Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!

Wham! Bam! Book! Slam! with Jill Swenson & guests Elizabeth Rynecki & Susan J Tweit

Nan Tepper — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:16:31 GMT

I’m thrilled to kick off the Wham! Bam! Book! Slam! series with author Jill Swenson to celebrate the publication of her memoir, The Land of Everlasting Sky. This is the first of many Wham! Bam! Book! Slams! to come.

So many of the things we do are virtual these days. We often miss the chance to interact IRL, face-to-face. I do miss hugs! But virtual hugs are okay, too.

When our favorite Substack writers publish new work in print and audio, those of us who read them on Substack may miss the occasion to celebrate and get a signed copy of their latest.

The customary way to market their books involves extensive and expensive travel and aggressive marketing.

The traditional publishing industry rarely foots the bill for promotion these days. So it falls to the author to fund their own marketing campaign. This made me realize there’s an important niche to fill. Chances are the majority of our subscribers don’t live in towns and cities an author has on her book tour.

So, I’m bringing the book tour to you! It’s not a regular reading or launch, either. It’s a book event à la Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!

Our authors won’t read from their books. Instead, they’ll tell 3-4 minute stories based on our featured author’s chosen theme.

Jill Swenson’s theme is “Who ARE you?” and “WHERE are you from?”
Then, we’ll have a “Hollywood Squares” style conversation about the author’s new book with her invited guests. Technically, they’re really rectangles, not squares. Yes, I’m stickler for details, and sometimes a little controlling.
And no, Paul Lynde will not be in the center square (rectangle).
That spot’s mine.
We’ll wrap with a Q&A and as always, we’ll end with a story I’ll share.

The format for Jill Swenson’s book slam:

Introductions. That’s my job! You’ll meet our authors, and learn a tad about their books.
Storytelling! Each author will tell a 3-4 minute story based on Jill’s theme, Who Are You? Where Are You From?
Our guests will engage in a conversation about Jill’s new book.
Q&A with the audience. Don’t be shy, this is your chance!
We’ll provide the links to the author’s books. They’re all in our Wham! Bam! bookstores on Bookshop and Amazon. If you purchase a book on either platform and send WBBS your proof of purchase and snail-mail address, you’ll receive a signed bookplate from the author. I hear the USPS is “snail-ier” than ever these days. What a surprise. WBBS will earn a microscopic commission, but it adds up and helps support this project.
In keeping with our WBTYS/WBBS tradition, I’ll tell the closing story, based on Jill’s theme.

A message from our first featured author, Jill Swenson, on the theme she chose for this book slam.

Who ARE you? WHERE are you from?

What used to be considered Minnesota-nice icebreakers are now interrogation questions used by ICE. Instead of asking others these questions, I answered them myself and wrote a memoir.
I’m the great-granddaughter of immigrants who homesteaded in northern Minnesota on diminished reservation land and I’ve got a story to tell.
So do my guest storytellers, Susan J Tweit, Elizabeth Rynecki, and Nan Tepper.

Memory, Time, History on Lake of the Woods

Jill Swenson remembers asking her mother if she should take shorthand in high school. “You do not want to take dictation from men all your life.” Raised by a working mom, Jill writes her way in and out of good trouble.

We’re here to celebrate Jill Swenson today!

Jill is the author of The Land of Everlasting Sky, which can be purchased in Wham! Bam! Book! Slam’s Amazon or Bookshop stores.

Memory, Time, History on LOTW

Earthbound | Susan J Tweit

In college Tweit was the only “girl” in her botany field courses, and the guys wondered loudly and often if she could hack it. Hack it she did, graduating into a career working in the backcountry that included grizzly-bear poop patrol—collecting bear poop to dissect and learn what plants the big bears eat—fighting wildland fires with a backpack pump and pick axe, controlling the invasive bullies of the plant world, and researching the lives and habits of her favorite plant, aromatic big sagebrush. Now she writes about the wild nearby and lives where she can inhale sagebrush every day.

Susan is the author of thirteen books, and her newest book is Earthbound, A Year of Mindful Connection in Nature. It will be published on October 20, 2026 and may be preordered in Wham! Bam! Book! Slam’s Amazon or Bookshop stores.

Elizabeth Rynecki asks inconvenient questions and digs up stories history somehow misplaced. She divides her time between being a writer, filmmaker, podcaster, business owner, wife, mom, and cat herder, which pretty much means most days you'll find her spending too much time doom scrolling and wondering why there are never enough hours in the day.

Her book, Chasing Portraits can be purchased on Amazon. The documentary by the same name is available there for rental or purchase. Elizabeth’s oral history novel, Fern Court Fiasco is coming out in March 2027 (IndieSpark). As soon as it’s available for pre-order, our listing will be updated.

Ink Trails

Nan Tepper is the creator of Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! She’s memoirist-in-chief at The Next Write Thing. She styles stacks for writers on the Substack platform. She’s living her dreams, writing, designing, and being a kosher ham on stage. She recently discovered that she’s lusted for the spotlight since childhood, so now she’s making up for lost time.

One of these days, Nan will get back to writing her memoir-in-progress. Nan’s essay, “Are You My Mother?” will be published in an upcoming anthology, Every Mother’s Daughter, due to be released in Fall 2027. Of course, she’ll be scheduling a book slam for the contributors.

As soon as it’s available for pre-order, I’ll be sharing links and QR codes.

Can you blame her? It’s my in-print debut.

I can’t wait to add my copy to its place of honor on my bookshelf!

Our Wham! Bam! Book! Slam! events are free to all.

Support the authors. Buy their books.

We need paid subscribers to help us cover costs to run all the monthly story slams at WBTYS.

If you prefer, you can buy a ticket.

If you can’t afford either option, but want to see the live show, DM Nan.

Help this project grow by spreading the word. There’s more than one way to support Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!

We have a fiscal sponsor, the nonprofit arts organization, Fractured Atlas. Direct donations made in WBTYS’s name are tax deductible as permissible by law in the U.S.

Law? Do we still have that here?

Watch our WBTYSlam replays:

This is Not Your Mother's E.D.

It's July. Our theme is Freedom or Fear? I Choose Freedom. You?

Nan Tepper — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:59:34 GMT

Yes, the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago. But you know what else happened in July a long time ago?

Bastille Day. July 14, 1789. Ah, oui, the French Revolution.

I love the French. Marie Antoinette got cake in the face, and then, oops, she lost her face and her jolie coiffure! Quel dommage! Or was it?

I can’t wait to read ’s take on this.

I’m thinking a whipped cream pie à la mode in the face for the Orange Buffoon. Maybe it’ll even out his skin tone.

I digress. I mentioned pie, that’s all it takes. Yum. Peach, please.

The United States of America is as far from “united” as we’ve ever been, except for the Civil War. I always wondered why it was it called civil. It was anything but. Now, this country has topped itself in demonstrating how low certain factions can go. We’re inches away from hitting bottom. We’ve got the Orange Buffoon and his cast of clowns to thank for that. I’ve never been as mortified or as angry.

But they want us to be paralyzed by fear. You know what I say? Fuck that.

I won’t give them the satisfaction, not for a day, not for a minute.

That’s what’s on my mind. But our storytellers this month can use the theme in any way they like.

The stories don’t have to be about ‘Murica at all.

Fear can be a healthy emotion when used sparingly and for things we need to be mindful of. But when fear is taken to an extreme, I’ve found it terribly unhelpful.

Living in fear is not the way to go. Swing out, sisters! Get your brave on. We’re here for you. We can’t let bullies get in our way. Especially now.

We’ve got work to do, things to celebrate, and idiots to ignore. It makes them really mad when we laugh at them. I alternate between LMAO and OMFG. In between those bouts, I dine on carefully resourced media bites that keep my outrage alive.

If you haven’t been to a slam yet, this is your chance to see what we’re made of.

Get your ticket or become a paid subscriber today.

The slams come packaged with all the feelings. There may even be a couple you haven’t felt before.

If you couldn’t make the last one, here we are. Again!
We’ll be here for every month that follows.
We have our theme calendar for 2027 set.
Some spots are still available for our slams from September to December.

If you feel an unquenchable thirst to join us on our virtual stage to tell your story, you can sign up for a slam today!

Storytellers

is a storyteller, writer, actor, musician, mosaic/mixed-media artist, and fledgling witch at Mel’s Messy Love Lab. She lives with her black cat, Shadow, mostly off-grid in Fiddletown, CA. If you want to collaborate with her, the project has to include play, community, and creativity and Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! passes the litmus test!

Mel's Messy Love Lab

Amie is a 57-year-old writer who is too stubborn to want to write a snarky bio on demand. This is definitely not because of menopause. She is editing an anthology about eating disorders in midlife women titled This Is Not Your Mother’s Eating Disorder, producing an associated documentary, and is hard at work nurturing a menopause coven to topple the patriarchy.

Bridget Young is not a mama bear. She is a mama wolf who refuses to perform in the circus. A mother, a psychologist, and the creator of Black Sheep Mom on Substack, she questions everything she has ever been taught.

Black Sheep Mom

Christine is a visual artist, social and environmental activist, and writer. Born into an eccentric (think Coen brothers meet Bergman) family, she became familiar with the absurd early in life. Once she figured out the key to happiness is self-acceptance, she’s rocking her golden years.

Unconditioned

Claire was born in Gouda — that place from the famous Dutch cheese — lived two decades in Paris, married an American in Italy, slow travels the world as a nomad, and is in love with Japan. She published six books. She’s mainly funny when she doesn’t intend to be.

Wander, Wonder, Write

Claire’s books are listed on Wham! Bam! Books! Bookshop or Amazon shop.

Elizabeth Yoffe is an independent documentary producer, a writer, an artist, and a stroke survivor. She has come to relate deeply to the lyric from Bowie’s “Changes: “Ooh, look out you rock ‘n’ rollers… pretty soon now you’re gonna get older”, while reveling in the joy, freedom and clarity of post-menopause.

Emboddity

Word enthusiast with a passion for rhymes, books, art, Gloria Horton-Young is a companion in mischief, avid political debater, daring adventurer who forgoes the safety helmet every single time.

She Who Stirs the Storm

Lisa St. Lou is singer-songwriter and comedy writer at the “no fucks to give” part of her life. Finding humor in middle age, ex-pat life in France, and reflections on being married to (and divorced from) a megalomaniacal narcissist. But it’s funny.

Laughing Matters

To the chagrin of some, I’ve written about family, love, and friendship, abortion, rape, cancer, and eating disorders, all in the service of learning to be a better human. I have a story collection, Shout Her Lovely Name, a NYTs notable book. And a memoir, Community Chest.

read.write.eat

Natalie’s books are listed on Wham! Bam! Books! Bookshop or Amazon shop.

