Connective Tissue

"Social connections created outside of a shared institution — work, school, or church — require greater resources to build and more intentionality to maintain. Belonging and trust are more slowly earned, more tenuously held, and more easily broken." This week, I teamed up with Daniel Cox at the Survey Center on American Life to co-write an essay for "American Storylines" on what could be driving the growing class divide in American friendships, where 24 percent of Americans without degrees report having no close friends compared to 10 percent among those with degrees. Some of the drivers we highlight include: • Declining rates of religious, union, and community membership — and more precarious work arrangements — among Americans without degrees. • The increased financial costs associated with frequenting third places and participating in community groups. • The lack of structure that comes with not having a stable job, romantic relationship, or religious and community membership. Putting together this essay was both a long time coming and helpful for deepening my thinking. Please consider giving it a read and letting us know what resonates (or doesn't resonate). 👉 Check out the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/gMVwER5Y 👉 Consider reading the "Disconnected" report here: https://lnkd.in/esPJ4PbV

"When we have this desire for connection that community groups typically fill, but people are being pulled toward an online space that is both purposefully addictive and falsely satisfying that desire, our ... communities suffer." Soren Duggan is an Army Veteran turned writer and comms leader exploring how our information ecosystems shape our mindsets, culture, and social realities in real life. He's also a very good friend of mine — each day, he Signal messages me dozens of ridiculous memes interspersed with some of the most cogent analyses of how the online world is affecting our day-to-day lives. So after countless conversations about the negative feedback loop between our contemporary media environment (his shtick) and our experiences of community in America (my shtick), I realized this would make for an interesting discussion to share in the Connective Tissue newsletter. This interview is a bit of the “greatest hits” from our past conversations (sans the inappropriate jokes). Some of the things we talk about include: • How the current media ecosystem is intentionally designed to make us spend more time in front of screens and less time with people in community; • How online life for young men has become "aggressively individualistic" and what a more community-oriented version of masculinity could look like; and • How we can begin making progress in this seemingly intractable media and technological reality. Talking to Soren is always really fun and challenging (in a good way, mostly). I hope you consider giving the full interview a read 👇

I spent 2024 unintentionally getting sucked into the philanthropic and pseudo-intellectual worlds, both of which seem to specialize in the work of abstraction and fantastical thinking. In these rooms, we express solidarity for the “unseen” working class while attending the Aspen Ideas Festival and Harvard Kennedy Forum (not a joke). We host private “invite-only convenings” on how to strengthen participation in democracy and civic life (also not a joke). And we do lots of “building” — of organizations, of coalitions, of fields (an inordinate amount of fields, really) — without ever using our hands. None of these contradictions matter, because very little matters to professional funders or thinkers. Rarely, if ever, do we have skin in the game for the issues. Rarely, if ever, do we have actual accountability for our bad ideas or bad decisions. And, rarely, if ever, do we have to be in relationship with the people who face the brunt of the consequences of these bad ideas. So, we get to live in a fantasy land where we choose lies that soothe us over truths that challenge us. Linked below is my first “Seedling” piece for Connective Tissue — some not fully-formed thoughts that may become the basis of more fully-formed essays in the future — on three of the most pernicious lies I think we tell ourselves about democracy, civic life, and community in America: • Lie 1: We can have solidarity without proximity. • Lie 2: We can have civic renewal without economic renewal. • Lie 3: We can have democracy without participation. These lies have been eating at me for much of the past year, and this is my initial attempt to put words to my unease. Consider giving the full piece a read, and feel free to challenge, build on, and let me know what you think about these work-in-progress reflections. 🙏

In 2024, we entered our toddler years at Connective Tissue. We’ve grown (from ~400 to ~2,700 subscribers + followers). We’ve learned how to talk (e.g., adding Originals and Q&As to our repertoire). We’ve even thrown tantrums (see: “Why startups will not ‘solve’ loneliness”). Fortunately, to our knowledge, none of us have bitten anyone or pulled anyone’s hair. Now, as we approach the end of our first full year at Connective Tissue — and step fully into our toddler era — we wanted to pause to celebrate the good stuff and look ahead to 2025. We do this through three sections built on forced rhymery: • The Tissue Review: A round up of this year’s top Originals, Q&As, and Curated Lists, featuring Sam Pressler, Hahrie Han, D.J. Trischler, and Aaron Horvath.. • The Tissue Milieu: Some of the reads, newsletters, and groups we encountered this year that we can’t stop talking about, featuring Eric Klinenberg, Elise Granata, and WARM COOKIES OF THE REVOLUTION. • The Tissue To Do: Our newsletter resolution for 2025 - grow Connective Tissue into a more participatory, member-driven community. Whether you just joined us as a subscriber or you’ve been a day one, we’re so grateful for your support, engagement, and contributions to our work this year. Wishing y’all happy holidays and new year — and we’ll see ya on the other side! https://lnkd.in/gu9unirR

