TueNight 10: Sara Berliner

By TueNight Crew

In no way a career minimalist, Sara Berliner has been a puppeteer, documentary filmmaker, ethnographer, festival producer, children’s book writer, content curator, digital strategist, and always an activist. This spring she launched Vote Like a Motherto make parenthood and empathy a lens for political engagement. With t-shirts and totes inspired by a sign she made for the March for Our Lives, Vote Like a Mother funnels time/money/voices to essential nonprofits doing the hard daily work on social justice crises of all kinds.

“When I graduated college with a degree in Folklore & Mythology (yup, that’s a thing) I knew I wanted to tell stories and help other people tell theirs. Making and expressing meaning was important to me. I figured ‘my thing’ would emerge, but it turns out I’m not directed like a person who always knew they’d be a doctor. This year, I felt called to ramp up my social activism. Vote Like a Mother was the lightning striking.” Here’s her TueNight 10:

1. On the nightstand: Muji eye mask. Sunday Morning lip balm from Love + Sage. An irresistibly scented candle from Moondust Luminaries. Silent analog clock (surprisingly hard to find). Signs of Resistance by Bonnie Siegler. A papier-mached box my son made me years ago, with hair bands and miscellaneous detritus.

2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: not embarrassing easily. I was always mortified as a teenager and when I let go of that, started believing in my ideas and stopped giving a fuck, my life opened up.

3. Jam of the minute: St. Vincent’s “New York” fills me with deep but joyful nostalgia. I delivered my firstborn at St. Vincent’s Hospital, and we left NYC for the North Fork last year.

4. Thing I miss: People of color and substance in the White House. Smart people running government agencies with the goal of helping, not hurting.

5. 80’s crush: Hot damn, Matt Dillon!

6. Current crush: The ladies of Resistance Revival Chorus.

7. Will whine about: Drivers turning into crosswalks with people in them, and other affronts to basic civility.

8. Will wine about: Aperol Spritz. We only grow herbs so my husband can add mint to our Spritzes.

9. Best thing that happened yesterday: Getting sunburned at the beach with dear friends who live too far away.

10. Looking forward to: Increasing voter turnout for the midterms to elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Liuba Grechen Shirley, & many other progressive women across the US.

Originally Published July 3, 2018. Updated April 2, 2021.