same school he was a high school student now a college president and there he is today. innt denmark. . >> he is a pretty famous son and daughter. if you want to know more one how infiltrated and stayed in thee shadows that should be part of the daily conversation please join me to think bothh of our authors join us on the plaza day event is free and any donation can be made out on the plaza thank you so much for coming out. [applause]

. >> welcome to the saturday morning i am a political reporter here in town and we are reporters that cover everything from state government to politics the u.s. senate race it is a very close race and running up against marsha blackburn

supporter of donald trump so what we want to do is facilitate a conversation about the state of politics today we will go down the line on --dash down the line. >> i am also a reporter at the tennessean it comes out recently for all of those debates lately that we talk and policy and the people sometimes it's the politicians themselves or other experts in the field but today we will hear from these panelist mariah is for the johnson foundation here inn

nashville the vice president of the urban league and jennifer kavanaugh the initial and also senior political scientist at the rand corporation and the associate director strategy doctrine program and researchers communications and public opinion and how that impacts the us foreign and domestic policy we also have arthur who is the author of uninformed poly people need politics and what we need to do about it and a professor of political science at the university of michigan and also chair of the american political science association task force.

so we will ask each of these three to tell about their work and talk about their books and what mariah is doing here in tennessee so tell us what you are doing. >> you mentioned i was vice president of the urban league it is a historical civil rights organization different from the naacp it provides direct services that the naacp is normally associated where the urban league does a lot of direct services like job placement for f people and that kind of thing but i am a board member of a new nonprofit and we work with african-americans and other people of color so

for us that means voter education registration and turnout and protection and it looks like what has popped up in the last two or three years because we have this urge to get people involved in those have been around for hundreds of years that now have a greater focus on voter turnout to get them as involved in that process from where we are now in the country and what we can b focus on. >> yes we want to know it is are doing to improve voter turnout. >> truth decay is whatur we are using to talk about facts and data and analysis in the civil discourse and rand is focused on improving policy analysis

and decision-making so obviously it is a significant concern to us not only for what we do but for our democratic institutions so in those disagreements of objective facts between fact and opinion increasing relative volume of opinion and increasing cost of the institutions from actual information so that we have increasingly is a situation where people are not sure where to look to get that information so in the book we talk about the implications and the causes and the consequences talk about how these are due and some aspects

are what we have seen before it also changes in the information with the rise of the internet and social media cable news. and the pressure to produce popular content. >> that is true that it causes attention to produce content that it attracts eyeballs and that may not be the most fact-based information when they make those decisions when they go to the polls and there are aspects so if you think about the education system that pc is an increasing numberea of demands to provide care before and after school and at the same time now they

are asked to train students for that environment and with that support to teachers to navigate this complex information system. >> all of this is happening in the political context of extreme polarization which contributess and drives it further because it increases incentives which makes it difficult for us to have meaningful conversation across partisan lines because both sides not only how their opinionsic but also their own facts and that iss problematic how we will tackle some of the important fundamental challenges so the final chapter lays out the research agenda what we need to know about this problem how we need to address it like

understanding how much information is out there to identify the key sources of information and decision-making and what do we say the way polarization changes in thewh country and what are those mechanisms to overcome that? this will continue the project and truth decay was not a stopping point but a starting point that we will continue for the foreseeable future. >> tell us why you decided to write. >> thank you so much for having me here i study how people make decisions when they don't know veryon much which conveniently is always. think about how much do you know, when you drive in traffic we think we know a lot that they make most of our decisions based on if the

light is red or green or the other car but they're all kinds of things we don't know but somehow we do it pretty well we choose consumer products like the cell phone or the food we eat based on tiny bits of information like how they are manufactured think about where food actually comes from i don't want to give you nightmares but we make lots of decisions with very little information so now with politics there are people like us to know everything and then there's other idiots who don't know anything a. looking at most political is important and complicated so i tried to figure out how people choose what to believe and when we have credible information so the last 50 years i have worked at the range of organizations to improve the

