Society Builders

An exploration of the Universal House of Justice's message to the Conference of the Continental Board of Counsellors on December 31, 2025. The episode explores progress in the Plan as it approaches the end of its first phase and provides an exciting glimpse of new patterns as clusters move beyond the third milestone. This includes new patterns of collaboration with wider society. The episode concludes with a song summarizing themes in the message: "Bright Horizons Beckon." Contents 0:00 Introduction 3:12 Third Milestones 12:09 No Fixed Formula 19:14 Beyond Third Milestones 26:07 Collaboration with Society 31:23 Implications for Administrators 36:08 Inspiration 41:38 Closing Thoughts 43:10 Song: "Bright Horizons Beckon"

An exploration of the Universal House of Justice's Ridvan message for 2025. Includes an exploration of the construct of 'hope' - a summary of key achievements over the past year - and an appeal based on the urgency of the hour. The episode concludes with an original song, "Ridvan 2025", exploring key themes in the message. Contents: 0:00 Introduction 1:28 A dark, dark world 3:56 A focus on hope 15:57 Achievements of the year 24:09 Urgency of the hour 26:00 Closing thoughts 27:25 Song: "Ridvan 2025"

An exploration of two key messages by the Universal House of Justice exploring Bahá’í family life: The message of March 19th, 2025 and its Naw Ruz message (2025) to the Baha'is of Iran. We explore the evolution of a new construct in our new Society Building aspirations: 'The Bahá’í Home' - focusing on marriage, family, community and the role of family in elevating conditions in wider society. The episode concludes with an original song summarizing the theme: "The Bahá’í Home". Note: The close of the episode made reference to a collection of new songs produced by Duane and his new virtual AI band "The Society Builders". The lyrics were composed by him, but the musical composition, instruments and vocals were AI-generated. You can find this collection of songs at: BahaiTunes.org You can also find it on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and other leading music platforms. Just search for: THE Society Builders (don't forget to include the THE). CONTENTS: 0:00 Introduction 2:15 Overview 6:14 Urgency of the hour 17:34 New patterns 23:14 Marriage 25:37 Family 29:02 Community 31:54 The Bahá’í Home 37:26 Closing thoughts 39:52 Song: "The Bahá’í Home"

An exploration of Bahá’í-inspired approaches to social action, one of the key pillars of 'society building'. In Part Four, we explore how our approaches need to facilitate learning in action across four stages: Action, reflection, consultation and study which is framed by application of the Creative Word and scientific analysis. The episode concludes with the original song "Learning Together in Action" which summarizes the theme of the episode. CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 1:49 Learning in Action 11:41 Learning from Mistakes 22:26 Closing Thoughts 25:46 Song: "Learning Together in Action"

An exploration of Bahá’í-inspired approaches to social action, one of the key pillars of 'society building'. In Part Three we explore the power of capacity building - and how even impossible dreams can be met as we cultivate this capacity. We explore this on three levels of capacity building: for the individual; for institutions; and for the community. This episode sets the stage for the final episode in our sequence on social action which will explore learning in action. The episode concludes with an original song summarizing the episode: "Capacity Building". CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 1:43 Building Individual Capacity 17:58 Building Institutional Capacity 24:39 Building Community Capacity 28:35 Closing Thoughts 31:07: Song - "Capacity Building"

An exploration of Bahá’í-inspired approaches to social action, one of the key pillars of 'society building'. In Part Two, we explore how our approaches should be participatory, giving agency to all. We discuss how this builds on the construct of 'universal participation' and frame agency as both right and responsibility. We conclude by focusing on the change each of us can make in our lives and in the lives of the communities around us. CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 2:19 What is Agency? 6:45 Universal Participation 10:17 Agency as Empowerment 17:48 Agency as Responsibility 19:47 Personal Action 22:35 Concluding thoughts 25:04 Song: "Break Free"

An exploration of Bahá’í-inspired approaches to social action, one of the key pillars of 'society building'. In Part One, we explore two key principles: Organic Growth (that initiatives should start small and grow over time) and coherence (finding balance between our material and spiritual needs). CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 5:10 Organic Growth 20:13 Coherence 29:06 Closing Thoughts

The third and final episode in a sequence exploring Bahá’í-inspired approaches to depolarization. Part three explores how to break false binaries and how to optimize conditions for contact between antagonistic groups, including a strong positive-to-negative ratio, facilitating synchronicity, empowering participant agency, dialog over debate and the role of theories of change.

