FESTIVAL with Pete Davis

About FESTIVAL with Pete Davis

The greatest little show in town. newsletter.petedavis.org (https://newsletter.petedavis.org?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Pete Davis

Category

news · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Jun 2026

Latest episode

30 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

4 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Oct 2026

   FESTIVAL #3: Practical Ecclesiology (with Adam Mastroianni and Zachary Davis)

   Today on FESTIVAL (https://petedavis.substack.com/p/coming-next-week-festival), we explore ecclesiology, the study of how religious organizations are structured—and what non-religious organizations can learn from it. On the main stage, we are joined by popular psychologist Adam Mastroianni (https://www.adammastroianni.com/) (of the always-interesting Experimental History (https://www.experimental-history.com/) blog) to talk about his essay, “Secrets of the ancient memelords (https://www.experimental-history.com/p/secrets-of-the-ancient-memelords),” which discusses beneficial design elements he has noticed in the major religious movements: fractal beliefs, memetic flexibility, and a good balance between the brainy and the folksy ways of talking about creeds. Afterwards, Adam shares some of his best experimental psychology findings (listen to find out whether humans are satisfied with how long their conversations last), as well as his theories on how to improve the practice of science. Adam’s new book, The Strangest Idea in the World (a psychological history of the invention of the toilet—and more!) is available for pre-order now (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/772441/the-strangest-idea-in-the-world-by-adam-mastroianni/). Later in the show, Wayfare (https://www.wayfaremagazine.org/)’s Zachary Davis (https://www.zacharystevendavis.com/about) joins us to walk through why Mormons are so good at building community. We get into the nuts and bolts of what we can all learn from how the various elements of Latter-day Saint ecclesiology—geographic wards, semiannual general conferences, lay ministers, high-church temples and low-church chapels, rite-of-passage missions, tithing, ministering, fasting, and more—form individuals, weave together congregations, and balance participation and consistency. We end with a reflection on “Why the Church Is as True as the Gospel (https://www.eugeneengland.org/why-the-church-is-as-true-as-the-gospel),” Eugene England’s lovely essay on finding the divine in the messy tension of human organizations. Along the way, I share a short reflection on the movie of the moment, You Can See Everything, as well as a video version of my tribute to the late great farmer-prophet of Port Royal, Kentucky, Wendell Berry (https://newsletter.petedavis.org/p/on-wendell-berry). Timecodes: * 00:00 Intro * 01:05 Why ecclesiology? * 05:53 Eric Blanc’s lessons from Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church * 12:53 Adam Mastroianni on “Secrets of the ancient memelords” * 53:37 Reflections on You Can See Everything * 56:55 Exploring Mormon ecclesiology with Zachary Davis * 1:36:18 A tribute to Wendell Berry Further reading: * Eric Blanc’s “What Evangelicals Can Teach Us