Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek

Ep 233 Peacewarts: Chronicled Courage 101 - The Man Who Said No (Class 4)

Peacewarts: Dept. of Chronicled Courage - The Man Who Said No (Class 4)

We study Vasili Arkhipov and his refusal to launch a nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile Crisis. We explore how a shift in frame of mind—from combat to communication—can break the physics of escalation and serve as a manual override for broken systems.

Homework:

1. Look upthe K-19 submarine accident (1961) or the Cuban Missile Crisis depth charge signals to understand the high-stress environment Arkhipov was working in.
2. Write down one questionabout any of this episode’s topics. If you don’t have a question, write “no question.”
3. Optional: Think of a time you were in a "heated" situation—an argument or a group decision. Looking back, was there a different way to "frame" the problem that didn't involve a winner and a loser? How would that change of mind have altered the outcome?

Learning Topics: The structural pressure of the B-59 submarine launch protocol; Reframing the Crisis: Moving from a war-mindset to a peace-focus; Arkhipov’s background: Why the K-19 experience informed his courage; Asymmetry of Restraint: Why refusal is a disciplined, active military act; The pattern of restraint: Petrov and the Norwegian Rocket incident.

• Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough

• Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 232 Peacewarts: Chronicled Courage 101 - The First Peace Treaty (Class 3)

Peacewarts: Chronicled Courage 101 - The First Peace Treaty (Class 3)

We enter the Hall of Records to examine the Treaty of Kadesh (1259 BC), the world's oldest surviving peace treaty. We deconstruct the myth of inevitable war by analyzing the "recorded logic" that ended a century of conflict between the Egyptian and Hittite Empires. By shifting our focus from the chariot battle to the scriptorium, we explore how peace functions as social infrastructure and a primary technology for solving problems that violence cannot touch.

Homework:

1. Look up the Treaty of Kadesh and find one of the specific clauses (like the rule about refugees or mutual aid) that sounds surprisingly modern to you.
2. Write down one question about any of this episode's topics. If you don't have a question, write "no question."
3. Optional: Journal. Think about a relationship in your life where you have reached a stalemate. If you were to write a non-aggression clause for that relationship today, what is the one specific "territory" or topic you would both agree never to invade again?

Learning Topics: Peace as Social Infrastructure; The Treaty of Kadesh (1259 BC); The Battle of Kadesh Stalemate; Reciprocal Diplomacy; The Non-Aggression Clause; The Mutual Assistance Clause; The Erasure of Human Competence; Version 1.0 of Recorded Logic.

• ZERO, The Every Person’s Field Guide to a World Without Weapons:AvisKalfsbeek.com/zero
• Join the Community / Get the Books:AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie”https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 231 Peacewarts: Chronicled Courage 101 - The Myth of Inevitable War (Class 2)

Peacewarts: Dept. of Chronicled Courage - The Myth of Inevitable War (Class 2)

We deconstruct the lie that humans are biologically destined for combat. By examining archaeological records and the "Long Peace" of 1815-1914, we prove that peace is a deliberate, high-maintenance labor and the actual "default" of human history.

Homework:

1. Look up the Aaland Islands dispute of 1921 or the Concert of Europe and find one diplomatic tool they used to prevent a fight.
2. Write down one question about any of this episode’s topics. If you don’t have a question, write “no question.”
3. Optional: Think about your own "natural" reactions to conflict. When have you felt "hard-wired" to argue, but chose to pause instead? Was that pause "passive," or was it an act of labor?

Learning Topics: The 100-Year Peace (1815–1914) and "Congress Diplomacy;” The Aaland Islands Dispute (1921) as a model for cancelled conflict; Archaeological evidence: Challenging the 2% violence myth; The political purpose of the "Inevitability Myth;” Human nature as a capacity for choice, not a destiny for violence.

• Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough

• Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 230 Peacewarts: Chronicled Courage 101 - Peace Erasure and the Jeannette Ranking Brigade (Orientation & Class 1)

Peacewarts: Chronicled Courage 101 - Peace Erasure & Jeannette Rankin (Class 1)

We transition into the archives to study history as a lineage of persistence. This class defines "Erasure" as a political tool and examines the Jeannette Rankin Brigade (1968) and JFK’s "Strategy of Peace" as case studies in recovered memory and the "Great Refusal."

Homework:

1. Look upthe Jeannette Rankin Brigade or the 1963 American University Speech and find one detail that isn't typically taught in a standard history class.
2. Write down one questionabout any of this episode's topics. If you don't have a question, write "no question."
3. Optional: Think of a time you were told something was "inevitable." Looking back, was it actually inevitable, or was there a path of refusal you didn't see at the time?

Learning Topics: The Mission of the Hall of Records; Erasure vs. Realism: How curated memory shapes our expectations of conflict; The Jeannette Rankin Brigade (1968): A 50-year bridge of anti-war activism; The Great Refusal: Rankin’s votes in 1917 and 1941 as principled alternatives to the military-industrial complex; The Burial of Traditional Womanhood: The radical shift in 1968 activism.

• Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough

• Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 229 Javier Peke Rodriguez and Peacewarts Moves to Weekly

Javier Peke Rodriguez and Peacewarts Moves to Weekly

In this transition episode, Avis shares a heartfelt appreciation for the music that sets the tone for our study of peace and announces an intentional shift in the rhythm of the Peacewarts curriculum.

The Music of the Lab

Avis shares a bit about Javier "Peke" Rodriguez, the acclaimed Spanish composer and pianist whose atmospheric and therapeutic soundscapes provide the backdrop of the Peace is Here episodes. 

A New Pacing: Peacewarts is moving to weekly.

After a month of daily episodes, the material of Peacewarts 101 is calling for more breathing room. To allow scholars more time to soak up the concepts and to allow Avis time for new writing projects—including the completion of Bullet Poof (Book 7 in the Pedro series) and continued work on The Peace Experiments book series—Peacewarts is moving to a weekly Monday release schedule.

This new pace means our curriculum will now extend through September 2027, giving us a longer, more sustainable horizon for our study.

The Roadmap Ahead

For new scholars joining us, the weekly pace makes catching up more attainable. You can find Peacewarts orientation in Episode 198 and the fictional festival in Episode 199.

• Universal Understars: We mapped the invisible infrastructure of a world without war.
• Living Roots: We explored peace as something biological and rooted in the soil.
• Chronicled Courage (Starting Monday): We begin recovering the nearly erased stories of refusal—moments when war was cued up, but someone chose differently.

Future Departments:

• Resonant Charms: Language without coercion.
• Social Chemistry: The biology of de-escalation.
• Morphological Peace: Redesigning broken systems.
• Ethical Defense: Navigating propaganda without cynicism.
• Kinetic Peace: Empathy in motion.

The Peace Stick

Avis reflects on the Tao and the nature of opposites. If peace and its opposite are on either side of the same stick, our goal is to float that stick to a part of the river where the "opposite" of peace is merely a frustrated day—kicking a stone down the road—rather than the violence of war.

Get the Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com/

Ep 228 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Subsistence as Dignity (Class 14)

Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Subsistence as Dignity (Class 14)

We conclude our journey in the Department of Living Roots by reframing subsistence not as a state of poverty, but as the highest form of dignity and freedom. We explore how dependency has been used as a weapon through the get big or get out era and the cultural construction of peasant shame. By examining the resilience of Cuba’s organopónicos and the concept of time sovereignty, we establish that food autonomy is the ultimate form of disarmament, removing the primary levers of coercion and violence from society.

Homework:

1. Look back at your notes from the last 14 classes. Whichliving root felt the most important to your own sense of security?
2. Write down one question about any of this episode’s topics. If you don’t have a question, write "no question."
3. The Final Project: Identify one skill you have learned this semester—whether it’s mending, seed-saving, or just learning a neighbor’s name—and teach it to someone else this week.

Learning Topics: Subsistence as Dignity; The Harvest Table; Dependency as a Weapon; The Earl Butz Era; Cultural Stigmas of Traditional Farming; The Devaluation of the Hand; The Cuban Special Period (organopónicos); Time Sovereignty; Precarity Panic; The Law of Return.

