How do we design for peace?
10/24/23 • 25 min
On Making Peace Visible we usually focus on stories -- narratives about peace and conflict that are told in the news, on social media, and shared in our collective zeitgeist. We’ve seen examples of how storytelling can both stoke the fire of war and encourage peaceful dialogue. In this episode, we look at a different, but related way of creating space for peace: design.
Our guest Cynthia Smith is the Curator for Socially Responsible Design at the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City. She spent five years creating the remarkable exhibition Designing Peace, which includes 40 design proposals, initiatives and interventions from 25 countries, including maps, images, textiles, video games and film.
From a teeter-totter installed on the US-Mexico border fence to a crowd-sourced reimagining of war-damaged Damascus, the works in Designing Peace coupled with Smith’s vision present a world of possibility.
Designing Peace is on view at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco through February 4, 2024. Explore the virtual exhibit here. Purchase the beautiful companion book here.
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ABOUT THE SHOW
Making Peace Visible is produced by Andrea Muraskin and hosted by Jamil Simon. Faith McClure writes our newsletter and designs our website. Creative direction by Peter Agoos. Music in this episode by Xylo-Ziko, Doyeq, and Blanket Music.
Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when episodes come out and learn more about our guests: warstoriespeacestories.org/contact. You can get in touch with us at [email protected], or on X @warstoriespeace. We’re also on LinkedIn.
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Our associate producer is Faith McClure. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org
Connect on social:
Instagram @makingpeacevisible
LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible
Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social
We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!
On Making Peace Visible we usually focus on stories -- narratives about peace and conflict that are told in the news, on social media, and shared in our collective zeitgeist. We’ve seen examples of how storytelling can both stoke the fire of war and encourage peaceful dialogue. In this episode, we look at a different, but related way of creating space for peace: design.
Our guest Cynthia Smith is the Curator for Socially Responsible Design at the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City. She spent five years creating the remarkable exhibition Designing Peace, which includes 40 design proposals, initiatives and interventions from 25 countries, including maps, images, textiles, video games and film.
From a teeter-totter installed on the US-Mexico border fence to a crowd-sourced reimagining of war-damaged Damascus, the works in Designing Peace coupled with Smith’s vision present a world of possibility.
Designing Peace is on view at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco through February 4, 2024. Explore the virtual exhibit here. Purchase the beautiful companion book here.
RATE AND REVIEW:
In Apple Podcasts on iPhone
Tap on the show name (Making Peace Visible) to navigate to the main podcast page
Scroll down to the "Ratings and Reviews" section
To leave a rating only, tap on the stars
To leave a review, tap "Write a Review"
In Spotify
(Note: Spotify ratings are currently only available on mobile.)
Tap on the show name (Making Peace Visible) to navigate to the main podcast page
Tap on the star icon under the podcast description to rate the show
In Podcast Addict
(Note: you may need to sign in before leaving a review.)
From the episode page: On the top left above the show description, click "Post review."
From the main podcast page
Tap "Reviews" on the top left.
On the Reviews page, tap the icon of a pen and paper in the top right corner of the screen.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Making Peace Visible is produced by Andrea Muraskin and hosted by Jamil Simon. Faith McClure writes our newsletter and designs our website. Creative direction by Peter Agoos. Music in this episode by Xylo-Ziko, Doyeq, and Blanket Music.
Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when episodes come out and learn more about our guests: warstoriespeacestories.org/contact. You can get in touch with us at [email protected], or on X @warstoriespeace. We’re also on LinkedIn.
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Our associate producer is Faith McClure. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org
Connect on social:
Instagram @makingpeacevisible
LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible
Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social
We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!
Previous Episode
Un-embedding Western narratives about Afghanistan
One way to cover war is to follow the road offered by the dominant army. In Afghanistan, that often meant journalists were embedded with U.S. or NATO troops, and saw the war and the world around it through their eyes.
