The Brief
PopShift partnered with the FrameWorks Institute to design a virtual convening that would bring rigorous social science research into direct conversation with the people shaping popular culture. At a moment when “the system is rigged” had become a dominant cultural belief across the political spectrum, the question was not whether audiences felt disillusioned, but what stories might move people beyond fatalism and toward collective agency.
Together, we set out to convene TV writers with labor leaders, racial justice advocates, democracy experts, and people directly impacted by systemic inequities, to translate abstract research about capitalism, democracy, race, and power into human-centered narratives that could live on screen.
The Spark
FrameWorks’ research surfaced a paradox: while the belief that “the system is rigged” is widespread, on its own it often leads to despair, scapegoating, or disengagement. The research suggested that this mindset only becomes generative when paired with values like solidarity, fairness, and shared responsibility, and when stories clearly explain how systems work and how they can be changed.
The challenge became a creative one: how do you help writers hold complexity without flattening it, and critique systems without leaving audiences stuck in hopelessness?
The Experience
PopShift partnered with the FrameWorks Institute to design a virtual convening that would bring rigorous social science research into direct conversation with the people shaping popular culture. At a moment when “the system is rigged” had become a dominant cultural belief across the political spectrum, the question was not whether audiences felt disillusioned, but what stories might move people beyond fatalism and toward collective agency.
Together, we set out to convene TV writers with labor leaders, racial justice advocates, democracy experts, and people directly impacted by systemic inequities, to translate abstract research about capitalism, democracy, race, and power into human-centered narratives that could live on screen.
The Spark
FrameWorks’ research surfaced a paradox: while the belief that “the system is rigged” is widespread, on its own it often leads to despair, scapegoating, or disengagement. The research suggested that this mindset only becomes generative when paired with values like solidarity, fairness, and shared responsibility, and when stories clearly explain how systems work and how they can be changed.
The challenge became a creative one: how do you help writers hold complexity without flattening it, and critique systems without leaving audiences stuck in hopelessness?
The Experience
Rather than asking experts to “present,” we structured the experience around intimate, facilitated breakout conversations where lived experience could be translated into story logic. A pre-event session was held with experts only to unpack and translate this research into their unique lived experience with a focus on care, clarity, and depth.
The Narrative Spine
The convening was organized around three core findings from FrameWorks’ research:
The Narrative Spine
The convening was organized around three core findings from FrameWorks’ research:
- Pairing “system is rigged” framing with solidarity flips fatalism into agency
- Matching the scale of the problem helps audiences understand why individual solutions fall short
- Clear explanations of how systems function prevent reactionary thinking and scapegoating
The Outcomes
- The private virtual event brought together 30 to 40 TV writers with union workers, organizers, researchers, and thought leaders who are actively engaged in unrigging systems in real life.
- Together with Frameworks Institute, I co-wrote a Narrative Playbook that distilled the storytelling insights into an actionable guide to be distributed to our community of storytellers and studios.
