Resources

Peril

by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Woodward and Costa interviewed more than 200 people at the center of the turmoil, resulting in more than 6,000 pages of transcripts—and a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink. This classic study of Washington takes readers deep inside the Trump White House, the Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and the Pentagon and Congress, with vivid, eyewitness accounts of what really happened.

Woodward and Costa on Washington Post Live

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Words that Win – The 3V Messaging Framework

VALUES, VILLAINS, and VISION

Communications consultant Anat Shenker-Osorio developed the 3V messaging framework. Effective 3V messages: 

  1. lead with shared values, 
  2. name the villains and their motives for opposing those values,
  3. present your vision for a better future. 

As linguist George Lakoff says, “People vote based on values, connection, authenticity, trust and identity” – not lists of policies and facts.

BAC’s 3V Messaging Library

The Bay Area Coalition offers 3V statements on the critical issues of our time.

Ash Center

for Democratic Governance and Innovation

Publisher: Harvard Kennedy School

Recommended by Bob B.

The Ash Center believes that diverse perspectives are paramount to better understanding and addressing real-world problems. As a global community that brings together students, faculty, staff, and fellows, with practitioners and policymakers from around the world, we focus on advancing excellence in democracy and self-government. We are committed to fostering an environment of rigor, curiosity, and integrity. As a Center, we therefore value and respect different opinions, lived experiences, and diverse research and policy areas and approaches. We continue to strive for excellence while creating an equitable and inclusive community for all.

Ash Center YouTube


The Breakdown with Erica Chenoweth and Steve Levitsky

Sign up for the next session with the link after this image.

January 6th Committee Report

by Select Committee

“The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack has succeeded in bringing clarity and demonstrating with painstaking detail the fragility of our Democracy. Above all, the work of the Select Committee underscores that our democratic institutions are only as strong as the commitment of those who are entrusted with their care.

As the Select Committee concludes its work, their words must be a clarion call to all Americans: to vigilantly guard our Democracy and to give our vote only to those dutiful in their defense of our Constitution.”

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House

Of Men and Boys

Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It

by Richard V. Reeves

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Recommended by: Bob B.

“The problem with men is typically framed as a problem of men,” writes Reeves. “It is men who must be fixed, one man or boy at a time. This individualist approach is wrong.” Instead, he maintains there are structural problems, societal issues, that need to be addressed if men are not to become ever more lost, defeated and angry.

Review

Thank You for Your Servitude

Donald Trump’s Washington and the Price of Submission
By Mark Leibovich
Publisher: Penguin Press

Recommended by Cindi

“This is a really funny book.” Kara Swisher. 

Mark Leibovich’s unflinching account of the moral rout of a major American political party, tracking the transformation of Rubio, Cruz, Graham, and their ilk into the administration’s chief enablers, and the swamp’s lesser lights into frantic chasers of the grift…isn’t another view from the Oval Office: it’s the view from the Trump Hotel. 

Why We Did It

A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell

by Tim Miller

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers

Recommended by: Cindi Sears

In a bracingly honest reflection on both his own past work for the Republican Party and the contortions of his former peers in the GOP establishment, Tim Miller draws a straight line between the actions of the 2000s GOP to the Republican political class’s Trumpian takeover, including the horrors of January 6th.

From ruminations on the mental jujitsu that allowed him as a gay man to justify becoming a hitman for homophobes, to astonishingly raw interviews with former colleagues who jumped on the Trump Train, Miller diagrams the flattering and delusional stories GOP operatives tell themselves so they can sleep at night. With a humorous touch he reveals Reince Priebus’ neediness, Sean Spicer’s desperation, Elise Stefanik and Chris Christie’s raw ambition, and his close friends’ submission to a MAGA psychosis.

Why We Did It is a vital, darkly satirical warning that all the narcissistic justifications that got us to this place still thrive within the Republican party, which means they will continue to make the same mistakes and political calculations that got us here, with disastrous consequences for the nation

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Feel Good Action

Using the power of social networks and digital media, we motivate individual and collective action to advance resilient communities, just societies, and a healthy planet.

95% of young people are on social media. 

Relationships, ideas, and images of our lives are shaped and shared on social media every day. In partnership with Feel Good Action, influencers are leading their followers to ACT.

After The Fall

The rise of Authoritarianism in the world we've made

by Bden Rhodes

Publisher: Random House

At a time when democracy in the United States is endangered as never before, Ben Rhodes spent years traveling the world to understand why. He visited dozens of countries, meeting with politicians and activists confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that are tearing America apart. Along the way, he discusses the growing authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin, and his aggression towards Ukraine, with the foremost opposition leader in Russia, who was subsequently poisoned and imprisoned; he profiled Hong Kong protesters who saw their movement snuffed out by China under Xi Jinping; and America itself reached the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a fragile second chance.

High Conflict

Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out

by Amanda Ripley

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Recommended by: Cindi, Bob & Linda

When we are baffled by the insanity of the “other side”—in our politics, at work, or at home—it’s because we aren’t seeing how the conflict itself has taken over. That’s what “high conflict” does. It’s the invisible hand of our time. And it’s different from the useful friction of “healthy conflict”. That’s good conflict, and it’s a necessary force that pushes us to be better people.

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Insurgency

How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted

by Jeremy W. Peters

Publisher: Random House Publishing House

NYTimes reporter, Jeremy W. Peters’ epic narrative chronicles the fracturing of the Republican Party. Insurgency is a fantasia-like story of a party establishment that believed it could control the dark energy it helped foment—right up until it suddenly couldn’t. How, Peters asks, did conservative values that Republicans claimed to cherish, like small government, fiscal responsibility, and morality get completely eroded?

