Every day we are bombarded with negative news and polarizing opinions from politicians, pundits, and others who seek attention, power, and money by escalating division. This episode’s guest, Amanda Ripley, calls them "conflict entrepreneurs." Amanda explains why she believes the problem we face in America isn't too much conflict. Instead, it’s the type of disagreement we are having. We hear about the crucial differences between constructive conflict, where different sides seek to find common ground, and destructive conflict where discord distills into a good-versus-evil kind of feud, with an "us" and a "them".
Site Navigation
Search
Latest Stories
Start your day right!
Get latest updates and insights delivered to your inbox.
Top Stories
Latest news
Read More
Trustworthy Elections Report
Jan 01, 2025
Conservatives and liberals distrust our electoral system for vastly different reasons—from voter fraud and election security to voter suppression and peaceful transfer of power. Leading up to the 2024 election, Braver Angels worked to rebuild this trust by seeking solutions supported by people across the political spectrum.
This report is based on 26 workshops with 194 evenly-balanced Red and Blue participants. Together, they found 727 unanimous points of agreement across values, concerns, and solutions. This report has distilled those into three principles:
- “Voting should be easy. Cheating should be hard.”
- “Every citizen should have an equal say in who will govern them; this is done through free and fair elections.”
- “The American government will fail if candidates refuse to accept any outcome other than victory.”
This report—based on hundreds of cross-partisan conversations—could provide a blueprint for restoring trust in our elections.
Keep ReadingShow less
Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?
Jan 01, 2025
Generative Artificial Intelligence has the power to transform lives and change our jobs. In this episode, Richard and Jim discuss the potential for good and bad from large, creative AI models such as ChatGPT.
The show's guest is Nathanael Fast, who serves as Director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making and Co-Director of the Psychology of Technology Institute. Professor Fast teaches in the MBA, Ph.D., and Executive Education programs at USC Marshall in Los Angeles.
ChatGPT reached over 100 million active users within two months of its release. Consumers have used it to write essays, take tests, crack jokes and write poetry in response to questions or prompts. Richard and Jim raise the questions we need to ask about rapidly changing forms of artificial intelligence. Should we be scared or excited… or both?
Keep ReadingShow less
Podcast: The tensions between expertise and democracy, an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci
Jan 01, 2025
In this episode, the hosts talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci about the tensions between expertise and democratic decision-making during the pandemic, and his advice for navigating apathy and misinformation during the next major public health crisis.
This podcast episode originally appeared on The Democracy Group.
Keep ReadingShow less
Load More