Disagree Without Disaster: How to Talk Politics with Family

How do you handle political disagreement in your family? In a world rife with political division, it can feel difficult to share your opinion without feeling attacked or misunderstood—or thinking everyone else is wrong.

In this episode of the Y Magazine podcast, host Whitney Singley Archibald (BA ’01) discusses the art of disagreement with Marianne Holt Viray (BA ’96), executive director of the nonprofit organization Disagree Better. Disagreement, Viray says, isn’t bad—nor are political conversations. What matters is how those conversations are held.

This episode is based on “Doing Disagreement Better” by Julia K. Nebeker (BA ’24) and Anna E. Sneddon (’27), found in the Spring 2025 issue of Y Magazine.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may be interested in Disagree Better’s free online courses and the Dignity Index. Visit disagreebetter.us to learn more.

You may also like the episodes “Making Peace: How to Mediate Conflict in Our Families” and “How to Be a Good Citizen with the American Moms.” If you’re interested in how to have faith-related conversations, you may like “Building Bridges: How to Enrich Interfaith Relationships.”

If you’re enjoying this podcast, we’d appreciate your feedback so we can make more of the kinds of episodes you’d like best. Take the survey.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. New episodes post on the first and third Thursdays of each month.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.