way they communicate like sciencest and medicine and getting it to people who could use it so i spent a lot of time in washington working for the national science foundation in this journey working with the president of columbia so when we start to think about what they believe and how to build structures and strategies to make better choices on information things can happen so that is what the book is about the first is to shake from the fiction that we know it all but then none of us do so what do we need to know? we talk about that in the book but then the real meat is if we know something that is of value to our communities and our nation, what does it take to get people to listen or think about it too hmmm that

tune as they leave the room? so basically here is human attention in a nutshell think about what you believe the human capacity for attention of what you think that is now divide that by a large number our brains play tricks on us to make us seem like we can pay attention longer than we can and that may seem limiting but it actually changes your strategy how you want to convey something for some people the best way to p convince people is to tell a story about you there is a movie that came out ten years ago that best summarizes a better approach it was called she is just not that into you. that is t life the stories they really want to hear are about themselves are aspirational versions of themselves so how to convey critical

quality-of-life information to find out there core concern what they think about when they wake up or go to bed and to read that information i want to convey into the stories they want toto hear. so that is a big challenge and when you do that the opportunities they are out there. even though the worldd is chaotic o we were never trained to communicate effectively otherwise it is somebody else's faults but now we think more how human attention works there are great opportunities to break through the noise so that's what i do. >> jennifer, you mentioned the idea of the premise that people have different views of facts. we live in a world of

politicians and people disagree with the story i produce we are bombarded with e-mails or phone calls. how does the world navigateat to decide what is objectively fact how do we move on from fighting this is a subjective truth crack. >> there are a couple of different types of information facts thatbjective can be verified and confirmed with reality there shouldn't be too much disagreement. >> give us an example. >> how many people are in this room today? what the weather is like outside. to take it to the most extreme

point we could disagree i could say it is raining but if we put those aside there are objectively true things what i am wearing today we can verify. then there are interpretations of facts andhis this is where te scientific principles like vaccine safety, climate change cancer therapy immunotherapy it is the interpretation of dataou things that we are reasonably sure about things we are not it's only been replicated a few times and this is where disagreements happen in the state of what is

true and clearly somebody's opinion and in that area in order to establish what is a fact and what is not you need more transparency and better discussion how these interpretations happen so if you are familiar over time your worldview is shaped of the principles understanding the safety of vaccines have been established by multiplepl studies that they have been widely d discredited but if you don't live in that world or if you have never been exposed to that that understanding can be difficult so what each topic is how do we get to that general understanding so data aboutt immigration and that

comes from the lack of transparency and how we got in what we are sure about and having a wider conversation all those different data sources so a lot of this and the challenge to develop a common understanding speaking in different languages that is not the fault of any one person or any one group but the fact that people think about things in different ways and to get over that what is required a combination on both sides so researchers to do a better job to communicate that talking to someone who was very skeptical about climate change is that i don't believe it because i can touch it. that's right so how do climate scientists convey that in a

way that is more accessible? for people to keep doing it you have to be willing to open your mind. >> that is interesting because you can touch outerspace but there is probably consensus that it does exist? . >> for some people but there are conspiracies about the moon landing. as human beings we are prone to fall prey to a false belief of information because of the way our brain works we have all these ways to process information weighed by anecdotes and experiences by what friends and family tell us and those are incredibly difficult's to overcome but there is a lot of work on this topic how to get my - - help people.

