About the Junto practice

Junto is a recurring, in-person discussion practice inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s original Junto: a small group that meets to improve themselves and contribute to society through serious conversation about philosophy, politics, morality, personal experience, history, and other consequential topics.

Each member writes an essay of roughly 750 to 3,500 words that takes a stance or makes a claim, reads it aloud at a meeting of the chapter, and discusses it with the group for about thirty minutes. Chapters may share a meal before the readings.

This site is the practice’s public record. Members choose what to publish: essays marked public appear in this archive, while essays marked Junto members onlystay with the chapter. Drafts, discussion, and coordination remain private to the chapter’s member portal.