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PODCAST

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek

Peace Is Here explores global peace light-hearted touch and a scholar’s heart. Join Avis Kalfsbeek, writer of environmental fiction, for a layperson"s curriculum of peace. She explores peace treaties, nature’s quiet wisdom, and the down-to-earth creativity required for #TheGreatDisarmament. From deep-dive series on peace heroes to fiction stories and personal riffs, Avis looks beneath the surface to see the peace that is already here.

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

7:42

Ep 220 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Repair as...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/02/06

Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Repair as Resistance (Class 6) We examine the act of repair as a strategic tool of nonviolent resistance. From the 1953 legal battle against the Phoebus Cartel to the logistical sabotage of Gandhi’s spinning wheel and Cuba’s ingenious "Rikimbili" inventors, this class teaches how maintenance reduces the global pressure for extraction. Homework Look up"The Phoebus Cartel" and read about the 1953 court case that finally challenged their practices. Write down one

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7:57

Ep 219 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - The Victory...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/02/05

Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - The Victory Garden Myth (Class 5)We reframe the "Victory Garden" as a blueprint for community independence rather than a tool of war. We look at the staggering 40% production levels of 1943 and the Russian Dacha system—where 3% of the land produces over 80% of the vegetables. We discuss how nutritional sovereignty is a fundamental requirement for a peaceful society and a direct form of disarmament. Homework: Look up the"Russian Dacha movement" and find one statistic

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7:34

Ep 218 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Hunger as a...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/02/04

Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Hunger as a Weapon (Class 4)We examine the brutal history of manufactured famine as a tactical instrument of war. From the Holodomor to the "soft power" of the 1960s Food for Peace program, this class teaches scholars how to recognize when hunger is being used as a logistical weapon of control and why local agricultural sovereignty is a vital peace strategy. Homework: Look up "The Holodomor" and read the "Causes" section to understand how government policy, not

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7:16

Ep 217 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - The Scarcity...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/02/03

Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - The Scarcity Script (Class 3) Episode Summary: We explore how the concept of "shortage" is used as a psychological and political tool to justify war. This class examines the history of the Enclosure Acts, the chemical dependency of modern agriculture, and the "Food as a Weapon" strategy to reveal how scarcity is often a manufactured policy rather than a biological reality. Homework: Look up "The Enclosure Acts" and read a summary of how they changed the "Common Land"

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6:50

Ep 216 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Seed...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/02/02

Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Seed Sovereignty (Class 2) We move from the soil to the seed. This class explores why the right to save and exchange seeds is a foundational act of a peaceful society. We examine the transition from "Common" to "Commodity," the hidden costs of the 1960s Green Revolution, and the heroic sacrifice of the Vavilov Institute scientists who guarded the world's genetic heritage during the Siege of Leningrad. Homework: Look up "Vandana Shiva" and read one paragraph about her

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8:55

Ep 215 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Orientation &...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/02/01

Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Orientation & Soil as a Peace Treaty (Class 1)We descend into the Greenhouse to introduce the Law of Return. This class focuses on the historical cause-and-effect chain between soil health and social stability, examining Mesopotamian salinization, the American Dust Bowl, colonial monocultures, and modern fertilizer dependency. Learning Topics: The Law of Return (Anti-Extraction) Mesopotamian Salinization & Systemic Collapse The Dust Bowl as a Displacement

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9:02

Ep 214 Walk for Peace - The Long Tradition of...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/31

In this episode, Avis pauses the Peacewarts series to explore a long tradition of walks for peace. Across history, people have chosen to walk slowly and publicly as a form of nonviolent witness, reclaiming roads and landscapes through presence rather than force. From Gandhi’s Salt March and Vinoba Bhave’s land gift walks to Peace Pilgrim, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and monastic peace walkers, this episode traces how walking has been used to make injustice visible and invite

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7:00

Ep 213 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - Peace...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/30

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - Peace as Infrastructure (Class 14) In this final lesson of the Understars series, we explore why peace is a stable infrastructure while war is a fragile system requiring constant upkeep. We summarize the "Understars Perspective" and dive deeper into JFK’s 1963 "Strategy of Peace" speech as a blueprint for human-made solutions. We define our role as Peace Scholars as we prepare to bring the High View down to the ground. Homework: Interrupt your routine by

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6:19

Ep 212 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/29

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The Tools of Peace: A Survey (Class 13) We shift our focus from philosophy to the practical "infrastructure" of peace. We survey the various tools—from shared scientific endeavors to verification treaties—that allow humanity to maintain the High View. We look back at what we have named The Great Disarmament (1963) to see how tools like the Partial Test Ban Treaty protected our shared biology. We conclude with the understanding that peace is an inevitable

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6:58

Ep 211 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/28

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The 1967 Outer Space Treaty (Class 12)We examine the 1967 Outer Space Treaty as the "Magna Carta" of planetary peace, detailing its core articles and historical origins between the US, UK, and USSR. We also address the modern "scramble" for orbital space by private corporations and why the treaty must evolve to protect the night sky from satellite clutter and the digital colonization of the AI era. Homework: Interrupt your routineto look up a video of

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6:40

Ep 210 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - John F....

