Dear Reader,

How's your summer going? Hot? Smoky? I hope you're finding rest.

It's been a busy couple of months at work - and not only in the online Studio. Susan and I have been enjoying some rare opportunities to spend real time with teachers in-person all along the Pacific Ocean. We started summer by heading south for a couple of days with the staff of Evergreen Community School in Santa Monica as they reflected on their year and considered their core principles. This week, we headed north to beautiful Juneau, exploring story workshop with teachers gathered for the Raven Writes Summer Writing Institute. Last month, we went west to join Leading Playful Inquiry participants in retreat on the Oregon coast, where we read, wrote, painted, collaged, and connected.

We've approached each of these with gratitude and humility: I know that it's a big leap for participants to spend their time this way and I hope they feel respected and energized, with emboldened imagination.

As we work in these really different settings, there are some commonalities in our approach and some real opportunities for us to learn: We shared some thoughts on that approach at the beginning of the month here and some thoughts on reflections on recent experiences this week here.

I'd be honored if you found the time to read the posts - and would love to receive your responses.

With great appreciation for all your work to create (in the words of Ruha Benjamin) laboratories for social change and incubators for seeding solidaristic imagination,

Now in The Studio In.Dependence REGISTRATION CLOSES FRIDAY! How does exploring the relationships that sustain us encourage deeper journeys? Join us for camp!

Registration is open through August for our 2026-2027 Leading Playful Inquiry cohort. Whether you're a classroom teacher, pedagogical companion, director, or any adult hoping to grow their capacity to support other adults as they support children, we hope you'll join us. Learn more

WATCHING, LISTENING, READING

Good things:

Our reading of Ruha Benjamin's Imagination: A Manifesto reminded me of this great conversation with Rene Denfeld. I devoured Rene's brand new book: it's just as gripping a page turner as her past thrillers, full of love and magic and trauma. What fiction are you enjoying this summer?

I joined fellow Leading Playful Inquiry participants Jennifer Chen and Donna King for a recent Education for Democracy Exchange Leadership Initiative. I thought what they shared was brilliant. If you missed it and want to watch, there is a recording of the meeting. Use password ELI2026.

Susan and I were in the midst of our Leading Playful Inquiry retreat when our friends Nicky Byres and Ann Pelo met with Bei Bei Liu and Susan James-Allan to talk about their fabulous new ROW book. It's always a treat to spend time with these brilliant educators. Happily, we can all watch the recording here. We made a couple of promo videos to encourage people to read Bei Bei's book: You can view them here and here.

We already shared Ben Mardell's piece exploring how Brian Eno inspires Ben's writing. The movie Eno is now streaming on The Criterion Channel. I saw it in a movie theater two years ago and was struck by how much it had to say about our work - and the version I saw on Criterion last week was a completely different version given the randomization feature, and yet somehow still completely relevant. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

“Theories are never merely theoretical.... alternative theories, ideas, and imaginaries are vital to our planetary and multispecies survival.”

— Ruha Benjamin​

3950 NW St. Helens Rd. , Portland, OR 97210
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​