Making Common Ground

In episode four of Making Common Ground, political journalist Catherine Neilan talks with people from around the UK about the big topics of the week, and how even with disparate backgrounds, they all agree on the impact of Dominic Cummins ill advised trip last year.

In episode three of Making Common Ground, political journalist Catherine Neilan talks to Full Fact chief executive Will Moy about the challenges we all face in spotting disinformation, how it's driving polarisation and practical tips for what to do if you're confronted with a conspiracy theorist. 

In episode two of Making Common Ground, journalist Catherine Neilan talks to former Vote Leave chief executive, Matthew Elliott, about the polarisation caused by the Brexit referendum, how the culture wars have worsened since, and why it made him think twice about attending dinner parties. 

In episode one of Making Common Ground, journalist Catherine Neilan talks to Stanford professor James Fishkin about how deliberative democracy has helped people with widely varying opinions reach agreements on policy issues and even find a way to compromise on their most entrenched views. 

Making Common Ground seeks to kick-start better dialogue between different groups of individuals. Instead of dismissing people with lazy labels, people across the political spectrum will be brought together to discuss the big topics of the week, and encouraged to read news more broadly, as well as more in depth. 

Democracy is fighting for survival on multiple fronts. Social bubbles and toxic discourse are eroding our ability to discuss problems and find solutions. Instead of working towards a compromise, all we hear are monologues masquerading as debate.

The way news is packaged is partly to blame - but increasingly we are not reading beyond the headlines. Making Common Ground  seeks to kick-start better dialogue between different groups of individuals. Instead of dismissing people with lazy labels, people across the political spectrum will be brought together to discuss the big topics of the week, and encouraged to read news more broadly, as well as more in depth.

In this podcast, Catherine Neilan introduces the Making Common Ground project - how it was conceived, how it is supported, its objectives and how they will be achieved.