What It Takes to Bring People Together

New Episode With Karissa Raskin of Listen First

We hear it all the time: America is more divided than ever.

Cable news, political campaigns, and viral influencers seem determined to keep us angry and at each other's throats. And sometimes, it works. It’s exhausting. It’s demoralizing. And it can feel impossible to know what to do about it.

That’s where Karissa Raskin comes in.

Karissa is the new CEO of the Listen First Project, an organization that leads a coalition of over 500 groups working to reduce toxic polarization and rebuild trust in our communities. She stepped into this role not to save democracy with some sweeping national gesture—but to help empower people to start reconnecting where it matters most: in their own lives.

In our conversation, Karissa said something that resonated with me and the conversations I’m having with listeners:

“When you think about the 80,000-pound gorilla that the movement is up against—and I'm talking about mainstream media, the really divisive political scene, your influencers—it can be daunting to think that we are going to even be able to grasp the needle, nevermind move it in one direction because it all feels for naught. But that isn't the only thing that it's about. It's also about the local—your community, your family, your household, your classrooms, your workplace, the people that you go to church with…”

That reminder is everything.

We don’t need to wait for some national figure or sweeping reform to begin healing the divide. We can start today. With one conversation. One act of listening. One small choice to engage instead of withdraw.

This conversation is one of the most hopeful and grounded discussions I’ve had about bridging divides in America. I think you’ll come away feeling more capable, more clear, and more human.