@robinpayes.bsky.social
Reposted
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
This year, amid the tensions, we must also actively cultivate esprit de corps—the spirit of mutual care, shared responsibility, and collective belonging.
This piece, "the spirit of '26," is a first step. I invite you to read and join in on the conversation.
#JOY #poetry #community
This piece, "the spirit of '26," is a first step. I invite you to read and join in on the conversation.
#JOY #poetry #community
the spirit of ‘26
we have been changed for good
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:10 PM
This year, amid the tensions, we must also actively cultivate esprit de corps—the spirit of mutual care, shared responsibility, and collective belonging.
This piece, "the spirit of '26," is a first step. I invite you to read and join in on the conversation.
#JOY #poetry #community
This piece, "the spirit of '26," is a first step. I invite you to read and join in on the conversation.
#JOY #poetry #community
Transformation is the creative fuel that helps us reach beyond. This is my story:
From YA Novelist to Pushcart-Nominated Poet: A Writing Life Transformed
What’s yours?
#writing #creativity #growth
From YA Novelist to Pushcart-Nominated Poet: A Writing Life Transformed
What’s yours?
#writing #creativity #growth
From YA Novelist to Pushcart-Nominated Poet: A Writing Life Transformed
On craft, lineage, and the long arc of becoming — in conversation with Blake Kimzey of Writing Workshops
remembertheworld.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Transformation is the creative fuel that helps us reach beyond. This is my story:
From YA Novelist to Pushcart-Nominated Poet: A Writing Life Transformed
What’s yours?
#writing #creativity #growth
From YA Novelist to Pushcart-Nominated Poet: A Writing Life Transformed
What’s yours?
#writing #creativity #growth
What are you reflecting on in this time of transition? This is a great time to reflect before moving forward: what is real and what is distortion?
Where you choose to put your focus? How will you act on it?
Happy New Year! #newyear2026 #reflections
Where you choose to put your focus? How will you act on it?
Happy New Year! #newyear2026 #reflections
Holding Two Streams: Reflections at Year’s End
On attention, story, and repair in uncertain times
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:26 PM
What are you reflecting on in this time of transition? This is a great time to reflect before moving forward: what is real and what is distortion?
Where you choose to put your focus? How will you act on it?
Happy New Year! #newyear2026 #reflections
Where you choose to put your focus? How will you act on it?
Happy New Year! #newyear2026 #reflections
Happy holidays, no matter how--or when--you celebrate!
NVN Monday: A HOLY TIME OUT
by Robin Stevens Payes* The perfect Christmas for those of us who do not celebrate has always been a matinee followed by egg rolls and stale fortune cookies cracking open to commemorate this year of t...
thenewversenews.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Happy holidays, no matter how--or when--you celebrate!
The Jewish Festival of Lights falls during the year’s dimmest days. Which makes the tradition of lighting candles--one each night for eight nights--all the more essential.
Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate! #chanukah2025 #memories #FestivalOfLights
Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate! #chanukah2025 #memories #FestivalOfLights
A Chanukah Present
Eight nights that flame up the darkness with joy
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The Jewish Festival of Lights falls during the year’s dimmest days. Which makes the tradition of lighting candles--one each night for eight nights--all the more essential.
Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate! #chanukah2025 #memories #FestivalOfLights
Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate! #chanukah2025 #memories #FestivalOfLights
As a writer, if it's hard sometimes to put myself--and my work--out there.
But with the holiday season upon us, here we go:
I invite you to explore the Edge of Yesterday series. It was written as both adventure and compass—a multiverse for curious minds.
#holiday #books #teens
But with the holiday season upon us, here we go:
I invite you to explore the Edge of Yesterday series. It was written as both adventure and compass—a multiverse for curious minds.
#holiday #books #teens
Being a Writer Means Business
Just not the kind you think
remembertheworld.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I’m honored to share that my poem “Women’s History 2025: Say Her Name” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The New Verse News. May we continue to name the truth, honor those who were never heard, and help bring an end to the shame, silences and silencing that far too many have endured.
NVN Sunday: OUR PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEES
The New Verse News is proud to announce its nominees for the next series of the Pushcart Prize.
remembertheworld.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I’m honored to share that my poem “Women’s History 2025: Say Her Name” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The New Verse News. May we continue to name the truth, honor those who were never heard, and help bring an end to the shame, silences and silencing that far too many have endured.
“That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts together—that was the lesson one could learn in Jerusalem.” ~ Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
#nuremberg #NurembergFilm #EchoesOfHistory
#nuremberg #NurembergFilm #EchoesOfHistory
You Shall Not Follow a Multitude
What Nuremberg Warns Us About the Seductions of Authoritarianism
remembertheworld.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
“That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts together—that was the lesson one could learn in Jerusalem.” ~ Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
#nuremberg #NurembergFilm #EchoesOfHistory
#nuremberg #NurembergFilm #EchoesOfHistory
An unknown object from outside our own solar system is rocketing through space. It’s only the third such visitor that we know of to fly through.
