News & updates

From the desk

Essays and updates on communication, empathy, and racial equity, the ideas John explores in his books and workshops.

October 7, 2026

Communication

Cheating with Screens

Rafic told me about sitting down to a welcome weekend lunch with his spouse. After fifteen years of marriage, he knew for sure that their intimate life needed improvement.

June 6, 2026

Communication

Phrases That Instantly Raise Our Blood Pressure

Do you say these things? If you do, be ready for your conversation partner's blood pressure to go up. Better to say more clearly what you actually mean. 1. You look tired. 2. Smile. 3. It's fine. 4.

September 19, 2025

Race & Equity

Patriotic DEI

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this on the occasion of President Trump's September, 2025 visit to the UK: ". .

November 12, 2024

Publications

New Chapter on Empathy

I just received my hard copies of a new book called THROUGH YOUR EYES: RESEARCH AND NEW PERSPECTIVES ON EMPATHY, edited by Prof.

September 3, 2024

Speaking

Webinar This Thursday 2-3PM CDT

Join me from 2-3PM CDT this Thursday in an interactive conversation about the "Beyond Empathy Project," a multi-dimensional effort I'm working on. Registration is free!

March 22, 2024

Race & Equity

Dismantling Racism One on One Workshop

PROGRAMS Mondays, April 8, 15, 22 and 29, 6:30 - 8:00 pm Virtual or In-Person (Hybrid) at Shalom Spirituality Center Racism is a deeply embedded problem, within society and individuals.

January 8, 2024

Race & Equity

Closer Than Empathy

We wisely avoid sociopaths, because they can abuse, injure, and kill people without feeling bad.

June 14, 2023

Race & Equity

New Couples' Equity Communicating

Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Unsplash My new book, Dismantling Racism One On One highlights the power of each person's uniqueness to transform racist interactions.

May 23, 2023

Race & Equity

If Your Grandpa Steals a Car and Gives It to You, Do You Own It? The Moral Challenge of Being White.

YOUR GRANDPA STEALS A CAR AND GIVES IT TO YOU: DO YOU OWN IT? The Moral Challenge of Being White[1] John Stewart “A great nation does not hide its flaws.

May 23, 2023

Race & Equity

How to Deal with Difficult Difference

John Stewart & Tiye Sherrod FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 AT 7:34AM Remember the last time you were in a situation with somebody who is different from you in some significant way, and you felt fear…

May 23, 2023

Other Works

We Will Be Back: The Lake Delhi Story

Film Narrated by: John Stewart Click image to visit official website.

May 23, 2023

Race & Equity

Poems published as ISLAND REVERIE Text by John Stewart Photography by Ferdi Businger 2010 Sinclair is one of the 200+ islands that make up the San Juan Islands north of Puget Sound, about 85 miles from Seattle.

May 23, 2023

Publications

A Communication Contribution to Ethical Theory and Praxis

This essay is published as Chapter 2 of The Handbook of Communication Ethics, edited by George Cheney, Steve May, and Debashish Munshi (New York: Routledge, 2011), pp. 15-30.

May 23, 2023

Speaking

Kids and Possibilities: A Memoir

Well before Starbucks, coffee came in metal cans that opened with a key.

May 23, 2023

Speaking

The Challenge to Reclaim Democracy: A Lecture

The Challenge to Reclaim Democracy: De-Polarizing Hillary & Barack Lecture given at Gonzaga U., Spokane, WA, 2007

May 23, 2023

Race & Equity

Basic Whiteness Lessons from an Old White Guy

When Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris mocked the whiteness of the 2015 awards, some viewers were offended, but most of those whose heads were out of the sand for at least part of the previous year…

February 27, 2023

Communication

Mattering Matters

“Whatever. . .

January 30, 2023

Race & Equity

Dismantling Racism One on One

My new book was just published by Strategic Book Publishing! Unlike most books about dismantling racism, this one focuses on two person and small group conversations.

October 9, 2022

Race & Equity

Saying, Doing, Being

Whether they work from home or alongside colleagues, employees continue to spend time fuming over unresolved conflicts, coping with hurt feelings, resenting how women are treated--or men, and…

January 17, 2022

Race & Equity

Intimacy Beyond Empathy

Two articles I recently published clarify what we're doing when we really connect with somebody else--when we recognize something about them as an individual AND know that they see something about our uniqueness.

March 23, 2020

Publications

Seven Ways to Cope with "Sheltering in Place"

“Self-quarantine” or “sheltering in place” can be frustrating and uncomfortable.

March 12, 2019

Race & Equity

White Supremacy & Spiritual Formation

I’m an old white guy who’s learned a lot from several African American teacher-friends. One is Anthony, a PhD with 25 years experience.

June 17, 2018

Race & Equity

Stereotyping and How to Avoid It

How much misunderstanding and violence does stereotyping create?

May 7, 2018

Race & Equity

Connecting. For Life.

The memory is of the threat of its absence. I’m not alone, but I’m scared I could be. Disconnected. In a void, a space with no footing. No way to be an agent; to matter.

February 27, 2018

Communication

Two Steps Toward Understanding Other People

“Are you crazy?” “You’re kidding me!’ “You can’t possibly believe that!” “I just don’t get her at all!” In the past week, how many times have you said that you just don’t understand somebody, an…

October 24, 2017

Race & Equity

Curiosity and Cultural Humility

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI in the biz) are hot topics. Businesses want to know how to recruit and retain diverse employees at every level.

April 11, 2017

Race & Equity

The Grammar of Racism

Forty percent of unarmed people shot and killed by police officers are Black, even though Black men make up 6% of the nation's population .

June 23, 2015

Race & Equity

Can We Make the Other Jon Stewart a Liar?

mariafabrizio .com/ Comedy Central's Jon Stewart makes his living turning the news into jokes. But on the day after the racial massacre in Charleson, he said he had no jokes to tell.

September 19, 2014

Race & Equity

When Uncle Fred Wants to Argue Politics at the Thanksgiving Table

Most of us think of our favorite holidays as times for the family to get together in celebration, love, and harmony. But in many U.S.

January 23, 2014

Publications

The Secret, the Key, the Magic Wand for Connecting

How will we know when a computer can actually think?

April 15, 2013

Communication

Listen Your Way into That Relationship

You’ve just been promoted to supervisor, and you want to build a good relationship with your manager. “What can I say to help her trust me?” you wonder.

December 22, 2012

Publications

Three Tips for Coping with the Sharpest Double-edged Sword in the Cosmos

The face of the young woman next to us on flight 815 was glowing as she told us she was heading home to spend the holidays with her family.

November 26, 2012

Communication

Lose "but," Use "and"

“I love you, but I wish you’d change your underwear more often.” “I love you, and I wish you’d change your underwear more often.” More than 30 years ago, family therapist Virginia Satir wisely called…

September 12, 2012

Speaking

Feeling Felt

Has my experience ever happened to you? I'm in a workshop at a national conference with a group of mostly strangers.

April 14, 2012

Communication

How's Your Quality of Life?

Most of us have only a vague sense of what Quality of Life (QL) means. Wealth? Health? Leisure time? Fame? It seems obvious that a homeless person’s QL is lower than Donald Trump’s.

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News & Updates

Occasional essays on communication, empathy, and equity, the same ideas John explores in his books and workshops, delivered to your inbox now and then.