Joel Westheimer asks the deep questions and provides the important facts in What Kind of Citizen?: Educating Our Children for the Common Good. How should education in a democracy differ from that in other systems? What are the wider effects of standardized education? What kind of citizen do we want our schools to promote?

With a masters in poetry and feet planted faithfully in West Philly, Sterling Duns caught the hip-hop passion and has been churning out music with Hardwork Movement for years, and recently as part of a duo, City Love.

In Incident at the Bruce Mine Shaft, Stephen Ivancic uses historical fiction to highlight the real life issues around workers, unions, and opportunistic capitalists. Set in the iron mines of Northern Minnesota in the 1920s and focusing on the Finnish workers, some communist, some not, Stephen helps us to understand the dynamics of individualism, community, and power. Thoroughly documented, you discover rich inspiration for powerful ways we can work together now.

A powerful advocate for democracy and progressive causes, Matt Rothschild led The Progressive Magazine for most of 32 years, and in now Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Matt has a birds-eye view of the nuts and bolts of government, elections, & the success or failure of democracy.

Mark Dvorak, in addition to his livelihood as a singer/songwriter, is a frequent teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. With beautiful, soothing vocals, talented guitar or banjo fingers, and great songwriting, Mark will inspire and enchant you with his music.

Chuck Suchy balances a life stretched between two callings, one as a singer/songwriter, and the other as a farmer, tied to the land of the Northern Great Plains - specifically, North Dakota. His music often emerges from his connection to the place of his roots, but can also fly to romance, joy, and the freedom of spirit. See Chuck on Prairie Public

While there are many sources of info on urgent environmental threats and of technological methods of dealing with those threats, few books tackle the major underlying question of how can we make a sustainable life actually be sustainable for the individual. In A Sustainable Life, Douglas Gwyn examines the essential inner work and the myriad complexities of initiating and supporting the choices of living sustainably, mostly using Quaker experience & insights as guideposts to the process. Douglas Gwyn is the author of numerous books.

Brett Kemnitz does the booking for Milwaukee's The Coffee House. In addition to his solo singer/songwriter career, he has performed as part of the Plum Creek String Band and Pebble Creek Crossing - and with many other folks. Find his music on CDBaby.com.

The War Tax Resistance Penalty Fund (WTRPF.org) is a way to help manage the risks of conscientious objectors to paying for war, something to think seriously about as April 15th approaches. Peter Smith talks about work with the WTRPF, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, Olive Tree Nicaragua, the Michiana Peace & Justice Coalition, and the St. Augustine Soup Kitchen.

Featured Music:
What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes? - by Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

Ida Kristin's latest release, along with David Llewellyn, is Songs Around the Kitchen Table. Hailing from Sweden, with maternal Brazilian influences, and living part-time in Nashville, Ida leads hearts and souls to stir, ponder, & laugh, even more potently when paired with Welshman David. Inspired by biological science, tried by hardship, and rooted in meditation, Ida sings a powerful song of the soul.