About Organizing (https://www.laborpolitics.com/p/what-evangelicals-can-teach-leftists),” about Rick Warren’s 1995 book, The Purpose Driven Church (https://store.pastorrick.com/products/the-purpose-driven-church-hardcover) * Adam Mastroianni’s website (https://www.adammastroianni.com/), Experimental History (https://www.experimental-history.com/)blog (https://www.experimental-history.com/), and upcoming book, The Strangest Idea in the World (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/772441/the-strangest-idea-in-the-world-by-adam-mastroianni/) * Adam Mastroianni’s essays mentioned: “Secrets of the ancient memelords (https://www.experimental-history.com/p/secrets-of-the-ancient-memelords),” “Underrated ways to change the world (https://www.experimental-history.com/p/underrated-ways-to-change-the-world),” and “Good conversations have lots of doorknobs (https://www.experimental-history.com/p/good-conversations-have-lots-of-doorknobs)” * Adam Mastroianni’s psychology experiments mentioned: “Do Conversations End When People Want Them To? (https://www.experimental-history.com/p/do-conversations-end-when-people)” and “The Liking Gap in Groups and Teams (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53b44b72e4b056a5b67a4fa1/t/635d417ead70df3f1cd64da5/1667055999257/Liking+Gap+in+Groups+and+Teams+-+Mastroianni+et+al.+2021.pdf)” * Join or Die (http://joinordiefilm.com), a documentary I co-directed on community in America * Slime Mold Time Mold (https://slimemoldtimemold.com/), mentioned by Adam * Eugene England’s “Why the Church Is as True as the Gospel (https://www.eugeneengland.org/why-the-church-is-as-true-as-the-gospel)” * Zachary Davis’s website (https://www.zacharystevendavis.com/about) and Wayfare (https://www.wayfaremagazine.org/) magazine (https://www.wayfaremagazine.org/) Subscribe to FESTIVAL on: * YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@festivalwithpetedavis) * Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/033s6jUV9wr49J9ZFgjyVr) * Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/festival-with-pete-davis/id1896875154) * RSS (https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/6459.rss) (can be used with most podcast players) * Substack (https://petedavis.substack.com/podcast) (If you are already subscribed to my main Substack, you are all set—episodes flow through here.) If you haven’t seen FESTIVAL’s first two episodes, you can find them here: * FESTIVAL #1: Looping Toward Hope (https://newsletter.petedavis.org/p/festival-1-looping-toward-hope-with) (with The Two Loops Model’s Deborah Frieze and Randonautica’s Joshua Lengfelder) * FESTIVAL #2 (https://newsletter.petedavis.org/p/festival-2-two-long-haul-heroes-with): Two Long-Haul Heroes (with Stacy Mitchell and Lawrence Lessig) And below you can check out FESTIVAL’s trailer, which includes our wonderful theme song—“Last Dance at the Grove (https://open.spotify.com/track/1c9j1eJkLT9YNJq07xFCNR?si=f23ef7d375eb45c9)” by the great Boston band Noble Dust (https://nobledustmusic.com/home): https://youtu.be/Zoc0yke2AZk (https://youtu.be/Zoc0yke2AZk) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.petedavis.org (https://newsletter.petedavis.org?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   19 Aug 2026

