Episode 10: Civic Empathy

How Can We Talk to Each Other?

Episode 10: Civic Empathy – Michigan Voices

How can we talk to each other? // Political polarization and interparty hostility have been pointed to as defining features of contemporary American politics, while debates about civility have erupted on college campuses. With so much political animosity, how can Americans talk to each other? To find out, I spoke with Hanna and Jasper, Co-Presidents of WeListen. WeListen is a campus organization dedicated to building civic empathy by hosting conversations between liberals and conservatives on tough issues. Listen and find out how WeListen creates civil conversations, what makes civility possible, and when it might not be possible at all. Produced by: Collin Sharpe

Political polarization and interparty hostility have been pointed to as defining features of contemporary American politics, while debates about civility have erupted on college campuses. With so much political animosity, how can Americans talk to each other?

To find out, I spoke with Hanna and Jasper, Co-Presidents of WeListen. WeListen is a campus organization dedicated to building civic empathy by hosting conversations between liberals and conservatives on tough issues. Listen and find out how WeListen creates civil conversations, what makes civility possible, and when it might not be possible at all.

Episode High Points

EPISODE 10 TRANSCRIPT

1:45-3:00 – Why is interparty hostility common? Stereotypes may be part of the reason why.
3:00-4:50 – How do we have productive conversations? Hanna and Jasper give their two essential ingredients for a WeListen-style discussion.
6:15-9:45 – When is civility possible? We talk about when politeness is a privilege.
9:45-11:45 – What common ground do we have? Hanna and Jasper give us their guesses at the values we share.

Credits

Guests: Hanna Kelly, Jasper Scheiber

Music: “Wisdom in the Sun”, Kevin MacLeod, http://freepd.com

Drutman, L. (2020, October 05). How Hatred Came To Dominate American Politics. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-hatred-negative-partisanship-came-to-dominate-american-politics/

Fadel, L. (2019, March 12). In These Divided Times, Is Civility Under Siege? Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/12/702011061/in-these-divided-times-is-civility-under-siegeFrimer, J. A., & Skitka, L. J. (2020).

Are politically diverse Thanksgiving dinners shorter than politically uniform ones? [Abstract]. Plos One,15(10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0239988

Producer

Collin Sharpe is a junior studying Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Michigan. He is interested in the nuts and bolts of democracy and the civic role of emotions, conversation, and debate.