Welcome to the first episode of Kitty Reads Literature for Peace, a peaceful new experiment in daily storytelling. In this episode, Kitty O’Compost reads an excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s classic essay Compensation—a foundational piece of transcendentalist wisdom. With humor, reverence, and a little twang, Kitty reflects on what it means to trust yourself to listen for the divine in nature, and to believe that every loss carries within it the seed of balance.

Kitty is preparing her reporting voice for CTRL–AI–DISARM, the upcoming audio series on truth, power, and peace in a rapidly shifting world. These short daily episodes are her warm-up—dusting off old books, practicing out loud, and reclaiming literature as a form of resistance.

At the end of the episode, we ground ourselves in the truth of the world around us with a segment called The Next Peacelands. Avis Kalfsbeek reads a list of real warzones, arms suppliers, with words for peace.