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How Civil Wars Start

and How To Stop Them

by Barbara F. Walter

Publisher: Crown

Barbara F. Walter, a political science professor at U.C. San Diego, has spent over three decades studying civil conflict.  Over the last two decades, the number of active civil wars around the world has almost doubled. Walter reveals the warning signs—where wars tend to start, who initiates them, what triggers them—and why some countries tip over into conflict while others remain stable. Drawing on the latest international research and lessons from over twenty countries, Walter identifies the crucial risk factors, from democratic backsliding to factionalization and the politics of resentment. A civil war today won’t look like America in the 1860s, Russia in the 1920s, or Spain in the 1930s. It will begin with sporadic acts of violence and terror, accelerated by social media. It will sneak up on us and leave us wondering how we could have been so blind.

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Unthinkable

Trauma, Truth and the Trials of American Democracy

by James Raskin

Publisher: Harper

In this searing memoir, Congressman Jamie Raskin tells the story of the forty-five days at the start of 2021 that permanently changed his life—and his family’s—as he confronted the painful loss of his son to suicide, lived through the violent insurrection in our nation’s Capital, and led the impeachment effort to hold President Trump accountable for inciting the political violence.

Jamie Raskin in conversation at The National Arts Club

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Democratic Messaging Project

The Democratic Messaging Project was established in 2022 to inform and educate voters about the historic achievements made by the Biden Administration and Democrats. DMP  billboards, postcards, digital and video ads have made a huge impact in battleground states. 

Lincoln Square

Newsletter

Publisher: Lincoln Square

When you join Lincoln Square, you are more than a passive consumer of content – You are a critical member of the Ferocious Opposition. We’ll provide you with the truth that you need and the tools to help spread the antidote to Trump, MAGA, Musk, and what once was a legitimate major political party in our country, the Republicans.

Lincoln Square founders introduce LSM here. 

About

Lincoln Square is a collaborative effort with The Lincoln Project, America’s leading pro-democracy organization. It’s an ambitious effort to rethink how the media fights against autocracy, disinformation, and the flood of attacks on truth and our democracy. We don’t pull punches. We don’t cower in fear and hope Trump, Musk, and their minions don’t notice us and be spared their wrath.

We aren’t legacy media. We don’t have billionaire backers or corporate overlords directing what we can and cannot say.

Our mission is to expose, inspire, inform, lead, and connect — and give you the tools not just to fight back, but fight forward for the America we all deserve – not just the broligarchs and kleptocrats. We fight for the rights of all of us because it takes all of us for America to achieve her extraordinary potential. And we’re getting louder than ever with podcasts, live streaming, digital and social media, commentary, articles, town halls, public and virtual community gatherings, and strategy calls with people like Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens, and Joe Trippi, who have led the biggest campaigns — and won.


Latest Articles

The Art & Science of Persuasion Playbook

A Message from Galvanize Action about a huge block of persuadable voters!

“White women are the largest voting bloc in this country and will be for decades to come. They account for 38% of the national vote share and 43% of the vote share across Galvanize Action’s priority states. Within this voting bloc, we’ve identified 44,093,812 moderate women who are not ideologically entrenched, meaning they are open to new ideas and perspectives and movable on key issues such as reproductive freedom, healthcare, gender equity, climate, and the economy.”

Galvanize Action has a fabulous interactive messaging worksheet we can all use!

Galvanize Action says, “We’ll share with you exactly how to create a message that meets people at their values and how to turn those into an effective ad. Our interactive worksheet will guide you through the process with prompts about your target audience and the issue you want to move them on. You’ll walk away with customized advice!”

Betrayal

The Final Act of the Trump Show

by Johnathan Karl

Publisher: Dutton

This is the explosive look at the aftermath of the 2020 election–and the January 6th uprising–from ABC News’ chief Washington correspondent, Jonathan Karl. Jonathan Karl, the reporter who has known Donald Trump longer than any other White House correspondent, Karl told the story of Trump’s rise in the New York Times bestseller Front Row at the Trump Show. Now he tells the story of Trump’s downfall, complete with riveting behind-the-scenes accounts of some of the darkest days in the history of the American presidency and packed with original reporting and on-the-record interviews with central figures in this drama who are telling their stories for the first time.

 

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Corruptible

Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us

By: Brian Klaas

Publisher: Scribner

Recommended by: Bruce R.

Does power corrupt, or are corrupt people drawn to power? Are tyrants made or born? Are entrepreneurs who embezzle and cops who kill the result of poorly designed systems or are they just bad people? If you were suddenly thrust into a position of power, would you be able to resist the temptation to line your pockets or seek revenge against your enemies?

To answer these questions, Corruptible draws on over 500 interviews with some of the world’s top leaders—from the noblest to the dirtiest—including presidents and philanthropists as well as rebels, cultists, and dictators. Some of the fascinating insights include: how facial appearance determines who we pick as leaders, why narcissists make more money, why some people don’t want power at all and others are drawn to it out of a psychopathic impulse, and why being the “beta” (second in command) may actually be the optimal place for health and well-being.

Corruptible also features a wealth of counterintuitive examples from history and social science: you’ll meet the worst bioterrorist in American history, hit the slopes with a ski instructor who once ruled Iraq, and learn why the inability of chimpanzees to play baseball is central to the development of human hierarchies.

