A Republican and a Democrat walk into a bar. They see a liberal buying a conservative a drink, while a priest chats with a rabbi and minister. A CEO is talking with a union leader. A grandmother is there with her granddaughter, while an environmentalist is speaking to an oil company exec. “Is this a joke?” one of them asks. The bartender points to a sign above the bar. It reads: “No talking about religion or politics. It’s how we stay in business.”

That’s not how our guest Mónica Guzmán thinks we should be doing business. She believes talking openly about today’s issues brings about better solutions. Yet, she has witnessed how today’s political polarization leads to discord and strained communication among family members, friends, co-workers, and community leaders. In this episode, this director of digital and storytelling at Braver Angels, a nonprofit working to depolarize America, shares ways we can broaden our perspectives to become better listeners and better communicators. Do you want more moments of “I never thought of it that way?” We talk to Mónica about how to make those moments happen.

Guest Mónica Guzmán
Mónica Guzmán is the author of I Never Thought Of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times. She embraces conversations that encourage all participants to think about and assess their unique biases, prejudices, and feelings on matters large and small. This journalist, author, and community collaborator has worked to find the intersection between communications and personal perspectives, so as to generate a greater understanding of where we all stand in times of disruption, political polarization, and a search for truth. Guzmán also is the director of digital and storytelling at Braver Angels, a nonprofit working to depolarize America, and host of the Crosscut interview series Northwest Newsmakers. She’s a 2019 fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she studied social and political division, and a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she studied how journalists can better meet the needs of a participatory public.

LINKS:
I Never Thought Of It That Way: How To Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times
Braver Angels
The Reclaim Curiosity Newsletter