Make Your Damn Bed

Empathy involves listening to and validating other people's experiences, even when they challenge our own beliefs. Can empathy be learned, or is it an innate quality? Empathy is not perfect but its limitations don't diminish its importance. Just because you have to try, it doesn't mean your empathy isn't genuine. Empathy is an active practice that requires us to step out of ourselves and allow spa...

"It’s time for us to all be apocalyptic optimists: prepared for the shocks that are coming and ready to rally as activists, disruptors and bridge builders. Together, we can pressure the state and the market to adopt the changes that our communities require to survive. Here's my advice about how to be the change makers we need." - Dana Fisher Climate shocks are a stark remi...

People in positions of power resist reform because it threatens their position. That means backlash isn't a sign we failed, in fact it's a sign of the opposite. Persistence is the beating heart of change. = TODAY'S SOURCES: Remake Our World's Post: https://www.instagram.com/remakeourworld/p/DCm2oZ-zDzE/?img_index=9 Suz Howard's blog: https://medium.com/@suz.howard/why-social-progress-often-swings-...

People in positions of power resist reform because it threatens their position. That means backlash isn't a sign we failed, in fact it's a sign of the opposite. Persistence is the beating heart of change. = TODAY'S SOURCES: Remake Our World's Post: https://www.instagram.com/remakeourworld/p/DCm2oZ-zDzE/?img_index=9 Suz Howard's blog: https://medium.com/@suz.howard/why-social-progress-often-swings-...

"Isolation breeds despair.  But once you step back to understand your life’s purpose thru a collectivist lens & spend more time building community, then you realize that despair is merely a phase in a broader journey towards figuring out how you can actually care for community IN community & OUTSIDE the system." - Ayesha Khan The Resource: "Two Cheers for Anarchism" by James C. Scott:...

Groupthink  is a psychological  phenomenon  that occurs within a  group of people  in which the desire for harmony or  conformity  Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs. This causes the group to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without  critical evaluation...

"You know, you and especially your grandparents could have used more of a spirit of lawbreaking. One day you will be called on to break a big law in the name of justice and rationality. Everything will depend on it. You have to be ready. How are you going to prepare for that day when it really matters? You have to stay ‘in shape’ so that when the big day comes you will be ready. What you need is ‘...

"Democratic institutions have, to a great extent, become commodities themselves, offered up for auction to the highest bidder. If relative equality is a necessary condition of mutuality and freedom, how can it be guaranteed except through the state? Facing this conundrum, I believe that both theoretically and practically, the abolition of the state is not an option. We are stuck, alas, with Leviat...

"Democratic institutions have, to a great extent, become commodities themselves, offered up for auction to the highest bidder. If relative equality is a necessary condition of mutuality and freedom, how can it be guaranteed except through the state? Facing this conundrum, I believe that both theoretically and practically, the abolition of the state is not an option. We are stuck, alas, with Leviat...

"Indivisible is a movement for people who are determined — people who turn fear, anger, and grief into action. People who come together in community to hold each other up, protect each other, and fight for our values. If that sounds like you, we invite you to join us. We can’t tell you that everything will work out OK over the coming years—no one can. But we can tell you with a lot of confidence t...

The current establishment is banking on us giving up our power. They want us to forget that we pay their bills, we hire them, and we fire them. They can work out their contracts but if they don’t deliver? We have to hold them accountable.  Today I share concrete strategies to pressure your representatives and reclaim some of the power they’re so desperate to convince you they’ve taken. ...

The current establishment is banking on us giving up our power. They want us to forget that we pay their bills, we hire them, and we fire them. They can work out their contracts but if they don’t deliver? We have to hold them accountable.  Today I share concrete strategies to pressure your representatives and reclaim some of the power they’re so desperate to convince you they’ve taken. ...

There are no perfect revolutionaries, and Gandhi is no exception, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from their work. So, as Gandhi reminds us, "We must never lose our faith in humanity.” And he's right. We are all connected, we are all in this together, and cooperation is the best bet for winning this thing - for us, our allies, and unfortunately our enemies, too. THE SOURCE: https://wagingnonv...