   FESTIVAL #2: Two Long-Haul Heroes (with Stacy Mitchell and Lawrence Lessig)

   Today on FESTIVAL (https://petedavis.substack.com/p/coming-next-week-festival), we meet two advocates who are in it for the long haul. First, we launch a new recurring segment: The Roots of My Theory of Everything, in which we bring on thinkers and advocates to walk through the origins of how they see the world. The series kicks off with Stacy Mitchell (https://stacymitchell.com/) of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (https://ilsr.org/), who has spent three decades championing local community economies and challenging the domination of Walmart (https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b?ean=9780807035016&affiliate=3319) and Amazon (https://ilsr.org/article/independent-business/amazon-stranglehold/). Tune in to learn about the forgotten history of local businesses and the New Deal, the abandoned power of the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936, and effective methods of changing public narratives around your cause. Later in the show, we kick off the series After-Action Report, in which advocates recount recent battles, sharing what went well, what didn’t, and most importantly, what we can learn for future action. Joining us to walk through his past fifteen years of fighting Congressional corruption is cyberlaw folk hero-turned-campaign finance reform crusader Lawrence Lessig (https://lessig.org/). Tune in to learn about his push for a new Constitutional convention, lessons from his 2016 presidential campaign, and new hope in a Maine court case that could defang Super PACs once and for all. Timecodes: * 00:01:06 Introducing The Roots of My Theory of Everything and Stacy Mitchell’s work with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance * 00:02:53 Interview with Stacy Mitchell * 00:50:38 Introducing After-Action Report and Lawrence Lessig’s campaign finance reform crusade * 00:53:20 Interview with Lawrence Lessig Further reading: * The Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s website (https://ilsr.org/) * Stacy Mitchell’s book Big Box Swindle (https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b?ean=9780807035016&affiliate=3319) * Stacy Mitchell’s report Amazon’s Stranglehold (https://ilsr.org/article/independent-business/amazon-stranglehold/) * ILSR on the Robinson-Patman Act (https://ilsr.org/article/independent-business/policy-shift-local-grocery/) * Lawrence Lessig’s website (http://lessig.org) * Equal Citizens’ website (https://equalcitizens.us/) * Lawrence Lessig’s book Republic, Lost (https://bookshop.org/p/books/republic-lost-director-edmond-j-safra-center-for-ethics-and-roy-l-furman-professorship-of-law-lawrence-lessig/4c794041e78e4e1d) * Tom Latkowski’s book on Democracy Vouchers (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737590301) * More info on the Maine case to defang Super PACs: Dinner Table Action v. Schneider (https://equalcitizens.us/against_superpacs/) * Roberto Mangabeira Unger’s Letter to Young People (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdb-GTjggTg&list=PLD61AF629EBF97F0C&index=4) * Wendell Berry’s poem “February 2, 1968” is in The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (https://www.counterpointpress.com/books/the-selected-poems-of-wendell-berry/) Subscribe to FESTIVAL on: * YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@festivalwithpetedavis) * Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/033s6jUV9wr49J9ZFgjyVr) * Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/festival-with-pete-davis/id1896875154) * RSS (https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/6459.rss) (can be used with most podcast players) * Substack (https://petedavis.substack.com/podcast) (If you are already subscribed to my main Substack, you are all set—episodes flow through here.) If you haven’t seen FESTIVAL’s first episode with the Two Loops Model’s Deborah Frieze and Randonautica’s Joshua Lengfelder, you can find it here (https://newsletter.petedavis.org/p/festival-1-looping-toward-hope-with). Check out FESTIVAL’s trailer here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoc0yke2AZk), which includes our wonderful theme song—“Last Dance at the Grove (https://open.spotify.com/track/1c9j1eJkLT9YNJq07xFCNR?si=f23ef7d375eb45c9)” by the great Boston band Noble Dust (https://nobledustmusic.com/home): This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.petedavis.org (https://newsletter.petedavis.org?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   26 Jun 2026

   FESTIVAL #1: Looping Toward Hope (with The Two Loops Model's Deborah Frieze and Randonautica's Joshua Lengfelder)