Guest Bette Dam is a Dutch journalist who covered the war in Afghanistan for 15 years. She began her coverage in 2006, embedded with the Dutch troops fighting there. She’s the author of two books: Looking for the Enemy, Mullah Omar and the Unknown Taliban, and A Man in a Motorcycle, How Hamid Karzai Came to Power. Dam also teaches a class called "Unlearning Afghanistan" at Sciences Po in Paris, and is working on a PhD at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels on the role of media in conflict.
In the course of her reporting Dam realized that most Western journalists were providing a distorted view of the war. It left out the perspective of the Afghan people, and made the country appear more dangerous than it really was. And Dam says the press missed opportunities to hold the U.S. and NATO to account for major blunders – including overlooking the fact that the Taliban surrendered in December 2001.
More than 2,000 have died and over 9,000 have been injured in an earthquake that hit western Afghanistan on Saturday, October 7. Dam is partnering with Sense of Humanity and Learn Afghanistan to raise funds for medical aid, food and shelter. Help provide medical aid, food and shelter by donating here.
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MORE FROM BETTE DAM
TEDx talk: The shortcomings of war reporting
Follow Bette on X (formerly Twitter)
ABOUT THE SHOW
Making Peace Visible is produced by Andrea Muraskin and hosted by Jamil Simon. Faith McClure writes our newsletter and designs our website. Creative direction by Peter Agoos. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, Zero V, and Doyeq.
Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when episodes come out and learn more about our guests: warstoriespeacestories.org/contact.
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Our associate producer is Faith McClure. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org
Connect on social:
Instagram @makingpeacevisible
LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible
Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social
We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!
Next Episode
In Modi's India, journalists must toe the line or risk jail time
Western media has often referred to India as the world’s largest democracy. But during the last decade, the world has witnessed the decline of many democratic institutions in India. In a recent Time Magazine article our guest Suchitra Vijayan questions whether India can still be called a democracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have been especially harsh towards critics of the regime, including journalists. Journalists who have criticized the government have been harassed, detained, imprisoned, and even murdered. Meanwhile, 75% or more of news organizations are now owned by 4 or 5 large corporations, all led by allies of Modi. As you’ll hear in this episode, today’s Indian government uses complicit media outlets as a weapon against non-violent descent.
Suchitra Vijayan is a journalist and attorney based in New York City. Her new book, How Long Can the Moon be Caged? co-authored with Francesca Recchia, tells the stories of political prisoners in India today, including artists, activists, academics, and journalists. Vijayan is also the founder and executive director of the Polis Project, a journalism and research organization focused on authoritarianism and state oppression. She was born and raised in Madras, also known as Chennai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Read Vijayan’s reporting in The Nation about the government’s targeting of Kashmir’s free press.
Something we didn’t have time to include in this episode is the legacy of journalism and activism in Suchitra Vijayan’s family. That includes her grandfather, who took part in India’s freedom struggle – and became one of the new country’s first political prisoners. You can find that story and more in our newsletter, which publishes on Thursday, November 9th. To sign up, go to warstoriespeacestories.org/contact. If you’re reading this after that day, email us at [email protected], and we’ll be happy to forward it to you.
Making Peace Visible is produced by Andrea Muraskin. We had editing help on this episode from Faith McClure. Peter Agoos is the creative director of the War Stories Peace Stories Project. Our host is Jamil Simon.
Listen to a recent interview with Jamil on the podcast This is My Silver Lining: Learning to Walk in the Shoes of Another: a Prayer for Peace with Documentary Filmmaker and Podcaster Jamil Simon.. The New York-born son of Iraqi Jewish immigrants, Jamil’s curiosity about the world had him traveling independently from the age of 15. In this interview, Jamil talks about discovering his love for film and photography, working on communications projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, and developing the War Stories Peace Stories project – including this podcast – to illuminate peace efforts. Plus, twists and turns along the way, including a stint as a taxi driver in Boston. Find This is My Silver Lining wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you find this show valuable, please consider supporting our work. Visit warstoriespeacestories.org/take-action. You can choose a one-time or a recurring tax-deductible donation. Thank you.
Music in this episode by Siddhartha Corsus and Blue Dot Sessions
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Our associate producer is Faith McClure. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org
Connect on social:
Instagram @makingpeacevisible
LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible
Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social
We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!
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