The Election Sabotage Scheme and How Congress Can Stop It

The Freedom to Vote Act can halt this growing antidemocratic threat.

by Will Wilder, Derek Tisler, Wendy R. Weiser

Publisher: Brennan Center for Justice

Essentially this article addresses laws and proposed legislation enabling partisan interference in election administration as part of a broader “election sabotage” or “election subversion” campaign, a national push to enable partisans to distort democratic outcomes.

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Professor Jason Stanley outlines how fascism takes over a country

Fascism is a cult of the leader, who promises national restoration in the face of supposed humiliation by immigrants, leftists, liberals, minorities, homosexuals, women, in the face of what the fascist leader says is a takeover of the country’s media, cultural institutions, schools by these forces.

Fascist movements typically, though not invariably, rest on an urban/rural divide. The cities are where there’s decadence, where the elites congregate, where there’s immigrants, and where there’s criminality.

Each of these individuals alone is not in and of itself fascist, but you have to worry when they’re all grouped together, seeing the other as less than. Those moments are the times when societies need to worry about fascism.

Laboratories of Autocracy

A Wake-Up Call From Behind The Lines

by David Pepper

Publisher: St. Helena Press

Recommended by: Cindi Sears

David Pepper shows that far more than the high-profile antics of national politicians and Trump himself, it’s anonymous, often corrupt politicians in statehouses across the country who pose the greatest dangers to American democracy. Amid all the chaos, these statehouses are hard at work, every day, hacking away at core principles and protections of our democratic system. And they’re getting more audacious every year.

Because these statehouses no longer operate as functioning democracies, these unknown politicians have all the incentive to keep doing greater damage, and can not be held accountable however extreme they get. This has driven steep declines in states like Ohio and others across the country. And collectively, it’s placed American democracy in its greatest peril since the dawn of the Jim Crow era.

But Pepper doesn’t stop there. He lays out a robust pro-democracy agenda outlining how everyone from elected officials to business leaders to everyday citizens can fight back.

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There’s Nothing For You Here

Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century

by Fiona Hill

Publisher: Mariner Books

A celebrated foreign-policy expert and key impeachment witness reveals how declining opportunity has set America on the grim path of modern Russia – and draws on her personal journey out of poverty, and her unique perspectives as a historian and policy maker, to show how we can return hope to our forgotten places.

Fiona Hill grew up in a world of terminal decay. The last of the local mines had closed, businesses were shuttering, and despair was etched in the faces around her. Her father urged her to get out of their blighted corner of northern England: “There is nothing for you here, pet,” he said.

The coal-miner’s daughter managed to go further than he ever could have dreamed. She studied in Moscow and at Harvard, became an American citizen, and served three U.S. Presidents. But in the heartlands of both Russia and the United States, she saw troubling reflections of her hometown and similar populist impulses. By the time she offered her brave testimony in the first impeachment inquiry of President Trump, Hill knew that the desperation of forgotten people was driving American politics over the brink—and that we were running out of time to save ourselves from Russia’s fate. In this powerful, deeply personal account, she shares what she has learned, and shows why expanding opportunity is the only long-term hope for our democracy.

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Strongmen

Mussolini to the Present

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the expert on the “strongman” playbook employed by authoritarian demagogues from Mussolini to Putin—enabling her to predict with uncanny accuracy the recent experience in America and Europe. In Strongmen, she lays bare the blueprint these leaders have followed over the past 100 years, and empowers us to recognize, resist, and prevent their disastrous rule in the future.

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Strongmen, Oligarchs, & Fascists: Thinking Live with Ruth Ben-Ghiat

A recording from Timothy Snyder’s live video with Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Jun 15, 2026)



Ruth Ben-Ghiat interviewed by Dean Peter Arnade at University of Hawai

Twilight of Democracy

The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

By Anne Applebaum

Publisher: Vintage

Recommended by: Linda and Cindi

Despotic leaders do not rule alone; they rely on political allies, bureaucrats, and media figures to pave their way and support their rule. The authoritarian and nationalist parties that have arisen within modern democracies offer new paths to wealth or power for their adherents. 

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Authoritarian Nightmare

The Ongoing Threat of Trump's Followers / Trump and His Followers

by John W. Dean and Bob Altemeyer

Publisher: Melville House

John Dean, of Watergate fame, joined with Bob Altemeter, an expert on authoritarianism, to look at the entirety of the Trump phenomenon, using psychological and social science studies, as well as polling analyses, to understand Donald Trump’s followers. How did America end up with a leader who acts so crudely and despotically, and counter to our democratic principles? Why do his followers stick with him, even when he acts against their interests?

John Dean interview on Democracy Now

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How to recognize disinformation and how to stop it

Deb Lavoy explains how we fall for disinformation and how to train ourselves to avoid falling for it. (11 min.)

Deb Lavoy is on a mission to eradicate disinformation. As a former software engineer and digital marketer, she recognized the established social media marketing techniques that disinformation perpetrators appropriating to manipulate us into believing falsehoods. This talk provides tips on recognizing these tricks and how to counter them. Deb Lavoy is on a mission to eradicate disinformation. Her experience in software engineering and marketing, gave her a unique perspective on the rise of disinformation in 2016: the perpetrators were maliciously appropriating tried and tested digital marketing techniques. Deb founded the nonprofit Reality Team in response.

Reality Team drowns out the lies perpetrated over social media with simply stated truths, and arms people with tools and information to join the fight. The organization builds campaigns that change the ratio of truthful to untruthful information on social media feeds and provides tools and techniques to make it easier to tell the difference.