Professor Meredith is a historian, writer, and professional overthinker who spends an alarming amount of time yelling about gender, politics, and pop culture. When she’s not ruining nostalgic myths for the public good, she can usually be found talking about Star Trek, Taylor Swift, or why the past is never as dead as people keep insisting.

Bitchy History

Rosana has been called a hippie. She calls herself a Flower Child, her name for the hidden generation between Boomers and Gen X. A semicolon lover who will fight for the Oxford comma —and a liberal user of em dashes and disdainer of AI — she was made in Argentina, raised in Illinois, and found her people in San Francisco.

Flower Child

Nan Tepper is the creator of Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! and Wham! Bam! Book! Slam! She’s memoirist-in-chief at The Next Write Thing. She styles stacks for writers on the Substack platform. She’s living her creative dreams, writing, designing, and being a kosher ham on stage. She recently discovered that she’s lusted for the spotlight since childhood, so now she’s making up for lost time!

What’s your story?

The slams come packaged with all the feelings. There may even be a couple you haven’t felt before.

If you couldn’t make the last one, here we are. Again!
We’ll be here for every month that follows.
We have our theme calendar for 2027 set.
Some spots are still available for our slams from September to December.

If you feel an unquenchable thirst to join us on our virtual stage to tell your story, you can sign up for a slam today!

Become a paid subscriber, because paid subscribers see all the shows (12 & bonus events) for $100/year.

Or, you can buy a ticket for each slam.

$12.50 for every one but men.

They pay $15. Ever heard of the wage gap?

If you can’t afford either option, but want to see the live show, DM Nan.

Help this project grow by spreading the word. There’s more than one way to support Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! You can buy a ticket to the show or become a paid subscriber (you get in to the live show for free). Or you can sign up to tell a story.

We have a fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas. Direct donations made in WBTYS’s name are tax deductible as permissible by law in the U.S.

Law? Do we still have that here?

This is great. Sign me up!

And did you hear the news?

I launched Wham! Bam! Book Slam! yesterday. Book events with a twist.

Watch our slam replays:

Wham! Bam! Book! Slam!

Nan Tepper — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 21:46:47 GMT

We’re branching out a bit to expand our offerings.

I’m excited. Read on, dear writers & audience members.

You’re a writer on Substack.

You publish YOUR book. Now, you have to promote YOUR book. The publishing world isn’t what it used to be. In the olden days, publishers did more and spent more to promote their authors. They paid publicists and they covered travel expenses for book launches and readings.

Now, only the big names get that kind of treatment.

Authors have to foot the bill to go out into the world to get their books into the hands of readers.

Who might get left out of the chance to see you IRL?

Your readers on Substack. Our audience. Chances are they don’t live in a city or a town that’s on your book tour schedule. That’s a lost opportunity for both of you.

So, we’re bringing the bookstore/book tour to your readers here. And it’s not a regular reading or launch, either.

It’s a book event à la Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! To fill that need, we’re offering book events here in our virtual bookstore.

If you write on Substack and have a new book–or not so new, or you’re about to, this is a destination everyone can access.

In keeping with the spirit and intention of the Wham! Bam! community, you do have a feminist mindset.

We won’t be spotlighting books that celebrate tradwives and the manosphere.

A thing you may not know about me:

I’m a bookseller at heart. I sold books for years. There’s nothing better than putting a beloved book into a reader’s hands. Once a bookseller, always a bookseller.

You should see me switch into tidying and alphabetizing mode when I’m in any local bookstore. I can’t shake the habit. I don’t really want to.

Starting in July 2026 we’re doing book events. Launches. Giveaways. Readings. Kind of. Kind of, because we’re adding a twist to the old cocktail.

The twist?

Storytelling. It’s a mini-slam!

Instead of coming to hear you read an excerpt from your new book, talk about your writing process and chat with your readers, we’re asking you to do this a little differently than doing a more traditional launch.

And it goes like this…

I do the Introductions. It’s my job!
You, the author, invite 2 or 3 Substack writers to participate. They have published books, or soon-to-be published books. And they write on Substack, too.
It’s time to tell your stories. Each will tell a 4-minute story based on a theme you choose to open the event.
Then, we’ll have a “Hollywood Squares” style conversation about the author’s new book with your invited guests. And technically, they’re really rectangles, not squares.
Now it’s time for the Q&A. Audience members, don’t be shy, this is your chance!
We’ll provide the links to all of the books. They’re listed in our Wham! Bam! bookstores on Bookshop and Amazon. If audience members purchase a book on either platform and send us their receipt and a snail-mail address, they’ll receive a custom signed bookplate designed by me and signed by you. Wham! Bam! will earn a microscopic commission, but it adds up and helps support this project.
In keeping with our slam tradition, I’ll tell the closing story based on your theme.
So lovely authors, you may want to wait and check out a couple of these book slams, OR you may be more like me and jump right in.
Reserve your spot soon, because this idea has you so excited you don’t want to miss your chance to shine, to celebrate with us. Fill out the form linked here and get yourself on our calendar. For now, I’m planning 1-2 book slams a month in addition to our regular monthly slam. I’ll be announcing our July event on Friday, and I have another 4 book slams schedule through next spring and fall. So, when are you doing yours?

Reserve my book event!

What we provide:

Custom graphics for promoting your event. Created by designer Nan Tepper.
Promotion in our event posts. They go out to my ever-growing community on WBTYS and to my personal stack, The Next Write Thing. That’s an audience of over 3000 subscribers.
Ability to cross-post to your Substack readers.
Regular Notes posted on Substack and posts on Instagram.
Event creation on Luma for free audience reservations.
Custom-designed bookplates for your bookbuyers.
Private email blasts promoting your event.
Branded video of your event and individual reels of each writer’s story for your personal use and theirs.
Pre-recording with each writer for back-up (in case of tech-glitches, they do happen sometimes)
Storytelling coaching if needed (hourly fee for sessions with me).

What you provide:

YOURSELF! And your chosen guests.
An email list of invitees
Headshots and snarky bios for you and your guests.
Book titles for you and your guests
Donation of 1-3 copies of your book for a giveaway. Your guest authors can donate, too.
Promotional copy that YOU write about your theme and your book.
Full engagement in promoting your event.

If you want to do the WBBS Twist with us, schedule YOUR book slam, complete the form, make a $100 deposit to reserve your spot on our calendar, and subscribe to Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!

For a limited time, the fee for the event is $250 for one author spotlight with guests. If you’d like to include your invited guests into the mix for a focused look at each of you and your books, the fee goes up to $150/person, for a total of $450. If you cost-share, it’s more of a savings. Your balance is do when we finalize the date for your book slam.
In 2027, the event price will go up to $400. If you want to bring your two guests in to cost share, the fee goes to $750.

I’ll work with you when we touch base. The fee is a marketing expense, for sure, but one that will surely pay off.

If you need to use a different payment method, DM me, but please fill out the form.

Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! takes place the third weekend of each month. That’s the only weekend we won’t schedule book slams.

We’re happy to accommodate requests for weekday and weekend events.

Talk to me. We’ll make this happen.

To our audience members:

If you’ve been enjoying the OG version of Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! you’ll love this new spin. Wham! Bam! Book! Slams are free to attend, and you’ll come away with some great reads to add to your book stack!

And, one of you might win our book drawing. You never know.

Kill the Patriarchy! The Replay.

Nan Tepper — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 11:03:29 GMT

Living in the 4th Quarter

I know a bunch of storytellers who were more than just in, they were all over IT. And here are the stories they shared. It was an amazing slam, and yes, I remembered to hit “record” and there were mix-ups…well, one. I muted Amy Bee by accident in the middle of her story! Jeanne, my lovely pal and video editor repaired the glitch, and Ms. Bee isn’t holding a grudge. A little duct tape can do wonders…

We told angry stories telling of the inequality we’ve endured for millennia?
We told hopeful stories about what’s possible.
We talked about how patriarchy has systematically destroyed the planet, creating one war after another and leaving absolutely nothing good in its wake?
There was a story about an unusual dad, decades ago, who empowered his daughter to aim high and go after her dream instead of doing what everyone else does. She rocked the science fair!
We told stories about how we can raise girls and boys as equals, supporting creativity, encouraging strength and gentleness, heart and vulnerability?
There was laughter? Yes. Whether it’s laughter that turns to tears, or tears that yield laughter, we’ll be together sharing the stories of our lives.

If you couldn’t make it to the live slam this time, we’re delighted to share the full-length recording , or you can savor the individual stories one at a time.

At Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!, we don’t disappoint.

Thanks to all the people who joined us at our live event. You help us make this happen every month.

If you’ve got the itch to perform on our virtual stage you can sign up for a slam. You do have to be writer here on Substack, with your own publication website.

Watch the show in full, or scroll beyond it to see each storyteller’s video.

However you choose to approach it, enjoy!

Storytellers in order of appearance:

Dana is the author of The Uncluttered Mother. Since midlife, she has been discovering more and more things to let go of, including outdated beliefs and pesky self-sabotage.

Minimal Monday

Jane McGuinness is an author, psychotherapist, hiker, and former 1950s housewife who decided to set her world on fire beginning with her divorce. The blaze continues to burn this summer as this intrepid Aussie packs her life into a storage unit and sets out across the globe in search of adventure. She writes All Things Moderation, and published her memoir, Always Hungry, in spring of 2026.

All Things Moderation

Socially awkward, overthinking misfit who’s 6-word story was “found an island; burned a bridge” for most of her life. Turns out Amy Bee’s a late bloomer and now she’s burning down a lifetime of shame and guilt by telling true stories live onstage. She co-founded In a Nutshell Storytelling, WILDCARD story swap, and the Nutshell True Story Hour podcast because, and I quote: “FUCK YOU, MOM!”

This Might Go Terribly

Carrie Kaufman is a journalist, radio host, performer, pain-in-the-ass mouthy woman. She has done a lot, achieved a fair amount, and has little money to show for it. But she does have two kick-ass daughters who know their worth.

You're Overthinking It

An essayist, sometime podcaster, and debut storyteller, Jane focuses on topics around aging, but in her head, she is younger than springtime.

Dina Honour is an American abroad, currently hanging her hat in the shadow of the Berlin wall. She writes books, essays, and excellent birthday cards. Her sub, American Woman, is home to essays about all things feminine. Meet her there and she’ll tell you a story.

American Woman

Terri Sunflower’s song, first,

and then, her story.

TerriSunflower, a singer-songwriter and lover of words, waxes poetic on her Substack to muse and prattle on much longer than the average 3 minute song allows. Her songs, poetry, and stories capture her sense of place as a desert dweller, of coming out later in life, finding love and loss, the patriarchy and protest as well as such things as humoring the illusive need for rest and mastering menopause (as if!!).