>> so from a different perspective to disagree on truth i believe you are qualified to come up with a thanksgivinge table conversation. can you talk about how people have these conversations the title is why they know so little and what they should do so what should we do crack. >> thanksgiving is just around the corner it is interesting in a conversation what do people need in interaction? we have this fiction how brain is working the later rethink how we feel and it's completely the opposite of how it works so right now it could be controversial you feel it first sometimes that is the end of the process i don't like this it can be right i will resent that you willit keep

talking i will talk about all the reasons you are wrong in my mind so if you are liberal or conservative can you do it with an open mind? you cannot even hear them anymore because this is the reaction that you feel it first if you are threatened so it is very rare to see threateningha information that we will take a yoga breath to think about what they are saying that is normal so now when uncle pete comes to dinner how do you have a conversation? there is a question is there any common ground from his core beliefs and what he gets up every day and what you have? if there is an intersection that is where you start the

debate i gave a talk one year ago at smu to people in the room i walked through the science a young student asked me my roommate and i are not getting along right now we really disagree about abortion and we cannot get past it what do we do? i said if you care about this relationship is there something that you care about that is the same? you can be passionate to care about the plight of women in the situation they could be in in the aspirations or maybe you care about abortion because you care about children and you focus on children so what happens between conception and birth leave that aside and look outside the box is there a place you could have common ground? then here is what you do. said want to have a

relationship want to talk about things so i want to listen how you think about things on these topics of women or children that commitment you make is to listen not what you will say to jump in but then actually listen if they don't reciprocate then you learn something now you have shown generosity which in relationships does tend to help they may reciprocate right away that you have the basis there are many things about you want to build a relationship now you agree but one thing if we actually only had as friends people we agreed on everything that none of us would have any friends. so find common ground some people don't want to play they just want to over talk you. but there are ways to find

common ground. >> have you thought about cards for people to download before the hollywood - - the holidays? [laughter] . >> next month there is a two hour minicourse about finding common ground and it talks about how to do this. it is right after the election. [laughter] and how to get through thanksgiving but it will be available november 5th and gives tips how to talk to people on the other side. >> it seems like a lot of people are talking about in many ways reaching an impasse especially on racial issues and there is a lot of division and polarization especially on the right who say there isn't

a lot of common ground that we are moving this way and people of color are taking the country another way so what are you doing with the equity alliance and the urbanac league to facilitate these discussions that people of color are part of this conversation are not just to doubt from people in power who may not understand people of color? . >> first i definitely don't think we are at an impasse but i also don't think we are at a point in society that at one point we have not been before. in ten years maybe we look back like there was a civil rights movement at the time and they were in the moment

and maybe didn't even realize they were a part of something that would be so important and we are in that place again now. it seems like an impasse several other times in many different types of movements gay rights and all those that didn't seem like we were moving forward but history has shown us we find a way to move forward i think progress is slow and much slower than most people would want it to be but it is what it is in the research progress if you add some information a little bit at a time nobody is making major discoveries so what we are doing right now with theth equity alliance is that people generally feel angry and i feel that on both sides what

we will have to do what people are negotiating is how we can move forward on both sides if people are feeling comfortable and understanding so some of the things they are doing with the equity alliance is a project called the tennessee voter project whenever their deadline was as of monday but when you get people who have notha voted but had not been a part to sustain that voter process do you get them registered for whatever reasons and fired up to go to theec polls than people making decisions will change even if

they don't change their priorities will if they see 55000 new people in tennessee were registered to vote you now need to answer to those people they will hold you accountable your seat is no longer safe that is the thinking we had that if you get enough people that historically had not voted or in any sustainable way the decision-makers would get nervous so even if they don't change their priorities well. >> but this is terrible of turnout we rank number 49. talk about motivating people to register but how do you get them to go to the polls? what is the motivating factor other than anger? . >> tennessee is horrible on voter registration and turnout that is across the board

people are not voting they are not registered and not going out. generally speaking people don't feel motivated to action unless there is a reason>> to act. >> they don't feel an issue connects with them or a candidate a candidate or even if they act like nothing happens we do have the electoral process we like to say that every vote matters and it absolutely does but those of us who understand voting works in the country understand every vote matters if v everybody gets out but there are qualifications to that so when they say my vote

