Midstory Spotlight: An Interview with Andra Watkins
Andra Watkins shares how she grew her Substack focused on Project 2025
No matter what your thoughts on the current presidential campaign, it’s clear that Andra’s publication is an model of how to use Substack effectively to connect with and inform a target audience and to make a difference in a crowded political media landscape.
I asked Andra about her Substack, about the election, and her advice for what we can do to make an impact.
Tell us about your Substack.
Andra:
is about the confluence of Christian Nationalism and the Republican policy proposals in Project 2025. I write about Project 2025 as a Christo-fascist manifesto to turn our democracy into a Christian Nationalist theocracy.I'm very engaged with my audience. Paid subscribers get a lot for their investments. I answer questions personally and strive to be very hands-on with my readership.
Where did you get the idea for your Substack? How did your Substack evolve?
Andra: Last year, an agent approached me to write a memoir about growing up in Christian Nationalism as the daughter of a narcissist mother. When that project was rejected for the final time last November, I found myself at loose ends. I picked up Project 2025 and started reading it. Barely a dozen pages in, I noticed Bible verses and Christian Nationalist dogma hidden in the text. At the time, nobody was talking about Project 2025 much, let alone as a Christo-fascist manifesto. I read the whole thing, marked it up, and launched my Substack in January.
My subscribers appreciate my clear explanations of Project 2025's various policy positions, but many subscribe because of my personal experiences with Christian Nationalism. I translate the language they speak and help readers understand what they mean when they say things.
For voters with little-to-no-experience with Christian Nationalism, those translations provide valuable tools to digest news items, predict future policies, and evaluate political candidates. Over 11,000 people currently subscribe, and over 15,000 people follow my work.
Tell us a little bit about your background and biography, especially about how it relates to the subject of your Substack.
Andra: I grew up in rural South Carolina. In 1974, my parents joined a Christian Nationalist church and enrolled me in Christian school kindergarten. That church would go on to become one of the founding members of Jerry Falwell Sr's Moral Majority. I was indoctrinated in the movement that gave birth to the Christian Nationalism we see in Republican circles today. I spent thirteen years (K - 12) in that school, and I attended Falwell's Liberty University my freshman year.
People often ask me how I escaped and overcame decades of indoctrination. I started asking questions after I married the Good Christian Man I was schooled to marry, and he was abusive. It escalated until I became fearful of my life. After I chose to divorce him, I believed no other Good Christian Man would marry me. That experience paved the way for me to question my upbringing. I spent the next fifteen to twenty years working on myself, though unraveling indoctrination is a life-long process.
My background gives me a unique lens to help Americans learn more about this world so that we can defeat it. And by "defeat it," I don't mean taking away their right to practice their faith. Every American has the right to worship however they choose and believe whatever they want. I mean firmly shoring up the wall between church and state and getting religion and religious zealotry out of government. No one should have the right to force others to live by the rules of a faith they don't practice or believe.
What do you most want people to know about the stakes of this election?
Andra: This election is a choice between democracy or Christian Nationalist theocratic government with an authoritarian dictator. People often don't take Trump seriously, but JD Vance is a dedicated Christian Nationalist with ties to Catholic Opus Dei. He would not hesitate to implement a theocratic fascist agenda and force Americans to be governed by laws drawn from his extreme religious views.
While it may be easy or comfortable to say, "That will never happen," Project 2025 is already happening. In many red states, people are already living in the shadow of Christo-fascist laws. Abortion bans, attacks on contraception, laws eroding the right to no-fault divorce, book bans, and transgender bans are all the implementation of Project 2025 objectives in red states. We are voting for the right to keep and strengthen our democracy versus losing our democracy in favor of a Christo-fascist dictator. This election isn't about Republican versus Democrat. It is Democracy versus Theocracy. Those are the stakes.
How has being on Substack contributed to the success of your publication?
Andra: When I came to Substack, I was starting from scratch. I wasn't known for this kind of writing. Substack gave me the tools to reach readers from Day One. I spent two months proving that I know my topic. Once I had a body of work, bigger Substackers started recommending it. I was fortunate because people were looking for information about Project 2025 in March, but nobody was writing or talking about it. Things grew quickly once I appeared on Rick Wilson's podcast and fellow Substackers John Pavlovitz and Ruth Ben-Ghiat publicly endorsed my work.
How are you feeling right now about the election?
Andra: I'm feeling very optimistic. Obviously, I've become something of a political junkie given the work I do. But that has led me to connect to grassroots groups and experts all over the country. I lean on them for news and insights and mostly ignore corporate media. We have to keep our feet on the gas through the election. If we do, I believe we stand to win by large margins. And then on 6 November, we have to get up and keep fighting for democracy. This movement won't go away, even if we defeat them in November. We must keep shoring up our democracy and shining a light on the extremism of the Christian Nationalist right.
What advice would you give to women feeling anxious about the election?
Andra: My antidote to election anxiety is getting involved. I don't have time to worry when I'm occupied. I've written hundreds of postcards to get out the vote in swing states. I give online tutorials and presentations about Christian Nationalism and Project 2025. I've taken my activism to down-ballot races. Blue24.org has a great list of winnable blue seats organized by area, and 100% of the money goes to the candidates. I was able to donate to the effort to flip Arizona blue, for example, and supported a similar platform in Michigan. Getting involved has helped me see how many people care about our country. It has given me so much hope -- the best antidote for anxiety.
What are your plans for your Substack for after the election?
Andra: As I said earlier, we won't be done with Christian Nationalism after the November election. They will still try to implement Project 2025 policies at the state level. The Supreme Court is still implementing it from the bench. I may tweak the name of my Substack, but I will continue to educate Americans about the language and objectives of Christian Nationalism and its hold on the Republican Party. We cannot defeat an enemy we refuse to understand.
 | A guest post by
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Hi Andra and Jessica,
I am a practicing Catholic. I don't often profess that publicly, precisely because so many people stereotype me according to that label. What I wanted to say here is that there are many of us who follow various forms of Christian theology who are not fascists, not nationalists. We genuinely care about all people and try to work on ourselves in a way so that we can recognize that we are not different from any other human. Many of us are actively trying to heal our own trauma because we do not want to contribute to the collective trauma in our nation or world. Please understand that Christianity itself is not the problem. It is the interpretation of Christianity by those in positions of power and authority (usually clergy, but I will not say all of the clergy are corrupt, as there are some with loving, tender hearts). I am concerned that a movement against Christianity itself might be just as dangerous as a movement to make everything Christo-centric. The truth is that we can all learn to live together and allow everyone the freedom to be who they are, believe what they believe, practice what they practice. It is possible. I know it will take generations before that can fully be actualized, but I also think each of us can make choices--within whatever religious or non-religious framework we have--to work toward peace and unity.
Andra,
Thank you for the work you are doing. I've never openly stated who I'm voting for but I want others to know it's Harris. (And I'll note I'm in AZ so hopefully that helps swing it blue).
Honestly, I've abstained voting for president for years now, I was one thinking that I hate choosing between the lesser of 2 evils.
But this time too much is on the line with Project 2025. It's slipping itself into the fabric of politics and society and people are very unaware of it. People voting for Trump, that truly feel they are doing so for the right reasons, I feel, are unaware of who backs him and who he will most likely have in his administration if he's elected - writers and backers of P2025.
I'm voting for Harris so we can keep our constitutional rights, especially as women.