An exploration of Bahá’í-inspired approaches to depolarization building on what we've been learning over the past few episodes from the world's leading luminaries in this discourse. Part Two explores what we can do to help 're-humanize' the other and how we can better listen to and understand others so that they truly feel 'heard'. CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 3:19 Re-Humanization 18:51 Active Listening 24:33 Closing Thoughts

An exploration of Bahá’í-inspired approaches to depolarization building on what we've been learning over the past few episodes from the world's leading luminaries in this discourse. Part One explores what we can do to limit the influence of toxic polarization in our own lives and how we can best regulate our own behavior so we don't unintentionally contribute to the problem. Show notes: Dr. Peter Coleman's Polarization Detox Challenge: https://startswith.us/pdc/ Gary Friedman: https://understandinginconflict.org/training/ Chapters 0:00 Introduction 8:09 Five Principles for Depolarization 10:26 Polarization as Social Pollutant 21:41 An Etiquette of Expression 29:10 Training for Depolarization 31:32 Closing Thoughts

An exploration of the Ridvan Message of 2024 by the Universal House of Justice. The message explores the interaction between the forces of disintegration and integration at work in the world today - highlighting the inescapable need for a sustained, rapid rise in the number of those committing their time, energy and concentration to the success of our peace-building initiatives. CONTENTS: 0:00 Introduction 1:26 Dark Times 8:15 Our Role as Haven 11:24 Methods & Instruments 12:58 Our Message 16:19 Closing Thoughts

In this episode we explore the recent message which the Universal House of Justice sent to the Baha'is in Iran on Naw Ruz (March 20th, 2024). The message is not only important for the love and admiration which the Universal House of Justice showers on the Persian Bahá’i community, suffering under intense and relentless persecution, but also because in many ways, it represents the next chapter, building on its November 28, 2023 message - helping us navigate a path to universal peace. The episode also explores the Universal House of Justice's message of January 18, 2019, which they reference here, exploring strategies for peace building and the promotion of the oneness of the human race. Key references Mar 20, 2024 Naw Ruz Message: https://payamha-iran.org/en/document/833 Nov 28, 2023 Message: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20231128_001/1 Jan 18, 2019 Message: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20190118_001/1 CONTENTS: 0:00 Introduction 2:12 Love for Persian Baha’is 7:55 State of the World 12:40 Key Milestones for Peace 19:44 Disintegration on the Rise 24:07 A Crisis of Identity 29:36 Agency & Peace Building 34:11 Peace as Meta Narrative 37:19 Closing Thoughts

An interview with Nealin Parker, Executive Director of Common Ground USA, exploring the range of like-minded organizations contributing to depolarization (including over 6,700 such organizations in the US alone). Nealin explores the different approaches such organizations take and provides guidance on how to find collaborators, assess their quality and best engage with them. She also explores the role of neighborhoods, society building and more. Organization referenced in episode (in order of appearance): • Living Room Conversations (www.livingroomconversations.org) • Preemptive Love Coalition (Love Anyway Feasts) (www.preemptivelove.org/feast-templates) • Braver Angels (www.braverangels.org) • Listen First Coalition (www.listenfirstproject.org/listen-first-coalition) • Telos (www.telosgroup.org) • Make America Dinner (www.makeamericadinneragain.com) • The People’s Supper (www.thepeoplessupper.org) • Resetting the Table (www.resettingthetable.org) • Bridge USA (www.bridgeusa.org) • Campus Conversation (www.aascu.org/resources/campus-conversations-toolkit) • Sustained Dialog (www.sustaineddialogue.org) • Solia (www.solia.net) • American Exchange Project (www.americanexchangeproject.org) • Shoulder to Shoulder (www.shouldertoshouldercampaign.org) • Telos (www.telosgroup.org) • Interfaith America (www.interfaithamerica.org) • Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org) • One America Movement (www.oneamericamovement.org) • City Year (www.cityyear.org) • AmeriCorps (www.americorps.gov) • Red Cross (www.redcross.org) • United Way (www.unitedway.org) • All Sides (www.allsides.com) • The Flip Side (www.theflipside.io) CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 3:45 Mapping Depolarization 11:21 Flavors of Depolarization 17:50 Cooking as Unifier 22:37 Interfaith Dialog 25:17 Service as Unifier 28:08 Finding Collaborators 30:11 Assessing Quality 33:41 The Role of Neighborhood 38:55 Society Building 48:21Engaging with the Like-Minded 51:37 Closing Thoughts

An interview with Dr. Lisa Schirch, a global authority on social media's impact on polarization. Here, Dr. Schirch explains how the algorithms that drive social media platforms favor polarization, a force further amplified by malicious foreign actors exploiting the platforms. She also explores solutions at the individual level designed to improve our media diet and improve our etiquette of expression. CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 2:10 How social media amplify polarization 14:27 Feeding our lower nature 19:05 The death of ‘objective’ news 31:00 Case Study: Myanmar 37:12 Solutions for us as individuals 46:02 The need for in-person interaction 50:46 The future for social media 53:17 Closing Thoughts

An interview with Andrea Bartoli, former dean of a number of prestigious conflict resolution schools; diplomat; and President of the Sant'Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue. Andrea shares insights from his participation in a number of successful peace initiatives, starting with efforts that brought an end to the civil war in Mozambique. He also shares lessons learned through Sant'Egidio, a Catholic force for peace.

