The New Movement to Restore Civility

The National Week of Conversation is a bold attempt to reduce the yawning gap between Republicans and Democrats. More than 100 groups across the country are involved in online and in-person events from April 20th to April 28th.

We look at how the project works and why it can make a difference.

With American politics increasingly dominated by personal insults, name calling and dogma, a growing movement for greater civility is emerging. "The ever-widening gulf..is one of the most significant trends to emerge in U.S. society in the past two decades," says a Gallup polling analysis.

Our guests in this episode, John Gable and Joan Blades, are leaders of a growing project to bring Americans together to talk it out, mending the bitter partisan divide "one conversation at a time." #ListenfFirst and #NWOC are the hashtags they use on social media.

"When you only talk to people just like yourself, and we only get information that confirms what we already think, we become much more extreme in our beliefs and much less tolerant," says John.

Living Room Conversations, the group Joan co-founded, is hosting five online events as part of the National Week of Conversation. AllSides, the website that features news reports from the left, right, and center, is also deeply involved. Big Tent Nation, Bridge Alliance Partners, NCDD, The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, and The National Institute for Civil Discourse are organizing partners. 

Since we started our weekly news solutions show nearly three years ago, "How Do We Fix It?" has been committed to addressing the crisis of political paralysis. We are pleased to promote this cause. 

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