The William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations

08/24/2026

Excerpted from an interview earlier in 2026:

“We think the court…will…save us from this. We think…somebody will do something in the end. No. It’s us. And when I talk about humility, I mean this. There is nothing. There is us, only. You know, it’s me and you. That’s it. And this should be enough. But in order to believe to that this is enough, we have to believe in each other.”

https://www.channel4.com/news/ece-temelkuran-democracies-dont-collapse-overnight

In particular, consider the 80 seconds from the 19:55 mark to the 21:12 mark.

Ece Temelkuran’s latest book, Nation of Strangers, explores belonging and exile.

Ece Temelkaran is an award-winning journalist and novelist who has spent years warning that the collapse of democracy rarely announces itself with a bang. Instead, it happens gradually - institution is weaken, truth is eroded and what once felt unthinkable becomes normal.

08/13/2026

Read 👓 and see 👀 more about Seminar Three of the Friday Fellowship Class of 2025-27 held in July 2026 on the barrier island known as Bogue Banks in Carteret County. More links 💻and pics 📸 are in the article now available on our website and at the link 🔗 below.

Direct link: https://www.fridayfellowship.org/news/733000/Seminar-Three-of-the-2025-2027-Friday-Fellowship-Held-in-July-2026.htm

08/10/2026

Wildacres Retreat annual applications for artist-in-residence and environmental-artist-in-residence programs are open from August 1, 2026 through October 15, 2026 for residencies during the 2027 calendar year.

For more information, please visit Wildacres.org and click on the Programs menu.

Feel free to share as you wish!

https://wildacres.org/wildacres-residency-program/

https://wildacres.org/wildacres-evironmental-artist-in-residence-program/

08/02/2026

07/15/2026

Excerpted from a recent episode of ON POINT WITH MEGHNA CHAKRABARTI

“But the trick was a perfect demonstration not only of how magicians and illusionists take advantage of your blind spots for wonder and amazement, but also how blind spots can leave us quite vulnerable. Think more broadly for a moment. Politics, misinformation, deepfakes, AI, even commerce in general all seek to exploit our blind spots, to make us believe things that are not true or behave in ways that we might not want to.”

Full episode here:

We all have our blind spots, but with AI and the spread of misinformation, we are more vulnerable to them than ever. Can we learn from a master illusionist on how to avoid falling trap to them?

07/06/2026

https://spectruminfocus.com/section/in-focus/in-focus-shows/2026/07/05/in-focus-darin-waters

We talk to Darin Waters, deputy secretary for the Office of Archives and History at the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

06/26/2026

Excerpts from an article shared by Friday Fellow Liam Hooper (Class of 2020-22):

“‘When many compounds interact, new properties can emerge that cannot be predicted from the individual components alone,’ said Dussarrat.”

“Because the chemistry keeps moving, the chemical landscape never holds still.”

Scents from plants, animals, and microbes merge into one chemical landscape, and pollution can scramble the messages ecosystems depend on.

05/11/2026

Approx half hour program — third in a three part series — on free speech… aired earlier in 2026.

Burt Wolf talks with technology experts about open communication as a cornerstone of democracy.

04/30/2026

04/16/2026

4/15/26 “I want to believe this is true power, that
kindness is the only weapon worth wielding, and I wield it,
land blow after blow to my enemies, without mercy.”