Language matters. In thinking about organizing, we can fall into the trap of considering some people "not organized." Everything is always organized, just often in ways that leave people vulnerable. Naming & acknowledging it changes how we approach problems. deepweave.substack.com/p/nothing-is...

As someone who is not counting on Democrats in DC to save us in any way, I think we still need to be accurate about what they've been doing to bring the fight to MAGA. And this is a good list of what we may be missing.

Latest post is a philosophical reflection on moving to a knowledge paradigm rooted in ecological thinking and shifting our relationship to the entanglement and uncertainty of knowing in an ecosystem from resistance to curiosity & delight. deepweave.substack.com/p/entangled-...

The fun part about thinking in public is realizing that I've thought my way to something that, on further thought, turns out not to be what I think. Sigh. Here's my significantly updated reflection on the role of power in system change. deepweave.substack.com/p/resilient-...

Special newsletter edition w/ 3 things I forgot to share last time: 1) a webinar on Race, Black History, & the MAGA Movement by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, 2) an application of resilience thinking for homelessness, 3) a white paper on A Resilient Ecosystems Approach to Investing in Community Impact.

Please join me this Thursday at noon EST for our second session of The Civic Forum. We'll have a discussion with @keeanga.bsky.social on race, Black History, and the MAGA movement. Registration link here:

The newspaper that told the truth about Watergate and the Pentagon Papers will now “communicate with optimism about this country” in its time of rising fascism

My latest article explores the relationship between power, community ecosystems, and change: deepweave.substack.com/p/energy-pow....

A summer reading list on democratic backsliding via @rorytruex.bsky.social: rorytruex.substack.com/p/democratic... Also check out The Civic Forum (www.thecivicforum.com), "to study democracy and authoritarianism, to think about the meaning of citizenship, and to face the political moment."

Stories of how communities organize to meet challenges teach us that we have more power & scope for action than we think & that politics & governing are functions of the whole ecosystem, not just of a handful of institutional players & people in special roles. deepweave.substack.com/p/governing-...

So much of the “promise” of AI right now is saving time creating. Let me say it from my chest: all I want is to spend *more* time creating. I’m not making content. I’m engaging in my vocation, my calling, my literal reason for existing.

Worthwhile post by Princeton prof of Chinese politics Rory Truex on the anatomy of crackdowns: substack.com/inbox/post/1...

What does it mean for a community to collectively ‘know’ or ‘learn’? In my latest article I draw insights from local organizations' work after Helene and explore how we can build our collective ability to navigate the challenges ahead. deepweave.substack.com/p/knowing-li...

PIN Number ATM Machine UPC Code LCD Display We regret to inform you that his phenomenon has a name: RAS Syndrome. Redundant Acronym Syndrome…Syndrome.

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Done

Last in a series on using ecological network analysis & resilience science to understand & build community well-being. Here I review the adaptive cycle model of community dynamics & what it tells us about where we are & how to navigate the challenges ahead. deepweave.substack.com/p/adapt-resi...

Second in a series on using ecological network analysis & resilience science to understand & build community well-being. I review 10 characteristics of a healthy network which provide a great foundation for assessing where community investments are needed. deepweave.substack.com/p/adapt-resi...

First in a series of posts about using ecological network analysis & resilience science as tools for building community health. More than just a set of powerful analogies, they offer principles and measures for discovering root cause issues & taking action. deepweave.substack.com/p/adapt-resi...

WHOA. This explains the SEVIS restorations for foreign students. So the administration, after losing in case after case after case, is walking back from their absurd actions (although perhaps not completely?).

YEP. This ICE policy, seemingly done alongside DOGE, caused panic at universities everywhere, led to dozens of lawsuits (that ICE lost), did enormous damage to US higher ed's international reputation, caused huge amounts of work to be done to stop it ... and is now being walked back. Efficiency!

This is a WILD list of data to disappear. I was braced for climate stuff, but not, like, shoreline maps and coastal bathymetry

Latest newsletter: If we want to drive system change that doesn't just recycle old injustices, we have to embrace the complexity of real systems and the mess of real relationships. deepweave.substack.com/p/dealing-wi...

