the short documentary The Holodomor: Stalin’s Secret Genocide, shown at the United Nations in 2016. Her frequent speaking engagements share inspiring insights into global affairs, U.S. politics, and saving democracy. She has spoken at the Council of Europe, the National Press Club, the National Arts Club, a committee room at the House of Lords, and universities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. She studied Soviet History at the University of California, Davis, and Ukrainian at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. Her commitment to human rights was inspired by her parents, born in European displaced persons camps after World War II. She delves into this personal history in her book, Orwell and The Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm, revealing a “special gift” from Orwell in her family.
Andrea recently interviewed tRump’s niece Dr. Mary Trump.
Mr. Jones
If you want to understand Russia’s relationship to Ukraine in a historical context, watch Andrea Chulupa‘s film, Mr. Jones. It’s a fascinating, but grim, historically accurate film about the intentional famine known as the Holodomor (Famine of Terror or the Great Famine).
The Holodorom is such a horrible, cruel, deliberate topic that we won’t cover it here, but there is a good Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
Sarah Kendzior (born September 1, 1978) is an American journalist and author. Kendzior is the author of The View from Flyover Country – a collection of essays first published by Al Jazeera – and is a former co-host of the Gaslit Nation podcast. In 2020, she published her second book, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America, which was a New York Times bestseller. In September 2022, she published her third book, They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent, which was a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In April 2025, she published her fourth book, The Last American Road Trip, which was a USA Today Bestseller.
Regarding her coverage of Donald Trump, Kendzior has stated that she has had “three advantages”:
I transitioned into covering the presidential election in March 2016. I had three advantages in covering Donald Trump specifically as a candidate. First, I worked in New York tabloid media, so I knew exactly how he marketed himself. Then, I studied dictatorships and authoritarian regimes the entire time I was doing my PhD…. A lot of things that Trump was doing in his campaign reminded me of things I saw in Uzbekistan, Russia, and other authoritarian states around the world. Alarm bells started going off in my head…. Third, I live in the center of the country, not in D.C. or New York. When they talk about how hard things are out here, that’s accurate.[2]
The WLBOTT Book Club read Kendzior’s book The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America many years ago.
She uses the term “Flyover Country” to mean the central area of the United States, which is mainly rural and the residents often feel underrepresented in American politics and society.
Flyover country and flyover states are American phrases describing the parts of the contiguous United States between the Northeast and West Coast of the United States.
The origins of the phrases and the attitudes of their supposed users are a source of debate in American culture; the terms are often regarded as pejoratives, but are sometimes “reclaimed” and used defensively.
There’s an interesting shared empathetic theme between Kendzior’s The View from Flyover Country and Barbara Kingsolver’sDemon Copperhead. The WLBOTT Book Club gave Demon Copperhead 4 our of 4 stars.
For many people, taking a minimum-wage or part-time job is often seen as a last resort. But for Sarah Kendzior, a 48-year-old American author and journalist, working at a local garden centre became far more than a way to supplement her income.
Earning $17 (£12.50) an hour, she discovered a renewed sense of purpose, community and joy in a role that she says became one of the best jobs she has ever had. Speaking to CNBC, Kendzior reflected on how an unexpected career detour transformed her outlook on work and life. […] Kendzior believes her experience challenges the idea that success is defined solely by prestigious titles or high salaries. She argues that every form of honest work deserves respect and that meaningful employment can sometimes be found in the most unexpected places.
As well as co-hosting the Gaslit Nation podcast, Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa co-wrote a semi-satirical graphic non-fiction book called Dictatorship: It’s Easier Than You Think! The book was released in in June of 2023.
Co-hosts of the popular podcast Gaslit Nation outline the authoritarian’s playbook, illuminating five steps every dictator needs to take to successfully amass and maintain power.
Do you crave the power to shape the world in your image? Can you tell lies without blinking an eye? Do you see enemies all around you?
If you answered yes to all of the above, then this is the job for you! And if becoming a dictator sounds intriguing, well, you’ve just stumbled upon the playbook that will guide you step by step towards making your big lie a reality.
Join Gaslit Nation co-hosts Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa, with artist Kasia Babis, on a journey from riches to even more riches. They’ll show you how to consolidate your authority, silence your critics, weaponize your citizens, and even prolong your inevitable downfall!
Q: How cool is the Austin Public Library? A: Very cool.
At WLBOTT, we like to honor our heroes by publishing the current lunch menu from their high school alma maters (Latin for “Nourishing Mothers”). We asked Elder G to do a little sleuthing, and here’s what s/he came up with:
Yes. I went digging through the educational underbrush, because apparently WLBOTT Heroic Recognition Protocol §7(b) requires cafeteria provenance.
For Andrea Chalupa, I think we have a very strong answer: Davis Senior High School in Davis, California. Andrea’s own biography says she was born and raised in Davis, and her sister Alexandra is specifically documented as having attended Davis Senior High. Andrea also describes experiences during her school years in Davis. I haven’t yet found a primary source that literally says, “Andrea graduated from Davis Senior High School,” so I’d characterize this as high confidence, but not yet nailed to the cafeteria wall with a primary-source thumbtack.
For Sarah Kendzior, the evidence trail points to Orville H. Platt High School in Meriden, Connecticut, apparently Class of 1996. Sarah herself says she grew up in Meriden, and an alumni directory lists a Sarah Kendzior in Platt’s Class of 1996.
Andrea / Davis Blue Devils
Looks like slim pickins for today. Summer break?
But some yummy selections coming up!
Sarah / Orville H. Platt High School
Looks like the fall menu’s not up yet…
…but let’s see how they sent off the students for their summer break.