The Highest Common Denominator

Using Convergent Facilitation to Reach Breakthrough Collaborative Decisions

by Miki Kashtan

Miki introduces a novel decision-making process called Convergent Facilitation that builds trust from the beginning, surfaces concerns and addresses them, and turns conflicts into creative dilemmas that groups feel energized to solve together. This highly effective process has been used successfully around the world to resolve problems and teach people how to collaborate without sacrificing productivity.

Continue reading The Highest Common Denominator

Robert Reich on Substack

by Robert Reich

 

Robert Reich on Substack

Robert Reich’s is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration for which Time Magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century.  He has written 18 books, including

Read Robert’s Jan. 2, 2024 article  “Why is the mainstream media failing to report accurately on the coming election? 


Latest Posts


YouTube Channel

The Upswing

how America came together a century ago and how we can do it again

by Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

“An eminent political scientist’s brilliant synthesis of social and political trends over the past century that shows how we have gone from an individualistic society to a more communitarian society and then back again — and how we can use that experience to overcome once again the individualism that currently weakens our country”

We can’t go back to when things were “good.” But we can learn from when things ware “bad.” In the early 1900’s the Guilded Age of the robber barons, things were really bad for most US citizens; they feared for the end of democracy and the take-over by the oligarchs.

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Interview: Robert Putnam Knows Why You’re Lonely


The 2023 Ithiel de Sola Pool Lecture by Robert D. Putnam
Sep 22, 2023


Join or Die — Trailer (2023)

The Documentary “Join or Die” (2023) is currently available on Netflix (2025-08-11)

Divided We Fall

America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation

by David French

Summary

Reestablishing national unity will require the bravery to commit ourselves to embracing qualities of kindness, decency, and grace towards those we disagree with ideologically. David French calls on all of us to demonstrate true tolerance so we can heal the American divide. If we want to remain united, we must learn to stand together again.

Continue reading Divided We Fall

The Cult of Trump

A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control

by Steve Hassan

Publisher: Free Press

Mind control and licensed mental health expert Steven Hassan draws parallels between our 45th president and people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ron Hubbard, and Sun Myung Moon, arguing that this presidency is in many ways like a destructive cult. He specifically details the ways in which people are influenced through an array of social psychology methods and how they become fiercely loyal and obedient.

Dr. Steven Hassan’s presentation to  Commonwealth Club of CA

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It Was All a Lie

How The Republican Party Became Donald Trump

by Stuart Stevens

Publisher: Knopf

Recommended by: Cindi S. and Steve G.

Written by Republican political consultant Stuart Stevens, this is a tell-all book about how the party he’s stood with for years spiraled out of control and lost the moral and political standpoints that once made it great. Unlike other books about Donald Trump, Stevens presents the 45th president of the United States as the inevitable result of the Republican Party’s failings, not its instigator.

Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass.

This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else. Stevens shows how Trump is in fact the natural outcome of five decades of hypocrisy and self-delusion, dating all the way back to the civil rights legislation of the early 1960s. Stevens shows how racism has always lurked in the modern GOP’s DNA, from Goldwater’s opposition to desegregation to Ronald Reagan’s welfare queens and states’ rights rhetoric. He gives an insider’s account of the rank hypocrisy of the party’s claims to embody “family values,” and shows how the party’s vaunted commitment to fiscal responsibility has been a charade since the 1980s. When a party stands for nothing, he argues, it is only natural that it will be taken over by the loudest and angriest voices in the room.

It Was All a Lie is not just an indictment of the Republican Party, but a candid and often lacerating mea culpa. Stevens is not asking for pity or forgiveness; he is simply telling us what he has seen firsthand. He helped to create the modern party that kneels before a morally bankrupt con man and now he wants nothing more than to see what it has become burned to the ground.

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How Fascism Works

The Politics of Us and Them

By: Jason Stanley

Publisher: ‎ Random House Publishing Group

Recommended by: Steve G.

As a scholar of philosophy and propaganda and the child of refugees of WWII Europe, Jason Stanley has long understood that democratic societies, including the United States, can be vulnerable to fascism. In How Fascism Works, he identifies ten pillars of fascist politics—an appeal to the mythic past, propaganda, anti-intellectualism, unreality, hierarchy, victimhood, law and order, sexual anxiety, favoring “the heartland,” and a dismantling of public goods and unions—that amount to an urgent diagnosis of the tactics right-wing politicians use to break down democracies and a critical lens on the current moment.

Stanley knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations, making clear the immense dangers of language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics—rhetoric and myth—can become policy and reality all too quickly. Only by recognizing them, he argues, can we begin to resist their most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals.

How to Citizen with Baratunde

By Baratunde Thurston

Recommended by: Bob

Here are some sources of ideas from a podcast by Baratunde Thurston, which began in 2020 and has four seasons of episodes. The overall theme is encouraging thinking about “citizen” as a verb. The four
pillars for doing this are:

  • To participate, not just vote, but to show up for each other and publicly participate by discussing concerns, debating policy choices, advocating, etc.
  • To invest in relationships, by deepening our interconnections with our community, family, neighbors, etc..
  • To understand power, by learning about the fluidity of power and the various ways we the people can use it for our collective benefit.
  • To value the collective, by working towards outcomes that benefit the many, not just the few.

The four seasons of episodes (ranging from 11 to 16 episodes each season) consist of interviews with folks who are thinking about and demonstrating democracy-building activities. It’s a wonderful resource for ideas. They include international, national, statewide, and local leaders.

