This is the first episode of the "We Need to Talk" podcast, a collaboration between the Dean of Students office and associated student government. In this episode, we have several incredible guests here to talk about dialogue across difference. Our expert for the day is Tarah Trueblood, the Director of the Center for American and World Cultures. Tarah will discuss the context for the divisive and polarized landscape of our nation and provide several tips about how to ready yourself to engage or create spaces to have dialogue with people who have different identities or hold different beliefs. This will be followed by a conversation with two students, Brandon Small, ASG's Secretary for Diversity and Inclusion, and Taylor Armstrong, the current president of College Republicans. These two students will discuss the barriers students face in engaging in dialogue across difference and why it is so important to push through the discomfort.