JUNE 27, 2025
We need the stars. We need purpose.
"We need the stars... We need purpose! We need the image the Destiny to take root among the stars gives us of ourselves as a purposeful, growing species. We need to become the adult species that the Destiny can help us become! If we're to be anything other than smooth dinosaurs who evolve, specialize and die, we need the stars.... When we have no difficult, long-term purpose to strive toward, we fight each other. We destroy ourselves. We have these chaotic, apocalyptic periods of murderous craziness." - Octavia Butler
Learning, Futures Thinking
“Predicting doom in difficult times may have more to with the sorrow and depression of the moment than with any real insight into future possibilities."
In January 2000, the White House asked Octavia Butler to write a memorandum to President Clinton outlining her vision of the future. She chose to focus on education.
ARTICLE: A Few Rules for Predicting the Future
CULTURE, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
A “possibilist” believes that what we do matters, even when we cannot predict the results.
john a. powell spells his name in lowercase to reflect humility and interconnectedness. He is director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California Berkeley.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Can We Build a World Where We All Belong?
NATURE, SPIRITUALITY
"Reality is basically about change."
Mary Evelyn Tucker sees a clear path toward healing the planet, our relationship with nature, and with each other. She suggests that spiritual ecology—the field that explores how spirituality and the environment are interwoven—is the way finder.
ARTICLE: Why the World Needs Spiritual Ecology
Company
At its core, organizational health is about integrity.
I keep several copies of Patrick Lencioni’s The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business in my library. That way I always have one to give away when his perspective comes up in conversation. And it comes up often, because it’s powerful.
“With a little education, we can become the number one nation.”
For those of us who still care about creativity in advertising, it's fun to look at the Cannes Lions Festival—the "other" Cannes—which has celebrated the best in advertising since 1954. And for those who believe advertising can be used to sell ideas we actually need, it’s worth paying attention to the winners of the Lions Health and United Nations Foundation Grand Prix for Good.
One-liners
ARTICLE: The Parking Garage Kustwerk project addresses Katwijk’s (Netherlands) historic vulnerability to North Sea flooding by integrating a robust dike and 663-space garage beneath reinforced dunes, combining coastal defense, landscape restoration, and improved parking.
JUNE 6, 2025
We can only live changes
"We can only live changes: we cannot think our way to humanity. Every one of us, every group, must become the model of that which we desire to create." - Ivan Illich
Learning, Futures Thinking
Negative emotions like grief and horror can coexist with positive feelings such as love and beauty.
Sarah Jaquette Ray recalls the day she asked her students to envision a positive future 10–15 years ahead—one in which their hopes for solving global problems had been realized.
Article: Announcing Pace Layers
Learning, Futures Thinking
Civilizations come and go. Civilization continues.
It’s fitting that Stewart Brand authored the first article in the inaugural issue of Pace Layers. It’s fitting that Stewart Brand authored the first article in the inaugural issue of Pace Layers. It’s fitting that Stewart Brand authored the first article in the inaugural issue of Pace Layers.
Article: Announcing Pace Layers
Learning
Some nitty-gritty details regarding Joan Didion’s writing process
Jillian Hess describes her newsletter, Noted, like this: “I’ve spent the past two decades studying hundreds of notebooks, and I’m excited to share the most interesting, inspiring, and unique notes with you.” Through Noted, she offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creative processes of some of the world’s most fascinating minds.
One-liners
ARTICLE: Scientists have observed that about 1 in 12 sheep are gay, which inspired a farmer to create Rainbow Wool, the first wool specifically from gay sheep. A related ad campaign generated 1.3 billion contacts and €20 million in earned media, and raised the interest of big fashion labels.
January 31, 2025
The larger whole is primarily beautiful.
"Whatever the ups and downs of detail within our limited experience, the larger whole is primarily beautiful." — Gregory Bateson
Teaching
What if educational social-emotional learning programs were ultimately about making the world a better place?
