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June 2026: storytelling for a better world

Each month, we break down our topic into four weekly modules. Catch up on previous editions here.​

This week's module: DREAM

• 🎯 DREAM | go forth and find slices of utopia​
• ✅ LEARN | what IS good storytelling? what are the stories we need?
• ACT | actions you can take asap to feed your imagination to build a better future
• REFLECT | Art, poetry, and commitments

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Here's what we'll learn today Reader

Omg I am blown away by the slices of utopia you've been sharing with me this week! I'll compile them at the end of the month for our REFLECT week, but here are a few:

• ​Native plants going from being widely considered weeds to the hot ticket in greenhouses across the country​
• Patio solar
• "ROoFTOP SoCCER FIELD WHENEBR Possible"
• ​Electric buses​
• Walkable corner bodegas
  ​

We're going to continue digging into this with two pieces here: a video on propaganda (yes, propaganda), and an article on radical imagination.

Aaaand you are going to see a familiar face in the second one, and yes it's me.

Your bite-sized action plan Reader

Your mission is to pick either (1) the video or (2) the article and LEARN from one of them!

First up, we're going to explore the question of what is good storytelling? I thought about linking you a TED talk or an instructional video at first. But then, I decided...we should be looking at propaganda.

Effective propaganda is one of the clearest, unequivocal examples of storytelling that works. The norms we've grown up in don't just randomly happen; often they're a result of advertising dollars spent by corporate lobbyists.

In this video, propaganda is defined as "an effort to spread information that influences public opinion." This information doesn't need to be false, but it does need to manipulate towards a particular bias. For too long, extractive industry has been putting out propaganda. All car ads are propaganda. "Got Milk" is propaganda. Greenwashing is propaganda.

So where's our propaganda for a better world?

Step 1: watch this video "How the Americans Mastered Propaganda in WW2"

Step 2: think about the propaganda we need to save the world, instead of go to war. What's the Good Guys' propaganda?! (Fun fact, the iconic Rosie the Riveter feminist image... yup, propaganda. For WW2)

​

Also imagine if "when you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!" was propaganda to build high speed rail in this day and age? It's worth thinking about lol.

Second option: read this article about radical imagination and utopian fiction! This is my personal propaganda. I am the main character of this story. I basically talk about how dystopia needs to die, and we have to get more creative with the stories we tell if we want any hope of saving our future.

Bonus: Here's a climate narratives toolkit from Futerra too!

That's it from me. Next time you watch an ad, think about the propaganda that's behind it, and report back if you wish.

Love,

Nivi

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