   Today on the premiere of FESTIVAL (https://petedavis.substack.com/p/coming-next-week-festival), we meet two people who helped develop ideas that give me hope in our dark times. Both creations appear simple on the surface—but then reveal themselves to be more and more profound the longer you sit with them. On the main stage, we launch our first recurring segment—Schemas That Could Save the World—with Deborah Frieze (https://deborahfrieze.com/), co-conceptualizer of “The Two Loops Model (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNCJpJ0X6PM&t=109s),” a tremendously useful map of how promising emergent systems can replace failing dominant systems. Tune in to learn how an ecosystem of roles—from Hospice Workers and Protectors on the inside to Trailblazers and Illuminators on the outside—are needed to transform any system. In the sideshow, we enter the Realm of the Strange to meet Joshua Lengfelder (https://joshualengfelder.com/), co-founder of Randonautica (https://www.randonautica.app/), a mysterious smartphone app that invites you to visit a randomized, real-world location…and see what you find. Tune in to learn about the origins of the intriguing Fatum Project, the promise of Noveltism, the latest verdict on Mind-Matter Interaction, and the announcement of Josh’s spiritual sequel to Randonautica: Chronomancy (https://chronomancy.app/). Timecodes: * 00:00:55 Introducing Schemas That Could Save the World and The Two Loops Model * 00:06:20 Interview with Deborah Frieze of The Two Loops Model * 00:54:21 Entering The Realm of the Strange and introducing Randonautica * 01:00:15 Interview with Joshua Lengfelder of Randonautica Further reading: * Deborah Frieze and Margaret Wheatley’s book Walk Out Walk On (https://walkoutwalkon.net/books/) * Deborah’s TED talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTdZSPBRRE) about The Two Loops Model * The Berkana Institute’s website (https://berkana.org/) * Randonautica’s website (https://www.randonautica.app/) * The Fatum Project’s Theory page (https://www.randonautica.app/theory), explaining Noveltism, Blind Spots, The Despair Meme, and more * Josh’s latest project: Chronomancy (https://chronomancy.app/), or “Randonauting for Time” * Daytime Revolution (https://kinolorber.com/film/daytime-revolution?srsltid=AfmBOort3p4flNMHZfE1SJgFAYeAOc2MMog_zAtsnB5PZDkJL38G8HoX) — a recent documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s brief takeover of The Mike Douglas Show * Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45479/when-i-heard-the-learnd-astronomer)” Subscribe to FESTIVAL on: * YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@festivalwithpetedavis) * Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/033s6jUV9wr49J9ZFgjyVr) * Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/festival-with-pete-davis/id1896875154) * RSS (https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/6459.rss) (can be used with most podcast players) * Substack (https://petedavis.substack.com/podcast) (If you are already subscribed to my main Substack, you are all set—episodes flow through here.) And if you haven’t seen it yet, check out FESTIVAL’s trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoc0yke2AZk), which includes our wonderful theme song—“Last Dance at the Grove (https://open.spotify.com/track/1c9j1eJkLT9YNJq07xFCNR?si=f23ef7d375eb45c9)” by the great Boston band Noble Dust (https://nobledustmusic.com/home). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit petedavis.substack.com (https://petedavis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

4. 

   3 Jun 2026

   Coming next week: FESTIVAL

   “The Festivals are all for rejoicing and pleasurable gatherings, which in most cases are indispensable for man; they are also useful in the establishment of friendship, which must exist among people living in political societies.” —Maimonides The rain has stopped. The afternoon sun slants through the pine trees: and how those useless needles smell in the clear air! A dandelion, long out of season, has pushed itself into bloom between the smashed leaves of last summer’s day lilies. The valley resounds with the totally uninformative talk of creeks and wild water. Then the quails begin their sweet whistling in the wet bushes. Their noise is absolutely useless, and so is the delight I take in it. There is nothing I would rather hear, not because it is a better noise than other noises, but because it is the voice of the present moment, the present festival. —Thomas Merton To celebrate a festival means: to live out, for some special occasion and in an uncommon manner, the universal assent to the world as a whole. —Josef Pieper Next week, I’m launching a new podcast. It’s called FESTIVAL. The idea is to have almost everything that a festival has, except in podcast form: * A main stage where we talk about what everyone’s talking about that month * Ample sideshows where we enter the realm of the strange and particular * And everything in-between—interviews, spotlights, investigations, experiments, reflections These are dark times in our country—and we need to get to work turning things around. But that is exactly why we need to start with festivity, because celebration is the soil for everything new and good. We have great friends, old and new, lined up to come join us each episode. And I want this to be a shared festival, where we are in conversation with viewers and listeners—so please reach out with ideas and suggestions. To follow along, subscribe on: * YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@festivalwithpetedavis) * Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/033s6jUV9wr49J9ZFgjyVr) * Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/festival-with-pete-davis/id1896875154) * RSS (https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/6459.rss) (can be used with most podcast players) * Substack (https://petedavis.substack.com/podcast) (If you are already subscribed to my main Substack, you are all set — episodes flow through here.) See you next week. For now, check out FESTIVAL’s trailer, which includes our wonderful theme song—“Last Dance at the Grove (https://open.spotify.com/track/1c9j1eJkLT9YNJq07xFCNR?si=f23ef7d375eb45c9)” by the great Boston band Noble Dust (https://nobledustmusic.com/home). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit petedavis.substack.com (https://petedavis.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Contact FESTIVAL with Pete Davis

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.