The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane

With the midterms just around the corner and tight, contentious races across the country, political polarization is reaching a fever pitch. Increasingly, voters don’t just disagree on many of the driving issues; they view the other side as immoral. But a democracy depends on healthy debate, compromise, and the peaceful transfer of power. Is it possible to have civil conversations with people who don’t share our views?

Mónica Guzmán believes it’s not just possible, it’s necessary. For one thing, she says, we exaggerate the views of people we disagree with. And fear and certainty can harden our opinions, making it tough to bridge our differences.

Guzmán joins us on The Connection to explain why asking questions can help us tackle the crisis of our polarized nation.

She is founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity, host of the A Braver Way podcast, and author of I Never Thought of It That Way.

We humans love, even crave, predictability. Our brains are constantly scanning the horizon looking for threats or anything that looks unfamiliar, which makes us feel anxious and unsafe. And yet we have always lived in an unpredictable world where random events happen all the time and the future is largely unknowable. Today on The Connection: managing the pros and cons of uncertainty.

Our guests are Kate Sweeny and Dannagal Young. Sweeny is a research psychologist who runs the Life Events Lab at the University of California. Young is a professor of communication and political science at the University of Delaware and an improv comedian.

We’ll talk about why uncertainty is so stressful, why waiting for results is tough, how the unknown can feed conspiracy theories and why accepting uncertainty can be good for our mental and physical health.

Sherry Turkle on her new book, Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines.

Imagine facing a 50/50 chance of inheriting a rare form of dementia that robs you of your personality. Where once you were organized, caring, and responsible, you become apathetic, socially inappropriate, show no regard for others, overeat or drink to excess. Would you get tested to find out if you carry the genetic mutation?

That’s the dilemma facing a Pennsylvania family in Robert Kolker’s new book, The Vanishing Family. This week, we’ll talk with Kolker about Frontotemporal Dementia, or FTD, and how it upended the lives of nine siblings and their parents. We’ll also meet Barb Frommell, the youngest sibling, to hear about her personal quest for a cure. And we’ll explore what the disease reveals about the nature of self.

Imagine you’re deciding who to date based on answers to questions on their online profile. Questions like, “Have you ever stolen anything worth more than one hundred dollars?” or, “Have you ever neglected to tell a partner you have an STD?” One person answered every question. The other left them blank. Who would you pick?

It turns out most people would choose the one who admitted to the irresponsible behavior.

This week, we talk to the researcher who conducted that study, Leslie John. She says that revealing the sometimes-ugly truth about ourselves can build trust and lead to more honest, meaningful relationships. The problem today, as she sees it, isn’t too much information. It’s too little. She has a new book titled, Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing.

American children used to be adventurous eaters. Why has kids’ food become so bland? And why are so many fussy about what’s on their plates?

Psychologist Marisa Franco explains why we feel unworthy and how to form secure attachments.

What have we learned about loss, grief and memory 25 years after 9/11?

Psychologist Angela Duckworth on her new book “Situated” about how to create relationships and the right environment to help us do what we want to do.

Matthew Quick’s first novel, The Silver Linings Playbook, was a bestseller and was later made into the Oscar-winning movie starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro. It was about a young man hoping to put his life back together after being released from a psychiatric hospital and moving in with his parents. But Quick could not enjoy all his success. He was too anxious and depressed, convinced by his father’s coldness and cruelty growing up that he was unworthy.

This week on The Connection: how Matthew Quick learned to forgive his father.