Hi RadxChanger,
Last year, when Takahiro Anno decided to run for Governor of Tokyo, the idea of broad listening was very niche in Japan. But as Glen and Audrey found out on their most recent visit, for the Japanese launch of the Plurality book, the idea has been spreading widely and rapidly since then. So much so that all of Japan’s major political parties, including the LDP, have already embraced it and are now testing and deploying it at scale – fostering quicker, fairer and more engaging citizen participation.
While other nations struggle with democratic gridlock or retreat into nationalism and authoritarianism, Japan now stands uniquely positioned to develop and share with the world a positive vision of what democracy could be in the 21st century. We hope they have the courage to continue advancing and investing in that vision, at a time when we all desperately need it.
RxC EU’s First Retreat
Our EU chapter leaders got together last week for a 3-day retreat at Domaine de Manzac in the south of France. Coming from six countries across Europe, they exchanged many ideas and even made plans to better coordinate the RxC EU chapters going forward based on Community Wisdom Gardening, an idea shared by Charles Blass.
Get in touch with the RxC EU Chapters
RadicalxChange(s) | Jonathon Keats: Experimental Philosopher
In this conversation Matt and Jonathon discuss the philosophy of timekeeping. They consider the connectedness and the alienation of being on universal atomic time, the promise of alternative systems such as the river clock, and how different notions of timekeeping influence our understanding of democracy and nature.
Listen here: Simplecast | Apple Podcasts | Spotify Podcasts
From Around the Pluriverse
→ Conclave Democracy: An essay by Matt Prewitt in Combinations Magazine. If democracy threatens stable authority, as many of its critics claim, why does the Catholic Church turn to it when authority is most at stake? Physical copies of Combinations Magazine: Issue I are out now!
→ The Abundance Debate We’re Not Having: An essay by Henry Farrell in Combinations Magazine. To shift American politics onto more productive grounds, the abundance agenda needs a broader cross-ideological debate than critics or advocates alike have allowed.
→ Plurality Tokyo Namerakaigi #2: An event recording featuring Audrey Tang, Glen Weyl, Ken Suzuki, Takahiro Anno, Colin Megill, Akinori Oyama and others.
→ Japan can be a beacon of pluralistic innovation and democratic renewal: An article by Glen Weyl and Audrey Tang.
→ Conversation Networks: An essay by Audrey Tang, Lawrence Lessig and Deb Roy. “In a conversation network, the core ‘content’ are excerpts from recorded group conversations, not provocative social media posts or status updates.”
→ Ethical Machines: A podcast with Nicholas Thompson and Audrey Tang. How can AI help democracy? How can we build humanistic and pluralistic values into the most powerful AI?
Where To Meet Us Next
Upcoming Events
Our friends at Openmined are hosting “AI Alliance Masterclass: Unlocking Private Data for AI” during NY Tech Week on June 2 at 11am ET. Register here.
RxC’s Berlin chapter will participate in Funding the Commons Berlin Forum on June 10-11 during Berlin Blockchain Week.
Malik Lakoubay, RxC Head of Policy and Outreach, will lead a workshop (in French) on Data Spaces and Citizens on June 10 at 8am ET organized by Ekitia.
Monthly Community Call
You’re invited to our June 2025 Community Call on Wednesday, June 4th at 12 pm ET (UTC-5) | 6 pm CET (UTC+1). Use this Typeform to add discussion topics to the agenda, and we’ll see you there!
Live long and prosper,
The RxC Team