Conversations in the Square
Townsquare 24th Street, Noe Valley
Welcome to Townsquare Democracy's "Living Room.” These gatherings are small, facilitated discussions, where everyone has the opportunity to speak, and we explore how to engage politically without losing our humanity.
Bernie’s Coffee on 24th Street
Upcoming Event
Monday, April 13 | 7:00 pm
Bernie’s Café & Bookstore 3966 24th Street (between Noe & Sanchez)
Please RSVP to: townsquaredemocracy@gmail.com
Join us for an engaging conversation with John Anderson who will share real life lessons learned from canvassing during various presidential and congressional campaigns. Canvassing requires that you engage with people with a wide variety of opinions and backgrounds, and whose views can be unpredictable. If our goal is to persuade our fellow Americans rather than to dominate them, how might we improve our political conversation skills?
March 9, 2026
Past Events
Imagining ourselves into one country though fictive kinship
Overview
Our facilitator Professor Austin Sarat will lead a discussion about how many years of polarizing politics have brought us to this “house divided” moment in an ever-imperfect body politic, how can we now recommit to imagining ourselves together as a country, to being citizens in the kind of relationship that encourages standing up for each other’s human dignity and caring about each other’s welfare in certain basic ways?
February 9, 2026
The Flip side of Democratic Empathy: Political Demonology
Conversations in the Square - Debrief and Recharge
We are meeting in the Square – just to take a little time to check-in, take stock of where we are and how we are! You have seen us in the streets, read our flyers, maybe you took part in some activities to stand for our democracy. Four public events at the Ministry since April, “No Kings” rally, postcards, flyers, discussions, planning. Where are we in our struggle for democracy, rule of law, fairness and humanity in our country? And what is next?
Let’s talk strategy, let’s talk balancing personal life and risk, let’s talk where to concentrate! For us, building community while defending democracy and building a fairer future, that’s what our coalition is about. Join us for an hour or so, let us know what you think, help us plan for the next round..
Cracks in the MAGA Coalition – What Do They Mean, and How Can We Engage?
Justice under Attack: Reports from the Front Line How we can help!
Lawyers, judges, and other legal professionals are under executive pressure, intimidation, and physical threats. The president and his administration are openly interfering in the judicial system. Law firms defying the president are threatened with financial ruin.
This impacts our fundamental constitutional rights–freedom of speech, due process, equal treatment–as well as our daily life, food safety, rent control, consumer protection, labor safety and public services.
We all need to help defend a courageous, fair and democratic judiciary. Collaborating with groups of lawyers and judges, we are organizing through community meetings, a postcard campaign to show our support for judges and legal professionals, public events and other actions.
April 28, 2025
Dictatorships are brittle, they can be stopped!
What can be done to stop and reverse the rapid slide into an authoritarian regime? What worked and what failed? Let's learn from history and discuss.
In spite of all the chaos, scandals, and distractions, and in spite of our own worries and fears - we are not paralyzed. We are waking up and are focused.
We are examining historical resistance strategies that have successfully protected democratic institutions, particularly the independence of the judicial systems and the military.
Areas of Conversation:
Historical examples of successful resistance to authoritarianism
Example: Polish citizens supporting independent lawyers and judges, and successfully countering the slide into dictatorship
Identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in authoritarian systems
Practical local engagement opportunities and action plans
We invite you to join our continued thoughtful conversation and brainstorming. Let's create a path of action and engagement.
We’ll look at what these internal fractures actually tell us about the state of our government. Where institutions like FEMA and the courts are quietly pushing back.
We will address ways to stay clear about our own values, protect ourselves, and still leave doors open for change
This is not a debate or shouting match. It’s a space for thoughtful conversation, listening, and planning small, realistic next steps. Format: Up to about 15 -20 people. Short framing at the beginning, then circle conversation with guided questions.
Defending Immigrant Rights, what we can do!
Immigrants and their families are facing unprecedented attacks on their fundamental rights. Mass Deportation threats, family separations, and denial of basic services are creating fear and uncertainty in our communities. Government policies are being weaponized to target vulnerable populations who contribute to our society.
These attacks impact our fundamental values of fairness, compassion, and justice—as well as our daily life, community safety, economic stability, labor rights, and access to essential services. When immigrants are under attack, all of our communities suffer.
Jun 2, 2025
Mar 20, 2025
Finding common ground across differences
When dictatorship is threatening, we need to build the broadest coalitions, tolerate differences, and put party politics aside.
Polish judges and lawyers have been successful against authoritarian leadership in their country. They welcomed everybody who was supporting democratic institutions, the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, and the freedom of the press..
Sliding into Dictatorship
Jul 21, 2025
Our facilitator Professor Austin Sarat has argued that empathy is a necessary tool for recovering the practice ofdemocracy. We might go even further: empathy is a shield for our humanity. When we practice empathy, we grant other people a measure of humanity, even if we do not support their choices.
This strategy has a name: “political demonology”. Like everything else about MAGA, “political demonology” is not new, and people have been studying it for a while now. We’ll talk about this phenomenon as practiced by MAGA through examples, to ground our understanding.
How did it happen In Germany in the 1930s, from Democracy to Fascism within a few months?
Many of us are feeling overwhelmed, sad, disappointed, worried, and disillusioned! Even scared personally. At the same time, some are not unhappy about the shake-up of federal bureaucracy, stalemate and indecision. Yet most are worried about some of the policies going too far or being too chaotic.
Let's get informed! Let's learn how the unimaginable occurred in Germany and other nations in the past. What are the parallels and what are the differences? Can we learn lessons from what failed and what succeeded.
We invite you to a conversation and brainstorming gathering that will include personal stories from German families, parents and grandparents.
We invite you to create a path of action and engagement.
Jan 12, 2026
Our ability to bridge the gap between “me” and someone else through feeling our common humanity—empathy—can be a transformative power that makes collective action possible, transcending difference and building democratic strength. Empathy is foundational to human rights and pluralism. In truth, empathy can be difficult to practice across meaningful differences, because it requires taking someone else's views seriously. So we'll prepare to try! Join us for a discussion of empathy as part of your democratic toolkit.
AUG 24, 2025
Dec 8, 2025
AUG 4, 2025
The Power of Empathy for Democracy and Why MAGA Tries to Shut It Down