doesn't matter or some of these issues that should matter to me and a lot of communities if the priority is i need to get a job or childcare or health care those burden people and keeping them from being involved in the civic process those are the very reasons they should be involved and we know that but if you don't have a job or health care or don't know where you are sending your kids tomorrow to go to work you are a lot less likely to go vote all of these coalesce into this storm where people are not motivated to vote and

a lot of groups like us want to galvanize people and make it easier and the 43rd state to implement online registration those steps make it easier for people and less burden some and science bears out when people vote together if you have a rally cry on saturday at 10:00 we are all going together people are more likely to go to vote if you implement tactics like that not one more thing to do but a fun thing not in the way of prioritiese other people can get out to vote. >> what advice where the three of you give to journalists to

help voters be more informed? we get caught up of writing new ads and attacks but what do you think we could do to make the electorate more informed? . >> i will give you a controversial answer. politics covers so many things neighborhood, school distric district, at your church as a person of faith it isn't just the fact that how the certain things we are doing affect people so one of the mistakes that well-intentioned people make that it's important to me so i will blast themem to everybody we live in an age with cell phones if we put something online like information we are can meeting

with beyoncé and football games and catat videos so what we put out there if it's not immediately relevant it does not affect their children or they're future that cat videos are really fun and one press away so before you talk you need to listen and figure out the people you try to educate what is in their life? you may try to sell them something they don't, need so if they are in ade desperate situation with their children taking care of an elderly parentot you need to vote because of issue a b&c but he does not understand i have this life i am struggling to get through the day if you told me how voting would help people like me get through the day i may feel it but we try to sell them fancy shoes but they just need shoes so listen

first then you have a shot to convey information otherwise you lose to a cat video. >> people like that cats. [laughter] . >> what do you think what do journalists need too know to really help people understand what is important and what they need to know helping voters cut through the noise can be helpful if you wanted to find out a politicalic candidate there is so much negative information about things they did 15 years ago negativeit campaign advertising it's hard to figure out what is the actual position?

so everybody in california gets a huge book of information so they could get some of those facts here are the key positions on the top issues you can get that by listeningng or pulling or their life situations that boils everything down to cut through thee noise it is straightforward and then let the voters do the judging that is an effective way to use the platform to provide effective information and recognize voting isut hard we talked about it like it's a five-minute thing to pop in and pop out but it's never really like that.e if you don't even spend one

minute before who to vote for when you do get there is not a quick process check-in and then you get in there that could be intimidating. and then to still get out there and try c it. but what can we do to make voting easier in general? and to have paid time off that they don't feel informed but they have a job it doesn't work into their day they cannot get there that day.

without support and with that logistical challenges those are things they can do to make it easier. >> as shameless plug it is just to say this is what he or she believes and make your own decision. so to piggyback what they want and need that the most important politics so it is really important to know your councilmembers that is a

national politics and with that grassroots organization in the community and if they were just at your house and to ding ding ding into that are i am a part of it it is much more interesting but i think finding what people are doing to get people to the polls connected to issues that our important it's hard for us reporters to write these issues. >> and we are reminded by editors that people are not reading this that they will

read the first two paragraphs but sometimes that can be hard for us. >> to bring up an interesting point this political axiom that all politics is local but nowadays it seems like everybody is interested s in the federal government you have the brett kavanaugh hearings that galvanize the country but just random people those that would not be interested in a congressional hearing that was stuck to the television watching had we get people to realize it's not just the federal elections that matter with candidates here that ran for governor like build the wall is not an issue here in tennessee. >> but national politics is

pop culture i remember being in college at 22 years old as barack obama talked about it and at no point you just don't until you are on yahoo! news and on facebook because it is cool now and national politics that before but when kanye was talking about rappers it was in your face and it is pop culture now. and those tactics to get people to refocus i am not 100 percent sure. i think grassroots groups will

probably be the most effective because they are into with what people care about and think about to have those campaigns to refocus what matters. with that expansion or non- expansion. and it is a local tennessee issue.ow and every single voter should think about or ask their officials about and that grassroots organizations with a member base to give them

