Scot Nakagawa and Zev Mishell: Why Joy Is Essential to Democracy

Jan 7

PlayFull Podcast Scot Nakagawa and Zev Mishell

Scot Nakagawa and Zev Mishell: Why Joy Is Essential to Democracy

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie sits down with activist and strategist Scot Nakagawa and organizer Zev Mishell to explore how joy, play, faith, and resistance sustain movements and nourish people in long struggles for justice. They examine how exhaustion threatens organizers, why joy and ritual are essential parts of resistance, and how symbols, embodiment, and community practice create belonging and possibility. Through stories rooted in personal history, tradition, and collective action, this conversation shows how imagination and care can reshape systems and help people keep showing up with courage when the work feels heavy.

Key Takeaways:

Activist burnout is not a personal failure but a structural risk to movements. Joy and rest are essential conditions for long-term resistance.
The idea that faith and politics should be separate is culturally specific, not universal. Avoiding faith discourse leaves its definition to authoritarians.
Social movements are emotional and cultural before they are strategic. Playful protest offers glimpses of the world movements are trying to build.
Ritual reconnects people to their bodies, communities, and material reality. Faith traditions offer humor, symbolism, and embodied practices that sustain action.
Symbols allow movements to communicate without explanation or expertise. History shows symbols and ritual can mobilize ordinary people at scale.
Personal origin stories reveal how solidarity is learned. Hope grows through cross-faith collaboration and emerging ecosystems of resistance.
Fun and self-care sustain long-term engagement. Offline reflection preserves an inner life that cannot be captured or commodified.

"Faith is… an incredible source for meaning making and for ritual and for community and for structure, - we need to bring our values to the way in which we relate to them to create a faith tradition worth preserving." — Zev Mishell

"One of my most important religious principles is … ‘trying to pursue truth as I understand it." — Zev Mishell

"Modern politics just is religion by other means… questions of faith are at the center of every struggle over power. And religion is never neutral." — Scot Nakagawa

"Symbols are important because they allow movements to reach further, to actually make statements without making sentences." — Scot Nakagawa

More about Scot Nakagawa:

Scot is an activist, organizer, and educator with more than four decades of experience confronting white supremacist movements, authoritarianism, and the religious right. He has worked with organizations including the Highlander Research and Education Center, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and ChangeLab. He currently serves as Director of the 22nd Century Initiative, a national strategy hub supporting mass movements at the intersection of defending democracy and challenging authoritarian power, including the 12:01 network focused on resisting ethnic nationalism and systemic injustice.

More about Zev Mishell:

Zev Mishell is the Senior Programs Strategist at Interfaith Alliance, where he leads countering-hate initiatives, manages in-person and virtual programming, and supports the Interfaith Leadership Network. He studied religion and politics at Harvard Divinity School with a focus on faith-based advocacy and brings experience in interfaith organizing and international engagement across the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

Connect with Scot Nakagawa & Zev Mishell:
Website: https://www.zevmishell.com/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zev-mishell-665b3b1a7

Connect with Scot Nakagawa:
Website: endpoliticalviolence.org; 22ci.org

Connect with Kristine:

Website: https://www.impactfullinc.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impactfull_inc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristine-breese-michie/

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

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