Society Builders

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 w...

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 summar...

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...

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 commu...

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 T...

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 De...

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 Ti...

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,...

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, soc...

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 Introducti...

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 integratio...

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, providi...

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 powe...

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

How can you best engage withe the prevalent discourses of society?  In this episode, we explore FIVE stages one should consider in engaging with a discourse:

1. Prioritizing which discourse to engage with.
2. 'Reading society' and getting familiar with the discourse.
3. Immersion in the Baha'i Writings in search of relevant insights.
4. Sharing insights in ways that be best understood and welcomed.
5. Reflection - an iterative cycle of ac...