Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has made quite a splash in modern politics, and will no doubt continue to leave his mark. In this episode, the season finale, I sit down with my good friend William Farnbach to talk about why it's so hard to discuss the President of the United States, and how we might do better. We also attempt to answer some of t…

President Trump's proposed border wall has become one of the most divisive subjects in current politics. Jake Christensen joins me in this episode to talk about the real issues behind the border crisis, and what we can actually do to help solve the issue. We also talk about the ABC's - which stand for Agree, Build, and Compare. These are handy tool…

Whether your goal is to understand others better, or to be more powerful and persuading in your conversations, this one's for you. In this episode I share some insights from Jonathan Haidt - you can read more about his work in his fascinating book "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion". Other people can certainly…

Is productive, rational conversation on the internet possible? And if so, what do elephants and 19th century prophets have to do with it? In this episode, I give a few tips on improving our online political conversations. The internet is a great tool, and if used correctly, can bring us closer together. I'm still very much working on this one mysel…

Westin Cross joins me for this episode, wherein we discuss possible steps we could take in reducing the extreme gun violence we face as a country. I also look at some tools for when conversations start getting heated; how we can use Contrasting to de-escalate the situation and restore mutual respect and mutual purpose. Hope you enjoy! LINKS --Ben S…

As we discuss the Me Too movement, and how we can powerfully stand up for ourselves and for truth, I'm joined by Morgan Reber (the host of She Speaks). Like Captain America said, sometimes we need to plant ourselves next to the river of truth, and confidently say to the whole world, "No - You move." Morgan shares 3 P's to better understand sexual a…

Have you ever just felt overwhelmed at the thought of politics? Don't know where to start or where to get good, unbiased information? In this bonus episode I share some of my favorite tools for getting news, and some of my favorite books on improving our conversations. And if you've got a recommendation, let us know! -Join our Conversation! Leave u…

This week I'm with Michael Garrett Johnson to talk about gay rights and faith issues. We also talk about the power of using good questions to enable and further conversation, as questions keep us humble and looking for feedback. Our goal, again, is to understand each other better, not to prove ourselves right or "win" the debate. Framing our views …

Gratitude is one of the greatest forces of good in the world. There is power in finding gratitude for our diversity, and gratitude for the different perspectives we can give each other. In this episode Ken Nukaya joins me to tell me his story, and talk about how gratitude can change everything. Its a simple concept, but with so much hate in the wor…

How do we react when someone offers us new information? Do we celebrate, recoil, or counter-attack? In this bonus episode I get a little more detailed with some concrete tips and tricks to improve our conversations. If we truly are blind men working together to understand the bigger picture, we should celebrate when someone helps us see more clearl…

I'm joined for this episode by Haley Beckstrand to talk about abortion, and why it's so hard for us to understand one another's motivations. Motive Attribution Asymmetry is the idea that we assume our own ideology is based on love, while our opponent's ideology is based on hate. This makes conversation difficult, and it's easy to believe when polit…

Welcome to the Elephant Dialogues! Our mission is to improve the way we talk about politics, and overcome the contempt, anger and frustration that dominates so much of politics today. In this episode, I'll explain the concept and plan for this podcast, where the name comes from, and how you can get involved. Links: Arthur Brooks - BYU Speech Michel…