Quaker & Interfaith meetings
Communities centered on peace witness, discernment, conscience, and the practice of seeing that of God in every person.
Speaking & Discussion
Joseph joins groups (in person or by webinar) for conversations about 26 Weekends in County Jail, Quaker witness, war tax resistance, his experiences in jail and life after, economic justice, and the human beings caught inside systems of punishment.
Invite Joseph to speak
Joseph speaks with Quaker meetings, Unitarian Universalist congregations, book clubs, peace and justice groups, campuses, churches, interfaith communities, restorative justice circles, prison reform groups, and community organizations.
Invite him to speak about 26 Weekends in County Jail, war tax resistance, Quaker witness, the men he met inside, economic justice, addiction, punishment, and what it means to keep seeing that of God in each person.
Use this form to ask about book talks, interviews, classrooms, spiritual or religious communities, peace and justice gatherings, prison reform groups, or community conversations.
Who this is for
Joseph’s story and experiences open conversations for communities wrestling with war, punishment, poverty, faith, citizenship, moral courage, and how to see the person beyond the charge or label.
Communities centered on peace witness, discernment, conscience, and the practice of seeing that of God in every person.
Congregations exploring conscience, justice, public witness, and moral responsibility across a diverse religious life.
Readers looking for a direct conversation about the book, the jail experience, and the questions the story opens.
Groups working around war, prison reform, restorative justice, economic justice, and nonviolence in public life.
Students and faculty engaging civil disobedience, incarceration, moral injury, public policy, and ethical action.
Faith communities that want a conversation about testimony, compassion, suffering, and the dignity of people inside systems of punishment.
Practitioners and organizers working to move from punishment toward accountability, repair, and community care.
Local groups hosting conversations on incarceration, family impact, poverty, addiction, and the conditions that shape survival.
Podcasts, interview series, and public conversations looking for a plainspoken voice on conscience and witness.
Speaking topics
Each gathering can be shaped around the needs of the group, but these are some of the central questions Joseph can help open.
The story behind the book, how it was written, and what changed as Joseph kept returning to the jail each weekend.
Why Joseph refused to fund war, how conscience became public action, and what refusal can cost.
How Quaker practice shaped the way Joseph saw the men around him and the responsibility to bear witness.
What county jail reveals about untreated pain, debt, low-wage work, addiction, and the machinery of punishment.
What Joseph learned by listening to the men inside and refusing to reduce them to their charges.
How jail connects to debt, work, bureaucracy, profit, and the broader systems that keep people cycling through harm.
What it takes to refuse violence, endure pressure, and keep choosing conscience when systems reward compliance.
How communities can hold harm seriously without surrendering compassion, truth, or the possibility of repair.
Conversation formats
The format can be simple. Joseph can join a group to speak about the book, answer questions, participate in a discussion, or help open a more focused conversation around conscience, peace, jail, and justice.
A prepared talk about the story behind the book and what Joseph saw during 26 weekends in county jail.
An open question-and-answer conversation with room for the group’s concerns and priorities.
A conversational format for reading groups, libraries, and other readers who want to explore the text together.
A faith-centered discussion shaped around conscience, witness, listening, and communal reflection.
A focused conversation on civil disobedience, incarceration, public policy, and moral responsibility.
A media conversation about the book, peace witness, tax resistance, Quaker faith, and human dignity.
A more participatory format for groups that want to move from listening into reflection and action.
Start the conversation
Share a few details about your group, event, or classroom, and Joseph can follow up about what kind of conversation would fit.
Invite Joseph