TerriSunflower's Musings

Susan Kacvinsky is a modern mythologist flying her broomstick through the compost heap of the collective unconscious, gathering our most outrageous stories, and showing how they become our personal experience of life, and of course, the news. You know: our worldview. She can frequently be heard muttering: “How on earth do we still believe this shit?”

Modern Mythology

Amy Gabrielle is normally a peace-loving proponent of non-violent conflict resolution, except in the case of patriarchy, which should be killed like the motherf*cker that it is. While Amy’s preferred method of murder is by pithy satire, she proactively pleads the fifth, requests a lawyer and has an alibi. When she isn’t causing mischief and mayhem, Amy can be found writing at her kitchen table or doing a livestream to promote her new memoir, Widow in the City, A Memoir of Heartbreaks and Hookups. Available in our Wham! Bam! Bookshop, on Amazon or wherever you prefer to purchase your books.

Absolute Pleasure

Wyrd Sister has PhDs in feminist ranting, whimsical decorative cake theory, and procrastination with a minor in circumlocutionary storytelling (via the generous use of em dashes, Melvillian tangents––including parenthetical asides––and footnotes). She enjoys wearing pajamas in the afternoon and repeatedly reheating her forgotten half-finished decaf tea throughout the day while she writes. She lives alone (half the time) with her collection of malnourished houseplants (and the rest of the time with a feral 8-year-old boy).

Wyrd Sister

Wyrd Cakes

Author, activist, and journalist. Soraya Chemaly is the author of Rage Becomes Her, The Resilience Myth and the newly released, All We Want is Everything. Would rather laugh and dance than cry. Petty is my middle name.

Unmanned

Professor Meredith is a historian, writer, and professional overthinker who spends an alarming amount of time yelling about gender, politics, and pop culture. When she’s not ruining nostalgic myths for the public good, she can usually be found talking about Star Trek, Taylor Swift, or why the past is never as dead as people keep insisting.

Bitchy History

is a storyteller, writer, actor, musician, mosaic/mixed-media artist, and fledgling witch at Mel’s Messy Love Lab. She lives with her black cat, Shadow, mostly off-grid in Fiddletown, CA. If you want to collaborate with her, the project has to include play, community, and creativity and Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! passes the litmus test!

Mel's Messy Love Lab

Nan Tepper is the creator of Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! She’s memoirist-in-chief at The Next Write Thing. She styles stacks for writers on the Substack platform. She’s living her creative dreams, writing, designing, and being a kosher ham on stage. Her current obsession is making gifs, as evidenced by the animations sprinkling her websites. She recently discovered that she’s lusted for the spotlight since childhood, so now she’s making up for lost time! What’s your story?

Join us at the next live show on July 18, 2026 for Freedom or Fear? Because this July 4th, we’ll be celebrating (?) the 250th birthday of the United States, but lately, it feels more like we’ll be attending a wake or sitting shiva. Let’s do that together. We want to be free, and the key is to show no fear at all. Because that’s what want. They want scare us into submission. Fuck that.

The slams come packaged with all the feelings. There may even be a couple you haven’t felt before.

We’ve posted our 2027 theme calendar, and the rest of 2026 is coming with some surprises. There will be an announcement about new offerings, apart from the monthly slam. I’m so excited. If you watch the whole show here, you’ll get a teaser.

If you feel the urge to join us on our virtual stage, to tell your story AND you have a Substack publication, you can sign up for a slam.

There’s more than one way to support Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! Help us grow by spreading the word. You can buy a ticket to the show or if you become a paid subscriber (you get in to the live show for free).

Or you can sign up to tell a story.

We’ve obtained a fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas. Direct donations made in WBTYS’s name are tax deductible as permissible by law in the U.S.

Law? Do we still have that here?

Be a paid subscriber, because…

Or you can buy a ticket to any show.

The last few slam replays:

I’m hosting and telling a story at Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! on Sat. June 20, 5pm ET.

Nan Tepper — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:55:04 GMT

Storytellers: Amy Bee, Carrie Kaufman, Dana Laquidara, Dina Honour, Jane McGuiness, Jane Trombley, Amy Gabrielle, Professor Meredith, Soraya Chemaly, Susan Kacvinsky, TerriSunflower, Wyrd Sister

Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! is an online feminist storytelling event created & hosted by me, of The Next Write Thing and Style YOUR Stack.

All the stories are 4-minutes long. That’s about 500 words, give or take.

It’s amazing how much we can say in a story that’s tightly structured.

Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! has created a meaningful space for women. We need that more than ever right now. You’re going to like what you hear. I’m betting you’re going love it.

If you’d like to come to the live show, but can’t spring for a ticket right now, DM Nan Tepper on Substack and I’ll send you a guest ticket. The door to our Zoom Playhouse is always open!

The Kill the Patriarchy story slam is on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 5pm ET on Zoom. The doors to the Zoom Playhouse will open at 4:50pm (ET). The show starts promptly on the hour. You’ll have to figure out your time zone; I’m not that good at math.

Join us Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 5pm ET

Get your ticket on Luma!

Or you can become a paid subscriber. You’ll get a free ticket to every show.

Event Calendar 2027!

Nan Tepper — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:59:01 GMT

Can you believe it? I’m posting the themes for 2027!!

It’s much sooner than we realize.

There’s a new slam every month and we’re adding some other fun events to our offerings. All will be revealed.

If you’re a feminist and you publish on Substack, come tell a story or two at the slam.

There are 10 storyteller spots available for each show. They fill up quickly.

Are you an audience member looking for great entertainment?

Shows are at 5pm ET on the third Saturday of the month in our virtual Zoom Playhouse.

C’mon, you know you want to do it. Click the button to sign up for your chosen slam(s).

Yes, it seems so far off, but 2027 is only six months away.

See the theme descriptions below, and tell me you’re in.

Come tell a story. You can do it.

If you’re more inclined to be an audience member, you can buy a ticket to any live slam, but if this is right up your alley and you plan on attending a bunch of them or all of them, you can become a paid subscriber for a much better value, and see each live slam for free. You’ll be supporting the work of this project.

We’ll never turn anyone away from seeing the live show. if they can’t spring for a ticket (it’s the only thing we charge for) or become a paid subscriber, DM me, and tell me you want to go.

I’ll comp you. No questions. No borders.

Don’t Eat That, You’ll Get Fat!

January 16, 2027 at 5pm ET

How many times have you heard that in your lifetime? Yeah. Me, too. As a woman in recovery from disordered eating, I have plenty to say about how our culture insists on bodies that conform to a standard that’s mostly impossible to achieve. Did you start dieting at 7 years old, because you grew up learning disordered behavior around food? Have you ever thought, “If only I could take off these last 5, 10, 50 pounds, my life would finally be good.” But then you did, and life wasn’t that different. Because the truth about who you are has nothing to do with your measurements. Nothing. Share your story.

Hags & Crones

February 20, 2027 at 5pm ET

When some man spews the word “hag” at you as an insult, what’s the image that comes to mind? Maybe a gnarled old woman with a wart sprouting wiry hairs on one side of her huge crooked nose, and whiskers sprinkling her chin? A pointy black hat? A witch stirring a bubbling brew in her cauldron?

Yes? Me too, until recently.

I’ve embraced the words hag and crone, because yes. I am. I tweeze the couple of hairs that grace my chin from time to time, and gaze at my wattle with gratitude and joy. I am fully alive!

Those two words, hag and crone, mean something different to me than the old trope. Wisdom, power, promise, and unbridled creativity.

I want 10 fabulous Hags or Crones to come tell their stories. How has aging changed you? Are your later years the best years of your life? Mine are.

In less than an hour after arriving at with this theme, and teasing it out to a few people, four storytellers have already signed up.

Come stir your cauldron with us. We’ll cook a strong brew and raise a toast to each other and what we know and have to share.

Who’s Your She-ro?

March 20, 2027 at 5pm ET

March is Women’s History Month. So we’re telling stories about the impact of the She-roes in our lives. When you were a kid, who did you love? Was there a woman in your life who was your hero? Someone you wanted to emulate? Someone who inspired you? Who was your shero? Was it a teacher? A grandmother? Your mom? A public figure? I had more than one.

As far as well-known women go? Eleanor Roosevelt. Especially when I was a kid. Always and forever.

How Can I Help?

April 17, 2027 at 5pm ET

This slam is about our lives as caregivers. Because yes, we are the caregivers. How do you feel about that? Who have you taken care of? Who are you tending to now? A parent with dementia? A father with cancer? A child with special needs? Did you do it from a place of love? Or obligation? Or a little bit of both?

With all that caregiving, do you remember to take care of yourself?

Men-O-Pause!!

May 15, 2027 at 5pm ET

I’m a big fan of the double entendre. Remember zero dicks? Yeah. That got some folks riled up. That means we’re doing a good job.

For this one? Of course, the central theme is menopause. Peri or Full. Let’s hear about your symptoms. The night-sweats, the brain fog, the floods and the droughts. The wild mood swings, the rage, the loss of libido. The day you threw away your last tampon. Did you take HRT? Do you? Or did you miss that boat because of the incomplete studies that warned us away?

The relief, when it’s over once and for all. Or did you feel grief?

And, if you have a story of pausing from men, you can tell that one, too.

Whose Choice Is It, Anyway?

June 19, 2027 at 5pm ET

I remember bodily autonomy. I remember legal abortion. Easily-accessed birth control. Do you? You probably do.

We didn’t lose those rights until recently. I remember the Roe v. Wade SCOTUS decision, hard-won in 1973, that finally provided an avenue to safer abortions and bodily autonomy, so women would stop dying on back-alley kitchen tables from botched procedures.

I was 11 when Roe was enacted. Today, I’m 65, and I’m outraged.

I worked at Planned Parenthood in the early 2000s and one of my jobs was escorting frightened patients through the always-present crowd of sign-waving, praying, screaming protesters at the clinic.

Tell us your choice stories. We all have them.

How Many Steps, Exactly?

July 17, 2027 at 5pm ET

This slam is devoted to telling our recovery stories. Our sobriety stories. What we discovered about ourselves when we put our obsessions down and learned to live full lives. Whatever the road to recovery was for you, 12-step, or some other solution, we want to hear what you want to share. Food, drugs, alcohol, gambling, money, sex, workaholism, dysfunctional thinking. The things we chose to distract us from our pain and our trauma, so that we can discover our truly beautiful selves. The selves we kept buried for far too long.

What’s your life like now?

Hey, Sister!

August 21, 2027 at 5pm ET

I never had a sister, I got a brother, instead. He’s good. I love him. I wonder sometimes what it might have been like with a sister, instead. I once dated a woman who was an identical twin. And I worked for her sister. I can’t imagine having an identical sister. That would be scary, don’t you think? Two of ME, in the world. One’s enough. So, tell me a story about your real live sister, or the sister of your heart. Because we all have one of those.

Sisters, sisters. There were never such devoted sisters!

The Semicolon Stories

September 18, 2027 at 5pm ET

September is suicide awareness and prevention month. You may be wondering what punctuation got to do with this topic? Well, there’s my long answer. For now, here’s the shorter answer. The founder of Project Semicolon chose this symbol in 2013 because:

“A semicolon is used when an author could’ve chosen to end their sentence but realized they had more to say. The author is you, and the sentence is your life.” ~ Amy Bleuel, founder Project Semicolon

Many of us have been touched by the suicide of a family member or a dear friend, and some of us have survived our own attempts or dealt with suicidal ideation and depression. We’ve chosen to adorn our bodies with semicolon tattoos in support of our lost loved ones. The tattoo signals that we’re safe to talk to should we encounter a person who’s struggling.

I have a bracelet of 32 semicolons circling my left wrist. You can talk to me anytime.

I’m grateful that I stayed to say more; if I hadn’t, I’d be missing out on all of this.

You don’t need a semicolon tat to perform in this slam; you just need the story.

Are You In or Are You Out?

October 16, 2027 at 5pm ET

This is a call to the queer community on Substack. We want everyone (as long as you hold feminist values and have a publication on Substack. We’re breaking the zero dicks guideline for a second time in a year! Might that constitute a trend?

Women, men (cis & trans), lesbian, gay, bisexual, nonbinary, intersex. If your definition of queer falls under this umbrella or parasol, you’re invited to come out and tell your stories. If your definition of queer isn’t among the ones I’ve noted, but it’s yours, come on out and tell us! Allies, you’re in the audience for this one.

Gee, What Middle Class?

November 20, 2027 at 5pm ET

This one. This one. It’s all about income inequality. It’s about those of us who’ve struggled to pay the bills, often have to work more than one job, or have suffered the indignities of the joke of a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. They think we have little worth. It hasn’t been raised in 27 years. But the cost of living? That continues to soar; it’s skyrocketing now, and the rich?

They’re shooting their phallic projections into outer space while people starve.

How do we make ends meet when the middle class has all but vanished? How do we survive when the corrupt, uncaring billionaires get rich on our labor by exploiting us?

I’m not in the mood for cake.

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Thanks A Million!

December 18, 2027at 5pm ET

This one’s about gratitude. There’s so much to be grateful for. Some days, it’s easy to forget. My big gratitude fantasy is that by the time this slam rolls around, we’ll be dancing in the street celebrating the fall of the evil regime.

There are so many things to be grateful for. It could be a tiny gratitude. Witnessing the first crocus bursting through a thin layer of snow or lying in your bed at the end of winter with the windows cracked, so you don’t miss the first song of the peepers announcing the arrival of spring.

It could be a huge gratitude for the family that loves and accepts us just the way we are, or for the roof over our head, the wagging tails of the puppies who give us more love than we might deserve. I write down 10 things I’m grateful for every night before I go to sleep. Sometimes I repeat myself but there are plenty on that list. Writing them down keeps me present to the blessings in my life.

What are you grateful for?

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This is our planned second year of programming for Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!’s feminist storytelling events. Subscribe for free. You’ll be kept in the loop about our upcoming slams and you’ll be supporting our work.

And, if you’re really excited about what we’re doing, you can become a paid subscriber, catch every live show for free, and help support the work.

PS. We’re cooking up some surprises that haven’t hit the calendar yet, all the more reason to keep track of us. Solve the FOMO problem. Subscribe now.

Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! has a fiscal sponsor now. A arts nonprofit called Fractured Atlas serves as our umbrella so our fans can make donations that are tax-deductible for US citizens. Another way that you can offer your support.

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Slamone Talks About Killing the Patriarchy

Slamone de Beauvoir — Fri, 29 May 2026 13:54:14 GMT

Ah, the sweet spot that is June. Long, balmy summer days filled with the smell of barbecuing, the taste of ice cold lemonade, and the refreshing satisfaction of killing the patriarchy.

The definition of patriarchy as defined by Merriam-Webster is: a social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line.
Broadly: control by men of a disproportionately large share of power.

So basically, men rule and girls drool. But only if men say drool is cool. And only if they’re girls. Women are often filled with their own opinions in regards to drooling on command.

BOO TO GROWN ASS WOMEN AND THEIR OPINIONS ON SPITTLE!

As far back as 411 BCE, Athenian playwright Aristophanes wrote a “comedic” play about a group of women sick and tired of Athens and Sparta being at war. They rally around Lysistrata, who proposes a “sex strike” of sorts…no intimate relations or physical affection until the men get serious about keeping the peace. The elders of the group take over the Acropolis and the treasury and don’t you know, hijinks ensue. They cut off the money to fund the war and voila! Between no nookie and no cash, the men lay down their weapons and end the feud.

If only it were that easy. And no, I wasn’t there. I’m old, but not THAT old.

My OG alter-ego Simone was most verbose on the topic of equality. She insisted that there was nothing in women’s biology or psychology that made them inferior; it was all a societal construct. It was instituted by men who wanted a support system to enable them to chase transcendence. You know, exploring their potential and greatness. Being out in the world showing off your tail feathers means someone else has to stay at home and do all the shit you don’t want to do…aka immanence. Holding down the fort and doing all the repetitive soul-sucking stuff. That’s why one must take a wife! (See essay below by my esteemed colleague, Judy Brady, on this topic).

Most of this pact has been decided by social tradition. That and the fact that women have been expected to fall in line. Not pursue higher education in order to devote themselves to family life. That’s where the oppression rears its ugly head because educated women have a tendency to recognize their options. They discover the female archetypes that men use to define them (wifey, mommy, sexy librarian) rob them of their individuality. Smart women contain multitudes and any man of character should appreciate that their female partner is a human above all else.

Old JP (Jean-Paul Sartre, obvi) and OG Simone had an open relationship where they agreed to not succumb to societal expectations. JP was hardly a feminist, but he respected Simone’s intellect enough to run almost every piece he wrote by her before he published it. They never cohabitated; they would meet often in cafes and smoke and talk about their affairs and solve the world’s problems. This arrangement lasted 51 years. Pretty successful pairing, all things considered. She wasn’t pining for a new oven, she was exploring transcendence!

Enough about old school notions, where are we now? NOT GREAT. We still have yet to elect a female leader, in fact two qualified candidates recently both lost to the WORST PERSON ON EARTH. Sorry if you were thrown off by weird laughs and pantsuits, hope you like $6 a gallon gas and endless war in the Middle East. Please enjoy your criminalized miscarriage. Good luck trying to vote with your husband’s last name. That is, if voting is still a thing and not some sort of AI stunt theater brought to you by Elon and the DOGE cowboys. “Government Efficiency” depends on women birthing more workers and shutting the fuck up. Elon is doing his part; he has fourteen children. With names like X AE A-Xii, Exa Dark Sideræl, and Techno Mechanicus, I’m sure they are an absolute delight to be around.

But all is not lost, friends. Come join us on June 20th to discuss the patriarchy and our thoughts on its inevitable demise. There will be smart people, music, and mayhem…it will be a grand party that you can attend in your casual wear. And it’s in the afternoon, so bring your vodka-spiked lemonade. Bring some snacks too, you do you!

Get your tickets today…

TICKETS

or become a paid subscriber, because…

Judy Brady’s essay, “I Want A Wife,” became an instant classic when it first appeared in 1971 in the premier issue of the feminist magazine, Ms. , told Nan that she taught it to her former high school students.

Nan was 10-years-old in 1971, a very hopeful baby feminist, who spent her allowance on that first issue. She wishes she still had it, but like her youth, it’s long gone. But her dreams of equality will never fade and she’ll never stop fighting for that.

I Want A Wife By Judy Brady 1971 Ms Ms Magazine

92.5KB ∙ PDF file

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Here’s a fun essay by writer Maggie Trinkle published in Ms., a follow-up to Brady’s, 49 years later.

It's June. So, It Must Be Time to Kill the Patriarchy.

Nan Tepper — Tue, 26 May 2026 10:31:38 GMT

I‘m in, are you?

I know a bunch of storytellers who are more than just in, they’re all over IT.

“IT” is the mess that the patriarchy has created.

We’re pissed and we’re over IT. We’re here to create something new.

Will there be angry stories telling of the inequality we’ve endured for millennia?
Will we talk about the horrifying threat of the withdrawal of our right to bodily autonomy? Our RIGHT to VOTE? Talk about patriarchal. These rights we’ve been granted by daddy. As if we need permission to exist and thrive and pursue our dreams.
Will there be hopeful stories about what’s possible? The old dog-eat-dog, every man for himself nonsense has got to stop.
Will we talk about how patriarchy has systematically destroyed the planet, creating one war after another and leaving absolutely nothing good in its wake? Nothing except death, homelessness, starvation, trauma, ruined towns and cities, and the acquisition of what isn’t ours to take?
Will there be a story or two about unusual parents, decades ago, who empowered their daughters to aim high and go after their dreams instead of doing what everyone else does, because it’s expected by virtue of our sex?
Will we talk about how we can raise girls and boys as equals, supporting creativity, encouraging strength and gentleness, heart and vulnerability?
Will there be laughter? I’m planning on it. Whether it’s laughter that turns to tears, or tears that yield laughter, we’ll be together sharing the stories of our lives.

We won’t know what will be revealed until June 20th, so get your ticket and attend our next slam.

If you haven’t been to one yet, this is an opportunity to see what we’re made of.

At Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!, we don’t disappoint.

Living in the 4th Quarter

Come hear these stories. The slams come packaged with all the feelings. There may even be a couple you haven’t felt before.

If you couldn’t make the last one, here we are. Again!
And, we’ll be here for every month that follows.
We’re already planning our 2027 theme calendar.

If you feel the urge to join us on our virtual stage, to tell your story AND you have a Substack publication, you can sign up for a slam.

Storytellers

is a storyteller, writer, actor, musician, mosaic/mixed-media artist, and fledgling witch at Mel’s Messy Love Lab. She lives with her black cat, Shadow, mostly off-grid in Fiddletown, CA. If you want to collaborate with her, the project has to include play, community, and creativity and Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! passes the litmus test!

Mel's Messy Love Lab

Socially awkward, overthinking misfit who’s 6-word story was “found an island; burned a bridge” for most of her life. Turns out she’s a late bloomer and now she’s burning down a lifetime of shame and guilt by telling true stories live onstage. She co-founded In a Nutshell Storytelling, WILDCARD story swap, and the Nutshell True Story Hour podcast because, and I quote: “FUCK YOU, MOM!”

This Might Go Terribly

Carrie Kaufman is a journalist, radio host, performer, pain-in-the-ass mouthy woman. She has done a lot, achieved a fair amount, and has little money to show for it. But she does have two kick-ass daughters who know their worth.

You're Overthinking It

Dana is the author of The Uncluttered Mother. Since midlife, she has been discovering more and more things to let go of, including outdated beliefs and pesky self-sabotage.

Minimal Monday

Dina is an American abroad, currently hanging her hat in the shadow of the Berlin wall. She writes books, essays, and excellent birthday cards. Her sub, American Woman, is home to essays about all things feminine. Meet her there and she’ll tell you a story.

American Woman

Jane McGuinness is an author, registered psychotherapist, hiker, and former 1950s housewife who decided to set her world on fire beginning with her divorce. The blaze continues to burn this summer as this intrepid Aussie packs her life into a storage unit and sets out across the globe in search of adventure.

All Things Moderation

An essayist, sometime podcaster, and debut storyteller, Jane focuses on topics around aging, but in her head, she is younger than springtime.

Amy is normally a peace-loving proponent of non-violent conflict resolution, except in the case of patriarchy, which should be killed like the motherf*cker that it is. While Amy’s preferred method of murder is by pithy satire, she proactively pleads the fifth, requests a lawyer and has an alibi. When she isn’t causing mischief and mayhem, Amy can be found writing at her kitchen table or doing a livestream to promote her new memoir, Widow in the City, A Memoir of Heartbreaks and Hookups. Available in our Wham! Bam! Bookshop, on Amazon or wherever you prefer to purchase your books.

Absolute Pleasure

Professor Meredith is a historian, writer, and professional overthinker who spends an alarming amount of time yelling about gender, politics, and pop culture. When she’s not ruining nostalgic myths for the public good, she can usually be found talking about Star Trek, Taylor Swift, or why the past is never as dead as people keep insisting.

Bitchy History

Author, activist, and journalist. Author of Rage Becomes Her, The Resilience Myth and the newly released, All We Want is Everything. Would rather laugh and dance than cry. Petty is my middle name.

Unmanned

Susan Kacvinsky is a modern mythologist flying her broomstick through the compost heap of the collective unconscious, gathering our most outrageous stories, and showing how they become our personal experience of life, and of course, the news. You know: our worldview. She can frequently be heard muttering: “How on earth do we still believe this shit?”

Modern Mythology

TerriSunflower, a singer-songwriter and lover of words, waxes poetic on her Substack to muse and prattle on much longer than the average 3 minute song allows. Her songs, poetry, and stories capture her sense of place as a desert dweller, of coming out later in life, finding love and loss, the patriarchy and protest as well as such things as humoring the illusive need for rest and mastering menopause (as if!!).

TerriSunflower's Musings

Wyrd Sister has PhDs in feminist ranting, whimsical decorative cake theory, and procrastination with a minor in circumlocutionary storytelling (via the generous use of em dashes, Melvillian tangents––including parenthetical asides––and footnotes). She enjoys wearing pajamas in the afternoon and repeatedly reheating her forgotten half-finished decaf tea throughout the day while she writes. She lives alone (half the time) with her collection of malnourished houseplants (and the rest of the time with a feral 8-year-old boy).

Wyrd Sister

Nan Tepper is the creator of Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! She’s memoirist-in-chief at The Next Write Thing. She styles stacks for writers on the Substack platform. She’s living her creative dreams, writing, designing, and being a kosher ham on stage. She recently discovered that she’s lusted for the spotlight since childhood, so now she’s making up for lost time! What’s your story?

Be a paid subscriber, because…

or you can buy a ticket for this slam.

We obtained a fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas. Direct donations made in WBTYS’s name are tax deductible as permissible by law in the U.S.

Law? Do we still have that here?

The last few slam replays:

Mothers & Daughters: The Replay.

Nan Tepper — Mon, 18 May 2026 10:44:59 GMT

YOU CAN'T SINK THIS RAINBOW

The live event was fabulous.

Then, a mishap occurred. Here’s what I learned.

I can’t always control Mother Tech or anything else.

If you prefer to skip the essay, scroll past for videos.

The Mothers & Daughters slam was spectacular. Watch the stories and applaud the storytellers.

The Story Slam we create is more than simply a performance. More than an opportunity to strut one’s stuff. The slam is a place to grow. In intentional and not so intentional ways.

The intentional way? To do something new, even if it scares you, and find out that it’s not as scary as you thought. You grow as a writer and a performer. You become part of something greater than yourself.

The unintentional? When things go wrong, an opportunity is created for serious growth. We can grow as a community and as individuals. I grew last night and today, because things went wrong. I had no control of the first thing. The second thing that went wrong required an apology that may not be accepted. Remains to be seen.

There’s no full recording of the show. That’s the second time this has happened.

The first time was a couple of months ago. I forgot to hit “record.” An oversight. I was devastated, but it yielded positive change. The meeting is set to start recording the minute I enter the room. Now, we record the stories in advance of the live performance in case something goes wrong. We do that before each show.

A tech glitch on Saturday froze my computer. I couldn’t escape. I couldn’t see the Zoom room, though I could hear everyone . I was mortified to lose control over the situation in front of a room full of storytellers and audience members who were witnessing my distress and my rising shame. The only one it seemed to be a big deal for was me.

I switched to my laptop and came back to the room.

Due to the glitch, I was reminded of a crucial lesson I learned in my 12-step work.

The lesson’s a big one. This is it: most things are beyond my control.

I grew up with a perfectionist gene; I come by it naturally. My parents were perfectionists, too. Thinking I have control over everything is a survival mechanism and a false core belief.

There’s value in my perfectionism when I apply it to my design work. That job requires attention to detail.

When things don’t go perfectly, I descend to the flip-side of my perfectionism. Failure Black or white. No grace given. Success or failure.

Instead of “Oops, we had a technical glitch, let’s move on,” everything felt ruined.

That was before I knew we didn’t have a recording because of the crash.

My Zoom co-host, Mel Moseley, burst through my mounting shame response to engage the audience to get me to pause and take a breath. To recognize that I was among friends. Everything was okay. It was beyond my control. The audience members unmuted their mics to encourage me to let it go.

I’m a recovering codependent and control freak. When I’m steeped in my codependence, I have a need to take care of others, to overdo the care and service I give, to do things for free because I want to be loved, to want everyone around me to be happy all the time. It’s an affliction.

I forget that I’m allowed to have flaws and make mistakes. I’m allowed to be human.

I’m not beating myself up today for that. I’m happy to come to this realization. I’m grateful for Mel’s intervention in the moment when I wanted to disappear.

I thought I had my control issues and codependent behaviors licked. I do 12-step work, after all. But they’re hard habits to break; it takes mindfulness, practice, prayer, and meetings. I want to do this healing work for the rest of my life. Because my life depends on it.

When I discovered that we had no recording, I flew into survival mode, fight or flight.

I came up with an action plan to mitigate the disaster. I’d record a new intro, introduce each storyteller. I’d do the intermission patter. I’d thank our sponsors. I’d add my comments on value and supporting the slam. All of that was lost, so it had to be my job to fix it. We were going to produce a patchwork reel.

Of course, I’d be transparent about what happened.

I can’t recreate what happened at the show. Even if we did the show again, it would be completely different.

I received love and support from the people in the room on Saturday. A bunch of us stayed after the event ended. We chatted about control, about the world, about life. That’s the community I envision. It’s connection.

When I woke up this morning, I abandoned my ~~great~~ idea. Jeanne and I got to work, branding and uploading the pre-recorded videos. I let it be.

I have to take better care of myself in order to show up for this project to serve it well. I need to relax. I may need to do less of some things and more of others.

I need to trust the evolution of this work. I need to remember we’re new. A start-up. I want to stay fresh and open to discovering what works and what doesn’t, and that requires a willingness to stretch. To be real. To be me, even with my flaws. I can’t be perfect. There’s no such thing.

The Mothers & Daughters slam was spectacular. Watch the stories and applaud the storytellers.

I’ll do this again a month from now, and the month after that. I can’t control what happens, I can only show up and do my best. All I can do is the next right thing.

Thank you for the kindness, the love, and the patience.

xoNan

Storytellers in order of appearance:

MEL'S MESSY LOVE LAB

THE HI STACK

ONLY CONNECT

THE ARMCHAIR JOURNALIST

PERSONAL STATEMENTS

YOU'RE RIGHT, I DO LOOK TIRED

SURRENDERING TO SAPPHO

THE JOY LUCK CLUB

WANDER, WONDER, WRITE

DISTRACTED BY PRETTY THINGS

WOMEN AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS

WHAM! BAM! THANK YOU! SLAM!

STYLE YOUR STACK

THE NEXT WRITE THING

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Help this project grow by spreading the word. There’s more than one way to support Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! You can buy a ticket to the show or become a paid subscriber (you’ll see the live show for free). You can sign up to tell a story.

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Slamone Talks Mothers & Daughters

Slamone de Beauvoir — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:31:09 GMT

“There is no such thing as maternal “instinct.” The word does not in any case apply to the human species. The mother’s attitude is defined by her total situation and by the way she accepts it.”

A quote from The Second Sex, my groundbreaking text about feminism. In 1949, these were revolutionary thoughts. Some may find them a bit harsh even today. But the point I was trying to make was that being a mother is a fine choice, but it is just that: A CHOICE.

Even the most excited new mother isn’t microchipped with a guide book. Sure, one can leaf through What To Expect When You’re Expecting, attend classes, and listen to well meaning elders, but inevitably you take a brand new human home and your one job is to keep it alive. Daunting.

What if that’s a job you didn’t choose or want? In 1949 women were not only expected to be fruitful and multiply, they were expected to bask in the glow of doing the selfless work of mothering. I know I could not imagine compromising my freedom in such a fashion. Children can sense when they are considered to be an obligation.

Even the most seemingly devoted mothers slip into being overbearing on occasion. You can’t spell SMOTHER without MOTHER, as they say. It’s a slippery slope to be involved and supportive and manage to give a girl some space to fuck up and learn things on our own terms. Your way ain’t always the right way, Mommy Dearest. It’s just your wire hanger-less way.

“I’m not against mothers. I am against the ideology which expects every woman to have children, and I’m against the circumstances under which mothers have to have their children.”

What can I say? I was on a roll. Still holds true.

