Welcome to Book Salon: Humankind by Rutger Bergman
Let's see what happens when we make hope a practice!
This August and September, we’re reading Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman in a free, global book salon called Hopeforge.
For those of us who are outraged or discouraged, this book is water for the thirsty. It is a forceful challenge to the assumption that humans are inherently selfish, brutal, or doomed, with revolutionary implications for psychology, religion, politics, and—importantly—our sanity. It dares to make a case for faith in us all—a force far more potent (and underestimated) than nihilism that, at the moment, rules the day.
Join us. Together, we will end each week with more energy, connection, and confidence in our ability to make a positive and meaningful impact in the here and now of our lives.
Call it an Ordinary Mystics’ (OM) work: fomenting the revolution of joy and faith in us all.
ACTIVITY CALENDAR
Here are the dates and readings for asynchronous discussion and one-hour-long LIVE conversations on Fridays 9 pm EST (6 pm PST):
Week 1 (Aug 16 - Aug 22)
Prologue
Chapter 1: A New Realism
Chapter 2: The Real Lord of the Flies
Part One: The State of Nature
Chapter 3: The Rise of Homo Puppy
LIVE #1: Friday, Aug 22, 2025, 9 pm EST
Week 2 (Aug 23 - Aug 29)
Chapter 4: Colonel Marshall and the Soldiers Who Wouldn’t Shoot
Chapter 5: The Curse of Civilization
Chapter 6: The Mystery of Easter Island
Week 3 (Aug 30 - Sep 5)
Part Two: After Auschwitz
Chapter 7: In the Basement of Stanford University
Chapter 8: Stanley Milgram and the Shock Machine
Chapter 9: The Death of Catherine Susan Genovese
LIVE #2: Friday, Sep 5, 2025, 9 pm EST
Week 4 (Sep 6 - Sep 12)
Catch-up and Reflection Week
Week 5 (Sep 13 - Sep 19)
Part Three: Why Good People Turn Bad
Chapter 10: How Empathy Blinds
Chapter 11: How Power Corrupts
Chapter 12: What the Enlightenment Got Wrong
LIVE #3: Friday, Sep 19, 2025, 9 pm EST
Week 6 (Sep 20 - Sep 26)
Part Four: A New Realism
Chapter 13: The Power of Intrinsic Motivation
Chapter 14: Homo Ludens
Chapter 15: This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Week 7 (Sep 27 - Oct 3)
Part Five: The Other Cheek
Chapter 16: Drinking Tea With Terrorists
Chapter 17: The Best Remedy for Hate, Injustice, and Prejudice
Chapter 18: When the Soldiers Came Out of the Trenches
Epilogue: Ten Rules to Live By
LIVE #4: Friday, Oct 3, 2025, 9 pm EST
Four LIVE conversations will consist of breakout rooms and full-group conversations (no lectures).
This is an ongoing conversation: just because someone posted days or weeks ago doesn’t mean the thread has gone cold. Add your voice anytime — it all weaves together.
👉 Join the Book Chat thread here
‼️ If you are already a subscriber to The New Glossary, please enable notifications for 🔥 Hopeforge section at: www.thenewglossary.com/account.
“Humankind” book salon is hosted by
, Monte Torkelsen, and Samir Selmanović.Order you printed, digital, or audio book from your favorite book source:
Restacked! See you tonight, my friend!