Kitty Reads Holiday Lit for Peace: Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Christmas Banquet plus The Next Peacelands

This episode includes a grounded reading from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1844 story The Christmas Banquet—a reflective and morally serious tale that examines sorrow, companionship, and the possibility of renewal. Kitty reads just enough to bring out Hawthorne’s characteristic clarity about conscience and community.

Kitty O’Compost continues warming up for The Peace Experiments (Season Zero), the forthcoming Peace Is Here series exploring peace, AI, and the cultural commons.

For this special holiday edition of The Next Peacelands, Avis Kalfsbeek changes her focus from the factual grounding of warzones and arms suppliers to highlight the spiritual organizations and networks actively building peace around the world.

• Get the books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Contact Avis to say hello or share “Peace is Here” in your language: Contact Me Here
• Music: “The Red Kite” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Intro Music: PulseBox on Pixabay

• Peace Is Here upcoming series: The Peace Experiments (Season Zero)
• Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Christmas Banquet on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9228

Kitty Reads Holiday Lit for Peace: Louisa May Alcott – A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True plus The Next Peacelands

This episode features a gentle excerpt from Louisa May Alcott’s short holiday story A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True, a reflective tale about a child who learns that the real richness of Christmas comes from generosity, attention, and shared joy. Kitty reads just enough to let Alcott’s calm moral clarity come through.

Kitty O’Compost continues warming up for The Peace Experiments (Season Zero), the forthcoming Peace Is Here series exploring peace, AI, and the cultural commons.

For this holiday edition of The Next Peacelands, Avis Kalfsbeek shifts focus away from warzones and arms suppliers to reflect on the quieter, relational work of peace—care, generosity, and the everyday choices that shape a humane world.

• Get Avis Kalfsbeek's books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Music: “The Red Kite” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Intro Music: PulseBox on Pixabay

• Peace Is Here upcoming series: The Peace Experiments
• Louisa May Alcott – A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40682/pg40682-images.html#a-christmas-dream

Kitty Reads Holiday Lit for Peace: O. Henry – A Chaparral Christmas Gift plus The Next Peacelands

This episode features a short reading from O. Henry’s 1907 western holiday story A Chaparral Christmas Gift—a tale of grudges, frontier character, and the unexpected small mercies that can surface at Christmastime. Kitty reads a brief excerpt that highlights O. Henry’s sharp attention to human behavior and his clear, unsentimental style.

Kitty O’Compost continues warming up for The Peace Experiments (Season Zero), the forthcoming Peace Is Here series exploring peace, AI, and the cultural commons.

For this special holiday edition of The Next Peacelands, Avis Kalfsbeek changes her focus from the factual grounding of warzones and arms suppliers to highlight the spiritual organizations and networks actively building peace around the world.

• Get the books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Contact Avis to say hello or share “Peace is Here” in your language: Contact Me Here
• Music: “The Red Kite” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Intro Music: PulseBox on Pixabay

• Peace Is Here upcoming series: The Peace Experiments (Season Zero)
• O. Henry – A Chaparral Christmas Gift on Gutenberg: https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1595/pg1595-images.html#chap20

Kitty Reads Holiday Lit for Peace: Anthony Trollope – Christmas at Thompson Hall plus The Next Peacelands

This episode features a short reading from Anthony Trollope’s 1876 holiday comedy Christmas at Thompson Hall—a story full of winter travel mishaps, sharp observation, and the small dramas that arise when families try to reach home in the busiest season of the year. Kitty reads just enough to reveal Trollope’s signature blend of social insight and quiet humor.

Kitty O’Compost continues warming up for The Peace Experiments (Season Zero), the forthcoming Peace Is Here series exploring peace, AI, and the cultural commons.

For this special holiday edition of The Next Peacelands, Avis Kalfsbeek changes her focus from the factual grounding of warzones and arms suppliers to highlight the spiritual organizations and networks actively building peace around the world.

• Get the books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Contact Avis to say hello or share how to say “Peace is Here” in your language: Contact Me Here
• Music: “The Red Kite” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Intro Music: PulseBox on Pixabay

• Peace Is Here upcoming series: The Peace Experiments (Season Zero)
• Anthony Trollope – Christmas at Thompson Hall on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58558

Kitty Reads Holiday Lit for Peace: Arthur Conan Doyle – The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle plus The Next Peacelands

This episode features a brief seasonal reading from Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 mystery The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, one of the few Sherlock Holmes stories set at Christmastime. Kitty offers a short excerpt that highlights Doyle’s distinctive blend of sharp observation, social awareness, and moral inquiry beneath the mechanics of a crime story.

