Petula Dvorak
@petulawrites.bsky.social
Columnist, reporter, Persister, formerly at The Washington Post
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…
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.
open.substack.com
July 16, 2026 at 6:31 PM
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…
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:
July 14, 2026 at 4:50 PM
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:
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:
July 13, 2026 at 3:48 PM
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:
More of the grievances the Founding Fathers had when they made that Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and why they wanted #nokings
July 11, 2026 at 5:05 PM
More of the grievances the Founding Fathers had when they made that Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and why they wanted #nokings
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
July 11, 2026 at 2:28 PM
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
They heard the Declaration and decided to kill Gold George
Any of this sound familiar?
Any of this sound familiar?
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.
open.substack.com
July 9, 2026 at 6:21 PM
They heard the Declaration and decided to kill Gold George
Any of this sound familiar?
Any of this sound familiar?
We've dealt with the mask thing before...
The Persisters who unmasked bigots
Since 1870, leaders fed up with racist nonsense have persisted in banning the masks that let hate hide
open.substack.com
July 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
We've dealt with the mask thing before...
Bathroom graffiti at National Airport does NOT mess around…
June 23, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Bathroom graffiti at National Airport does NOT mess around…
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.
Trump's fragile men fired these badasses
But women of the military persist. And have since 1775.
open.substack.com
June 15, 2026 at 2:48 PM
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.
AA, which began the day Bill gave Dr. Bob a beer before he performed a surgery, turned 91 today. Check out their story.
'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.
open.substack.com
June 10, 2026 at 10:43 PM
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/pub/petuladv...
The Wright Sister was a sensation in Europe. Has the U.S. forgotten her?
The Wright Sister was a sensation in Europe. Has the U.S. forgotten her?
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
open.substack.com
March 31, 2026 at 11:41 AM
open.substack.com/pub/petuladv...
The Wright Sister was a sensation in Europe. Has the U.S. forgotten her?
The Wright Sister was a sensation in Europe. Has the U.S. forgotten her?
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...
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
open.substack.com
March 28, 2026 at 2:48 PM
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...
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...
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.
substack.com
March 17, 2026 at 5:40 PM
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...
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
It’s been 12 years. Will Epstein give her case more urgency? Meet the Persisters who think so…
#blackandmissing
#relisha #sextrafficking #epstein
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?
open.substack.com
March 4, 2026 at 3:59 PM
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
It’s been 12 years. Will Epstein give her case more urgency? Meet the Persisters who think so…
#blackandmissing
#relisha #sextrafficking #epstein
This is why we love the Olympics…
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.
substack.com
February 22, 2026 at 1:38 PM
This is why we love the Olympics…
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!
The Washington Post Quit you.
Here's how we're going to fight back
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 10:30 PM
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!
The new generation of young punks have been speaking out about I.C.E….
January 30, 2026 at 9:37 PM
The new generation of young punks have been speaking out about I.C.E….
Thousands of guns at a protest? We’ve been there…
January 28, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Thousands of guns at a protest? We’ve been there…
My Giving Tuesday list is back — open.substack.com/pub/petulant...
December 2, 2025 at 10:33 PM
My Giving Tuesday list is back — open.substack.com/pub/petulant...