• ZERO, The Every Person’s Field Guide to a World Without Weapons:AvisKalfsbeek.com/zero
• Join the Community / Get the Books:AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie”https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 227 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - The Lie of Independence (Class 13)

Peacewarts: Dept. of Living Roots - The Lie of Independence (Class 13)

We deconstruct the myth of self-sufficiency. Through the "Cowboy Myth," the global standards of the ICAO, the industrial success of Mondragon, and the history of the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996), we learn why structural interdependence is more durable than isolation.

Homework:

1. Look up the Mondragon Corporation’s list of products or the Haudenosaunee clans to see how they distribute roles.
2. Write down one question about any of this episode’s topics. If you don’t have a question, write “no question.”
3. Optional: Journal for five minutes. If you were a "Marlboro Man" in your own life, what would be the first thing to break if you got sick? Who would you have to call?

 

Learning Topics: The "Cowboy Myth" and its ecological/social impact; Logistical Entanglement: The ICAO flight standards; Mondragon (1956): Cooperative industrial interdependence; Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace (c. 1142); Resilience vs. Isolation: Lessons from Sarajevo.

• Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough

• Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 226 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Barter & Sharing (Class 12)

Peacewarts: Dept. of Living Roots - Barter & Sharing (Class 12)

We explore how local economies built on barter, time banking, and gift systems provide security during financial instability. This class examines the Argentine economic collapse, the global TimeBank movement, and how local currencies like BerkShares insulate communities from global shocks.

Homework:

1. Look up the work of Edgar Cahn or research the Hureai Kippu system in Japan to see how different cultures value labor.
2. Write down one question about any of this episode’s topics. If you don’t have a question, write “no question.”
3. Optional: Journal for five minutes. If all the money in your bank account vanished tomorrow, what skills or items do you have that you could trade for a week's worth of food?

Learning Topics: The 2001 Argentine Barter Clubs (nodos); Hureai Kippu and Time Banking in Japan and the UK; Edgar Cahn and the TimeBank Mahoning County case study; The Potlatch as wealth redistribution; Local currencies and the BerkShares model.

• Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough

• Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 225 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - Planned Obsolescence & The Logic of War (Class 11)

Peacewarts: Dept. of Living Roots - Planned Obsolescence & the Logic of War (Class 11)

We examine how the "throwaway culture" of modern economics conditions us to accept human expendability. This class explores the link between the Rana Plaza disaster and precarious labor, the role of e-waste in Agbogbloshie, and how military "use-it-or-lose-it" logic mirrors consumer waste.

Homework:

1. Look up the term"Planned Obsolescence" and find one product in your house that you believe was intentionally designed to fail or be unrepairable.
2. Write down one question about any of this episode’s topics. If you don’t have a question, write “no question.”
3. Optional: Journal for five minutes about the word "Disposable." List three things you consider disposable. Now, try to trace where they go when you "dispose" of them. Does that change your view of them?

Learning Topics: The transition from stewardship to consumption; The Rana Plaza Collapse: The human cost of fast fashion; E-waste in Agbogbloshie, Ghana, as a driver of regional instability; "Use-it-or-lose-it" military budget cycles; The cultural normalization of "collateral damage."

• Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough

• Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Ep 224 Peacewarts: Living Roots 101 - The Security of Knowing Your Neighbors (Class 10)

Ep 224 Peacewarts: Dept. of Living Roots - The Security of Knowing Your Neighbors (Class 10)

We examine why social cohesion is a logistical requirement for peace. This class explores how loneliness drives radicalization, how the "Social Front" of the Danish Resistance saved thousands, and how the West African Ebola response proved that trust is more effective than force during a crisis.

Learning Topics: Social Isolation as a Predictor of Radicalization; The 1943 Rescue of the Danish Jews: Neighborhood-level coordination; Community-Led health responses in West Africa; Trust-based security models in Scandinavia; Restorative Justice and Māori Influence

• Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough

• Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW