Pulitzer Prize finalist journalist Bill Bishop joins The Village Square for Dinner at the Square. (See photos from the event here.)

Turns out Americans have been sorting ourselves in every aspect of our lives – in the news we watch, the books we read, the churches we attend, even the neighborhoods we live in. Our special guest Pulitzer Prize finalist journalist Bill Bishop stumbled on this worrisome trend when he was doing research on an unrelated topic. That means that we're increasingly finding ourselves in the company of people who think just like we do. Inside these likeminded tribes, we find our views amplified and no counterbalance to help us understand what our "side" might be failing to see. The result? Likeminded groups grow more extreme in the direction of the majority view. Uh oh.

Faciliating the conversation is Steve Seibert, formerly of Collins Center and Florida Humanities. Joining the conversation is Governor Jeb Bush's former Chief of Staff Sally Bradshaw, and former Florida Representative Loranne Ausley. Find the event online here. Find The Village Square online here.

The Village Square is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Funding for this podcast was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This program is part of a larger project "Healing Starts Here" funded by New Pluralists. Learn more about our project, and other inspiring grantees here.