more informed about those issues. >> and that effort that you describe and to talk about people in the neighborhood you will not make a difference in the presidential election or the school board election were only two or 300 people vote and to get them motivated where do ten people make a difference? . >> that is hard with a skewed version of politics they do

breaking newss every day but they are breaking news all the time congratulation you broke it. that people will pay hundreds of dollars to watch tom brady to throw football even though he throws the same football on tuesday and wednesday they like the turmoil and the challenge. >> there are so many issues where americans self identify on which they agree you do not see that on cnn so we cannot compete with the heat. so with those national campaigns i they cannot organize

the knock on your door or look you in the eye to say we can that.ething about not just practice but scientific studies showing there is a huge difference to have a campaign to meet someone in person and getting something in the mail be proud most of that maile out but if they look you in the eye that is where you build it. federal politics is important but that's to improve somebody's life today organization is a great way to do it if we have that ability to be helpful to someone tomorrow. there are so many groups like yours and others you can go and listen and build a

coalition. cnn will not put on television but you can do great things. >> there is our lack of understanding who provides what is the federal government filling potholes? t no. the federal government making decisions? know it is the state government so using local and community groups all the things that you count on isn't that loud a noise but the people working for you on a day-to-day basis it is easier at the local level to build a coalition. but to have this partisanship trickle-down so does that permeate as well?

so to focus on what we agree on at the t local level. >> in 15 minutes we open for questions. >> a couple of things that you said brings me what i want to talk about of the role of moderates in politics today. the centrist are not as sexy as the fire right or the far left to see more polarization or those that our more open mic platforms on the left for those that would identify as a socialist and in tennessee where loosening our governor

loss - - losing our governor and corker is retiring in the senate now we have a tight race with the senate that is very intense but corker was seen as someone that is moderate but what is the role today? will there be a place for them? as the trump administration change that at all? . >> i am not sure the trump administration hase changed as much as the product of the ongoing change so the way to gain office that non- moderate groups have just become better organized over time.

it is easier to make ads. so that's a thing. meeting with members of congress to ask for advice there is a couple on tv all the time shouting things but most members of congress are actually trying to figure it out because they can - - care about your constituency and able to hear the other side because the extremist will come after you and try to figure out how to build on so

many issues did you know, right now over 70 percent self identify as democrat? they are okay treating ptsd with marijuana? there is all kinds of support related to parent staying home with childcare a lot of members are wired how do we help people on the wrong side of that technological transition? so many people are trying to work on it. it's hard to do it but if you want to have faith in the processar people try really hard to do this.

>> but why is a hard? why can't you just say i am a moderate? take a breath and let's talk to this the way you do that or job transitions but one issue where they don't say i am a moderate so there is one where the leaders include van jones also a friend of obama and newt gingrich and the coca brothers and kemal a harris they don't say they are moderates they just appear together working on the legislation they just work on

issues people say let's do more of that but nobody says it's cool that they are moderate they just find these issues and it is smart for them strategically. >> but we don't see that many ononte television but there are some we see all the time so our attention and opinion of the house and senate the people sucking all the air out of the system and then all the people ineo the middle who are willing to work across the aisle it's important to understand that extends the things that our outrageous on

either side are retweeted and then it feeds into this perception that everybody in both parties there has been a ton of coverage that the party is fracturing it is so extreme but look at the primary this is where the extreme candidate one and then there are a lot of cases where the more moderate person one so that is not who we think of it's important too recognize the media and the wave of that is churning and contributing to where we feel we are polarized even if there are all these

issues. >> you agree twitter is outrageous from bothth sides? as democrats are yelling as one candidate takes out for republicans? that they are selling out? it provides a platform like #metoo but it does have a tendency to amplify extreme messages so that is the

outrage machine and that i'm feeling less angry than when i went on normally i am more angry because it is a business model then you look at the comments and in the past we first had radio with those new technologies to be integrated into communities and into lives and then they became more used to that i hope we get to that point with social media.

>> criminal justice reform both sides of the aisle together we have seen locally we have some efforts where republican lawmakers come together like changing light - - charging fees to get the record expunged what about those that are part of your organization? . >> things like a bail reform like we said progress is slow and those types of issues maybe we will not try again next year and attack it again it is like that with most

issues to be positive or available so you get the strategy together with the back office conversation to see how much progress you can make on an issue like that. >> does anybody have questions feel free to go to theue microphone. >> you talk about the conversations of where data comes from so how do we elevate the experts into that

conversation? because they are not research scientists taking up space in the conversation? . >> so with experts and researchers then there are those that are much more comfortable and not communicating but only to their peers so that part should be understanding isn't just the academic audience so one of those mechanisms what are the ways you need to change not your message but the way you frame it?

we don't present that does not go over well with the policy maker audience but an academic audience yes. every audience should have its own message and also be honest are they are not certain it is important if they are certain about everything that is not clear if you are transparent about what you don't know it gives what you do no more credibility so those that were on these cable news shows those with the same panelist every week so to be an expert you need to dig deeply.

it will take time people lost faith it is part of the process that experts don't know everything they have a lot they can provide and to restore that confidence. >> there are advocacy groups here at thes medical college , we tell graduate students to be members because they can help you form withgi messaging.

maybe you do cancer research but there are advocacy organizations give it to those groups from the website to have those relationships it is one less thing and different people with different skill sets to give a story about your research so that research with the advocacy group do they trust that or the researcher? . >> work with experts to convey that more effectively and they

want to tell the whole story how they know something but they talk about that grand theory first but by that time you are asleep or looking at something else so look at what steve jobs did. 150 prototypes $4 million and said you can talk to your mom. cat videos. if you are an expert sometimes that gets peopleth so motivated so they go tech first and ask later so to get people about the implications to put them

in that situation how do they know that? . >> speaking of cat videos what about speaking out on tennessee politics? how helpful is it to encourage people to vote. >> but to get out to say hey however it comes carty be her first trip performance she got on stage and said voting is so important let's do it i am

sure people in that crowd but if you see your favorite rapper or your singer advocating you will pay more attention and more likely to vote yourself. singers or actresses they may or may not have any expertise it should be with a grain of salt that is it motivating enough to at least be curious to do your own research? or ask a friend to talk about it? . >> look at kylie jenner but it

is huge everybody buys the lipstick. we know it translates into purchasing decisions they may not know what they are talking about but to say there is an election? can a register to vote? having people talk about it raising that issue is good but if they are providing false information one of these challenges is celebrities have come out against that and we know that is not what science says but it is difficult because they have the power to have this influence to say i saw that jenny mccarthy said it. they can have an influence and that is good but it is a

double edge sword and could be negative if they are spreading false information or getting people to believe the opposite. >> it was distinctive because until she spoke out she could have been a republican it was entirely plausible not only talked about the candidates and then part of it taylor swift isn't just a singer she is entrepreneurial and you have more depth to it. a lot of the things they travel with it.

and there is a little back story. there are celebrities that of whether said the same thing. >> so to change gears slightly. polarized together to work for things. moving to the other end. a little bit less hopeful mode. it'd age where we have a fragmentation media. we don't have free network and free news a first for people get their news from. people seem to be motivated by

symbols. stronger together. people trust or don't trust facts with how they fit in to those stories. how do you move stories with the small ball of building coalitions. you have to get people talking with conflicting stories. looking at facts on climate change. they need to have something challenging that or something that at least get them to talk about it and think about it. >> this seems like you. >> let's talk about the climate. a lot of really well-intentioned

people would go out in public and say something counter productive. i will say a series of things. first, there is a lot of data that time is changing. there are many scientific models suggesting that this was associated with the increase rate the co2 in the atmosphere. all of the data that we have seen in most of the models that exist explain the correlation that it should have would have led to co2. is this good or better. science cannot answer that question. we do not know if the earth cares whether people live in new orleans or jacksonville.

