A Pew Research Center poll in 2023 found that 65% of Americans were exhausted and 55% were angry about the state of our political system. And that was before the 2024 election!

Even though the election results are official, the political polarization and partisan antipathy have not cooled down. The divide between people with different political opinions is as wide as ever. They increasingly view each other with mistrust and ridicule, which can lead to never ending conflicts and estrangement. Is this any way to run a democracy?

This week on The Connection, learning to disagree better and connect across our differences. Our guests are clinical psychologist William Doherty and political scientist Lia Howard. Bill is one of the founders of Braver Angels, an organization that works to bridge the partisan divide. Lia heads up the Political Empathy Lab at the University of Pennsylvania.