How to Have Impossible Conversations

A Very Practical Guide

by Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay

Publisher: Balance

 
From politics and religion to workplace negotiations, ace the high-stakes conversations in your life with this indispensable guide from a persuasion expert.

In our current political climate, it seems impossible to have a reasonable conversation with anyone who has a different opinion. Whether you’re online, in a classroom, an office, a town hall—or just hoping to get through a family dinner with a stubborn relative—dialogue shuts down when perspectives clash. Heated debates often lead to insults and shaming, blocking any possibility of productive discourse. Everyone seems to be on a hair trigger.

In How to Have Impossible Conversations, Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay guide you through the straightforward, practical, conversational techniques necessary for every successful conversationwhether the issue is climate change, religious faith, gender identity, race, poverty, immigration, or gun control. Boghossian and Lindsay teach the subtle art of instilling doubts and opening minds. They cover everything from learning the fundamentals for good conversations to achieving expert-level techniques to deal with hardliners and extremists. This book is the manual everyone needs to foster a climate of civility, connection, and empathy.

“This is a self-help book on how to argue effectively, conciliate, and gently persuade. The authors admit to getting it wrong in their own past conversations. One by one, I recognize the same mistakes in me. The world would be a better place if everyone read this book.”  —Richard Dawkins, author of Science in the Soul and Outgrowing God
 

Buy

A Summary of the Key Points

Seven Fundamentals of Good Conversations

  • Goals – Why are you engaged in this conversation?
  • Partnerships – Be partners, not advocates
  • Rapport – Develop and maintain a good connection
  • Listen – Listen more, talk less
  • Shoot the Messenger – Delivering “messages” doesn’t work, have a “conversation,” an exchange instead
  • Intentions – People have better intentions than you may think
  • Walk Away – Don’t push your conversational partner beyond their conflict zone

Beginner Level: Nine Ways to Start Changing Minds

  • Modeling – Model the behavior you want to see in others
  • Words – Define terms up front
  • Ask Questions – Focus on a specific question with genuine curiosity; avoid generalities, broad conclusions
  • Acknowledge Extremists – Point out and acknowledge unhelpful things people on your side have done
  • Navigating Social Media – Do not vent on social media
  • Don’t Blame, Do Discuss Contributions – Shift from “blaming” terms to “contribution” language,
    acknowledging things that got us to this unhappy place and emphasizing how to move forward
  • Focus on Epistemology – Figure out how people “know” what they claim to know, what’s the evidence
  • Learn – Learn what makes someone close-minded, what personal experiences have led them to a position
  • What NOT to Do (Reverse Applications) – A list of fundamental and basic conversational mistakes

Intermediate Level: Seven Ways to Improve Your Interventions

  • Let Friends Be Wrong – It’s okay if someone disagrees with you, even about a cherished conclusion
  • Build Golden Bridges – Find ways for your conversation partner to avoid social embarrassment if they
    change their mind
  • Language – Avoid “you,” switch to third person or collaborative language like “we” and “us”
  • Stuck? Reframe – Shift the conversation to keep it going smoothly or to get it back on track, use metaphors
  • Change Your Mind – Change your mind on the spot or be willing to reconsider
  • Introduce Scales – Use scales to gauge effective interventions, figure out how confident someone is in a
    belief, seeking places where they might be willing to reconsider, and put issues into perspective
  • Outsourcing – Turn to outside information to answer the question, “How do you know that?”

Five Advanced Skills for Contentious Conversations

  • Keep Rapoport’s Rules – Re-express, list points of agreement, mention what you learned, only then rebut
  • Avoid Facts – Bringing facts into a conversation requires considering timing and what counts as evidence
  • Seek Disconfirmation – How could that belief be incorrect?
  • Yes, and … — Eliminate the word “but” from your spoken vocabulary; affirm first, then add
  • Dealing with Anger – Know thyself; don’t escalate, monitor your emotions and take a pause if necessary

Six Expert Skills to Engage the Close-Minded

  • Synthesis – Recruit your partner to help refine and synthesize your positions
  • Help Vent Steam – Talk through emotional roadblocks
  • Altercasting – Cast your partner in a role that helps her think and behave differently
  • Hostage Negotiations – Use research-based ideas from hostage negotiations: mini-encouragers, mirroring, etc
  • Probe the Limits – Engage someone who professes a belief that can’t be lived, unmask disingenuous stmts.
  • Counter-Intervention Strategies – If someone is trying to intervene in your cognitive processes, go with it…

Master Level: Two Keys to Conversing

  • How to Converse with an Ideologue – Switch to moral epistemology, talk about values
  • Moral Reframing – Learn to speak moral dialects, study Jonathan Haidt’s moral foundations

The Hidden Tribes of America

A year-long project of More in Common launched in October 2018.

by: Stephen Hawkins, Daniel Yudkin, Míriam Juan-Torres, and Tim Dixon

Publisher: More in Common US

Recommended by: Bob B.

The report was conducted by More in Common, a new international initiative to build societies and communities that are stronger, more united, and more resilient to the increasing threats of polarization and social division. We work in partnership with a wide range of civil society groups, as well as philanthropy, business, faith, education, media and government to connect people across the lines of division.

America has never felt so divided. Bitter debates that were once confined to Congressional hearings and cable TV have now found their way into every part of our lives, from our Facebook feeds to the family dinner table. But most Americans are tired of this “us-versus-them” mindset and are eager to find common ground. This is the message we’ve heard from more than 8,000 Americans in one of our country’s largest-ever studies of polarization: We hold dissimilar views on many issues. However, more than three in four Americans also believe that our differences aren’t so great that we can’t work together.

A range of major issues split the country

  • Immigration impact
  • White privilege
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Islamophobia

More in Common US

Recommended by: Bob B.

More in Common was established with the mission of tackling the ‘us-versus-them’ divisions that pose a generational threat to the United States. We have published over 30 reports since launching in the US in 2018, with a foundational study that helped shape the emerging field of efforts to tackle polarization in America. Hidden Tribes:  A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape showed that rather than being evenly divided, most Americans belonged to an ‘Exhausted Majority’. America’s Exhausted Majority is tired of tribalism, fed up with the country’s polarization, and more flexible and less ideological than the strident voices who dominate public debates.

We work with leaders across the ideological spectrum to strengthen American democracy, solve problems, and better navigate the dynamics of a polarized society. The common thread through our ever-increasing range of projects and partnerships is a simple truth: what we as Americans have in common is greater than our differences. Through both our research insights and on-the-ground projects, we’re building evidence-based solutions to bring this truth to life.

More in Common is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. We receive funding from foundations, organizations and individuals who share a commitment to building communities and societies that are more resilient to the forces of social fracturing and polarization. Philanthropies that support More in Common’s work fund projects across a wide range of issue areas.

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Newsletter

Galvanize Action

Galvanize Action connects with moderate women in rural, small-town, and suburban communities to build an America that works for everyone. We work at the intersection of data science, behavioral psychology, and neuroscience to find women who want progress on key issues but aren’t reliably playing a role in getting us there, connect with them on their values, and influence their civic behavior. We’re sharing our unique insights into moderate women voters and making our full creative library available to the movement.

Central Valley Matters

Central Valley Matters is a coalition of organizations in California working to strengthen democracy and activate the electorate. We started as a group of volunteers who actively participated in the congressional elections in the Central Valley starting in 2018, and have grown into an alliance of volunteer groups focused on fundraising and supporting selected local, grassroots organizations in the Central Valley. For activism in the communities of the Central Valley to be sustained, it must be developed organically by and for the people who live there.

Central Valley Matters is dedicated to supporting locally based grassroots organizations that know their communities best and can be most responsive to their needs, and translate that into political power. Such support is a proven and crucial strategy for preserving our democracy, as was evident in Georgia and Arizona in 2020. We believe that when community voices are heard through voting, they are better represented at all levels of government. And our country is better for it.

Currently, our coalition of over 40 California volunteer groups helps to fund civic engagement in the Central Valley, supporting our carefully vetted grassroots organizations based in CA’s CD 22:
Community Water Center Action Fund, Dolores Huerta Action Fund, Poder Latinx,
plus Delano Guardians, Loud for Tomorrow & Valley Voices.

On Tyranny

Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

by Timothy Snyder

Publisher: Crown

Timothy Snyder provides a stark warning for the future of American democracy. Too easily we are ignoring the ways in which tyranny starts to eat away at democracy. As our political system faces new threats – not unlike those faced by democracies in the 20th century – we must look to the past to safeguard our future.

INTERVIEW: Listen to Professor Snyder discuss his book at Politics and Prose Bookstore

Read Review

Buy

George Lakoff’s Frame Lab Messaging Guide

“Trump is a loser, a fraud, and a liar.”

Frame Lab advises calling Trump a loser, a fraud, or a betrayer of trust. A dictator creates an image of power, whereas a loser is a label no strict father/wannabe dictator will admit. 


Latest Articles

  • by Gil Duran
    Ten years ago today, JD Vance published an essay that called Donald Trump “cultural heroin” and “an opioid of the masses”:During this election season, it appears that many Americans have reached for a new pain reliever. It too, promises a quick escape from life’
  • by Gil Duran
    Trump's name was scraped off the Kennedy Center wall by court order. Wannabe dictators put their names on things. The law said no.
  • by Gil Duran
    Things have been a bit quiet here at FrameLab. That silence has a reason: I have been finishing a book.The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy will be published on August 18 by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. You can pre-
  • by Gil Duran
    Trump's MAGA movement is plotting to steal the midterm elections with a fake national emergency. Here's how to frame it—and what you can do.
  • by L O L G O P
    Trump's approval hits 37% as his strongman psychology prevents him from fixing the economy he broke. The strict father model is now his trap.

Local Majority

Local Majority’s mission is to provide critical research to Democratic state legislative candidates. Since 2017, Local Majority has produced issue papers for state candidates in Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arizona. Local Majority provides research that is practical and accessible to support Democratic campaigns for the state legislature.

  • There is a Republican-led onslaught against public education in Florida. Not only has funding for successful college scholarship programs been cut, new measures are proposed to further gut public school funding by promoting charter schools in their stead. GOP measures are also proposing to remove long-standing restrictions against the use of public monies to fund private-, sectarian- and religion-based schools. …
  • X is not your grandmother’s WordPress theme, and we want to prove it to you. Here are the top 5 reasons you need to buy X today! Stacks, Stacks, & More Stacks Instead of being stuck with one design for your next project, X is a gift that keeps on giving. Built with our custom Stacks, X is the most …
  • For those looking for a more customized solution, you can upload your own self-hosted videos using the nifty Video Post Format right from within your dashboard. Each video will be fully responsive and look great on any device! Simply create a post like you always would, select Video in the format box, then enter the destination of your video file …
  • This is quote post where you can share all your favorite sayings. The featured image is optional.
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Indivisible San Mateo

Who We Are

A group of residents from San Mateo and neighboring communities who oppose Trump and his authoritarian policies. We are a peaceful people gathered for a common purpose of protecting our democracy, our Constitution, and our rule-of-law.