the reason i put new orleans under sea level i didn't want people to live there. you have a moral or ethical idea the changing weather affects the things we care about. science can say, okay, you, you care about where people live tiered you care about the health of people. the people who live near the coast and cannot move. science can tell you how to do that. a lot of people if that part. the science tells us it's bad. science cannot do that on its own. all science is is a way to figure out what is consistent with evidence and what isn't. when you mix morality and ethics, it can tell you what to

do. why when you talk about that. there was an organization. you can look it up. building human skill narrative. inserted into your weather forecast. when the paris climate accords were going, you have videos and what they would look like under different levels with the sea level rising. trying to take the story of climate change and put it at a human scale. then if you see things you care about, i don't don't want that to happen. >> i think a lot of people, we don't realize we are making a

moral and ethical claim. that reduces our credibility. here is what science says. formed society. when i put these together this is why come here. a lot better coalition building. >> we have one more question. fragmented media. you work at the liberal paper. it was the conservative paper. i worked in charleston west virginia which is the same exact tank. went through a merger. when people call and they ask what you writing for, are you the liberal reporter, the conservative reporter, i don't like to think about it and

either way. i take what one side says. sometimes, you know, they will conflict. i think we do this a lot better in the local media been on the national level. i think we are able to not necessarily try and stir up things and generate and throw bombs at one another. i think it is our job as a reporter to ask everybody, skeptically about information. i take every republican i ever interview and i hold them to the day level of accountability as a democrat. it is a shame that we only have one paper in town. that is newspapers in america nowadays. >> if we don't have any more questions to close i will ask you all, if you you are standing on the stage, let's say

itunes, you can find our podcast there, you can tell everyone one thing to go out and do this week, next week that would improve political discourse, political engagement, just the political atmosphere, what was that one inc. see that you could tell them to do that's practical? a podcast of itunes. go to a senior citizen center. go to veteran center. you can improve someone's quality-of-life tomorrow. you learn about people who are not like you. how it relates to the life of others. i think you learn the

foundations of what you know. do not get involved in a group of volunteers. >> mine. think of activism as small ask that you do sort of as your everyday thing. not as an mlk sort of i am out here in the world fighting the good fight. think of activism on tuesday. i will speak to the receptionist. i don't have a good relationship asking them how they were doing. who you are building relationships with. your worldview gets bigger. your perspectives on people's lives what they care about sort

of come to mind with what you care about as well. sort of how i do it, too. i am not a bold fearless type of person naturally. if you are too been, activism is extending your worldview. >> push yourself to build relationships with other people you may not be inclined to do so. >> we all have biases. even though we like to think we are right all the time. our attitudes and beliefs are shaped by going back to how we were taught in elementary school i think a lot of times the disagreement and the hostility and anger is an inability to accept outside your own view and see the other person's view and see the other view. try to understand that view and where they are coming from. it's not always easy and it's

definitely not always fun. these other people are not the other, they are just people that have these different interpretations. they have a different set of experiences that are shaping what they believe. there is lots of opportunity to do this. if you're going to watch cable news, watch cnn, fox news. watched them both. if you want to read the newspaper, read multiple newspapers. i think that includes challenging the pre-held beliefs have you inserted moral and ethical judgment into those beliefs. that does not mean you have to change them. it just means understand what if your own belief is actually based on fact. apply that to other people as well.

building relationships. thinking about how they exist even where you think they may not have. >> i want to thank our panel for being here. having a wonderful conversation. thanks to the audience for listening. if you want to listen to more the podcast, grand divisions tennessee politics podcast. stay tuned. we have more to come. check out their work mris work as well. thanks again. >> do you all have a signing after this? legislative plaza? >> okay. okay. >> great. thank you all for coming. >> thank you. [applause]