I have been talking a lot about the need to really see each other. The level of conflict and tribalism we are experiencing in our country is deeply connected to the fact that we don’t know the people that live in our neighborhoods as well as we have in the past. In addition, we are segregating ourselves so that we often only hang out with people who think like us making it harder and harder to see things from the perspectives of our neighbors.
One podcast that I feel has really helped me to learn about other folks is This American Life. Their journalism team collects stories from all around the country and sometimes even internationally so that we can hear the experiences of people we will probably never get to meet in the flesh. From episodes about the drama between a militant vegetarian and his meat-loving brother to chronicling the immigration battle in industrial Alabama to a powerful episode about the tension in Chicago Public Schools, this podcast takes the time to connect us with stories that matter.
If we want to have any hope of helping our country to get to a place where we say “We the People” and truly mean all of us, we all need to get into the practice of listening more to each other and trying to understand our diverse perspectives. So I highly recommend this podcast which I have been listening to for years.
I hope you will check it out and that you will particularly give a listen to a recent episode - Chaos Graph. You can click the link to check it out.
And if you already listen to this American life - I hope you will consider supporting them. I have been listening for at least 15 years and am been thankful that it has always been free. But now with the cuts coming from the Trump Administration, they need our help to keep the podcast coming so they have created a program called This American Life Partners for folks who want to support on a monthly basis - https://thisamericanlife.supercast.com/
Enjoy listening!
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