Amanda Ripley — Stepping out of "the zombie dance" we're in, and into "good conflict" that is, in fact, life-giving

On Being with Krista Tippett

On Being Studios

Society, Spirituality, Society & Culture, Sociology, Culture, Science, Religion & Spirituality, Krista Tippett, Social Sciences, On Being, Arts

4.7 • 10.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2023

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Amanda Ripley began her life as a journalist covering crime, disaster, and terrorism. Then in 2018, she published a brilliant essay called “Complicating the Narratives,” which she opened by confessing a professional existential crisis. We journalists, she wrote, “can summon outrage in five words or less. We value the ancient power of storytelling, and we get that good stories require conflict, characters and scene. But in the present era of tribalism, it feels like we’ve reached our collective limitations … Again and again, we have escalated the conflict and snuffed the complexity out of the conversation."

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0:00.0	On Being With Christa Tippett is supported in part by the John Templeton Foundation,
0:04.6	funding research and catalyzing conversations that inspire people with awe and wonder.
0:10.1	Discover the latest findings on neuroscience, cosmology, and the origins of life at Templeton.org.
0:17.8	Amanda Ripley began her life as a journalist covering crime, disaster, and terrorism.
0:23.9	Then in 2018, and this is how I became aware of her, she published a brilliant essay called
0:31.4	Complicating the Narratives, which she opened by confessing a professional existential crisis.
0:39.4	We journalists, she wrote, and I quote, can summon outrage in five words or less.
0:46.7	We value the ancient power of storytelling and we get that good stories require conflict,
0:53.4	characters, and scene. But in the present era of tribalism, it feels like we've reached our
1:00.2	collective limitations. Again and again, we have escalated the conflict and snuffed the complexity
1:08.2	out of the conversation. Yet what Amanda Ripley has gone on to investigate and so hopefully
1:15.6	illuminate is not just about journalism or about politics. It touches almost every aspect of human
1:24.0	life in almost every society around the world right now. We think we're divided by issues,
1:31.5	arguing about conflicting facts. But actually she says we are trapped in a pattern of distress
1:39.2	known as high conflict, where the conflict itself has become the point and it sweeps everything
1:46.2	into its vortex. So how to get out? What Amanda has been gathering by way of answers to that
1:54.0	question is an extraordinary gift to us all. What a pleasure to complicate this narrative with the
2:01.0	wise Amanda Ripley. I'm Christa Tippett and this is on being. I spoke with Amanda before a live
2:12.4	audience at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs of the University of Minnesota.
2:16.7	Amanda Ripley is both a chronicler and a participant in bringing the fuller story of our time and our
2:34.3	life together into the light. And I have been wanting to meet Amanda in the flesh for a long time
2:42.4	and I'm really grateful to Humphrey for conspiring with me to get her here. Thank you so much,
	...

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