April 7, 2016

We’ve combined a two-part radio show from How Do We Fix It as they interviewed Living Room Conversation cofounder, Joan Blades.

Part 1: Much of the 2016 political campaign has been dominated by personal insults, name-calling and dogma. Voters have rewarded politicians who use anger and blame others for the country’s problems. Individual citizens are part of the problem and the solution. “We live with the dysfunction of partisan behaviors and believe we must and can do better,” says Joan, co-founder of Living Room Conversations She makes the case for personal dialog across party lines, arguing that it’s a key part of changing the way all of us think about politics. A strong progressive, who co-founded the liberal activist group, MoveOn.org in the late 90’s, Joan makes the case for listening to those you don’t agree with.”It’s actually really fun having a living room conversation,” she tells us.”They’re more fun than if you have a bunch of people around and you what they’re going to say.”

Part 2: “It’s actually really fun having a living room conversation,” says Joan. “They’re more fun than if you have a bunch of people around that you know what they’re going to say. We get to laugh about our differences once we understand what’s going on.” Among the first conversations the group had was a discussion on climate and energy. “One of the problems progressives have right now is that if they run into someone who doesn’t believe in climate science, they roll their eyes.” As soon as you do that, “you’ve lost your conversation,” Joan says. “Nobody listens to anybody.”