"Donald Trump is, paradoxically, contributing to the emergence of a world aiming to bypass the US. This significant realignment affects more than just trade. ...Beijing can only be pleased with the abandonment of the American soft power."

Brilliant 4-essay series on economics and climate. Strongly recommend. She does a great job of making the case against economics built on unlimited growth.

Reading the transcript of Princeton's president Eisengruber on the Daily and what a cogent, powerful, and brave defense of #academic #freedom. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/p...? A few highlights, but it's worth a read.

“I love that line, ‘citizens are not subjects.’ We are not here to be ruled. But nor are we a ‘hateful mob.’ We are ‘upright, fair, peaceful, and rational,’ even when our government fails to be.”

"While individually, citizens may feel powerless, together they are powerful." Good post by Rory Truex on the importance of doing many small things. rorytruex.substack.com/p/what-do-i-...

Asheville, North Carolina

The latest issue of my newsletter has me exploring being a farmer in today's brave new world ... and anticipating what we might learn from resilient agriculture about managing social challenges. deepweave.substack.com/p/cultivatin...

I don’t see how, unless our entire profession stands shoulder-to-shoulder in unity, we successfully push back against this effort to break our profession and our democracy. Cowering & compromising won’t work. He is attacking us for the success of our work. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

This is a shameful moment in the history of the American university.

Households' ability to come up with $2,000 in emergency cash is at its lowest number since the survey started a decade ago. ($2,000 at the start of the graph would be $2,683 today, so the decline is even worse than the graph suggests.) www.apolloacademy.com/households-r...

My latest newsletter began as a primer on the tension between resistance vs constructive approaches to social change, but turned into a reflection on finding your own path, the importance of community, and where my writing is going. Fight, Flee, or Forge: deepweave.substack.com/p/fight-flee...

Chart of cumulative protests reported from Jan 22 - Feb 28, 2017 vs 2025:

Excellent excellent excellent from Princeton president and constitutional/ political theorist Chris Eisgruber. There's been far too little of this kind of thing; here's hoping others follow his good example. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

There are millions of people alive today who directly and personally experienced one-party authoritarian rule in the United States. They have so much to teach us right now if we would only listen before it’s too late.

For nearly 400 years, countless people perished aboard slave ships—whether from disease, execution, or suicide—and were thrown overboard. The numbers were so vast that sharks learned to follow the transatlantic slave routes, feeding on the bodies of the dead. open.substack.com/pub/1nadines...

“The enemy within is represented by leftist activists … but the core problem is the modern worldview in which democratic principles of inclusive representation rest on a foundation of rational knowledge creation.”

Conversations w/ projects funded through Asheville's ARPA grants have given me insight into what it means to build resilience in a community and how that impacts the way we think about problems, initiatives, accountability, & learning. My latest newsletter: deepweave.substack.com/p/ecosystemi...

As scary as this moment is it gives us an opportunity to build something better. Something that actually represents all people. Not just rich white christian men. We must imagine and build worlds that are better for all of us and put them in to action. We cannot cede the future to monsters.

it's simply nonfunctional. It gets in the way of sending even a simple email, it is spammed across any Drive document in the same cursor way and more. And if you do try to use it (as I tested), it is barely functional even at the things it's "supposed" to do.

I try to avoid articles that just point fingers re the outcome of the election (navel-gazing that Dems do to an unproductive extent). However, this conversation between Picketty and Sandel expresses much of what I hope the Dems will take away from this election. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/o...

I wrote about the LA wildfires, the GoFundMes of rich people, and the long history of disaster relief reproducing inequality.

I held off as long as I could, but finally caved today and canceled my @washingtonpost.com subscription. I am shifting my subscription dollars to publications that are willing to confront power in order to preserve democracy.

Let this be our energy in 2025.

if you want to understand authoritarianism, both how it operates & ways people have found to disrupt it, check out Rory Truex's newsletter. His latest post (rorytruex.substack.com/p/eyes-open-...) shares ideas from Vaclav Havel's amazing essay "The Power of the Powerless".

In an article on who visits libraries, a fascinating common characteristic: "going to the library is a decent signal of your broader engagement with society." (Gift link: wapo.st/41TafNm).