Joining the NaPodPoMo 2025 Challenge
30 Days. 30 Episodes. Lowering the Temperature Together.
Each November, thousands of podcasters around the world take on a wild but inspiring challenge: NaPodPoMo — National Podcast Post Month. The goal is simple to say and hard to do:
Create and publish 30 podcast episodes in the 30 days of November.
This year, Outrage Overload is joining the challenge again with a mission that’s more relevant than ever.
Why We’re Doing This
Political division and outrage continue to dominate headlines, algorithms, and everyday conversations with family and friends. Most of us don’t want to live in a state of constant tension — but too often, the loudest and angriest voices get the most attention.
At Outrage Overload, we explore why that happens — and what we can do differently.
What’s Different This Year: A True National Conversation
This year’s NaPodPoMo isn’t just a production challenge — it’s a month-long journey into the heart of bridging our divides.
At the Bridging Movement Summit this past September, people from across the country came together to ask some of the hardest questions about how we can repair trust, rebuild community, and live alongside those we disagree with.
We collected dozens of these real questions from real people — and throughout the month of November, top researchers, bridge-building practitioners, and civic innovators are helping us answer them.
Some are tough.
Some are deeply personal.
Some expose the pain and fear behind today’s divides.
All of them matter.
Together, we’ll explore:
Incentives, Systems, and Structures (Why outrage wins — and how to realign incentives)
Bridging in Dangerous or Unequal Contexts (How to connect when power or safety are at stake)
The Psychology and Culture of Division (Human behavior, identity, and meaning-making)
From Talk to Action (Moving beyond dialogue to real change)
Institutions, Leadership, and Public Models (The role of media, business, religion, and elites)
Building Bridges Locally and Across Generations (From community spaces to youth engagement)
Truth, Information, and Shared Reality (Facts, disinformation, and epistemic divides)
These conversations become the daily episodes of Outrage Science Bites — creating a living portrait of America’s bridging movement as it exists right now.
The Bigger Picture: The Outrage Overload Mission
If you’re new here — welcome. You’re in the right place.
Outrage Overload is a civic media platform built for the Exhausted Majority — the millions who are tired of manufactured drama, performative anger, and being told to hate their neighbors. You’re not alone in wanting something better.
We bring big ideas, psychological insights, and leading experts together through podcasts, events, and written explorations — all to unpack the science of polarization and the systems that fuel it.
Calm, intelligent, and grounded in research, Outrage Overload helps people:
Strengthen their civic muscle
Reduce the mental toll of outrage
Rebuild trust in how we talk, live, and work together
Understand why we disagree — without assuming the worst of each other
Why This Work Matters
The “outrage industry” thrives on keeping us divided and despairing. But most of us want more listening, more curiosity, and more connection — not less.
That’s where NaPodPoMo comes in.
This month-long challenge gives us the opportunity to open the door wider — bringing more of these essential conversations to more people, every single day, throughout November.
Because the overwhelming problems of polarization aren’t going to fix themselves.
But the solutions are already out there — in communities, classrooms, and living rooms across the country.
Outrage Overload is here to help us learn from the people doing the work… and translate that insight into action.
Thank You to Our NaPodPoMo Participants
We’re grateful to be joined by collaborators who share our commitment.
Each participant is contributing their own voice, expertise, and creativity to push this movement forward.
A huge thank you to:
Karissa Raskin - CEO, Listen First Project
Paul Resnick - Michael D Cohen Collegiate Professor of Information and Professor of Information, School of Information
Kira Hamman - Senior Director of Programs, Urban Rural Action
Kamy Akhavan - Managing Director, the Center for the Political Future (CPF) at the University of Southern California
Adam Mizel - Co-Founder & CEO, US United
Mat Cotton - US Bahai Office of Public Affairs Race Discourse Officer, Baha’is of the United States
Melanie Trecek-King - Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College and Creator of Thinking Is Power
Tania Israel - Professor, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology - UC Santa Barbera
June Klees - Historian and educator at Bay College in Michigan
James Coan - Co-Founder and Executive Director, More Like Us
Guy and Heidi Burgess - Lifelong educators and conflict resolution pioneers, Co-Directors of the Conflict Information Consortium, Beyond Intractability, and the free BI Substack Newsletter
Calista Small - Research Manager, More in Common
Tim Jones - Founder & Executive Director, Longer Tables
Kate Ullman - Executive Director, Legislative Semester; CoFounder and Chair, Wisconsin Civic Learning Coalition
Lisa Swallow - Co-Founder, Crossing Party Lines
Your work helps ensure that curiosity can triumph over contempt, and that progress doesn’t depend on perfect agreement — only a willingness to stay in the conversation.
How to Follow Along
You can:
👉 Subscribe to Outrage Science Bites to hear all the NaPodPoMo November episodes
👉 Share episodes with friends and collaborators
👉 Join the conversation on social and tell us how you’re bridging divides in your community
👉 Use this article to promote NaPodPoMo and your own creative journey this month
If you’re a fellow podcaster participating this year — let’s support each other.
If you’re a listener — thanks for joining us on this experiment to build understanding, not outrage.
Ready to turn down the temperature?
Follow the NaPodPoMo series
Learn more about Outrage Overload
Connect on social
Thanks for being part of the movement — one episode at a time.
Let’s make November a month of listening.
— David