This article explores how societal polarization affects youth—and makes the case for social and emotional learning (SEL) programs that foster empathy, compassion, and prosocial behavior aimed at collective well-being.
Learning, Futures Thinking
Negative emotions like grief and horror can coexist with positive feelings such as love and beauty.
Sarah Jaquette Ray recalls the day she asked her students to envision a positive future 10–15 years ahead—one in which their hopes for solving global problems had been realized.
Article: Announcing Pace Layers
Learning, Futures Thinking
Civilizations come and go. Civilization continues.
It’s fitting that Stewart Brand authored the first article in the inaugural issue of Pace Layers. It’s fitting that Stewart Brand authored the first article in the inaugural issue of Pace Layers. It’s fitting that Stewart Brand authored the first article in the inaugural issue of Pace Layers.
Article: Announcing Pace Layers
One-liners
Article: Each additional negative word in a news headline drives 2.3% more clicks.
Article: Veteran journalist Jennifer Rubin resigned from The Washington Post on January 13, citing concerns about corporate and billionaire ownership of major media outlets. Within just 10 days she had 335,00 subscribers on Substack.
Article:New research suggests that Walmart makes the communities it operates in poorer—even taking into account its famous low prices.
Article: Researchers have used machine learning to design nano-architected materials that have the strength of carbon steel but the lightness of Styrofoam.
Article: A growing body of research in psychology and neuroscience suggests that believing in meritocracy makes people more selfish, less self-critical and even more prone to acting in discriminatory ways.
Playlist
"Broken English made it clear that Faithfull, whose death at 78 was announced on January 30, was a remarkable artist in her own right, and something quite different from the mere caricature of the beautiful muse on the arm of a rock star at his decadent height." - Bill Wyman
Video: Marianne Faithfull - Working Class Hero [1995] (Live)
Weekly Mixtape
In memory of Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull, singer, songwriter and actor, born 29 December 1946; died 30 January 2025
Playlist: Knowing loss
"The good thing about everything being so messed up is that no matter where you look there’s good work to be done.”
- Derek Jensen
January 31, 2025
We are lonesome animals.
“We are lonesome animals. We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say—and to feel—‘yes, that is the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought." —John Steinbeck
Civics, Storytelling
When it comes to changing the values, mindsets, rules, and goals of a system, story is foundational.
In this comprehensive article author Ella Saltmarshe explores the power of storytelling as a tool for systems change and social transformation. She presents a structured framework for understanding and using stories in three key ways.
Article: Using Story to Change Systems
CULTURE, STORY
"The role stories play in redesigning our systems is critical, and we all play a role in their telling."
Stories for Life is a project inspired by the question: How do we tell the story of a new economy?
In exploring the root causes of our crises, this team found "humility and clarity in ancient wisdom."
Web project: Stories for Life
CULTURE, STORY
If women had been the storytellers throughout history our cultural narratives and power structures would be very different.
Author and Omega Institute co-founder Elizabeth Lesser’s first book, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow, transformed my relationship with life’s challenges.
Podcast: Brené Brown with Elizabeth Lesser on The Power of Women’s Stories
One-liners
Article: For the first time, 2025 will see streamers outpace commercial broadcaster in global content spend.
Article: Office-to-residential conversions are expected to reach new highs in 2025.
Article: The collective motion of large crowds may be predictable past a certain density of people in a given area.
Article: Poll: Most Americans still support diversity initiatives
Article: Whalesong patterns follow a universal law of human language
Article: Tomorrow's buildings might need to move.
Playlist
Amália Rodrigues, the undisputed "Queen of Fado," says that fado music cannot be defined. "Fado is mystery," she has said, "the only thing that matters is to feel the fado. The fado is not meant to be sung; it simply happens. You feel it, you don’t understand it and you don’t explain it."
Video: Carminho: Tiny Desk Concert
Weekly Mixtape
Fado was born in Portugal, but the geography of loss knows no boundaries.
Playlist: Knowing loss
