Andrea Chalupa

@andreachalupa

Journalist. Writer-Producer of historical thriller MR JONES. Watch: BOOKS: Orwell & The Refugees. Mrs Orwell. Dictatorship-It's Easier Than You Think! PODCAST: @gaslitnation.bsky.social CONTACT: AndreaChalupa.com

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Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· 27d

I launched the announcement on Bastille Day, a day we celebrate in our family, because my husband is from France. (Allez les Bleus!) We met through our parents who bonded over their shared family history of resistance to tyranny. I share their heroic stories in the book.

Photo 1: Four adults pose together on a couch in a livingroom.

Photo 2: Four adults in a French city hall. Three stand behind a seated man holding a water bottle; the woman on the right carries a large bouquet of pink and white flowers.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· 27d

Big news! I have a new book called A Reasonable Guide for Unreasonable Women: 20 Steps to Find Your Purpose and Power in a World on Fire. The editor also did Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Preorder now for a tactical playbook to create the world you want www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807202...

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Jun 20

Ran into soon to be Congressman @bradlander.bsky.social at the Prospect Park Soiree. So excited to vote for him for NY 10

Andrea Chalupa and Brad Lander in their summer best

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Jun 17

Trump hijacked the 250th anniversary of the U.S., and you're paying for it. @dfriedman.bsky.social of Mother Jones breaks down how a shadow group rakes in dark money and taxpayer dollars to throw Trump rallies, with help of organizers of January 6th. Listen: www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes/jan...

Blue t-shirt that says: It's only treason if you lose -- with Trump's face on it. The headline: New Episode: January 6 Shadow on Trump's 250 Rallies

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Jun 13

Balogun was born in Brooklyn, which makes him American. From the article:

Born in Brooklyn and raised in London, Balogun represented both England and the U.S. in youth national team competitions, though he had far more caps for England. He also had the option to represent Nigeria’s national team because his parents are from the West African nation.

Photo of Balogun smiling

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Jun 8

Join me, Gaslit Nation listeners every Monday for our salons: share what’s on your mind, help shape the show, meet the community. (2 listeners on different continents met up at a Tori Amos concert!) Can’t make it live? Watch recordings anytime. Join at Patreon.com/Gaslit or GaslitNation.Substack.com

White text on cherry red background color. Text says Come as you are! Zoom Link for Today's Salon 4pm ET
Join Andrea and other Gaslit Nation listeners to share what's on your mind and GaslitNation.Substack.com

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Jun 7

Trump will be right at home in MSG among the oligarchs and Saudi princes who can afford these Knicks tickets

Seating chart of Madison Square Garden showing SeatGeek tickets priced at around $9,000 to $56,000

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· May 27

My child cut my hair when I was on a work call

A clump of light brown hair on Andrea Chalupa's hand

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· May 23

‘A Total Nightmare’: Voices From a Moscow Hit by Ukrainian Drones www.nytimes.com/2026/05/23/w...

“When all this started, I was feeling patriotic, and rooting for my country,” said Danil, 19, a university student.

Now, he added, his pride is diminished. His hands trembled as he described hearing the explosions overhead during the previous weekend.

“I don’t want to think about who is guilty and who isn’t,” he said. “This feels like a big game, and we are just low down on the totem pole. I am just a simple person, and the only thing I have from this shitty war is constant nerves.”

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· May 22

Someone in NYC took out their Android early this morning and hacked Gaslit Nation's Facebook. Or maybe they were using a VPN from Moscow. Anyway, listen to Gaslit Nation's latest episode on how Ukraine is winning the war.

Google Map-style map of New York and the surrounding area, with text from Facebook: New York, NY United States, Facebook for Android, Friday May 22, 2026 at 5:34 AM. A big blue button says: This wasn't me

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· May 20

Want to make Putin sad? Join our community of listeners and get bonus shows, ad free listening, group chats, ways to shape the show, invites to exclusive events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Discounts available! Become a Democracy Defender at Patreon.com/Gaslit

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· May 20

"To really understand this war, you've got to go back to the 1850s. That's when Russia definitively turned against the West and decided that Russian tradition and Western values were entirely antithetical to one another."

Robert Gibb, The Thin Red Line, 1881, National War Museum, Edinburgh. From Wikipedia: The Thin Red Line is an 1881 oil-on-canvas painting by Robert Gibb depicting the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854, during the Crimean War. In an incident which became known as "The Thin Red Line", a two-deep line of around 500 red-coated Scottish infantry from the Highland Brigade – with support from around 1,000 Royal Marines and Turkish infantry along with six guns of field artillery – stood firm against a force of around 2,500 Russian cavalrymen. The incident was a small one, in the context of the battle and the war as a whole, but became the focus for celebrating the stoicism and steadfastness of the British Army after Gibb's painting was exhibited

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Apr 22

Here comes sexy time!

