We now have an even dozen episodes of Lost Prophets under our belts. Time to stop, we thought, sit down by the side of the road, and look back down the mountain at the distance we’ve come.
Some key points that came up:
* We want to do archaeology of the future, not just forecasts of the past (Russell Jacoby).
* The counterculture at its most serious was a protest against nuclear weapons, technocracy’s essential criminality. (Theodore Roszak)
* The lost revolutions of these lost prophets didn't end because they were irrelevant — they ended because they were either beaten down or went quiet for some other reason. They're still very, very relevant. (Pete)
* Nazi resister Franz Jägerstätter's dream of the silver train. (Elias)
* The importance of having a sangha (spiritual community) if you want to stay strong. (Elias)
* Most of our prophets came from “thick communities” that give them the stability and confidence to be counterculture. (Pete)
* One common thread here: A deep faith in ordinary people. (Elias)
* Gandhi’s notion of soul force. (Elias)
* Love is the most important form of revolutionary labor — and growing our souls is a revolutionary act, a kind of freedom project (Grace Lee Boggs).
* Our need to recover communal—not just individual—spirituality (Gustavo Gutierrez).
* “My name is Pete Davis and I was addicted to blueprints and plans!”
* “Find the others.” (Douglass Rushkoff)
* Door knocking for peace and often hearing: “I’m secretly with you—just don’t tell my neighbors.” (Gar Alperovitz, retold here)
* Writing something about reality forces you towards being empirical, getting out in the world to see for yourself. (Pete, channeling Ralph Nader.)
* Ending with W.H. Auden’s “September 1, 1939”: “as the clever hopes expire/Of a low dishonest decade.” (Taken as a title of a George Scialabba essay collection.)
More Lost Prophets coming shortly: Thích Nhất Hạnh, Daniel Berrigan, and more!
Many thanks to the great band NOBLE DUST, who provides the music for Lost Prophets. Their latest album, A Picture for a Frame, is here.
Many thanks to our editor, the great Dan Thorn.
LOST PROPHETS is a podcast about the mid-century voices of solidarity we need to hear again. To listen on your podcast player, our Spotify link is here, Apple Podcasts link is here, and RSS link is here.
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