<p>Laura Gassner Otting wants you to stop asking "how can I help?" By asking this question we're often standing in the way of real solutions and creating more problems. Instead, she wants you to ask, "what needs to be done?" when a problem presents itself. She and Colleen talk about this shift and how it can change they way we solve problems as a society.</p>

Laura Gassner Otting wants you to stop asking "how can I help?" By asking this question we're often standing in the way of real solutions and creating more problems. Instead, she wants you to ask, "what needs to be done?" when a problem presents itself. She and Colleen talk about this shift and how it can change they way we solve problems as a society.

Episode 15: The Problem with Helping with Laura Gassner Otting

A Year of Listening Podcast is designed to reclaim the lost art of civil, compassionate, and nuanced conversation about a variety of polarizing topics.  In short, we’re tackling all the topics your mother warned you not to discuss at cocktail parties.  The goal of this show is to help people understand the very personal experiences that often guide our beliefs in the hopes that this expands our compassion and empathy for those who believe differently than us.  I have no doubt that in every episode a listener will hear something with which he wholeheartedly disagrees.  But, I also believe that if one keeps listening, he will also hear something with which he agrees.  It is my hope that the conversations in this podcast will give listeners opportunities to keep listening, to practice empathy and to widen the narrow holds we have on our own perspectives to make room for someone else’s.

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A Year of Listening Podcast is designed to reclaim the lost art of civil, compassionate, and nuanced conversation about a variety of polarizing topics. In short, we’re tackling all the topics your mother warned you not to discuss at cocktail parties. The goal of this show is to help people understand the very personal experiences that often guide our beliefs in the hopes that this expands our compassion and empathy for those who believe differently than us. I have no doubt that in every episode a listener will hear something with which he wholeheartedly disagrees. But, I also believe that if one keeps listening, he will also hear something with which he agrees. It is my hope that the conversations in this podcast will give listeners opportunities to keep listening, to practice empathy and to widen the narrow holds we have on our own perspectives to make room for someone else’s.

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Episode 15: The Problem with Helping with Laura Gassner Otting

Episode 15: The Problem with Helping with Laura Gassner Otting