What do we know about it? What might it signal for us? #3I/Atlas #space #science #noconspiracies
What do we know about it? What might it signal for us? #3I/Atlas #space #science #noconspiracies
SEEDING THE FUTURE: INTERGALACTIC MESSENGER
Please look up!
open.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
An unknown object from outside our own solar system is rocketing through space. It’s only the third such visitor that we know of to fly through.
What do we know about it? What might it signal for us? #3I/Atlas #space #science #noconspiracies
What do we know about it? What might it signal for us? #3I/Atlas #space #science #noconspiracies
I was looking through my writing folder the other day--searching for inspiration--and found this old prose poem, when the world was still in semi-shutdown, and a hawk was staring at me from the tree outside my kitchen.
A Lesson in Days
On Earthly rotations and Solar returns
remembertheworld.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I was looking through my writing folder the other day--searching for inspiration--and found this old prose poem, when the world was still in semi-shutdown, and a hawk was staring at me from the tree outside my kitchen.
Over the years, my phone has picked up some strange phenomena that should not be part of the picture. Orbs, rainbow streaks, dragon-winged sun rays. I've tried my best to get to an explanation behind them.
The answers are not always provable by the scientific method.
See for yourself!
The answers are not always provable by the scientific method.
See for yourself!
Releasing Memory: Writing as Alchemy
When the invisible comes into light
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Over the years, my phone has picked up some strange phenomena that should not be part of the picture. Orbs, rainbow streaks, dragon-winged sun rays. I've tried my best to get to an explanation behind them.
The answers are not always provable by the scientific method.
See for yourself!
The answers are not always provable by the scientific method.
See for yourself!
Part of my JOY in this sacred season, is that our Jewish High Holidays are infused with remembrance and cleansing.
The waters remember. They do not judge; they transform.
Our waters are as precious as life itself--are we treating ourselves that way? #sukkot2025 #storytelling
The waters remember. They do not judge; they transform.
Our waters are as precious as life itself--are we treating ourselves that way? #sukkot2025 #storytelling
From Casting Away to Drawing Forth
Water's sacred code, an accord with the heavens
open.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Part of my JOY in this sacred season, is that our Jewish High Holidays are infused with remembrance and cleansing.
The waters remember. They do not judge; they transform.
Our waters are as precious as life itself--are we treating ourselves that way? #sukkot2025 #storytelling
The waters remember. They do not judge; they transform.
Our waters are as precious as life itself--are we treating ourselves that way? #sukkot2025 #storytelling
joy /joi/, noun: a feeling of great happiness and delight (The Dictionary Project). From summer to fall, let us seed hope that we usher in a season of renewal: an abecedarian of JOY
Shifting Seasons of JOY
From summer to fall, let us seed hope that we usher in a season of renewal
open.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
joy /joi/, noun: a feeling of great happiness and delight (The Dictionary Project). From summer to fall, let us seed hope that we usher in a season of renewal: an abecedarian of JOY
Reposted
MMR vaccines do not cause autism (see my 🧵 of studies)
At the same time, one potential cause of autism is rubella, which is *prevented* by MMR vaccines.
Which means...vaccines may actually help prevent autism.
🧵
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21592401/
At the same time, one potential cause of autism is rubella, which is *prevented* by MMR vaccines.
Which means...vaccines may actually help prevent autism.
🧵
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21592401/
Congenital rubella syndrome and autism spectrum disorder prevented by rubella vaccination--United States, 2001-2010 - PubMed
We estimate that rubella vaccination prevented substantial numbers of CRS and ASD cases in the United States from 2001 through 2010. These findings provide additional incentive to maintain high measle...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
September 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM
MMR vaccines do not cause autism (see my 🧵 of studies)
At the same time, one potential cause of autism is rubella, which is *prevented* by MMR vaccines.
Which means...vaccines may actually help prevent autism.
🧵
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21592401/
At the same time, one potential cause of autism is rubella, which is *prevented* by MMR vaccines.
Which means...vaccines may actually help prevent autism.
🧵
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21592401/
Resist despair. Here we sow seeds of hope.
What seeds of joy, hope or love will you plant this week, trusting they will bloom unseen until the moment they burst open?
What seeds of joy, hope or love will you plant this week, trusting they will bloom unseen until the moment they burst open?
Tending the Inner Soil
When the world feels so heavy upon us, how do we resist despair?
remembertheworld.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Resist despair. Here we sow seeds of hope.
What seeds of joy, hope or love will you plant this week, trusting they will bloom unseen until the moment they burst open?
What seeds of joy, hope or love will you plant this week, trusting they will bloom unseen until the moment they burst open?
Part of an occasional series on my experiments with AI, its ethical and moral implications.
Robin Payes (@robinpayes)
“One of the definitions of sanity is the ability to tell real from unreal. Soon we’ll need a new definition.”
— Alvin Toffler
Part of an occasional series on my experiments with AI, its ethical and ...
substack.com
September 10, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Part of an occasional series on my experiments with AI, its ethical and moral implications.
Reposted
🧵
Jess Michaels, a survivor of 27 years, just spoke with unshakable courage before the world: for herself, for Virginia Giuffre, & for every survivor silenced for too long.