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/27

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - JFK’s American University Speech (Class 11) We conduct a critical analysis of JFK’s 1963 "Strategy of Peace." While acknowledging its power in humanizing the Cold War "enemy" and breaking the Red Scare spell, we challenge Kennedy’s dismissal of "universal peace" as a fantasy. We explore why Peacewarts embraces the aspirational goal of absolute peace over mere mutual tolerance. Homework: Interrupt your routine to read the full text of the American University

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6:22

Ep 209 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 -...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/26

Peacewarts: Dept. of Universal Understars - Watersheds vs. Nation-States (Class 10) We explore the concept of Bioregionalism and why natural topography—specifically watersheds—is a more logical and peaceful way to organize human society than abstract nation-states. We examine John Wesley Powell’s failed 1890 proposal and look at modern proponents of watershed-based boundaries who seek to align political logic with ecological reality. Homework: Interrupt your routine to find out the name of

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8:19

Ep 208 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The Map...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/25

Peacewarts: Dept. of Universal Understars - The Map is Not the Territory (Class 9) We explore the semantic trap of mistaking abstract political maps for the actual reality of the Earth. We define "Provincialism Masquerading as Principle" through the lens of the American Civil War and contrast it with the Aboriginal Australian Songlines—a living, melodic way of mapping the territory through relationship rather than ownership. Homework: Interrupt your routine to look up an"Earth at Night" satellite

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6:23

Ep 207 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/24

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The Violence of Straight Lines (Class 8) We begin our second week by deconstructing the "violence" of colonial map-making. We examine how the straight lines of the Berlin Conference (1884) and the Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) ignored the natural reality of the ground. Most importantly, we discuss how these rigid historical lines are mirrored in our own personal biases and why shifting our perspective is the first step toward systemic peace. Homework: Interrupt

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5:45

Ep 206 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 -...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/23

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - Species-Level Loyalty (Class 7) We explore the concept of Species-Level Loyalty and the shift from "National Resident" to "Planetary Citizen." We examine the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project as the first historical rehearsal of a borderless human crew, proving that shared survival can override national rivalry. Homework: Interrupt your routineto look up the "Earth Flag" (the one with the interlocking rings) and read about why it was designed. Write down one

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6:20

Ep 205 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/22

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The Overview Effect (Class 6)We examine the Overview Effect not just as an experience, but as hard geopolitical data. By looking at the consistent testimony of astronauts from various nations, we see how the "High View" naturally dissolves nationalistic identity. We also revisit JFK’s 1963 "Strategy of Peace" as an early political application of this planetary consciousness. Homework: Interrupt your routine to look up "Astronaut quotes on the Overview

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5:45

Ep 204 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 -...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/21

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - Atmospheric Sovereignty (Class 5)We examine the biological reality of the atmosphere and how it renders traditional concepts of national sovereignty obsolete during a crisis. We dive into the history of the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty and how the discovery of radioactive fallout in the global food chain forced a shift toward planetary cooperation. Homework: Interrupt your routineto look up a map of the Global Jet Stream and watch how the air moves across

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5:48

Ep 203 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/20

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The Earth as a Closed System (Class 4) We move from the philosophy of the "High View" into the engineering of Spaceship Earth. We explore Buckminster Fuller’s concept of the planet as a closed system where "there is no away." We also examine the 1963 document Pacem in Terris as a moral blueprint for a single human family sharing a limited life-support system. Homework: Interrupt your routineto look up the term "Closed Ecological System" and read about how

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6:24

Ep 202 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/19

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The Pale Blue Dot (Class 3) We travel six billion kilometers away to examine the Pale Blue Dot—the most distant photograph ever taken of our home. We explore Carl Sagan’s philosophy on "human conceits" and how this extreme perspective serves as a tool for dismantling nationalistic ego. We also look at the massive cultural impact of the Cosmos series, which reached 500 million people with a shared vision of our place in the universe. Homework: Interrupt your

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6:27

Ep 201 Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The...

Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek ·

2026/01/18

Peacewarts: Universal Understars 101 - The Blue Marble (Class 2)We define and explore the Overview Effect—the cognitive shift that occurs when viewing Earth from space—and the historical impact of the Blue Marble photograph. We also examine the 1963 Hotline Agreement as a structural tool designed to maintain high-level clarity and prevent accidental global conflict. Learning topics: The Blue Marble (Apollo 17), The Overview Effect, Frank White, 1963 Hotline Agreement, Planetary Vulnerability,

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241 results

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