The bond between mothers and daughters can be quite powerful. The mere notion of creating a tiny replica of oneself and then setting it out in the world is wild. How do you honor their independence and let them make their own mistakes? How do you sidestep thrusting your unfulfilled dreams down their throats? How do you get them to make a sex tape so your whole family can benefit by gaining fame for doing nothing?

I think that last one is only directed at Kris Jenner. I digress.

Because the world has been stingy with treats of late, I’d like to call to your attention that our fearless leader Nan Tepper has honored me with place not only in her heart, on her masthead, but on her person, as well. On her left forearm, to be exact.

Please note my knowing smile.

The Mothers & Daughters themed slam was the first to fill up. In a flash! Storytellers want to share, presumably because everyone has a mother and it’s always a hot topic. Some have daughters. Some stories are comical, some get complicated. Each is a unique swirl of the two women involved. Come experience it for yourself on May 16th at 5 pm EST.

^^^^^^ Look at them. These mothers. Do you think they’re happy? ^^^^^^

Could be. I shrug and grimace in my tres Français way. My guess? They might want to write a book about overthrowing the patriarchy; the patriarchy that only wants the servitude of women and the breeding of more servants to their evil plans. The mère-fuckers.

Get Tickets!

Find out more

Mother's Day is in May. So, It's Time for the Mothers & Daughters Slam!

Nan Tepper — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:32:54 GMT

Our April show, Death & Taxes, was wild.

We talked about evading death and evading taxes.

Evading death? Not so easy.

Evading taxes. Easier. But maybe not so smart.

See Death & Taxes Replay

When I announced the Mothers & Daughters theme for 2026, storytellers filled the open spots in record time…and I have the waitlist to prove it.

Everyone telling a story for this slam is a daughter. Our mothers were daughters, too.

Why is our most formative relationship often the most complicated?

Which of us is going to say their mother was their best friend? How many of us might feel jealous? How many of us won’t believe them? And who will tell a harder story? One that’s not so rosy. Most of us love our mothers. And sometimes we hate them. Our mothers love us, but sometimes they hate us, too. Hate is such a strong word.

We often find that we mirror each other’s worst faults and best qualities. I know that’s true for me.

We’re gathering to tell those stories, the ones about the women who brought us into the world, through birth or adoption, and the ones about the daughters we’ve raised.

I’ve never been a mother to another human being. I’ve loved plenty of dogs & cats. I won’t have a parenting story to tell, but yes, I have a mother, too.

Even when I don’t like her and she’s not liking me very much, I’m pretty sure that underneath it all, we love each other.

Come play with us. Hear these women’s stories. These slams come packaged with all the feelings. There may even be a couple you haven’t felt before.

If you enjoyed the last slam, this is your next opportunity to enjoy.
If you couldn’t make the last one, here we are. Again! And, guess what…
We’ll be here in April, May, and June.
And every month that follows.

After you’ve the seen the slam, if you feel the urge to join us on our virtual stage and tell your own story and you have a publication on Substack, send me a message.

I’ll put you on my handy-dandy spreadsheet.

And now, we have a fiscal sponsor. Direct donations made to WBTYS are tax deductible as permissible by law in the U.S.

Law? Do we still have that here?

See the last few slams:

Death & Taxes. The Show!

Nan Tepper — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:02:02 GMT

We did it again! Death? Taxes?

We slayed. But did we pay?

We’ve been told that the only two things we can count on are Death & Taxes. I’m pretty sure that’s true about death. Not as certain about the tax part. I sure as hell don’t want to fund the disaster we’re witnessing now.

Scroll down for all the stories and the full recording of the slam.

A message to feminist writers who publish on Substack.

This slam’s for you.

Come play with us. Come listen. Come watch. The slams come packaged with all the feelings. There may even be a couple you haven’t felt before.

If you enjoyed the last slam, this is your next opportunity to enjoy.
If you couldn’t make the last one, here we are. Again! And, guess what…
We’ll be here in May, June, and July…
And every month that follows.

After you’ve the seen the slam, if you feel the urge to join us on our virtual stage and tell your own story and you have a publication on Substack, send me a message.

And you don’t have to come to a slam, first. If you already know you want to do this, DM me, now.

I’ll put you on my handy-dandy spreadsheet.

If you prefer to watch the show in its entirety, scroll to the bottom of the post.

You’ll find it after the individual stories of each writer.

I decided to tell two stories this time because there was more than one option and I couldn’t choose. I started with Taxes to open the show and ended with Death, as we all must do one day. We are each shown in order of appearance. Enjoy!

Here it is, the entire show. I want to offer this project with no paywalls and only charge for the live show.

A paid subscription entitles you to a free ticket to every slam (at a deep discount) or you can buy a ticket. Those options help subsidize this space for people who might not be able to afford a ticket. My policy is to accommodate anyone who wants to come see it happen, regardless of ability to pay.

DM me to let me know you want to come to show. No questions asked.

Those of us with a little more need to step up and support others who may have less. It’s a core value I want to share and inspire.

Generosity works in all directions and can be expressed in many ways.

SUPPORT THE SLAM

Enjoy the show!

Be a paid subscriber, because…

or you can…

BUY TICKETS!

Help this project grow by spreading the word. There’s more than one way to support Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! You can buy a ticket to a show or become a paid subscriber (you get in to the live show for free).

You can sign up to tell a story.

We now have a fiscal sponsor. Direct donations made to WBTYS will be tax deductible as permissible by law in the United States.

Law? Do we still have that here? Coulda fooled me.

Slamone Talks Death and Taxes

Slamone de Beauvoir — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:02:21 GMT

Slamone would be remiss if she remained silent on the Lindy West kerfuffle…so many words and thoughts about her polycule that feminists are shaking their fists about! I’ve been listening to her latest audiobook (I need both hands free to sip scotch and puff and pass judgment). So many people wringing their hands over polygamy. Just let her do as she pleases. Who among us hasn’t had a change of heart to make someone else happy? Just because reading Shrill made you feel like she was your bigger body-positive girl power hero doesn’t mean she has to make the same decisions that you do. At least she’s honest, a rare trait that should be commended.

I’m glad I was too poor to marry, it saved me a lot of explaining as to why I took so many lovers. And in France we understand that sexual dalliances make for good stories!

‘Til death do us part brings me to the first half of this month’s theme: DEATH. You know, as in “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

This quote is attributed to Benjamin Franklin. I have a hard time remembering all the old American guys in wigs, but they put him on the one hundred dollar bill and he wasn’t even president so that indicates he probably stood out as a proper gentleman. Hamilton only rated the ten spot, but he did get a Broadway show a mere 225 years after he died.

I offer my own quote on death: “It is old age, rather than death, that is to be contrasted with life. Old age is life’s parody, whereas death transforms life into a destiny: in a way it preserves it by giving it the absolute dimension.”

Slamone never feels old. I always feel eternal. Speaking of old age and taxes, how much do you think might be accomplished if some old white billionaires paid taxes? NBD, just throw in a mere pittance of your wealth for affordable housing, clean energy, education, health care…what Jeff Bezos spent on his wedding could provide college scholarships for thousands of students. Or millions of school lunches. And those two cyborgs are already rumored to be squabbling over money. What a waste.

I will also accept churches paying taxes as a strategic upgrade. Didn’t Jesus help the poor or is that particular book out of print now?

Instead of the “buy, borrow, die” strategy to avoid capital gains where the elite invest in appreciating assets and borrow against them to keep themselves in diamond-crusted pickle forks, Slamone proposes they skip to the end and just die. Or as Abigail Thomas suggested at our last slam, let’s bury them up to their necks in the desert and let the ants eat their faces. Quelle soirée!!!

Are you getting back some money from the government this year? Would you like to see it go somewhere positive and life-affirming? Consider investing in a female-owned and operated story collective by either buying a ticket to our April 18th show or becoming a paid subscriber to WBTYS with a monthly or yearly option.

Or maybe you have a tale to tell…if you publish here on Substack and identify as female, or nonbinary, peruse here and drop us a message. And when I say “us,”I don’t mean me. I’m too busy flitting about to do anything to be helpful. I just randomly appear when I deem salty commentary to be appropriate.

A bientôt!!!

More info!

Get tickets

Death & Taxes. Is It April, Already?

Nan Tepper — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 11:03:11 GMT

BUY TICKETS!

Our March show, E.R.A. Now, Dammit! was phenomenal.

So, we figured we’d bring you phenomenal, again.

It’s April, and it’s tax season if you have the misfortune of being a citizen of Trumpstakistan.

Oops. Did I just call it that? If he’s putting his name on our money, I promise, the U.S.A. is going through a major re-brand. Don’t tell him about Monrovia, for goodness sake. Because then, he’ll cite precedent.

There’s really no difference between a Trump Hotel and the whole fucking nation, and gee, we’ll all get gold-plated toilets and Big Macs for life. That’ll be swell.

I digress.

How do YOU feel about funding this fascist, I mean “federal” government?

And, what about death? Does death frighten you? Or are you at peace, knowing that one day we all end? What’s your take?

I’m not currently aware of a workaround for dying, unless the billionaires know something we don’t. Because, dude, those guys are terrified of death.

GET TICKETS

Come play with us. Hear these women’s stories. These slams come packaged with all the feelings. There may even be a couple you haven’t felt before.

If you enjoyed the last slam, this is your next opportunity to enjoy.
If you couldn’t make the last one, here we are. Again! And, guess what…
We’ll be here in April, May, and June.
And every month that follows.

After you’ve the seen the slam, if you feel the urge to join us on our virtual stage and tell your own story and you have a publication on Substack, send me a message.

I’ll put you on my handy-dandy spreadsheet.

Be a paid subscriber, because…

or you can…

BUY TICKETS!

Help this project grow by spreading the word. There’s more than one way to support Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! You can buy a ticket to a show or become a paid subscriber (you get in to the live show for free). You can sign up to tell a story.
And now, we have a fiscal sponsor. Direct donations made to WBTYS will be tax deductible as permissible by law in the U.S. Law? Do we still have that here?

See the last few slams:

E.R.A. Now, Dammit! The Replay? Kinda.

Nan Tepper — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:26:39 GMT

Scroll past this part to go to the stories…but don’t, because this part’s pretty great.

Wow. Just wow. This was one of the best story slams I’ve ever participated in.

I’m going to jump right in and I’ll tell you what went wrong, first. Then, I’ll move on to all the things that went so very right. Even the thing that went wrong turned into something beautiful.

The thing that went wrong? I forgot to hit record. Really. Really and truly.

Didn’t record it.

When I shut down our Zoom Playhouse for the night, I expected the video to start downloading. But. NOTHING. My heart jumped when I realized that I didn’t have it. Any of it. This magnificent 90 minutes, gone. A reminder that things are indeed impermanent. And it was a whisper in my ear to stay connected to mindfulness.

The funniest part was that when our Zoom Maven, , and I met before anyone got to the room, we made a special note out loud to each other not to forget to push that little button labeled “Record.” Oops.

For me, a miracle occurred. I didn’t go to that horrible place of self-flagellation or calling myself a loser. I didn’t go to a place of blame (though Slamone could have been an easy mark), none of my old stuff came up. I didn’t run to my fridge or pantry to feed the discomfort or shame, because there wasn’t any.

Instead, I jumped into action.

The larger miracle and a perfect example of how women are able to work together to problem-solve, support one another, and get the job done. I witnessed it in real time.

I reached out to every storyteller on Saturday evening, right after the slam to tell them what happened. No one flipped out. Not a diva in the group. And I had a plan.

I asked each of them to meet with me, one on one, to record their stories again. From Saturday at 6pm to Sunday at 8pm, (minus a ten-hour break for dinner, sleep, the Sunday NYT Crossword Puzzle and two cups of coffee instead of my usual single, I worked with each storyteller, gathering their words, treated to a private showing and sent off each recording to my video editor and best pal. Everyone involved stepped up, gracious and willing.

We all came away knowing how special this show was.

Working with each storyteller and putting the show back together with them felt triumphant, similar to the live event we’d just offered to our audience.

Shit happens. How we deal with it is up to us. This time around, we don’t have the video of the show in its entirety.

To me, that’s another selling point for coming to the live show. Or not. But let me tell you, the people who did come were gifted with an experience that will stay with them for a very long time. I’m sure of it. Almost immediately afterward, I saw that a new paid subscriber. A man.

The show was breathtaking. One story after another moved me and gave me goosebumps. At one point, as I hosted, I remarked that I was having simultaneous moments of wanting to scream at the injustices, cry for the pain we as women live with every day, and laugh during the lighter moments that provided balance to the stories told, our lives reflected back to us.

You’ll see. Every story was brilliant.

Don’t miss the next one. We’re doing this thing!

P.S. If you take the time to “like” or comment on the post, please take the extra moment to restack (little spinny icon) this to spread the word to the people who subscribe and follow you. It will help us grow and get the word out to more people who might know we exist. I’m grateful for any boosts you can give.

P.P.S. As of March 2026, we were granted fiscal sponsorship from the nonprofit arts organization, Fractured Atlas. Because of that, people can now make tax-deductible donations in the U.S., to support the work of Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!

Donate!

You're Right, I Do Look Tired

If you’re a feminist writer with a Substack newsletter, and you want to tell a story at one of our themed monthly story slams, check out the theme calendar, send me a DM and sign up. We want to share our virtual stage with you. And for the time being, anyone who identifies as male is welcome to sit in the audience and hear us tell our lives.

Calendar of Themes

Let the Words Fall Out

Can't Sink THIS Rainbow

American Woman

Living Room

What Comes Next?

Help this project grow by spreading the word. There are other ways to support this project. We now have a fiscal sponsor, which means that donations made to WBTYS are tax-deductible.

If you’re a feminist writer with a Substack newsletter, and you want to tell a story at one of our themed monthly story slams, send me a DM. We’d love to share our virtual stage with you. For the time being, anyone who identifies as male is welcome to sit in the audience and hear us tell our lives.

Calendar of Themes

Slamone Tells a Scary Story

Eileen Dougharty — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 11:01:38 GMT

Slamone here to tell you kids a bedtime story. You might not sleep well afterward, because the main character is a monster.

This cautionary tale is about how sometimes women can screw over other women… and then label it family values.

Our lady monster is named Phyllis Schlafly, born in 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was a “real housewife” long before Andy Cohen ever dreamed up wealthy women throwing wine at each other on television.

But Phyllis was no trad wife by today’s standards. Not even close.

She had six children, earned advanced degrees, wrote 26 books, ran for Congress, gave endless speeches, and was extremely enthusiastic about nuclear weapons.

She was doing everything except staying at home. In short, Phyllis was a busy beaver.

But her most monstrous hobby involved equal rights for women, specifically the Equal Rights Amendment.

The ERA was first introduced in 1923, then finally reintroduced in 1972, with a ratification deadline of 1979, later extended to 1982.

And for a while, things were moving along pretty well thanks to women like Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, and lots of other women who were burning bras, demanding equality, and telling men to make their own damn dinner for a change.

There was even Playgirl magazine, which featured full frontal male nudity. Zizi everywhere!

Mon dieu! Feminism was having a moment.

But then the Phyllis monster rose from the suburban depths and decided she could not abide.

She launched the STOP ERA movement. That stands for Stop Taking Our Privileges, which is a twisted way to frame equality.

Phyllis traveled the country warning women that if the ERA passed, terrible things would happen.

Women would be drafted into the military. There would be unisex locker rooms. Unisex prisons.

And worst of all, apparently, men might have to start pitching in. GAH! The nerve.

She also warned that stay-at-home mothers would lose their special protections and that feminists were bitter radicals who were probably lesbians.

She also opposed gay rights and abortion rights, which makes it extra special that one of her sons later came out as gay. RAINBOW PLOT TWIST.

Anyway.

Phyllis spent years touring the country, rallying conservative homemakers, and warning them that if the ERA passed they might lose things like alimony protections.

She convinced enough women to oppose the amendment that the momentum slowed down.

When the 1982 deadline arrived, the ERA was three states short of ratification.

Three. Not the magic number School House Rock sang about.

Which means the Constitution came this close to guaranteeing equal rights regardless of sex… and then Phyllis smashed that shit with her sensible daytime pumps.

The housewife monster won that round. She lived to be 92 years old, behind Trump’s 2016 campaign all the way, because of course she was.

If you’d like to learn more about this ERA (see what I did there)… Slamone recommends the excellent series Mrs. America.

If you were too busy sterilizing your groceries in 2020 when it came out, now is your chance.

The Phyllis monster is played with terrifying perfection by Cate Blanchett, and you can view it on Hulu.

Yes, I know streaming services are politically complicated these days. Perhaps your phone company will pay for it. Or you can borrow a password from a conservative relative and consider it wealth redistribution.

AND/OR…

You can join us for a live all-star equal rights extravaganza on Saturday, March 21 at 5 PM Eastern.

Our modern-day storytelling feminists will share their four-minute personal tales about the long road to gender equality.

So throw off your bra, tell your family to Door Dash dinner, and buckle up.

Because unlike Phyllis Schlafly, these women are actually trying to protect and raise up ALL WOMEN. Don’t miss your chance to support them!

Get Tickets!

More info

Help!

Nan Tepper — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:01:07 GMT

Why Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!?

Remember the ERA? The Equal Rights Amendment? From the 1970s? I do. I was quite young at the time. The ERA that’s still NOT the law of the land or the world?

Remember Phyllis Schlafly? The anti-Feminist? The hypocrite. The lawyer. I do.

The devil’s spawn and a traitor to women.

She did everything in her power to burn the ERA down. We lost back then, but we never stopped fighting. It’s still not ratified and the way things have been going, I don’t expect we’ll be seeing that victory any time soon, so we need to take care of one another, not just emotionally, not just socially, but economically, too.

That means supporting one another’s ventures. Spending on women-owned businesses. Paying it forward any way we can. It doesn’t always have to be cash. But let’s face it, cash still makes things happen, gives us power, and we don’t talk about often enough.

The fascist patriarchs in this country want to take away our right to vote. They’ve already taken our bodily autonomy.

Now, we have to fight even harder because the idiots in charge want us barefoot, pregnant, stupid, and silent. They want to enslave us.

Well, I prefer to keep wearing shoes (but no socks), I’m too old to get pregnant, I’m smart, and loud, and I will never, ever stop talking, telling stories and bringing other women together to tell theirs.

If you haven’t been to Wham! Thank You! Slam! you want to check this out. It’s not just a fun playground. It’s a battlefield. But our weapons aren’t guns.

Our weapons are words. Our weapons are our wallets and our love.

The theme for this month’s slam is ERA Now, Dammit!

I’ve always been a feminist; I became one at the age of five.

How it works:

Storytelling builds community and we need community right now and always.

We’re providing a virtual stage to showcase women’s stories and women’s voices.

If you’re a feminist, a cis or trans woman, nonbinary, or a person of color, you’re welcome to come tell a story. If you’re mad as hell about the way things are going, come tell a story. The only requirement is being a writer on Substack.

Every time one of you takes the stage to tell your story, your potential audience is multiplied, because between us, we have thousands of readers. We create a video record that can be watched for years.

When you sign up to tell a story you get at least a month of free promotion from us.

For now, we’re not featuring male storytellers. Sometime in 2027, I’d like to invite feminist men to come tell their stories. I’m thinking maybe an all-male revue. Like Chippendales. Or not. Because being clothed at the slam is absolutely MANdatory.

The patriarchy is toxic and deadly; it’s divisive and cruel. We’re creating a structure that’s flexible, unifying, and non-competitive. There’s love here. A lot of the women participating in Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! have been writing about the power and purpose of building matrifocal communities. They’re teaching me so much and they’re telling their stories right here.

The Ask:

1. Become a paid subscriber. An annual paid membership comes with free entry into every monthly slam. You get 12 shows for the price of 10. And there are no ticket fees.

2. A monthly subscription gets you entry for as long as you’re subscribed. And there are no ticket fees.

3. Buy a ticket and come to the show (there are fees). Then, become a paid subscriber.

4. Make a tax-deductible donation. WBTYS now has a fiscal sponsor, a non-profit arts organization called Fractured Atlas. So now we can offer this option. Donors will receive two guest tickets for any contributions above $100. Any donation of $1000 or more will receive tickets and some fabulous merch.

5. Sign up to tell a story. C’mon. You know you want to. That’s another way to give.

6. Volunteer! We can always use some help. DM me (Nan) and we’ll talk.

Please remember, if you can’t afford to buy a ticket, let us know and you’re in. DM me.

The Players:

This is a community effort and I can’t do it alone. is a huge contributor to Wham! Bam! and to me. She’s writing great copy. She comes up with one pithy zinger after another. I don’t know how she does it.

She’s the one who named us Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!

Slamone is supposed to help, but we hardly ever see her, and is my go-to Zoom maven. Jeanne Vitale is our video editor and my oldest friend.

Some of our positions are paid, and some aren’t. All the income from subscriptions and ticket sales are going to expenses and I’m building a fund so that in the near future we’ll be able to pay honorariums to our storytellers. I haven’t spent a single cent on myself. I use my design job to fund this work.

Consider that my quarterly financial report.

Here’s the thing. I’m not great at asking for help. I like to do things my way. So this is a departure from my usual M.O.

