SUBVRT

Hi 👋🏻. I'm Mehran, a political consultant based in Greece.

And I’m interested in questions like:

• What tactics work best to confront power, and why?

• How can we better equip ourselves in the jungle of modern-day discourse?

• To what extent can other, unrelated skill-sets help us to make change happen?

This newsletter is a chance for me to explore these topics and more.

Whether you want to start a revolution or just be a bit more persuasive, I think you’ll get something out of it. Subscribe below!

The archive

There are 80+ posts in the archive. Here are some of most popular ones:

• If you’re easily offended, you’re easily manipulated (7 min read)

• Tech innovation has a hidden, human cost. You don’t have to pay it. (4 min read)

• Reflections from the wild, on my first hike since the pandemic (4 min read)

• Use the media’s own biases to get coverage for your cause (7 min read)

• A list of must-have tools (8 min read)

• Avoiding the tug of tribalism (5 min read)

• How ideas go mainstream (5 min read)

• Pick a side: on choosing who to support (7 min read)

• People don’t really want to support you. They want the feeling that’s produced when they do (4 min read)

• Building a nationwide rebellion — an interview with Don't Pay UK (4 min read)

• Become an effective lobbyist in five minutes (5 min read)

A bit about me

For more than a decade I’ve been advising causes on how to increase their impact. From established organisations like WWF and the UNDP, to citizen media startups and local grassroots projects.

I’m British-Iranian, grew up in Luxembourg and currently based in Chania, Greece, working remote-first.

I co-founded the political consultancy Clearcase, work with the Democracy In Europe Movement (DiEM25), and host their fortnightly live debates on YouTube. I also run community projects and do black-and-white photography.

Previously I worked for the private sector, as a management consultant with Andersen, and a communications adviser to global tech companies, based in London.

Reach me by email. I'm also on Twitter (@mkhalili), although not that much.