Andrea Chalupa in sweatpants, with her messy hair pulled back into a bun, smiling for the camera

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Apr 17

Check out spring in Brooklyn!

Yellow, purple, and red tulips blooming at the base of a cherry blossom tree full of purple blooms on a sidewalk in Park Slope, with pastel colored Brownstones in the background

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Apr 13

This is tonight! Come join me and Gaslit Nation listeners for the launch of Mrs. Orwell at Powerhouse Arena in DUMBO. We're celebrating freedom fighters past and present events.ticketleap.com/tickets/powe...

Two illustrated book covers for Mrs. Orwell are shown side by side. On the left, a minimalist design features a stylized young person with short, messy dark hair, pale skin, and a neutral expression, wearing a collared shirt and vest against a plain gray background. The title “Mrs. Orwell” appears in white script near the bottom. On the right, a more detailed, warm-toned cover shows a white silhouette of a woman standing in a busy, symbolic scene filled with animals, a windmill, industrial elements, and crowds, referencing themes from George Orwell’s works. The title “Mrs. Orwell” is written in large, flowing letters at the top.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Apr 2

For some reason, I get spammed by MAGA fundraising texts. Even their voter outreach sounds like mob boss threats

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 31

If you're in NYC, come to the book party for Mrs. Orwell at PowerHouse Arena in DUMBO April 13 and get a tote bag with your purchase of the graphic novel

A white tote bag featuring an illustration of Eileen Blair from the graphic novel Mrs. Orwell

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

Gaslit Nation Patreon supporters receive exclusive Orwell-themed thank-you gifts. We could not make this show without you! Join our community at Patreon.com/Gaslit. More here: www.patreon.com/posts/video-...

Democracy Defender ($10/month) and up: message us on Patreon to receive a PDF of Orwell and the Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm, the 2012 book that gathered the Orwell research behind Mr. Jones alongside my own family’s history in the World War II refugee camps, where Animal Farm was assigned reading to children.

Fact Checker ($25/month) and up: message us on Patreon to receive The Orwell and The Refugees book, and you’ll also receive the “DVD extras” of Mr. Jones and an exclusive digital file of the movie poster. We're working on another gift for this tier and higher regarding the Epstein Files... Stay tuned.

Freedom Fighter ($50/month) and up: send us your mailing address if you’d like a signed copy of Mrs. Orwell in addition to the other thank-you gifts.

Every month, we also send a signed copy of Mrs. Orwell to one supporter at the Truth-teller level or higher, selected at random. Because we love you, and you make our independent journalism possible at a time when journalism is under attack.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

Eileen's friend Lettice Cooper wrote a novel, published in 1947, called Black Bethlehem, which features Eileen as the character "Ann" and Orwell as "Christopher." In it, Cooper described Eileen and Eric Blair: "They live by a burning morality." Here’s an inspiring excerpt on “Ann”:

A close-up photo of a worn book page from an older novel, printed in serif type on yellowing paper. The passage reflects on hope and collective struggle, mentioning “the people on the march,” the trenches in Spain, bombed cellars in Madrid and London, Russians on collective farms, and “the unborn children who shall have full scope.” The narrator contrasts Ann’s faith in a rising future with their own fear and pessimism, ending with Ann’s joyful announcement: “I’m going to have a baby!”

“I think you’re right about the initiative. The devil just
seems to start anything he likes anywhere; but how do we—
I’m assuming we’re all on the other side—how do we get it
back?”

“Oh,” Ann said, “there is an answer.”

I know Ann’s answer. It is the people on the march. It is the
brotherhood of man in the trenches in Spain, in the bombed
cellars of Madrid and London; it is the Russians on their col-
lective farms and in their factories; it is the unborn children
who shall have full scope, the lost talents that shall be de-
veloped, the stunted bodies that shall have growth and vigour.
As if daily life were a shell that she holds against her ear to
catch the sound of the sea, she hears all the time the murmur of
that advancing army. For her even in this winter of the world
the sap is rising. For me it is midwinter. I hold the shell to my
ear, but I do not hear the sea. I am afraid those advancing
armies will fight with new weapons the same old wars.

