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147: Emma Addams: Can a Quilt Change how Congress Listens— & How you Practice Democracy at Home?
Episode 147
Can a Quilt Change how Congress Listens—
& How you Practice Democracy at Home?
If you’re exhausted by performative politics and digital outrage, this episode offers a deeply grounded alternative. Discover how everyday acts of creation and conversation can rebuild civic trust—and how women across America are using quilting to stitch together a more ethical and inclusive democracy, one square at a time.
- Learn how to transform local conflict into creative fuel for durable, democratic collaboration.
- Hear the inspiring story of how one woman’s quiet act of stitching sparked a national movement of peaceful persuasion.
- Get practical insights on reclaiming civic power in your community—without burning out or tuning out.
Listen now to discover how storytelling, solitude, and stitching can help reweave the civic fabric—starting exactly where you are.
Notable Mentions
Here is a categorized, hyperlinked list of all people, events, organizations, and publications mentioned in the transcript.
🧑🤝🧑 People
Bill Cleveland ; Host of Art Is Change, founder of the Center for the Study of Art and Community, and lifelong activist/artist in cultural organizing.
Emma Petty Adams: Co-Executive Director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government; leads cross-partisan, grassroots advocacy focused on ethical government and peacebuilding.
Jessica Preece: Political science professor and MWEG member who initiated the “Quilting for the Constitution” project from Provo, Utah.
Mr. Dwyer: U.S. History teacher at Hayward High School who inspired Emma’s early civic development.
Harry C. Boyte: Democracy scholar and founder of Public Work, a strong advocate of citizenship as a democratic practice.
Chad Ford: Author of 7 Times 70, a book exploring conflict transformation through a spiritual lens.
Max Richter: Renowned composer whose album Voices is inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Eleanor Roosevelt: Chaired the drafting committee of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights following WWII.
Rep. Kathy Manning (note: possibly misidentified as “Fauci” in transcript) Democratic U.S. Representative from North Carolina who displayed a quilt in her office.
Rep. Blake Moore: Republican U.S. Representative from Utah who used a quilt from the campaign in his office.
📅 Events