Kitty O’Compost continues warming up for The Peace Experiments (Season Zero), the forthcoming Peace Is Here series exploring peace, AI, and the cultural commons through grounded reporting and thoughtful storytelling.

For this special holiday edition of The Next Peacelands, Avis Kalfsbeek changes her focus from the factual grounding of warzones and arms suppliers to highlight the spiritual organizations and networks actively building peace around the world.

• Get the books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Contact Avis to say hello or share “Peace is Here” in your language: Contact Me Here
• Music: “The Red Kite” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Intro Music: PulseBox on Pixabay

• Peace Is Here upcoming series: The Peace Experiments (Season Zero)
• Arthur Conan Doyle – The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48320

Kitty Reads Holiday Lit for Peace: L. Frank Baum – A Kidnapped Santa Claus plus The Next Peacelands

This episode features a short, spirited reading from L. Frank Baum’s 1904 holiday tale A Kidnapped Santa Claus, in which Baum explores what happens when the world’s bringer of joy is interrupted by creatures who cannot tolerate generosity. Kitty offers only a brief portion—just enough to reveal how Baum used fantasy to examine moral courage, communal responsibility, and the fragile work of keeping goodwill alive in a troubled world.

Kitty O’Compost continues warming up for The Peace Experiments (Season Zero), the forthcoming Peace Is Here series investigating peace, AI, and the cultural commons through grounded reporting and thoughtful storytelling.

For this special holiday edition of The Next Peacelands, Avis Kalfsbeek changes her focus from the factual grounding of warzones and arms suppliers to highlight the spiritual organizations and networks actively building peace around the world.

• Get the books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Contact Avis to say hello or share how to say “Peace is Here” in your language: Contact Me Here
• Music: “The Red Kite” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Intro Music: PulseBox on Pixabay

• Peace Is Here upcoming series: The Peace Experiments (Season Zero)
• L. Frank Baum – A Kidnapped Santa Claus on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/520

Kitty Reads Lit for Peace: Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol plus The Next Peacelands

In today’s holiday edition, Kitty O’Compost reads a short, seasonally grounded passage from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol—his mid-career meditation on generosity, personal transformation, and the moral imagination required to change one’s life. Kitty offers only a brief excerpt, enough to settle listeners into the thoughtful clarity Dickens brought to questions of compassion and social responsibility.

These December readings are part of Kitty’s warm-up for The Peace Experiments: Experiment Zero, the new Peace Is Here series launching on New Year’s Day.

The episode closes with a special holiday version of The Next Peacelands. Instead of the usual real-time list of warzones and weapons suppliers, this month’s practice offers the names of spiritual and humanitarian organizations working quietly and steadily for peace around the world—an invitation to join your intention with theirs during this reflective season.

• Get the books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Contact Avis to say hello or let her know how to say “Peace is Here” in your language: Contact Me Here
• The Next Peacelands source: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Stockholm Internation Peace Research Institute’s Arms Transfers Database [as updated on Wikipedia.
• Music: "The Red Kite" by Javier "Peke" Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW?si=uszJs37sTFyPbXK4AeQvow

Intro Music: PulseBox on Pixabay

• Peace is Here podcast series Coming Soon!: The Peace Experiments (Season Zero)
• Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19337

Kitty Reads Lit for Peace: Leo Tolstoy – Letter to a Hindu plus The Next Peacelands

This episode includes a short reading from “Tolstoy’s Letter to a Hindu,” a late-life reflection on nonviolence, conscience, and the moral strength of ordinary people. Kitty offers only a brief portion, giving listeners a steady moment inside Tolstoy’s clear-hearted thinking.

Kitty O'Compost warms up for The Peace Experiments, the upcoming Peace Is Here series exploring peace, AI, and the commons.

The episode closes with The Next Peacelands, where Avis Kalfsbeek reads a real-time list of global warzones and major arms suppliers—an honest grounding in the world as it is, and an invitation to practice peace with intention.

• Get the books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com
• Contact Avis to say hello or let her know how to say “Peace is Here” in your language: Contact Me Here
• The Next Peacelands source: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Stockholm Internation Peace Research Institute’s Arms Transfers Database [as updated on Wikipedia.
• Music: "The Red Kite" by Javier "Peke" Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW?si=uszJs37sTFyPbXK4AeQvow

• Peace is Here podcast series Coming Soon!: The Peace Experiments
• Leo Tolstoy Letter to a Hindu on Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7176/7176-h/7176-h.htm