It is a surprise to no one that we as Americans are living in very divided times right now. Thankfully, there are people out there looking for ways that different sides can talk to each other better.
One such person is Mónica Guzmán, the author of a new book called "I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times." She joined us to talk about the book.
You can see her in conversation with David Horsey from the Seattle Times at Town Hall Seattle (in-person or via livestream) Tuesday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
We think we have the answers, but we need to be asking a lot more questions.
Partisanship is up, trust is down, and our social media feeds make us sure we're right and everyone else is ignorant (or worse). But avoiding and attacking one another is breaking... everything.
Journalist Mónica Guzmán is the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who voted—twice—for Donald Trump. When the country could no longer see straight across the political divide, Mónica set out to find what was blinding us, and discovered the most eye-opening tool we're not using: our own curiosity.
In this timely, personal guide, Mónica, the chief storyteller for the national cross-partisan depolarization organization Braver Angels, takes you to the real front lines of a crisis that threatens to grind America to a halt—broken conversations among confounded people. She shows you how to overcome the fear and assumptions that surround us to finally do what only seems impossible: understand and even learn from people in your life whose whole worldview is not just different from yours, but opposed.
Drawing from conversations she's had, organized, or witnessed everywhere from the echo chambers on social media to the wheat fields in Oregon to raw, unfiltered fights with her family on election night, Mónica shows how you can put your natural sense of wonder to work for you immediately, finding the answers you need by talking with people—rather than about them—and asking the questions you want across the divides you want, curiously.
In these pages, you'll learn:
- How to ask what you really want to know (even if you're afraid to)
- How to grow smarter from even the most tense interactions, online or off
- How to cross boundaries and find common ground—with anyone
Whether you're left, right, center, or sick of the labels: If you're ready to fight back against the confusion, heartbreak, and madness of our dangerously divided times—in your own life, at least—Mónica's got the tools and fresh, surprising insights to prove that seeing where people are coming from isn't just possible. It's easier than you think.
Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.