How to Disagree About Gender with a Close Friend (Part II)

Today, we’re doing the second episode in our new series: How to Disagree.

A reminder: these episodes feature coaching sessions and real-life disagreements. Our goal is to equip everyone with the skills (and some inspiration) to more productively disagree. 

On to the episode…You know that feeling when you walk into a room and realize someone’s talking about you? Imagine that on steroids: you tune into a Substack Live to learn your friend is talking about your disagreement in front of an audience! 

That’s exactly the set up for today’s episode, a follow-up to How to Disagree about Gender with a Close Friend (Part I). In Part II, we get to hear from Larissa Phillips’ friend, “Jane,” and see them bring Bob Bordone’s coaching to life as they navigate their disagreement and a new chapter in their friendship.

The Questions:

• Is it possible to remain close friends after growing apart ideologically?
• How can you remain curious when you strongly disagree?
• Are there some topics we should avoid entirely as friends? Is gender one of them? And how did it get this way?

The Guests

Larissa Phillips is a columnist for The Free Press whose work focuses on finding community and fostering relationships as a Democrat living in the rural Hudson Valley. She is also the Director and Founder of the Volunteer Literacy Project, teaching basic literacy to adults. 

Christina Thyssen is a writer, story coach, and professor of writing and literature at the University at Albany. She is the co-founder of Hudson Valley Story Workshops and runs a story slam in Catskill, NY. Christina also teaches writing and storytelling to prisoners. 

A special thank you to Larissa and Christina for going on this journey with us. It took a tremendous amount of courage. And if you haven’t already, check out Larissa’s excellent article on her experience with us in The Free Press.

Questions or comments about this episode? Email us at podcast@thedisagreement.com or find us on X and Instagram @thedisagreementhq. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thedisagreement.substack.com/