Episode 27: The Science of Depolarization (with Nealin Parker)

Society Builders

An interview with Nealin Parker, Executive Director of Common Ground USA, exploring the range of like-minded organizations contributing to depolarization (including over 6,700 such organizations in the US alone).

Nealin explores the different approaches such organizations take and provides guidance on how to find collaborators, assess their quality and best engage with them.

She also explores the role of neighborhoods, society building and more.

Organization referenced in episode (in order of appearance):

• Living Room Conversations (www.livingroomconversations.org)
• Preemptive Love Coalition (Love Anyway Feasts) (www.preemptivelove.org/feast-templates)
• Braver Angels (www.braverangels.org)
• Listen First Coalition (www.listenfirstproject.org/listen-first-coalition)
• Telos (www.telosgroup.org)
• Make America Dinner (www.makeamericadinneragain.com)
• The People’s Supper (www.thepeoplessupper.org)
• Resetting the Table (www.resettingthetable.org)
• Bridge USA (www.bridgeusa.org)
• Campus Conversation (www.aascu.org/resources/campus-conversations-toolkit)
• Sustained Dialog (www.sustaineddialogue.org)
• Solia (www.solia.net)
• American Exchange Project (www.americanexchangeproject.org)
• Shoulder to Shoulder (www.shouldertoshouldercampaign.org)
• Telos (www.telosgroup.org)
• Interfaith America (www.interfaithamerica.org)
• Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org)
• One America Movement (www.oneamericamovement.org)
• City Year (www.cityyear.org)
• AmeriCorps (www.americorps.gov)
• Red Cross (www.redcross.org)
• United Way (www.unitedway.org)
• All Sides (www.allsides.com)
• The Flip Side (www.theflipside.io)

CONTENTS

0:00 Introduction
3:45 Mapping Depolarization
11:21 Flavors of Depolarization
17:50 Cooking as Unifier
22:37 Interfaith Dialog
25:17 Service as Unifier
28:08 Finding Collaborators
30:11 Assessing Quality
33:41 The Role of Neighborhood
38:55 Society Building
48:21Engaging with the Like-Minded
51:37 Closing Thoughts