Something happened on November 4, 2008—on that much we can all agree. Americans went to the polls in record numbers and elected a candidate whose most consistent message over the nearly two-year long campaign was as simple as it was clear: Change.

But what kind of change? How fast, and in what directions? Now that we’re being heard, how do we want to set the agenda? These aren’t idle questions, particularly for Underground and our clients, many of whom have spent the past eight years fighting a rearguard action against policies that were an unmitigated disaster for the environment, human rights, and the very idea of using science to fashion solutions to the immense problems we face. So where do we start, and how do we begin?

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Telling American Stories is something of a side project, but it seems like the kind of thing people who are viewing this site would be interested in, so here goes.

I’ve been working on this project for the past several years, creating a workshop, an essay, and now a web site to talk about how traditional American narratives inform the frames people have about the work that many of us do, and how progressive values intersect with what many call traditional American values. I started working on Telling American Stories because I was frustrated that so many organizations and issues that I cared deeply about were being defined as somehow outside of what’s really “American.” I didn’t see anyone making the argument that I wanted to make about how progressive causes have just as much (and probably even more) right to frame their struggle in terms of our shared history as conservative ones. So I created a workshop. Then wrote it up.

If that sounds interesting, why not check it out? And then leave a comment, because I’d love to know what you think of it.