"... we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in the Bronx and along the border, we shall fight in the national parks and forests, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the streets, we shall defend our nation, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the public beaches, we shall fight to protect the public lands, we shall fight in the fields...

Cooperation is good for the goose and good for the gander, but it's built on trust. Our current society does a lot of work to convince us that we can't trust each other - and that is to our detriment. I'm here to remind you that humans are worthy of trust + cooperation. The main resource: Cooperation: https://open.maricopa.edu/culturepsychology/chapter/cooperation/ Big Think: https://bigthink.com/...

In multi-cycle versions of the prisoner's dilemma, the most successful winning strategy was tit for tat (and later, tit for two tats) because it was: Nice, (didn't defect first) Retaliatory, (so they didn't get exploited for being too nice) Forgiving, (they retaliate, and then return to cooperation. Not petty or vengeful.) Non-envious (they didn't strive to get more than their opponent.) I think t...

Believe it or not, in the official studying of strategy within game theory, cooperative strategies fared the best, even amongst those selfish motivations. Let's talk about the prisoner's dilemma and what we can learn from the thought-experiment. Game Theory Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory Prisoner’s Dilemma wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma#The_iterated_priso...

Today we discuss the Twilight Zone, its controversy, and a few of its more profound (and controversial) episodes. If you like this stuff let me know by emailing mydbpodcast@gmail.com! If you don't like this stuff, you can also let me know by emailing mydbpodcast@gmail.com! The source: https://www.rogerebert.com/features/the-metaphor-years-writing-lessons-from-the-twilight-zone The other source: ht...

Today we’re talking about Rod Serling’s dealings with censorship and how he turned his frustrations into something profound and timeless. “The writer's role is to menace the public's conscience. He must have a position, a point of view. He must see the arts as a vehicle of social criticism and he must focus on the issues of his time.” - Rod Serling Article 1 I referenced: https://www.smithsonianma...

Today we explore who Rod Serling was before he created The Twilight Zone (which became a brilliant example of resilience, social commentary, and rebellion). The Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Serling https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/rod-serling-about-rod-serling/702/ Donate to Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund:: www.pcrf.net Donate to Mutual Aid Funds: https://www.folxhealth.co...

"...the most important move a frozen person can make is whatever breaks the cycle. When so many people are isolated, community-affirming events are vital. When everything feels like it is simultaneously too much, and not enough, we must recognize the importance of beginning. As Mariame Kaba reminds us, we must strive to reduce the distance between our actions and our values. Whatever brings us clo...

Most of us feel disconnected and unsure of where to begin. That's by design. We must be willing to redesign our reactions so we can reclaim a bit of agency we've been stripped of. THE BLOG POST BY KELLY HAYES: https://organizingmythoughts.org/how-to-be-a-fighter-when-you-feel-like-a-punching-bag/ Donate to Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund:: www.pcrf.net Donate to Mutual Aid Funds: https://www.fo...

What sources remind you most of your own innate power? What saps you of it? What helps you feel the most "free to act" and how can you curate more of that feeling? How can you lessen the gap between having an idea and acting on it? The "Group Hug" Substack by Elise Granata: https://grouphug.substack.com/p/becoming-a-high-agency-person?r=iw9zm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedir...

What sources remind you most of your own innate power? What saps you of it? What helps you feel the most "free to act" and how can you curate more of that feeling? How can you lessen the gap between having an idea and acting on it? The "Group Hug" Substack by Elise Granata: https://grouphug.substack.com/p/becoming-a-high-agency-person?r=iw9zm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedir...

Hopepunk is a much needed reaction to decades of dystopian and nihilistic fiction. It explores how goodness, joy, optimism, and collective action can be acts of rebellion. Alexandra Rowland's Tumblr: https://ariaste.tumblr.com/post/163500138919/ariaste-the-opposite-of-grimdark-is-hopepunk Sam's Monologue to Frodo: https://mountebank.org/sams-speech/ A Blogpost on Hopepunk: https://www.centreforopt...