Her voice broke through decades of denial. The survivors will be silent no longer.
Jess Michaels, a survivor of 27 years, just spoke with unshakable courage before the world: for herself, for Virginia Giuffre, & for every survivor silenced for too long.
Her voice broke through decades of denial. The survivors will be silent no longer.
September 3, 2025 at 2:40 PM
🧵
Jess Michaels, a survivor of 27 years, just spoke with unshakable courage before the world: for herself, for Virginia Giuffre, & for every survivor silenced for too long.
Her voice broke through decades of denial. The survivors will be silent no longer.
Jess Michaels, a survivor of 27 years, just spoke with unshakable courage before the world: for herself, for Virginia Giuffre, & for every survivor silenced for too long.
Her voice broke through decades of denial. The survivors will be silent no longer.
Like most Americans, our family's is an immigrant story—and so much of that story lurks in the day-to-day experiences of people making a living and a life. On this Labor Day 2025, here is my grandfather’s 1890s tale.
#laborday #immigrants #history
#laborday #immigrants #history
The Measure of a Man
Imagining a new immigrant making a life in America, c. 1895
open.substack.com
September 1, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Like most Americans, our family's is an immigrant story—and so much of that story lurks in the day-to-day experiences of people making a living and a life. On this Labor Day 2025, here is my grandfather’s 1890s tale.
#laborday #immigrants #history
#laborday #immigrants #history
As we enter a season in the Jewish calendar devoted to awe and reflection, renewal and repentance, perhaps there is room to consider whether or not, there’s a prescription encoded in life itself. #wisdom #codes #humanity
The Book of Life May Be Inscribed in You
Ancient codes of wonder and repair
open.substack.com
August 21, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The JOY, dear friends, is not in the stars, but in ourselves (with apologies to Shakespeare). We are in the heart of the light. Let us meet it with courage. #LionsGate #stars #Joy
August 8: THE LION’S GATE OPENS
The annual alignment of Sirius, the Sun and the Earth reorients us to the light
remembertheworld.substack.com
August 8, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The JOY, dear friends, is not in the stars, but in ourselves (with apologies to Shakespeare). We are in the heart of the light. Let us meet it with courage. #LionsGate #stars #Joy
Portals and fragments: what if our mission is not only to mourn, but to lift up memory, to build spiritual resilience even in the face of loss. Can that lead to renewal—the birth of the new?
This is my prayer, and hope for our world.
This is my prayer, and hope for our world.
Portals and Fragments: On Wisdom and Knowing
Musings across myth, memory and this moment in time
open.substack.com
July 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Portals and fragments: what if our mission is not only to mourn, but to lift up memory, to build spiritual resilience even in the face of loss. Can that lead to renewal—the birth of the new?
This is my prayer, and hope for our world.
This is my prayer, and hope for our world.
When just getting through the day sometimes feels like a slog, I've created a personal practice to bring joy in the morning--to energize and enliven us--and open our minds and hearts even in the most difficult of moments.
Mussar of Joy: Birthday Edition
On Finding Joy in Our Times | July 23, 2025
open.substack.com
July 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
When just getting through the day sometimes feels like a slog, I've created a personal practice to bring joy in the morning--to energize and enliven us--and open our minds and hearts even in the most difficult of moments.
Reposted
Apollo 11.
Rarely seen shot of Eagle, the Moon and Earthrise, taken on this day, July 21, 1969.
Mike Collin's alternate photo is extremely well known, but this one - shown remastered and cropped - is an absolute beauty!
Rarely seen shot of Eagle, the Moon and Earthrise, taken on this day, July 21, 1969.
Mike Collin's alternate photo is extremely well known, but this one - shown remastered and cropped - is an absolute beauty!
July 21, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Apollo 11.
Rarely seen shot of Eagle, the Moon and Earthrise, taken on this day, July 21, 1969.
Mike Collin's alternate photo is extremely well known, but this one - shown remastered and cropped - is an absolute beauty!
Rarely seen shot of Eagle, the Moon and Earthrise, taken on this day, July 21, 1969.
Mike Collin's alternate photo is extremely well known, but this one - shown remastered and cropped - is an absolute beauty!
joy /joi/, noun: a feeling of great happiness and delight (The Dictionary Project)
I’ve started a new practice: begin by making a list of life’s joys, and share.
It’s turned my day around, and perhaps it will yours.
What’s your joy?
I’ve started a new practice: begin by making a list of life’s joys, and share.
It’s turned my day around, and perhaps it will yours.
What’s your joy?
ON FINDING JOY IN OUR TIMES
and creating a daily practice to live into it
open.substack.com
July 21, 2025 at 1:32 PM
joy /joi/, noun: a feeling of great happiness and delight (The Dictionary Project)
I’ve started a new practice: begin by making a list of life’s joys, and share.
It’s turned my day around, and perhaps it will yours.
What’s your joy?
I’ve started a new practice: begin by making a list of life’s joys, and share.
It’s turned my day around, and perhaps it will yours.
What’s your joy?