A lot of us think we have to take the world on, solo. I don’t want to live that way anymore. It’s a hard habit to let go of, because it tends to make me feel vulnerable.

I’m fierce. I’m also a lover.

And vulnerability? It’s a superpower.

Read about our Storytellers

This month we’re featuring: , , , , , , , , , and .

Time to get your tickets for Saturday’s show!

Donate!

Sample some of the stories, or watch them all!

Life Comes Full Circle

Nan Tepper — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 14:03:32 GMT

I didn’t wear glasses when I was a kid. I used to try to fake my vision tests, I wanted glasses so badly. My brother had them. I was jealous. He looked smart.

Huzzah! It’s official!

Today, I’m a senior citizen. I think it’s hilarious. In Yiddish, I’m an alte kaker. It means old poop. It’s what Katherine Hepburn called Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond. They were goyim, they didn’t know the Yiddish.She just called him an old poop.

I can’t believe I’m this old because I feel like a kid. Oh. That’s what old people say. I’m beyond happy that I’m alive and sixty-five. It’s not my custom to publish on Sunday, but today’s the day.

On March 8, 1961, at 9:30 or 10:30, in the morning, not sure which one’s right, I emerged, two weeks late. 5 pounds, eleven ounces. 19” long. Apparently, one of my feet was malformed and had to be casted at birth. I don’t know which foot, they both seem fine. Well, the right one has a bunion, but that’s an old lady thing. I earned it.

Almost every year, my mother texts at 12:01am to be the first to wish me a happy birthday. I’ve never told her how sweet I think that is. Please don’t tell her I said that.

Every year she tells me she was in labor for 14 hours as if it was some Guinness World Record. I only asked her once if it was exciting to see me come out. Why did I ask only once? Because she missed that part; she opted for the drugs. My feelings were hurt, though in retrospect, I would have opted for the drugs, too. Never tell her I said that.

Every year, my mother tells me I was born during a huge snowstorm. She told me the storm was a blizzard. She said it was so bad, my father couldn’t make it to the hospital. My mother has a reputation for being the queen of hyperbole (as an aside, it’s possible I may be the princess. It’s a genetic predisposition).

You know what I’m going to say now, right? You don’t? Okay, you’re not going to tell her I said that, either.

There was a blizzard in 1961, it wasn’t March, it was February and yielded 17 inches of snow. It’s documented; I looked it up, today. On the day I was born, 0.6 of an inch of snow fell, the low was 32º, the high was 41º. It’s documented; I looked it up. It seems hyperbole won the day. But was it hyperbole or was it a lie? Where was my new dad the day I was born.

Hmmmm. Not sure I want to know.

This IS NOT my father on the day of my birth. This is some other dude, after the real storm. And we didn’t have a Rambler. We had a Studebaker Lark. Or did we??

After all these years, it never occurred to me to look it up until I was writing this post. I have to tell you, I’m not a bit surprised. What IS surprising is I’m not upset. I laughed. That’s important. It means that the feelings of anger and resentment I’ve carried around for most of my life about the dysfunctional family I grew up in are falling away.

There are times I think I know too much about the past. There are other times, when I think that the information I do possess has only scratched the surface of all the things I don’t know and will never learn. And today, it doesn’t matter.

The most important thing is that I’m here and I’m happy. My life is the life I always wanted. As a storyteller, a memoir writer, facts are important, but what ARE facts? What I rely on, when telling my stories are my impressions of the life I’ve lived and the memories I hold. My interpretation. That’s all I can ever have.

Facts are for the weather.

When I was a child, someone told me that I was born on a Wednesday. Then they told me that meant I was full of woe. Wednesday’s child is full of woe. Wednesday’s child had far to go. I know that one’s for Thursday’s child, but it was true for me, too. I was a sad kid, a sad teenager, and a sad adult, for a very long time.

When I heard that I was born on Wednesday, that was the fact, but I took the other piece of information and made that a fact as well. It was my brand. Sad. That’s how I lived for most of my life, carrying this core wound, this core belief.

Many of you know from reading my previous stories, that I’ve come a long way. I’ve done hard work to dispel that old belief. I fought for my life. And now, my life is mine. It’s mine.

I guess by the time these were taken, the cast was off, and I was well on my way to feeling my feelings.

So today IS the happiest day. It’s a good day. Because I can look at the last couple of years and know for a “fact” how far I’ve come, how much I’ve healed. The life I live now is the one I want. Sad isn’t my go-to, and sometimes I feel sad. But it doesn’t scare me and it doesn’t linger. I embrace the feeling and then move through it to the next one. There’s more pain in resisting the feelings, than letting them come. Sometimes, I have more than one feeling at the same time. And guess what? Feelings aren’t facts. Nothing is black and white anymore. In 12-step meetings, we speak to that, we celebrate when the black and white thinking goes away. Many say they’re grateful to be living in the gray.

Not me. I live in the rainbow. It’s a spectrum of feelings, and it’s far more entertaining. Life is vivid when you live in a rainbow.

So, I’m not going to hang with you too much longer today (famous last words). It’s my birthday, and I have some work to do before I go hang with my best friend, Jeanne. We celebrate our birthdays together every year. We were born 5 days apart, and a year. I’m the older one.

For a long time, I needed to make a big deal of my big day. It meant expensive dinners out, usually French. But if my birthday didn’t feel special enough; if not enough people got in touch, or sent me cards, or got me great gifts and baked me delicious cakes, I’d get depressed. The let-down was enormous. Not anymore.

This year, instead of spending a big wad of cash, I’m going to her house. I’m bringing my pups. We’re going to have pizza. That will be a treat, because I don’t eat it as much as I used to. She bought me seltzer, my favorite flavor. Plain. It’s Jewish that way. Flavored seltzer? I don’t think so. We’ll probably get high and watch a movie. And we’ll laugh and laugh and laugh. Because that’s what we do best together. And nothing compares to that particular brand of joy.

So, here’s a quick inventory of what I’ve gotten done this past year, because I’m proud of the work I’ve accomplished and the direction I’m heading in. Here’s the list:

Published an essay in The Rumpus. It was my first submission ever.
Got brave enough to submit again, to Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, and it was rejected! It’s official. I’m a writer.
I’m going to be published in an anthology of essays about mothers and daughters. It’s a real book I’ll put on my shelf. I’ll be in the company of some stellar writers. You’ll see, in 2027.
Writing my first memoir.
Started a GLP-1 and lost a bunch of weight. The weight loss is great, but feeling healthier is the best part for me. I’m loving my still-fat body. If I never lose another pound I don’t care. I’m perfect the way I am. I needed help to get here. Now, I have to get this ass to the gym. That’s the goal for this year.
I’m staying on the medication, because it takes the food noise away, and my A1C is normal.
I go to ACA 12-step meetings.
After 5 years (and quite a few decades) I graduated from therapy. It was time to stop, for now.
Officially retired from web design. Now I can do more graphic design, the part of the job I love the most.
Left a client I worked with for fourteen years. She helped me discover my storyteller self and gave me my first web design job. I realized it was time to do for myself what I’ve been doing for others, for years.
Started Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! an online feminist story slam.
Applied for fiscal sponsorship through a non-profit arts organization and got it, so now people can support Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! by making donations that are tax-deductible.
Published a weekly essay for my 2^nd year in a row.
Realized that continuing to write a weekly essay is more than I can produce right now, so I’m giving myself permission to write one essay a month and treat my Next Write Thing readers to the video of the monthly story slam. Cutting back was a hard decision. But I want to be good to myself and my readers.
I’m making wonderful new friends and letting go of relationships that don’t serve me.
Axed Zuckerberg and everything Meta, once and for all. I’m not ready to pull the plug on Bezos. I have to be honest about that.
Realized that I’m in love. With being single.
Love who I see when I look in my mirror, and I look at all of me now, not just my face.
Learned how to make and keep boundaries.
Have a solid relationship with Grace, my higher power.
Not afraid of those bullies. You know who I mean. I’ll be damned if I give them the satisfaction. I have a life to live, and lots to do, including fighting the forces of evil, just like Wonder Woman.
Making a difference.
I’m forgiving my family. I never thought I’d get to that place.
My 5-year-old self and my teenager. are safe and happy.
My inner loving parent is doing a great job.

Last, but not least:

I have everything I need and always did. I just had to figure that out.

Thank you to all of you who read my stories, comment, and share. You give me more than you’ll ever know. You blow me away.

Oh, and the thing I love the most about my birthday?

It’s also International Women’s Day. See, I was a feminist from my very first day on the planet and I’ve got the paper to prove it.

xoNan

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Slamone Slams Into Spring!

Slamone de Beauvoir — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 12:02:19 GMT

Salut, mes petits amis! First, I wish to wish an early joyeux Nanniversaire (see what I did there?) to la grande dame du slam, Nan Tepper, who celebrates her birthday tomorrow. I will raise a tall glass of scotch in her honor when I complete this missive. And a bit of birthday gâteau? Don’t mind if I do.

Also, let there be more light! Tonight is when Amérique springs forward an hour for some archaic reason. Too bad they moved the political clock back decades in the wrong direction! I could never envision myself in servitude to another human, especially a man who couldn’t recognize that my abilities are just as valuable as his. Quel dommage, probably why I remained single and was known to kiss hot girls on occasion.

In my native France we have been ensuring equal pay for equal work in our Constitution as far back as 1972. And we are working on the future for our female population with legislation requiring companies to have at least 30% of the management be women. In 2027, it will be 40%. We have parity laws enforcing gender balance in elected leaders and transgender healthcare including puberty blockers and hormone therapy are available. We even have a law against street harassment named after our former minister of gender equality, Marlene Schiappa.

Does the land of the free and the home of the brave have a minister of gender equality? Ca c’est drôle, just kidding. Here they are trying to prevent women from voting with some nonsense about married last names. Yet another reason to never be wed.

Thank goodness for Alysa Liu modeling how to be a (s)hero. She agreed to return to skating after retiring at 16, but only if she was fully in control of how she looked, what she ate, and all aspects of her creative expression. She wanted skating to express her JOY, not an unreasonable standard of perfection focused on scores. She went on to win gold with her tiger-striped hair and her newly found freedom. Félicitations, Alysa!

Here’s hoping Persephone breaks free of Hades and the underworld soon so we can celebrate Printemps and the return and rebirth of life here in the mortal realm. Or so the Greeks profess. As usual, the oppressed goddess has to do all the heavy lifting.

If you’re searching for a first day of spring celebration to fill yourself with feminist spirit without leaving the house, our soon-to-be birthday girl Nan will give you all the details below.

À bientôt!

Shhhh. Don’t tell Slamone I popped in. What? She told you I’d be here? Damn. She ruins all my fun. Here’s the scoop: