It’s easy right now to believe that the divisions we see are simply too deep to repair. That empathy has become a liability. That listening has been replaced by winning.

And yet, I still believe, perhaps more than ever, that empathy remains our greatest tool for healing even the most jagged fractures in our world, not as a naïve ideal, but as a courageous, strategic choice. And that choice has the power to transform entire systems.

My guest today, Dr. Claire Yorke, has devoted her career to studying exactly that possibility.

We explore what empathy in politics actually looks like, why empathy is essential for effective leadership, the challenges empathetic leaders face in polarized environments, and why we can’t simply wait for more empathetic political leaders to emerge.

We also talk about hope. Not passive hope, but participatory hope. The kind that invites each of us - as citizens, leaders, and humans - to model empathy, practice deeper listening, and engage in shaping healthier political cultures, whether through community dialogue, civic participation, or simply choosing curiosity over certainty.

This is a conversation about what’s possible when we choose empathy, not as an escape from reality, but as a path forward through it.

To access the episode transcript, go to www.TheEmpathyEdge.com, search by episode title.

Listen in for…

• The relationship military leaders have with empathy and their job.
• What it can look like to have empathy in our politics, regardless of country.
• The impact of citizen assemblies and civic engagement.
• Why do we need to change political culture so that it attracts and rewards politicians who embrace empathy and can stop battling?
• Maintaining an ideal vision of what’s possible and what to do to make it a reality.
• Steps that can be taken at the local and national levels to make changes.

"We need to change our politics. So it's much more about building relationships, building that sense of connectedness, both between politicians and the public, between citizens and their communities, and seeing this as an ecosystem." —  Dr. Claire Yorke

References:

• Book: Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us by Jon Alexander and Ariane Conrad
• Democracy Next

The Empathy Edge:

• Sam Daley-Harris: Reclaiming Our Democracy
• Mónica Guzmán: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Divided Political Times
• Dr. Gina Baleria: Empathy in Journalism and Today’s Media Landscape
• Elisa Camahort Page: The Art of Empathy in Politics, Activism, and Media BS
• James Coan: Closing the Perception Gap that Tears Us Apart

About Dr. Claire Yorke, Senior Lecturer at Deakin University, Author of Empathy in Politics and Leadership: The Key to Transforming our World:

Dr. Claire Yorke is an author and academic. Her work focuses on the role of empathy and emotions in international affairs, politics, leadership, and society.  She is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian War College, Deakin University, Canberra, where her research and teaching focus on these topics. In 2025, she published Empathy in Politics and Leadership: The Key to Transforming Our World with Yale University Press. She is writing two more.

Claire received her PhD in International Relations from the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. She has a Master's in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter, and a BA in Politics, International Relations and French from Lancaster University.

Connect with Claire:  

Website: claireyorke.me

LinkedIn: Dr Claire Yorke

Instagram: @theempathydoctor

BlueSky: @claireyorke.bsky.social

Book: Empathy in Politics and Leadership: The Key to Transforming our World

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