Bill Moyer has spent over two decades turning protest into an art form — literally. As co-founder and executive director of the Backbone Campaign, he's behind the giant "We the People" banners, the overpass bannering, the light projections, and the inflatables that have shown up at marches from Seattle to Washington D.C.
In this conversation, he joins us to talk about where that all started, the "grand strategy" framework that guides Backbone's tactics, and how a dare from a rail-industry labor rep thirteen years ago led him to co-author with Patrick Mazza Solutionary Rail: A People-Powered Campaign to Electrify America's Railroads and Open Corridors to a Clean Energy Future. The book proposes electrifying U.S. freight and passenger rail, shifting long-haul freight from trucks to trains, and using rail rights-of-way to carry renewable energy transmission — financed through public "Steel Interstate Development Authorities" that would keep the infrastructure under public ownership even as private and public operators run trains on it.
We cover Bill's personal origin story (including a fall from a tree that gave the "backbone" metaphor its resonance), the mentorship of Pentagon strategist Chuck Spinney and Colonel John Boyd's theories of conflict, a debate about whether "unassailable" movement messaging is even possible in today's media environment, and a deep dive into why America's privately owned rail system might be, as Bill puts it, a "peculiar institution."
About Bill Moyer
Bill Moyer is the co-founder and executive director of the Backbone Campaign, a progressive movement-building organization based on Vashon Island, Washington. A fourth-generation Washingtonian and lifelong musician and activist, he co-founded Backbone in 2003 with a circle of artist friends responding to the post-9/11 political climate, and has served as its executive director since 2004.
Moyer now leads Solutionary Rail as a project of the Backbone Campaign and hosts the Reconnect America podcast, which extends the book's ideas into ongoing conversations with rail experts, policymakers, and advocates.
Follow Bill Moyer:
Backbone Campaign: http://BackboneCampaign.org
Flickr albums link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/backbone_campaign/albums
The Reconnect America Podcast (Episode 1 is a good overview): https://www.solutionaryrail.org/podcast
Substack: https://solutionaryrail.substack.com/p/1-reconnect-america
Solutionary Rail Website: http://SolutionaryRail.org
Mentioned Book:
Solutionary Rail: A People-Powered Campaign to Electrify America's Railroads and Open Corridors to a Clean Energy Future by Bill Moyer and Patrick Mazza: https://www.solutionaryrail.org/sr_book
Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/
Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/
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