March 10th, 1996

Episode description coming soon.

March 3rd, 1996

In this sweeping and reflective conversation, Walt revisits the arc of his personal and political evolution—from WWII soldier to community organizer to radical educator—grounded in experience rather than ideology. He opens by expressing gratitude for the young people who took risks to work alongside him over the years and begins tracing the shifts in his thinking, marked by a journey through socialism, communism, and organized religion.

Much of the episode centers on Walt’s intense and self-funded efforts in Germany during the 1980s to introduce the writings of French theologian Jacques Ellul—whom Walt calls one of the great but ignored thinkers—to German students and institutions. He recounts teaching in German, paying to translate an entire book, and ultimately winning credibility through a powerful candlelight speech at a major student rally in Germany. “Think globally, act globally” becomes a theme, rooted in these direct experiences.

Walt also reflects on the origins of Project Neighbors and the Prince of Peace Volunteers, rooted in local risk-taking by youth, not institutional support. He critiques leftist movements for being overly fixated on economic definitions of poverty, arguing instead for a broader understanding of what it means to be uprooted and dehumanized. Marx, Mao, the Black Panthers, and organized religion all fall short in different ways—yet faith, especially if truly lived out from the bottom up, remains for Walt the only enduring source of revolutionary strength.

The episode closes with a discussion about two new homes being supported by Project Neighbors and the informal, decentralized networks making them possible. Walt argues this “un-American” way—of people giving without strings—is closer to real change than anything he has experienced. But he also wonders aloud how to honor and deepen it without institutionalizing it: “Something is being born here.”

February 25th, 1996

A sprawling conversation, from personal philosophies, to current thoughts on work with Project Neighbors, to more on Walt’s history. Starting from a conversation on family values to the individual, and the destruction of the individual. Walt touches themes such as what it means to be a “true revolutionary” and moving against the state and “high tech,” before getting into more tangible work with Project Neighbors and how to build relationships, support one another, and moving away from “charity.” On talking about some of the families they have worked with in Valparaiso, and getting closer towards how Walt sees the world, he says: “I hate to use the word ‘make it.’ First of all, they won’t ‘make it’ in terms of the world. And secondly, I don’t want them to ‘make it’ in terms of the world. I want them to live and not just survive.” 

From there, Walt and George dive into Walt’s history a bit during the Urban Studies program from 1968-1982. Walt talks about preparing to apply to go to Germany as an “out” financially, and spends years working on his German, spending summers working in Germany, and even working towards a PhD in Germany to apply to the Reutlingen program at Valparaiso University. Walt tries to move on, talking about how big Chicago/Cabrini Green were, and how Valparaiso was more manageable, but George brings him back to those 15 or so years during Urban Studies, where they talk about what fatherhood was like for Walt during that time – splitting himself, and his family – between Chicago and Valparaiso. 

Walt ends reflecting on that time: 

"After war and poverty, the other thing that has most affected my life – I'm leaving Lois out; she transcends it all – has been the fact that the students I've been with, have all been special students. Almost every single Urban Studies student in 20 years had to fight their faculty advisor, fight their parents. 'Why don't you go to Florence? Why don't you go to Cambridge?' ...'I don't want you to go to Chicago.' They had to want to come to the city....They were special students. They made some risky choices."

January 14th, 1996

This week, Walt and George spend their time talking about the operations of Project Neighbors, the nonprofit they run in Valparaiso, Indiana. They also discuss themes of leadership and the importance of building relationships and community. 

December 10th, 1995

Walt talks more about his personal history, from Christmases as a boy during the depression and waiting for “the” gift he knew was coming each year… to being marooned for weeks on an island in the Philippines during WWII where he and several others were taken in by local families and a person whose name Walt has never forgotten: “Domingo Valado.” George and Walt end this journey into Walt’s past by making the connection to a central theme that appears throughout: “choice”... “choices are what it means to be human, that’s what it’s all about.” And today we live in a world where we think we have more choices on the one hand, but in reality, the choice between a million different computer companies is not really a choice at all. In reality, we live in a world with far less real choice, and consequently less humanity?