In case you missed it, watch the video from our October 29 presentation and panel discussion, "Regenerating the Connective Tissue of American Civil Society," exploring how policymakers, philanthropists, and civic leaders can help revitalize the intermediary institutions that enable civic life to flourish. Featuring Sam Pressler, Pete Davis, Josh Fryday, Hollie Russon Gilman, Ph.D., and moderator Aaron Horvath. Watch: https://lnkd.in/gpNT8uWf

Get weird with us tomorrow.

ICYMI: Participating in civic life is often described like it's a chore. No one likes chores. Yes, it's important. But it can be both important and fun and joyful. In small towns and big cities across the country, leaders are redefining what it means to participate in civic life, injecting fun, joy, and celebration into their work and strengthening the social fabric of their communities in the process. In recognition of this emergent movement — and this holiday season of joy — we’re teaming up with our friends at Democracy Notes to host an interactive panel celebrating and highlighting practical strategies to make civic life fun and joyful. The conversation will be moderated by Richard Young, Founder of CivicLex, and will feature three place-based facilitators of civic good times: • Ash Hanson, Creative Executive Officer of the Department of Public Transformation, which works to develop creative strategies for increased community connection and civic engagement in rural places. • Nathalia Benitez-Perez, Director of the Mayor's Office of Civic Organizing- City of Boston, which works to expand opportunities for Bostonians to be active citizens in their communities through initiatives like block parties and “spooky streets.” • Evan Weissman, Founder of WARM COOKIES OF THE REVOLUTION, which gets regular people engaged in crucial civic issues by creating innovative and fun arts and cultural programs. We invite you to join us for this practical, interactive, and (dare we say) fun event on Tuesday, December 17th at 2PM ET. You can click the button below to learn more about the event and register to attend. https://lnkd.in/ewAaBW3N

"I feel like going slow invites more people in. It keeps me in check. But it also feels like we can have these small victories — these small victories that keep us going." This is just one of the quotes that's been sticking with me from my conversation with D.J. Trischler, a designer and University of Cincinnati professor whose work all centers around one big question: "How might we use design to connect people to their local ecologies?" For D.J., this isn’t just an academic exercise, it’s a lived, daily practice. And the coolest way he puts theory to practice is by publishing the Claypole Commons, a beautifully designed print newsletter exclusively for the 25 people on his block. I came away from our conversation believing that there is something radical in what D.J. is doing. In publishing Claypole Commons the way he does, he’s intentionally choosing slowness over efficiency, “thinking small” over “dreaming big,” and designing for a particular place over any place. For D.J., it is in this particularity — in this commitment to the proximate — that the seeds of agency and hope can take root. I genuinely enjoyed this conversation - it was like a warm mug of lemon honey tea. I hope you consider giving the full interview a read in this week's edition of Connective Tissue 👇 https://lnkd.in/eK28zsgM

This morning, the Connective Tissue newsletter reached 2,000 subscribers (after just over a year of writing)😃 Thanks for your support and belief in what we're doing. We don't take it for granted. If you know of any VCs who want to hop on this rocket ship 🚀 , send us a DM. We have 0 actual paying customers but we have used the word "AI" in at least two newsletters🙏.

‼️ Democracy stuff doesn't have to be boring!!! Democracy Notes is hosting our first event — a collab with Sam Pressler's baby, Connective Tissue. We've got some incredible civic innovators who are bringing joy to their communities: Nathalia Benitez-Perez, Ash Hanson, Evan Weissman of WARM COOKIES OF THE REVOLUTION, and Richard Young. We hope you'll join us on 12/17! Link to register is in the comments.