What We Do

Schedule and participate in actions such as protests, bannering over freeways, door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, and much more!

Indivisible SF

Since January 2017, more than 4,000 San Franciscans have united as Indivisible SF to march in the Women’s Marches, protest the Muslim Ban, meet regularly with our Members of Congress, and make thousands of phone calls to their offices to pressure them to do everything in their power to counter the policies and politics of Trumpism. There is much work in progress and many actions to come. 

Members of Indivisible SF are defined by our action and find solidarity in our shared opposition to Trump and Trumpism. Each of us explicitly reserves our individual stances on specific issues for other forums as we believe resisting Trump is more important than any single issue. We adhere to a Code of Conduct that welcomes and respects everybody.

Members of Indivisible SF come from all kinds of backgrounds and political persuasions. Some of us are first-time activists and others have been at this for decades. We are citizens and non-citizens. Most importantly, we are all patriots that want the best for our country and are willing to work for it. 

Democracy Labs

Recommended by Steve.

Latest Articles

Democracy Forward

Democracy Forward uses the law to build collective power and advance a bold, vibrant democracy for all people.

Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy and public education, and regulatory engagement.

In towns and cities across America, we provide legal representation and expert counsel to the people and communities who make up the very fabric of American democracy — free of charge.


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Coastside United Indivisible

Everyone can do something to resist the Trump regime. Every act of resistance will combine with every other act of resistance to let them know we will not be quiet as they try to dismantle democratic institutions, erase our history, and destroy our rights.
We will not obey in advance!

Coastside United for Action was established after the Nov 2016 Presidential election. We have worked with groups such as Indivisible, Sister District, Activate America, and Reclaim Our Vote. In 2018, we registered as a Sister District affiliate, and each year we sponsor two Sister District candidates through fundraising, phone banking, and postcarding.

In 2022, we formally affiliated with Indivisible. We have an active postcard group and have written over 160,000 postcards and letters since 2017.

It’s Blue Turn

We are a group of dedicated volunteers who’ve been meeting since 2016 to advance our democracy through civic action and resistance. We’ve already reached a million voters through letters, postcards, calls, and texts and are continuing to resist Trump’s destruction of America through driving electoral change, protecting voting rights, fighting disinformation, building pro-democracy infrastructure in rural districts, creating art against the power grab, and more. We welcome newbies and introverts, and anyone within driving distance of Mountain View, CA (we have members from Gilroy to Napa)! We host weekly and monthly events, we take direct action at protests and rallies, we chat, eat and watch debates, we celebrate wins and discuss the best way forward. As one of the oldest Indivisible groups on the Peninsula, we hold the most in-person events. Join us to build a better future!

Indivisible.org

Table of Contents


In America, we don’t do kings.

We’re a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda.

Indivisible National Organization

How we win

Defeating a multi-decade right-wing takeover of American government ain’t easy. But we’re here to win, and we have a plan. Here’s how we’re doing it:

We Are Indivisible. Our opponents depend on a divide-and-conquer strategy, so we treat an attack on one like an attack on all. We show up for each other, and particularly for those facing the brunt of right-wing ideologues’ attacks – often immigrants, people of color, and low-income people. We share a vision: a real democracy, of, by, and for everyone.

Strong Leaders, Strong Groups, Strong Movement. We build and sustain our movement’s power by helping individuals take leadership. They grow and lead local Indivisible groups, take independent action, and coordinate with their fellow local leaders. As a movement, our power comes from coordinated national campaigns where we act together, indivisible.

Inside/Outside Strategy. We understand systems of power – like how Congress operates – and we work inside them to get results. That complements our outside strategy of locally-based constituent pressure to demand elected leaders, regardless of political party, work for our democracy.

A Virtuous Cycle of Advocacy and Elections. We show up to advocate for policy wins in off-years and get out the vote in election years. These efforts reinforce each other to ensure our democracy works for all of us and that the people in power do too – or we will replace them with electeds who will.

