Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation and
the media with host Eric Schurenberg, long time journalist,
now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.

Over the years, he's interviewed a number of people from the so-
called bridge-building community. They’ve been researchers like
Matt Levendusky of University of Pennsylvania, Journalists like
Amanda Ripley, bridge builders like Monica Guzman, all
convinced that things would be better if Americans could just stop
demonizing their neighbors. Let’s stipulate that’s a worthy goal.
Still, all of these movements face a similar problem: How do you
scale listening skills? How long do the effects of civil
conversations across political divides actually last?

I’ll put those questions to today’s guests, Malka Kopell and Palma
Strand, the founders of 13-year old Civity.org. Kopell describes
her background as a community organizer, but she’s also been a
program officer at the Hewlett Foundation and founding managing
director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at
Stanford. Strand came to Civity after a career it law, teaching law
at Creighton University and the University of Marland and
clerking for, among others, Supreme Court justice Byron White.

The Civity insight is that relationships are key to building trust and
trust is fundamental to getting things done in a diverse society.
Civity’s recipe is to train local leaders—from mayors to city
councils and nonprofit directors —to build relationships before
tackling contentious issues.

It sounds great, but perhaps still subject to the issues of scale and
persistence facing all bridge builders. But let’s let Civity’s
founders explain themselves why they believe their approach
works.

Now, here’s Malka Kopell and Palma Strand.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guests
01:03 Main Questions About Civil Conversations
02:16 Introducing Civity and Its Work
03:21 Types of Leaders Trained by Civity
04:40 Founders' Backgrounds and Epiphanies
08:31 What Makes Civity Different from Other Approaches
10:00 The 'Conversation Before the Conversation'
12:46 Relationship Building in Civic and Business Spheres
15:02 Addressing Scale and Reach Challenges
17:39 Engaging the Middle and Open-minded Communities
21:34 Storytelling Guidelines and Listening Skills
23:47 Media's Role in Societal Divides
26:44 Media Narratives and Real-Life Community Stories
29:23 Journalistic Approaches to Divisiveness
31:20 AI's Impact on Society and Connection
33:49 A Simple Civic Workshop for Neighborhoods
35:45 Focusing on Differences and Complexity in Conversations
36:20 Micro Interactions and Building Trust in Daily Life
38:36 The Power of One-on-One Conversations
39:28 Optimism vs. Pessimism About Society's Future
40:39 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts

Website - free episode transcripts
www.in-reality.fm

Alliance for Trust in Media
alliancefortrust.com

Produced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapien
soundsapien.com

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation, and the media with Eric Schurenberg, longtime media executive, and now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.

If you've listened to this podcast more than once, you've likely heard a recurring question: What would it take to get Americans over their political alienation? Would it help to clean up and diversify our media diets? Would it help to understand where the other side is coming from?

Today's guest thinks the answer might be to emphasize all we have in common as Americans, as neighbors, as friends. More important than the theory, perhaps, is that he actually tested this hypothesis in the field. Matthew Lewandusky is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Our Common Bonds. Through a series of experiments described in the book, he tested whether reminding us of what we have in common, friendships,

Sports teams, patriotism, can reduce the instinct to demonize fellow citizens. Some approaches work well, others hardly at all. His findings are especially interesting to me because they're closely related to an Alliance for Trust project in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, exploring whether shared local history can help bridge political divides. So today, as we brace for the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding.

Let's dive into the power of our common bonds...

Website - free episode transcripts
www.in-reality.fm

Alliance for Trust in Media
alliancefortrust.com

Produced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapien
soundsapien.com

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation, and the media with Eric Schurenberg, longtime journalist and media executive, now founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.

When Eric interviewed Rob Sand last summer, his run for Iowa governor had more than a whiff of tilting at windmills. He remains the only Democrat to hold statewide elected office in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the governorship in more than 20 years and that Trump carried in 2024 by 13 points.

Sand’s prospects have drastically improved. Nothing quixotic about it now. He has run a campaign that may be one of the most bi-partisan in the country, by accusing both parties as out of touch with Iowans. His Republican opponent, Zach Lahn, has vulnerabilities, including that he voted in Kansas until recently, allowing Sand’s campaign to label him a carpetbagger.

Which is why we decided to encore last summer’s interview. We’ll hear how Sand plans to persuade Republicans to cross party lines and vote for him. We’ll hear what personal qualities he thinks can bridge political divides and how, in his own life, he manages to avoid being trapped in the filter bubbles that make America’s media ecosystem so toxic to civil discourse.

Imagine an election in which the deciding principle isn't 'let’s choose the lesser of two evils', but rather, 'may the best man win'. What a concept.

Website - free episode transcripts
www.in-reality.fm

Alliance for Trust in Media
alliancefortrust.com

Produced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapien
soundsapien.com