Recent BI and Substack Posts

More reading for your edification.

The second of a three-part series revisiting whether the time for bridging has passed.

Heidi and Guy respond to David Beckemeyers questions, asking whether the assumptions on which the practice of bridge-building are built are no longer valid. He thinks they are not, our answers are mixed.

This week's readings of interest (and sometimes concern).

A summary of three different articles all explaining what is being, can, and must be done to regain citizen agency and put our small-r republican form of government back on track.

Joan Blades, founder of MoveOn and Livingroom Conversations talks about why bridging is still important, and how one can advocate for progressive causes, but also be a peacebuilder with the right at the same time. (It is a question of looking short term and long term, she says.)

What might a power-with democracy look like? ChatGPT has some ideas. Can we live up to them?

The best, most important, and surprising things we've read this week.

Peter Adler reflects on what he learned years ago in the Peace Corps and how that applies to what was happening in the U.S. at the time (the late 60s) and to what is happening now. His observations are sobering.

Sanda Kaufman, Harry Boyte, and Guy and Heidi Burgess share their thoughts about Chip's Peacebuilding Starts at Home Initiative. (Spoiler, we like it...but have some questions/suggested tweaks.)

We still have a lot of work to do, but here's things to think about as we do it.

This is the second in a series on the Crane Brinton Effect, showing how it relates to the U.S., even though we haven't (thank heavens!) had a violent revolution. Considering its implications now can help prevent one.

The first of a two-part essay looking at how hard it is to bring about democracy after a revolution, and why continued oppression is more likely. Here we apply this to Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and Gaza.

The news is getting ahead of us! LOTS of stuff going on and people writing thoughtful pieces about what to make of it all.

A conversation with Chip Hauss about his new book that is trying to get millions of "everyday" people engaged in what we would call "peacebuilding" here in the United States. Those people would probably call it "mending our broken country."

More interesting, sometimes scary and depressing, but sometimes hopeful readings. And all things we should know about!

The second of two posts by Stories Change Power CEO Piper Hendrix offering lessons on how we can strengthen our democracy, while simultaneously strengthening our relationships and ourselves.

The first of two posts by Stories Change Power CEO Piper Hendrix offering lessons on how we can strengthen our democracy, while simultaneously strengthening our relationships and ourselves.

Catching up from the holiday--lots of New Year's reading.

Daniel Stid applies the "Willie Sutton Rule" to governance reform. Work (and provide funding) where the action and motivation is--at the local and state levels, not the federal level.

Another set of important readings to give us all much to ponder over this holiday break.

Highlights from the webinar announcing the launch of the Phase II Civil Rights Mediation Oral History Project website -- including 11 new interviews added to 19 original ones, all telling amazing stories of how CRS "did the impossible."

Catching up, we have a lot of interesting readings to share today.

Excerpts from a conversation we had with computer scientist/journalist/peacebuilding and AI expert Jonathan Stray about all of that and how AI might actually be able to help us reduce polarization and heal U.S. democracy.

A list of questions we need to answer as we consider how the democracy we are working for should be structured and should function.