This live loop, well, isn’t live because I forgot to press record. So I recorded a live mix, which is apparently almost as challenging for my brain to keep track of as when I’m playing an instrument at the same time.

This idea was based on a sample from John Lithgow’s reading of Timothy Snyder’s twenty lessons on fighting tyranny. Those lessons are from Snyder’s 2017 book; each chapter expands on the twenty lessons.

I read the book back in 2021. Studying nationalism, fascism, and terrorism (particularly US-based domestic) has been a thing for me for many years, both because of my disaster management background and my rising concerns about the decades-long slide in the US.

Snyder’s book is powerful and practical because it uses historical analyses of the previous century to form lessons for today. I’ve wanted to help communicate those lessons since reading his book. But it’s not the easiest thing to work into a conversation. And I pulled back from shouting into the social media void—the easy way most of us take—a while back.

So, I was excited to see that Snyder asked John Lithgow to narrate the lessons. We need artistic ways to educate, speak out, motivate, and organize. Lithgow’s reading itself is amazing—it’s John Lithgow, after all. But I couldn’t resist sampling it to use in compositions.

The lesson that resonated with me most right now is lesson 8: Stand out. It resonates as an artist and a former academic—both occupations where sharing and being heard are important but can become scary when individual voices and entire programs are being silenced.

It hasn’t been easy for me to embrace being a full-time artist and musician. Among many reasons, one of them is finding the courage to stand out. It’s something I want to do, but it’s so easy to second-guess the value of what I have to share and the wisdom of sharing it. I’m guessing many of you feel the same way for whatever you do.

Besides building courage (another lesson from Snyder), one way of making it easier to stand out is to encourage others to stand out. It’s easier as individuals to stand with company and community.

I’ll stand with you.

Stand out. Someone has to.