Eli Saslow is an award-winning journalist and a staff writer for The Washington Post. In 2014, he received a Pulitzer Prize Award for his work on food stamps in post-recession America. His most recent book, Rising Out of Hatred tells the story of Derek Black’s transition from an emerging white supremacist leader, to an outspoken opposer of the white nationalist movement.

Show notes & links:

• Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist
• His latest articles on The Washington Post; those mentioned in this episode:
  • ‘Nothing on this page is real’: How lies become truth in online America
  • For Diamond Reynolds, trying to move past 10 tragic minutes of video
• elisaslow.com

Gabe Howe is the Executive Director of the Siskiyou Mountain Club. The group works to maintain and promote remote trail systems in southwest Oregon. Gabe finds that when volunteers from different walks of life and diverse backgrounds come together in the wilderness, they’re able to connect in special ways over a literal common ground.

Show notes & links:

• Conservation Groups Must Listen to Oregon’s Rural Communities (OregonLive)
• Siskiyou Mountain Club

What happens to journalism when the public gets to choose the topics they’re curious about? “Public powered journalism” is the ongoing experiment the co-founder and CEO of Hearken Jennifer Brandel is working on to make journalism more responsive and useful to the public’s needs.

Show notes & links:

• https://www.wearehearken.com
• https://curiouscity.wbez.org

When writer and pastor Chris Nye moved from an affluent Oregon suburb to San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, his work as a pastor was turned upside down. Chris Nye is the author of Distant God, and his new book Less of More is due in spring of 2019.

Show notes & links:

• Chris’ book Distant God: Why He Feels Far Away…And What We Can Do About It
• http://chrisnye.co/

Gary Noesner was the FBI negotiator at Waco in 1993, where David Koresh and the Branch Davidians waged a 51-day siege against authorities. This is just one of the many high-profile cases Gary has worked on, and we wondered what a career in negotiating life-or-death situations teaches you about listening.

Show notes & links:

• Gary’s book Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator
• http://garynoesner.com/

Being in the hosting chair of public radio for almost 20 years made Celeste Headlee discover how bad most of our conversations are. What are we doing wrong? And how can we make it right?

Show notes & links:

• Celeste’s 10 rules for a better conversation
  • 1. Don’t multitask
  • 2. Don’t pontificate
  • 3. Use open ended questions
  • 4. Go with the flow
  • 5. If you don’t know, say that you don’t know
  • 6. Don’t equate your experience with theirs
  • 7. Try not to repeat yourself
  • 8. Stay out of the weeds
  • 9. Listen
  • 10. Be brief
• CelesteHeadlee.com
• Celeste’s TED Talk 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation
• Celeste’s book We Need To Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter

In an era of angry pundits, attack journalism, and click-bait, how can we re-train ourselves to listen consciously and embrace healthy disagreement?

Show notes & links:

• JulianTreasure.com
• How To Be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking & Listening (Julian’s book)

7 years after starting the Arizona Storyteller’s project, Megan Finnerty has watched her project expand to 22 cities across the United States. We talk about why people are drawn to live storytelling events, what goes into putting them on, and how Megan uses her expertise to help participants get the most out of the experience of telling their stories on stage.

Show notes & links:

• MeganmFinnerty.com
• Storytellers Project
• Crafty Chica

DJ hates Trump. His dad Warren supports Trump. How can a father and son maintain their relationship when their political differences have reached a breaking point?

Show notes & links:

• My dad voted for Trump. I did not. Yet we spoke about Trump and politics for nearly 3 hours (and learned a few things).
• Social Butterfly Guy

How does journalism change if the comment section happens before the article is written? jesikah maria ross is the founder of the Story Circle, a curated storytelling event with citizens who share stories about the issues affecting their communities.

Show notes & links:

• jesikahmariaross.com
• The View From Here: Place And Privilege
• Finding Common Ground