How Do We Fix It?15 Apr 2022

Successful Conversations Across Difficult Divides. Mónica Guzmán

Partisanship is up, trust is down and social media encourages us to believe we're right and everyone else is either ignorant, stupid or evil. But avoiding difficult conversations with those we disagree with is a big reason why our nation is so bitterly divided.

Journalist Mónica Guzmán set out to discover what was blinding us and learned that the best tool we have we're not using: Our own curiosity. In this episode we learn about her personal story as the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who strongly support Donald Trump. We hear how Mónica discovered ways to overcome divisions that hurt our relationships and society.

Mónica Guzmán is the author of the highly praised new book "I Never Thought Of It That Way". She serves as an advisor and storyteller at the depolarization organization, Braver Angels.

"The anger and the rage that we see out there that defines our division doesn't actually exist that much on the one-to-one level," Monica told us.

In this episode, Monica discusses how we can put our natural sense of wonder to work, finding the answers needed to work with people, rather than score points against them. Bridging the gap involves asking questions that help you get across the difficult divides that are causing so much pain in our families and communities.

We also learn about the work of Braver Angels and hear why this month's America Talks is a good place to start when learning how to help depolarize America, one person at a time.

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