Make America Relate Again

It's been two years since I wrapped production on Make America Relate Again, and polarization has only gotten worse in that time. What we need to do now to heal the country is make sure we VOTE, and vote EARLY.

Also, if you're interested in hearing from some of the podcast guests about how they're feeling about politics now, email me at [email protected]. If enough people show interest, I'll put together some catch-up interviews for you.

For the final episode of MARA, I'm catching up with some of the women from Season 1. You'll hear short update conversations with Ellen from S1EP1, Anne from S1EP7, and Sarah from S1EP8. If you haven't heard the original conversations, I recommend checking them out before listening to this episode. The significance of releasing a finale for a show that attempts to unite Americans on 9/11 is not lost on me. Things have gotten rough, and it's time for us to start coming together, and not because of some common foreign enemy. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. It's been an honor to bring it to you. More at makeamericarelatepodcast.com.

In this special episode, I'm interviewing Dolly Chugh, an award-winning social psychologist and tenured professor at NYU who just released an incredible book about implicit bias. The Person You Mean To Be: How Good People Fight Bias is for anyone who wants to strive to always do better in the fight toward true equality between races, sexes, and sexual and gender orientations, and it shows us the many ways we can miss our own blind spots - and how we can do better. In today's political sphere, this kind of self-reflection and gathering of diverse perspectives is more important than ever. More at makeamericarelatepodast.com

This week on MARA, I'm bringing you two women of color - finally! - and I apologize that it took this long to make this happen. Tiffani Jones is an aspiring politician who was advised to change her party from Democrat to Republican to increase her chances at making a real difference. Maleena Lawrence is a progressive activist and community organizer who shares my tendency to put ideas like "collective consciousness" and "spiritual awakening" into the realm of politics. In this episode, they talk about the Trump administration and polarization. More at makeamericarelatepodcast.com.

Ricky and Bradley are cousins who grew up in coal country - southern West Virginia. Ricky is a left-leaning libertarian who has a real problem with liberal messaging. He says it alienates conservatives and undecided voters, and can't understand why, when polls show that most of the country agrees with liberal policies, liberals can't seem to win elections. Bradley is a hardcore liberal who thinks the liberal message is mostly just doing the right thing. More at makeamericarelatepodcast.com.

Jacob is what he likes to call a disillusioned conservative and a military veteran, who feels strongly that NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial inequality is offensive to our military community and to the flag. Maurice is a black man and former football player who thinks players should have a right to use their platform to effect positive social change. Yet these two still found way to relate to each other find common ground. More at www.makeamericarelatepodcast.com.

Randy Lioz is a Better Angels workshop organizer and a liberal with some pretty strong opinions about morality as it pertains to immigration policy. Keith Holland is a conservative with an evangelical Christian background, for whom morality has been a major concern his whole life. The central question of this conversation is: do we, as the most prosperous country in the world, have a moral responsibility to maintain open borders? Or does morality demand we take care of our own first? More at makeamericarelatepodcast.com.

Cindy and Diana Kyser are sisters who only a year ago found themselves screaming at each other over politics in front of their entire family. Cindy, a conservative, found the show through Better Angels, and she thought MARA would be a great place to work toward a better understanding of her liberal sister. This conversation is my favorite one I've ever recorded for the show. These two women found a way to take a breath and ask, "Why?" before jumping off the rails at a dissenting opinion - a lesson we could all benefit from. More at makeamericarelatepodcast.com.

John Wood Jr. is a young Republican who once ran against Maxine Waters for Congress -and came closer to beating her than anyone else ever. He's now the Director of Media Development for Better Angels, and the man responsible for bringing MARA into their media family. Ciaran is a Democrat who serves as Better Angels' Director of Communications. I brought these two together to talk about what's going down with the Supreme Court, and the respect and humility both men showed in this conversation is exactly what Better Angels and MARA are all about. More at makeamericarelatepodcast.com.

Karlie & Andrew are both scientists working in the field of neuroscience, and they came together to discuss one of the most polarizing issues in politics today: abortion.​ Karlie isn't religious and believes strongly that the decision whether to obtain an abortion should be left up to women, and that abortions should be free and legal. Andrew feels like the life of an unborn fetus is too valuable to allow a woman to end it - that it's akin to murdering another human being. How do two scientists who disagree so passionately find a way to relate to each other? Listen to find out. More at makeamericarelatepodcast.com.