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Talking Sense

MPR News and the nonprofit organization Braver Angels have created Talking Sense to help Minnesotans have hard conversations, better.

Talking Sense is a reporting project that explores the roots of polarization in communities, families and homes, and looks at how Minnesotans are navigating these divisive times. It’s also a series of live events and online tools that help Minnesotans have challenging political conversations without letting the need to change minds stand in the way of preserving important relationships. 

Has political polarization affected your family or community? Send us your Talking Sense story at talk@mprnews.org

In Ely, an experiment to improve political conversations has come with ups and downs

In Ely, an experiment to improve political conversations has come with ups and downs

The community of Ely has lots of issues dividing people there. So late last year, residents embarked on an experiment to have more productive conversations about contentious issues. Today, two participants say they’ve started doing things differently in their own lives to reduce polarization.
by Catharine Richert

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‘This is who Robynne is’: A father’s struggle to accept his daughter is gay

‘This is who Robynne is’: A father’s struggle to accept his daughter is gay

Robynne Curlee feared telling her conservative Christian father that she was gay. For John Curlee, accepting his daughter’s identity didn’t come easily and required working hard to understand it.
by Catharine Richert

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Political conversations at work may seem risky, but stifling them is risky, too

Political conversations at work may seem risky, but stifling them is risky, too

Employees today are more likely to want to air opinions and feelings at work about political and cultural issues than in decades past, according to an expert in facilitating workplace conversations. Without that release valve, employees’ sense of cohesion and their desire to collaborate and innovate may suffer.
by Catharine Richert

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‘Big hole in my heart’: How two siblings mended a rift after one came out

‘Big hole in my heart’: How two siblings mended a rift after one came out

Siblings Forest Clarke and Anne Downs grew up feeling like twins born two years apart. But when Clarke came out, a chasm grew in this once close relationship. A global pandemic, a letter and years of introspection brought them back together.
by Catharine Richert

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Talking Sense: Skills for disagreeing respectfully across political divides

Talking Sense: Skills for disagreeing respectfully across political divides

Have you ever had a political conversation that ended in yelling, tense silence or hurt feelings? The latest episode in the MPR News Talking Sense series brings you skills for listening across political divides and sharing your own opinions in a way that another person might hear — even if they disagree.
by Angela Davis, Maja Beckstrom and Catharine Richert

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In New York Mills, the Great American Think-Off finalists debate to understand, not to win

In New York Mills, the Great American Think-Off finalists debate to understand, not to win

For more than 30 years, the northwest Minnesota town of New York Mills has hosted the Great American Think-Off, a debate of big ideas between ordinary people. Contestants say it’s a model for civic discourse in polarized times.
by Catharine Richert

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Researcher who studies rural Americans calls out damaging stereotypes about rural voters

Researcher who studies rural Americans calls out damaging stereotypes about rural voters

Colby College government professor Nicholas Jacobs argues that rural voters are far more complex than some academics, liberal politicians and journalists give them credit for — and it’s a reason why rural voters increasingly gravitate toward conservative candidates. 
by Catharine Richert

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