On November 28, 2023, the Universal House of Justice shared its message providing a history of our organic evolution as a community over the past hundred years. This episode explores parts of that message addressing the 'society building' focus across four key themes: the organic evolution of initiatives, our interaction with wider society, principles for society building and the interplay between the forces of integration and disintegration at work in the world today.

An interview with Rabbi Roly Matalon sharing his efforts to promote depolarization including an amazing exchange which saw representatives of his very progressive-liberal congregation living with MAGA supporters for three days - followed by their living with his congregation for three days. The results of this exchange will move you and highlight the power of personal transformation in better learning to understand others.

An interview with global pioneer in mediation training, Gary Friedman, co-founder of the Center for Understanding in Conflict which has trained over 10,000 mediators. Gary has taught at both Harvard and Stanford and for the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva and the American Bar Association and is the author of three books. In this episode, Gary shares his 'understanding-based' model of mediation, providing strategies to help those in conflict better understand each other in their path towards finding resolution.

An interview with award-winning scholar, Dr. Peter Coleman, sharing his research at Columbia University's 'Difficult Conversations Lab', exploring the variables best contributing to bringing antagonistic groups closer together. In this 'power hour', discover the main principles which have emerged in the scientific literature for effective depolarization. This includes the benefits of complicating the narrative, the power of movement, pursuing a common goal, the limits of contact theory, appreciating the temporal dimension of change, positive deviance, shaping first impressions, articulating theories of change, maintaining a strong positive-to-negative comment ratio. Dr. Coleman also shares details about his 4 week, daily training program, 'The Challenge'. Key references: Cross-cutting structure (4:24) https://www.jstor.org/stable/3088437 Movie: A Walk in the Woods (20:11) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_in_the_Woods_(film) Habitat for Humanity (23:04) https://www.habitat.org/ Movie: The First Step (24:15) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Step_(film) Allport's Contact Theory (27:02) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_hypothesis Positive Deviance (33:56) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_deviance https://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-Deviance-Unlikely-Innovators/dp/1422110664 Blum's Islands of Agreement (35:19) https://www.amazon.com/Islands-Agreement-Managing-Enduring-Rivalries/dp/067402446X Derek Kilmer (37:48) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Kilmer Sensitivity to Initial Conditions (39:03) https://sites.psu.edu/academy/2016/04/25/sensitive-dependence-of-initial-conditions/ Chasin's Public Conversation's Project (40:53) https://www.publicconversations.org/ Popper's Clock vs Cloud Problem (44:31) http://www.the-rathouse.com/2011/Clouds-and-Clocks.html The Negativity Bias (47:20) https://positivepsychology.com/3-steps-negativity-bias Gottman's Love Lab (48:52) https://www.gottman.com/love-lab/ Starts with Us - The Challenge (52:17) https://findingthewayout.startswith.us/ -- Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 8:40 Complicating the Narrative 15:53 The Power of Movement 23:47 Pursuing A Common Goal 26:04 Contact Theory 33:03 Positive Deviance 38:27 Shaping First Impressions 42:37 Theories of Change 46:31 Positive/Negative Ratio 50:48 The “Challenge” 53:50 Advice for Baha’i Communities 56:05 Closing Thoughts

An interview with award-winning journalist Amanda Ripley who shares insights on the science of bringing antagonistic groups together based on her recent best-selling book, High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out. Includes discussion on evidence-based strategies for depolarization and on how the Baha'i community serves as a role model in this arena. CONTENTS 0:00 Introduction 5:20 Background to the Book 11:29 Avoiding High Conflict 16:03 Feeling Heard 19:10 Breaking Binaries 21:00 Avoiding Conflict Entrepreneurs 32:12 Cultivating Calm 35:40 Complicating the Narrative 39:29 Reaching a Saturation Point 41:56 The Baha’i Community as Model 47:48 Hope & Human Triumph 50:15 Applications for the Workplace 53:00 Closing Thoughts