Standing Up
Looking Back at 2024
Mark Joseph Stern recently wrote the following at Slate and it eloquently sums up how important it is for us to stand up for what’s right—especially in the face of tyranny and potentially dangerous opposition:
If you look back at some of the most momentous or egregious injustices and illegal actions throughout our history, like segregation, slavery, Indian removal, the list goes on—you can always find people who were saying, “This is unlawful. It is wrong. It is shameful, and it violates the Constitution and the laws of this country.” And those people wound up being vindicated—even if they were in a minority at the time, even if they were censored and silenced at the time. It mattered to future generations and future movements that they were there laying down that marker. And so I guess when we are in our darkest moments, in the coming years, the best that we can probably do when we’re feeling totally useless is to hope that someday in the future, people will look back and say, “These guys were telling the truth.”That mattered.
We all stood up this year; we understood the risks and still fought against the dark tides that have been rising for years now. Losing the election, as devastating as it was, and is, doesn’t change the importance of the fight we waged for democracy, for the marginalized, for our children’s future. I’m not going to pretend that everything is going to be just fine but it would be equally unfair to say that it was all for nought. Sometimes it is engaging in the fight, following our better instincts, and picking ourselves up to get ready to do it all over again that really matters.
There will be a lot more to say about that in the coming days and weeks, but right now, on the last night of what has been one of the most trying years I’ve ever lived through (which is really saying something), I wanted to share with you some of the moments and experiences that helped get me through 2024.
[If you want my take on the top five most consequential political moments of 2024, please check out my video on the Mary Trump Media channel]:
BEST TRIP: There was only one non-business trip, but it was spectacular. My daughter and I went to Iceland in February, hiked on glaciers, walked on a black lava beach, and, at two in the morning, went outside in absolutely frigid temperatures to gaze in awe at the Northern Lights. To cap it off, our last day there was cut short when we had to evacuate at 5:00 a.m. because the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula, right next to our hotel, started to erupt.
BEST REWATCHES:
Elementary (2012-2019): This NYC update of Holmes and Watson is one of my favorite shows for many reasons including the performances of Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu, but mostly it is the depiction of male-female friendship, which is the best I’ve ever seen. There is never any suggestion of romance between them—their friendship is deep, complex, and completely Platonic.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003): It’s hard to explain how much I love this show, the evolution of its characters and their relationships. Season 6 (of 7) is almost perfect and includes the best musical episode of a television series ever written, “Once More with Feeling.”
MOST MOVING PERFORMANCE:
Jessica Lange in The Great Lillian Hall: I have adored Jessica Lange since I first saw her in Frances in 1982 and her performance in The Music Box (1989) still stuns me. The Great Lillian Hall is a beautiful movie and the actors are uniformly excellent, but Lange is transcendent and I haven’t been as moved by any actor since I saw Patti Lupone in Gypsy on Broadway in 2008.
[Speaking of Gypsy, I plan to see Audra McDonald in the new revival in 2025. I can’t wait.]
BEST ART EXHIBIT:
Sienna, The Rise of Painting 1300-1350, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Fifteenth century Northern Italian art is my favorite, but I have a deep fondness for its precursors. Sienna also happens to be one of my favorite places in Tuscany (Firenze is my second favorite city on the planet), so seeing this exhibit in my most favorite city felt like going and being home.
[Kehinde Wiley, An Archeology of Silence: Wiley, (who painted Barack Obama’s portrait) opened this exhibit in March in San Franciso (check out The New York Times review), I am determined to travel to see these extraordinary works, which are in Miami through January and then Minneapolis from February through June.]
REALITY CHECK: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz reminded us how important joy is. I’m going to try to hang onto that.
FOOD EXPERIENCE: This occurred during the aforementioned trip to Iceland. We spent our last night at the Blue Lagoon spa and had dinner at the spa’s Michelin-starred restaurant. After three days of hiking on the ice in the freezing cold, it was a beautiful, very cozy place to land. I chose the vegan tasting menu and the plant-based steak was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, vegan or otherwise.
LIFE LESSON: Don’t go it alone. (Not a new lesson, but one I keep forgetting.)
LIVE EVENT: My new book, Who Could Ever Love You, came out in September. Although it’s the third book I’ve written since 2020, it is the first to be released when we weren’t in COVID lockdown. My very first event was at the 92nd Street Y and my friend, the brilliant Judy Gold, moderated. It was such an honor to be at that legendary place.
FUNNIEST MOMENT: I traveled to Hudson, Ohio for a stop on my mini-book tour and ended up at hotel kind of in the middle of nowhere. The only restaurants within walking distance were a Wendy’s, a burger place, and a Cracker Barrel. I’m a vegetarian so I figured Cracker Barrel was my best option. I have never eaten so many carbs in one sitting in my entire life.
PROUDEST MOMENT: My daughter got accepted into the doctoral program for physical therapy at Tufts University, a phenomenal accomplishment made all the sweeter because Tufts is my undergraduate alma mater.
AUTHENTIC TRUTH: It is always better to know. The election provided us with clarity. I intend to make the most of that.
BEST BRUSH WITH HUMANITY: The eclipse was one of those universal experiences that reminds us that we are all capable of awe and wonder. There is nothing like sharing the experience of being stopped in our tracks by a moment of sheer magnifiicene.
BEST DECISION: Starting Mary Trump Media. As you all know, the community at The Good in Us has been the source of great solace and inspiration to me over the last three years. Expanding that community to YouTube has been tremendously validating. In addition, we’ve put together an amazing team all of which made it possible for me to survive this extremely challenging year.
It is a new year. I hope it is a happy one, but I think that will largely be up to us, and I am so grateful we’re in this together.
Have a better new year, Mary. I lost my brother to cancer in February, and my mom to cancer at the end of October. The election so close to that loss devasted me. I am hoping 2025 is better than expected.
Clarence the Angel: “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
—-”It’s A Wonderful Life” 1947
Thank you, Mary, for touching so many of us throughout these difficult years and keeping us informed, sane, and connected. Happy New Year! May you grow from strength to strength.