November 19th, 1995

George starts their conversation by talking about his brothers’ partners’ death from AIDS and about having some control over his own death, not letting the medical establishment intervene when there was nothing that could be done. Walt talked about the importance of being able to suffer with those that suffer. He also talked about the joy he finds in reconciliation when there shouldn’t seem to be reconciliation possible. He relates this to being in World War II, a condition that he believes no one truly understands. He talked about what being in war meant for him and how it is the root of what has caused him to call out the bullshit whenever he sees it. He said that war was the start of “de-sacralizing” everything for him (the constraints of religion, America the Beautiful). While still calling out all the bullshit , God still remained a focus for him. The war led him to non-violence and believing in relationships with people. 

November 5th, 1995

Walt and George open their conversation talking about “where do I belong?, “who am I?” Walt talks about that biblical directive that we don’t belong to anyone – the quest of discovery of connections is the point. As opposed to any other religion or ideology, Christianity (especially organized religion) does exactly the opposite of what we are called to do. Walt recounts listening to “religious” channels to hear what people are saying and about attending his church; it is all about “belonging” but nothing about the quest. And often “belonging” is equated with giving money. Institutions are not the gospel; they are necessary but that’s all. There are two segments of organizational Christianity that are not freedom – the focus on origin or the focus on end times. The Christian Right is focused on both. Both are about rules, not freedom. To walk away from bull in the world is not the way to demythologize it. How to confront it is the constant struggle. Thought must be connected to action and that has to work the other way as well. 

Walt talks about how he is always trying to figure out how to have real conversations even when they are uncomfortable, without harming relationships.

October 22nd, 1995

Walt and George start by discussing the Million Man March, organized by Louis Farrakhan and others to promote Black men taking responsibility and leadership in their families, communities and the country. Walt talks about how black families were not as violent and disconnected before the dominance of the welfare state. He says that both the left and the right are able to look at things like Brown versus the Board of Education and bussing as both bad and good. Positions are solidified-no gray areas. Policies to assure survival but are necessary but they also kill creativity. The focus on electing the right person as the number one focus for Black people diverts from taking creative control of their lives and their communities. Need a balance of focus between what is necessary and what is creative, which is true in religion, politics and other arenas. Absolutizing the law is the most dangerous component of Islam and Christianity as well as the Democrats and the Republicans. Walt also talked about the focus of “atonement” in the March and said that it is essential to look at history and understand the depth of the origins of the slave trade as including Islam. History is a “recounting of man’s absurdities.” He talked about the fact that really listening to one of the Black women that Project Neighbors has helped would offer more history than we could ever find -he has learned so much from her. He wanted so much to get her story out and talked about how to do it. 

October 8th, 1995

Walt and George start by discussing the difference in Black and White reaction to the OJ Simpson verdict… They launch into a far-reaching discussion about the role of religion-which Walt emphasizes is different from faith-in the world of work and society… Religion has become an ideology that promotes standard of living… The global ideology today is that production is everything… and consuming is the focus… Walt talks about the fact that this struggle is his primary focus but he has no idea about how to do it… The Bible is not answers, it is nothing but questions… They both agree that continuing to ask questions and heighten the contradictions drives them both.

October 1st, 1995

Walt and George start by discussing the launching of the Hilltop Neighborhood House daycare center. The Board had asked for a sponsorship from Immanuel Lutheran Church because it was important for daycare licensure. There is a tension between the identification as a Christian effort (because of the partnership with the Church) and the broad commitment to serve people of other faiths – or no faith – and that tension is born out in constructing a mission statement. The discussion is a good example of how words are put together to convey respect and love and not dismissal and exclusion. The discussion proceeds into the meaning of faith and its impact on global society. Walt also raised the issue of “equality” as a critical issue as the programs at Hilltop are developed… There will be a lot of pressure to be rigid about admission qualifications, which is not Project Neighbors style.

George steers the conversation back to the purpose of these conversations – “why do you do what you do?” Walt talks about the fact that his faith is what gives his life meaning; it has a beginning and an end and everything fits into that… Work, thinking, and words must all fit into that timeframe to contribute to that meaning… particularly in light of the increasing systemization of society. Walt shared a story about the return of Fuzzy Thurston to VU (he had been a star football player for Walt at Valparaiso University who then went to the Green Bay Packers) and his speech in which he singled out the impact that Walt had on him. This act (and others) brought Walt out of the corner in which he had always been relegated. Walt mused about the fact that no matter that he had enormous experience (race relations, Jacque Ellul), he had been given little credibility and the weekly conversations with George have been his only outlet. They talk about how to have real discussions on a larger level.