“I’ve got something lovely to tell you!” Ann said. “I’m
going to have a baby!”

We exclaimed joyfully.

“In August. Sebastian if it’s a boy and Viola if it’s a girl.
We don’t mind which.”

“Are you going on working?”

“Oh, for a long time yet. As a matter of fact we’ve got an
overdraft.”

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

Early (terrible) drafts of Mr. Jones shoe-horned Eileen into the script; you can read an excerpt of the opening page of a 2014 draft here, but be warned: it does not meet my standards today. That journey from a flawed script to this finished book has been over a decade in the making

A screenshot of a screenplay page in typewriter-style font. It opens with “BLACK SCREEN” and “An army of MARCHING soldiers,” then a title card quote from Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The scene shifts to the Spanish countryside in 1937, where George Orwell and his wife Eileen run through a battlefield as peasant soldiers are shot. Eileen urges him on, bomber planes whine overhead, and Orwell is hit in the neck. The page ends with his blurred point of view as everything turns white.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

Eileen has been a historical mentor of mine for years, ever since I first found her in Orwell’s preface to the Ukrainian translation of Animal Farm, the book my mother’s family carried from WWII refugee camps to New York City.

The book cover of the Ukrainian translation of Animal Farm features a big pig holding a whipe as in the background Boxer the Horse is worked to death as a silhouette on the farm. The book is called Kolhosp Tvaryn in Ukrainian: "A Collective Farm of Animals" in obvious reference to Stalin's brutal forced collectivation of Ukrainian farmers

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

Their friends said that Eric Blair's writing transformed after he met Eileen. Mrs. Orwell is the cinematic story, grounded in history, revealing that "George Orwell" was a band name. It takes a team to get the truth out.

From Mrs. Orwell: Eileen Blair showing Orwell the newly printed Homage to Catalonia and shooting him a proud look while they're farming in the English countryside like two doomsday preppers expecting the end of the world.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

She later embraced the new field of child psychology. Animal Farm, the breakout book that made Orwell rich and famous, was shaped by Eileen. Her descendants credit her with practically writing it.

From the graphic novel Mrs. Orwell: Eileen and Eric Blair standing over farm animals organizing a protest, to show their brainstorm of developing Animal Farm together.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

Eileen was more Orwell than Orwell. While Eric Blair was running from his true self in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, Eileen was studying literature under J.R.R. Tolkien and becoming one of the earliest women to graduate from Oxford.

Images of Eileen O'Shaughnessy studying at Oxford University, where she graduated in 1927: We see her reading by candlelight with imagined fairies all around her, working late into the night, being judged by male professors including Tolkien.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 23

🧵There would have been no George Orwell without Eileen O’Shaughnessy Blair. She saved her husband’s life twice, including when they were fighting fascists on their honeymoon in the Spanish Civil War.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 21

From one of the top music historians in the world

Music producer Nelson George's Facebook post from March 18 2026 which says: The lies promoted by AI are going to ruin our historical memory. Just blocked a post that featured a photo of Quincy Jones on stage at Madison Square Garden walking behind Prince. Never happened. The post the image supported was a lie too. That's just a small example of a huge problem. I am researching two non fiction books and I never use AI information as my sole source and never will. It's often inaccurate and, as this post suggests, filled with outright lies and disinformation.

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 17

Somehow, an old friend tends to visit while I'm drowning in deadlines, and prepares dinners, takes care of the kids, saving my marriage. He's an angel on earth, newly single, nearly 40, into other men in their 30s. If you're a deeply kind gay man, in NYC, looking for love/friendship. let me know

Pasta and vegetables whipped up using whatever was in the kitchen and it's restaurant quality

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Mar 3

Ghislaine Maxwell Friend Named in Epstein Files Found Dead by ‘Suicide’ www.newsweek.com/epstein-file...

Ghislaine Maxwell attends the 4th Annual WIE Symposium at Center 548 on September 20, 2013, in New York City, and Umar Dzhabrailov in Saint Tropez, France, on August 20, 2021.Read Less | Getty images & Wireimage / Laura Cavanaugh& Foc Kan

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Feb 4

Kremlin asset Tulsi Gabbard www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

Tulsi Gabbard talking on the phone, wearing a black baseball cap, looking like she’s up to something. Photo from this article: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/tulsi-gabbard-defends-presence-fbi-search-georgia-elections-hub-rcna257177

Andrea Chalupa@andreachalupa· Feb 3

No. I'm asking why you are jumping to conclusions and putting words in my mouth, something you continue to do 👇