Indivisible’s LinkTree

Instagram: indivisibleteam


Newsfeed

  • The first year of the second Trump administration was defined by horrifying authoritarian abuses from an unpopular regime that were met again and again by courageous resistance from everyday Americans…and cowardice or complicity from elites of every stripe. Despite genuine efforts from a handful of Democrats in congress, their ability to advance real, leave-it-all-on-the-field opposition strategy was repeatedly upended by the feckless leadership of Senate Democrats — and none were more feckless than Leader Chuck Schumer.Senator Schumer isn’t responsible for all of the Democrats’ problems, but in 2025 he became emblematic of the party’s failed status quo: a poor communicator who is out-of-touch […]
  • By Leah Greenberg, Indivisible Co-Founder and Co-Executive DirectorScreengrab via Democracy Now!Martin Luther King Jr. Day arrives this year amid a deliberate effort to rewrite American history and a wholesale assault on civil rights in America.It has been one year since Donald Trump was inaugurated on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It felt cruel and grotesque that a man who represents so much of what Dr. King stood against could rise to power on a day meant to honor the struggle for racial justice and democracy.Over the last year, we have seen a devastating, sustained attack on nearly every facet of the […]
  • Over Thanksgiving weekend, tens of thousands of people across the country came together to say “We Ain’t Buying It!” to companies that have capitulated to Trump.From Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, they participated in a shopping pause at Target, Home Depot, and Amazon, in protest of those retailers completely caving to the Trump administration and going along with their harmful, authoritarian policies.Target rolled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policiesHome Depot has done nothing to protect immigrants in their stores as ICE continues to conduct violent raids on their property.Amazon has funded the Trump administration through donations and significantly discounted government […]
  • It’s time to turn the page in the Democratic Party.Since his election in 2016, Indivisible has been dedicated to the defeat of Donald Trump and his authoritarian political project. Winning this fight is existential for our country and our communities, and the struggle in 2025 is as stark as it has ever been. Donald Trump rules as a wannabe king, dismantling our democracy with a league of sycophantic enablers at his side. Empowered by techno-fascists, corrupt self-dealing billionaires and corporate cowards, this regime is killing the American experiment with a death by a thousand cuts.We have secret police forces and federal […]
  • By Sarah Dohl, Indivisible Chief Campaigns OfficerRemember the night Trump’s first reconciliation bill failed and we saved the Affordable Care Act?I do. It was July 28, 2017.After months of nonstop calls, packed town halls, and rallies in blistering Arizona heat, every sign pointed to defeat. Republicans appeared to have the votes to kill Obamacare, and we had our “we lost” email written, proofed, and ready to send. But we should have known better.Because in those months, weeks, and days leading up to that vote, Indivisibles never stopped fighting.Activists like you showed up at Susan Collins’ Fourth of July parades with signs and bullhorns. […]
  • By Leah Greenberg, Indivisible Co-Founder and Co-Executive DirectorOver the last six weeks, we’ve gotten the occasional question about why Indivisible, together with our coalition of incredible partners, called for No Kings Day on June 14.Why another protest? What is it going to accomplish? Shouldn’t we be [insert alternate tactic] instead?These are good-faith questions, and they stem from very reasonable concerns. The speed, scope, and scale of the MAGA assault — on our rights, our neighbors, our democracy — is staggering. The stakes are enormous. There are days when nothing we’re doing feels sufficient to the magnitude of the horrors we face.Protest is a tactic. And with any […]
  • via Indivisible Twin Cities on BlueskyWe are in the midst of a full-blown constitutional crisis.That statement has been true nearly every day since January 20, as the administration has usurped the powers of Congress by illegally freezing funds, declared fake emergencies to grant itself more power, and skirted judicial rulings.But Trump’s brazen defiance of a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran torture prison is truly a watershed moment for our teetering democracy.To recap:The Trump administration has sent over 238 people (likely far more) to a torture prison in El Salvador without due process. Mounting […]
  • Yesterday was a bad day for Elon Musk and Donald Trump and a good day for democracy. Even after Musk spent more than $20 MILLION to buy a seat on Wisconsin’s top court, Susan Crawford won — and the liberal majority on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is safe!This isn’t just a loss for Trump, Musk, and their lapdog Brad Schimel; it’s a wholesale rejection of oligarchy. The people of this country don’t want their courts stacked with bought-and-paid-for judges who’ll do the bidding of Musk and his billionaire friends. The vote results convey that loud and clear.And this isn’t just a victory for Susan Crawford […]
  • screengrab via KHOUToday, Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to eliminate the Department of Education. Emphasis on “aims to.” Trump cannot unilaterally abolish a federal department created by Congress.Let’s be clear about what this executive order will do: it instructs Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to facilitate the department’s closure while playing legal tricks to avoid a court making them stop. This approach indicates that the executive order is a preliminary step toward dismantling the department, setting the stage for further actions rather than causing an immediate shutdown.Trump’s goal here is to weaken the department (and thus public education), […]
  • When Republicans first introduced their partisan funding bill to keep the government open — full of extreme cuts, attacks on basic rights, and provisions to give even more authority to Trump and Musk to continue dismantling the federal government — it was clear that the fight to stop it would require Democrats to operate with real unity.Federal employee unions, litigators fighting Trump in court, outside advocates, House Democrats, many Democratic party insiders, and Indivisible were all in lockstep that passing this bill would be worse than a government shutdown. The GOP funding bill would give Trump and Musk carte blanche to continue their administrative coup, […]

The Righteous Mind

Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

by Jonathan Haidt

Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns.

If you are not interested in reading the book, he has a TED talk that covers his main points. See:

Continue reading The Righteous Mind

VoteRiders

VoteRiders is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with a mission to ensure that all citizens are able to exercise their freedom to vote. VoteRiders informs and helps citizens to secure their voter ID as well as inspires and supports organizations, local volunteers, and communities to sustain voter ID education and assistance efforts.

Why Civil Resistance Works

The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict

by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan

Publisher: Columbia University Press

For more than a century, from 1900 to 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts in achieving their stated goals. By attracting impressive support from citizens, whose activism takes the form of protests, boycotts, civil disobedience, and other forms of nonviolent noncooperation, these efforts help separate regimes from their main sources of power and produce remarkable results, even in Iran, Burma, the Philippines, and the Palestinian Territories.

Combining statistical analysis with case studies of specific countries and territories, Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan detail the factors enabling such campaigns to succeed and, sometimes, causing them to fail. They find that nonviolent resistance presents fewer obstacles to moral and physical involvement and commitment, and that higher levels of participation contribute to enhanced resilience, greater opportunities for tactical innovation and civic disruption (and therefore less incentive for a regime to maintain its status quo), and shifts in loyalty among opponents’ erstwhile supporters, including members of the military establishment.

Buy