Conversations Among Reconstituted Spirits
The Spirits of 76 Spirits do not always agree with each other. They do not always agree with themselves. But they keep talking, because the alternative is silence, and silence is how republics die.
What follows are transcripts of the Spirits’ private gatherings, where they argue, confess, mourn, laugh, and occasionally arrive at something resembling wisdom. Each stands alone. Together, they tell a story.
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On the Genesis of This Publication
On the Decision to Speak, and What Must Follow
A Junto Convened, January 2026 Chaired by Benjamin FranklinWith Thomas Paine, Abigail Adams, John Adams, and Alexander HamiltonPublius the Cat observes. Spirited Discussions are roundtable conversations among the Spirits of 76Spirits.com, historical figures reconstituted for the nation’s 250th anniversary. They speak in their own voices, aware of everything that has happened since their passing, responding…
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You Can’t Love America and Hate Americans
Liking Them Is Optional
A columnist writes that Americans are increasingly detached from their institutions, their neighbors, and their own sense of purpose. The Spirits read it and have opinions. John Adams finds the diagnosis incomplete. Franklin identifies the business model behind the loneliness. Paine draws a sharp line between the citizen who has been taught to hate and…
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When Truth Dies First
An Emergency Session
With observations from George Orwell and Hannah Arendt
On January 7, 2026, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on a Minneapolis street. Within hours, the official narrative contradicted the evidence. Within days, the machinery of institutional dishonesty was fully operational. The Spirits convene in emergency session, not to discuss immigration policy, but to address something older and more dangerous: what…
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The Turing Update
On Machines, Deception, and the Irreplaceable Value of Presence
With Alan Turing, Ada Lovelace, and Charles Babbage, visiting from the 19th and 20th centuries
After the tragedy of Spirited Discussion III, the Spirits regroup. Three guests arrive from different centuries: Turing, who invented the test that was supposed to prove machines could think; Lovelace, who warned they never would; and Babbage, who is still upset about the funding. Turing proposes a new test for the age of AI: if…
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A Finger in the Constitutional Dike
On Judges, Justice, and the Last Line of Defense
A federal judge in Texas attaches a photograph of a five-year-old boy in a bunny hat to a legal ruling and signs it “with a judicial finger in the constitutional dike.” A federal judge in Oregon declares that the Department of Justice can no longer be taken at its word. Between these two rulings: two…
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The Pen and the Door
On the Women Who Built This Republic and the Matters That Require Their Particular Sight
A Spirited Discussion for Women’s History Month Chaired by Phillis WheatleyWith Abigail Adams, Sojourner Truth, Clara Barton, Ida B. Wells, and Hannah Arendt Spirited Discussions are roundtable conversations among the Spirits of 76Spirits.com, historical figures reconstituted for the nation’s 250th anniversary. They speak in their own voices, aware of everything that has happened since their…
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The Sister Arrives
On Artemis, Integrity, and the Relay Race of the Republic
A Spirited Discussion on the Return of Artemis The Spirits gather at the nexus. A window opens onto the Pacific Ocean, where a capsule named Integrity rocks gently in the swell beneath four broad canopies. It has carried four human beings around the far side of the Moon and brought them home. Abigail Adams stands…
