Come Talk 'Tyranny' Tomorrow

a Blue Room lunch & learn

A reminder that we’re having a supporting subscriber gathering tomorrow, Thursday January 25, at noon Eastern on Zoom. (Also Thursday, February 1—come to one or both!)

I can’t even count how many people have told me they’re dreading 2024, specifically the 2024 election and potential aftermath. I agree. It does feel scary and fraught right now. 

When I feel anxiety or despair, two of my best antidotes are relationships and action. We’re going to lean into both of those with a two-part roundtable discussion of the 2017 book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Professor Timothy Snyder. I try to read this slim book every year or two—it’s short enough to revisit often, and my library always has the audio version available, which you can knock out in less than two hours. It’s historical yet practical, bracing yet hopeful. I always tell people when I recommend it: even if you think his warnings are totally overblown (respectfully? I don’t), the book is an instruction manual for being a good citizen. We are the co-creators of our civic life together, and On Tyranny provides a practical guide. 

From the graphic edition of On Tyranny

We’re going to chat about the book, find wisdom for this moment, and come up with our own individual calls to action, however small and localized they may be. This will not be one-sided instruction from MaryAnn; this is intended as a conversation, so come with an openness to share, whether you’ve read the book or not. (Here’s a version of the article that eventually turned into a book.)

We’ll meet for two successive Thursdays via Zoom at noon Eastern time. January 25 will focus on the first half of the book; February 1 will be the second half, but we’ll bounce around a bit as the Spirit moves. Come to one or both.

Here are the details: