Nonviolence Radio

How can we defend and support our democracy, which feels so vulnerable as we head into this election? What are some concrete actions that we -- even those of us who are non-experts and non-activists -- can take to strengthen ourselves and empower each other to choose the next president fairly? This week, Nonviolence Radio explores these questions and others with Hardy Merriman, president and CEO o...

This week, in addition to Michael Nagler’s Nonviolence Report, Stephanie shares an interview with Josef Woldense, assistant professor in the Department of Africa Studies and African American Studies at the University of Minnesota, also affiliated with the Political Science Department. Professor Woldense analyzes the lack of trust that characterizes authoritarian regimes and the way it makes a lead...

Poem by Ira Batra Garde .  Ira (pronounced “Eera”) is a physician, poet, wife, and mother. She lives with her family in the San  Francisco Bay Area and is currently at work on a novel exploring themes of history, culture, and psychological truth.    

Author Sumbul Ali-Karamali comes to Nonviolence Radio this week to talk about her latest book, Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It's Not Taking Over Our Country . Together she, Stephanie and Michael discuss the true meaning and rich history of Shariah, a term which is often profoundly misunderstood and misportrayed in mainstream media. Far from being a rigid set of reli...

Professor Ron Hirschbein, founder of the War and Peace Studies Program and the Peace Institute at Cal State Chico and Professor Amin Asfari from Wake Tech College join Michael to talk about the motives and drives that generate conspiracy theories. What are some of the deeper causes that lie behind recent attacks on Jewish and Muslim communities? How might the internet galvanize individuals to comm...

Renowned activist Winona LaDuke reflects on the power of an earth-based economics in a moment on our planet that is known in indigenous circles as 'the time of the seventh fire.' She asks the question, what are YOU going to do right now to heal our relationships with life, and are you going to choose the path of regeneration or destruction. Her talk comes to us from the organization, Slo...

In this episode of Nonviolence News -- The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence . Gandhi Research Foundation. Single mothers in Philadelphia are taking over abandoned public buildings. Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation Pushes Deutsche Bank for Fossil Fuel Divestment Amidst Pipeline Shutdowns, a Global Pandemic and the Climate Crisis Reparations Procession Mary King's tribute to John L...

“If racism is a way of life for some; activism has to be the way of life for the rest of us.”  ~Amisha Harding.  We talk with Atlanta-based activist Amisha Harding about transforming grief and trauma with connection and nonviolent action and her organization, Courageous Conversations for the Collective. Then we hear from two participants of the Reparations Procession taking place in the East Bay,...

If someone offered you a free trip to Egypt, would you go? Would you be afraid? Tarek Mounib made this offer to Americans struggling with deep cultural biases, and documented their transformation experiences in Free Trip to Egypt . He joined Nonviolence Radio to talk about the work of healing divides. Then we turn to a talk from the Metta Center archives from Michael Nagler on the basics of nonvio...

On this episode of Nonviolence Radio we share a timely talk on building bridges from john a. powell, director of UC Berkeley's Otherness and Belonging Institute (formerly: Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society ) from the 2019 Otherness and Belonging conference . Introducing him is Tony Iton from the California Endowment.  Michael Nagler, UC Berkeley emeritus professor and President...

The Poor People's Campaign is a "national call for a moral revival." Learn more about their work, their co-founder, Reverend William Barber, and the upcoming digital March on Washington on this show. Included in this show is the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler. 

If there was ever a time for nonviolence, it's now. This show has two talks about the power of nonviolence. The first from Erica Chenoweth, co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works, and the second is from Ken Butigan about mainstreaming nonviolence. At the top of the show we include a segment on nonviolence in the news. 

Often when we think about nonviolence, we think of practical strategies and techniques: How does one organize an effective sit-in or march? What is the appropriate language to use when addressing someone with whom we are in conflict? And indeed, understanding -- and practicing! -- these tactics are essential. However, nonviolence goes much deeper than this, it is, according to Kazu Haga, “a princi...

This week’s episode of Nonviolence Radio brings Paul K. Chappell in conversation with Michael and Stephanie. Paul is now the Peace Literacy Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and the author of the “Road to Peace” book series, but as a West Point graduate and a veteran of the war in Iraq, he is in a unique position to explain how the power of nonviolence exceeds that of traditional forms...

The work for peace begins when we are ready to try another way of resolving our problems. Matthew Legge, Peace Program Coordinator for the Canadian Friends Service Committee talks about his findings in his new book, ‘Are We Done Fighting?: Building Understanding in a World of Hate and Division’.

Author Carol Flinders talks with Nonviolence Radio about feminist activist Barbara Deming and why we need her wisdom today.

"The Green New Deal is a good idea," people say, but "how are we going to pay for it?" There are many ways. As Executive Director of Nuclear Ban US, Tim Wallis has offered a special report, From Warheads to Windmills , on how to pay for a Green New Deal through an ambitious plan to de-nuclearize our world. It's a practical approach that should be on the table given the dir...

What happens when a government decides to protect only some of its people? We talk with Sana Alam and Prashant Nema about the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens, and the nascent protest movement in India it gave rise to; and what the true nature of this deep national controversy is. People around the world are rising up together in protest of this bill to protect the ri...

A show on winning! Why does triumphalism impede and decrease the power of a nonviolent action? Why have politics become like a sports match and how can we overcome this dynamic? This and more, including the Nonviolence Report, on this episode of Nonviolence Radio! 

We go back to nonviolence basics in this show, reviewing some key highlights and analyses of nonviolence across the news, and then we explore some key principles and strategies of nonviolence in action. 

Yoga is more than poses we do with our bodies to stretch. It’s more than expensive studio memberships and yoga gear. It is, as described in the classical Hindu text, The Bhagavad Gita, “skill in action,” a path to recognizing our deep interconnectedness and healing our divides. Listen to insights from Michelle C. Johnson on the power of radicalizing yoga practice in order to invite the hard work o...

Daniel Hunter is an organizer and strategist who worked widely across the globe supporting organizing and direct action for social movements and is currently the Global Trainings Coordinator for 350.org, an organization fighting climate change. He talks to us about nonviolence, organizing, and his latest, The Climate Resistance Handbook. Transcript available here.

Do nuclear weapons make us safe, and should we care about them? We hear from Anna Ikeda from the Office for UN Affairs of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist organization dedicated to peace, culture and education. Anna's work focuses on disarmament, peace and security, and she is a campaigner for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. 

We all have unconscious bias and we all have work to do to become aware of, and unlearn it. It’s a life-long effort, and like any effort in nonviolence, it can be done with strategy and an open-heart toward the people involved.  For over 21 years, feminist activist and scholar Sally Eck has been leading workshops on “interruptions,” and “calling-in.” She offers empowerment, tools, and strategy for...

Coercion is not an “either-or” issue in nonviolence. On this episode, we discuss what coercion means, how it relates to power and persuasion, its risks when drawn upon as a “first resort,” and where it fits in a strategic escalation of nonviolent action. Followed by the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler.