America is deeply divided. There are only two sides to every issue and there is no interest in finding common ground, not even with members of your own family.

But as the 2024 presidential election looms on the horizon, there has never been a more important time to have the necessary conversation.

Welcome to the necessary conversation. I'm Chad Colchin. Today, I'm joined by my mom and dad only.

My sister, fellow lefty, Haley Pope, is not going to be joining us. She has an infirmed hound in her

family that she needs to take care of tonight.

So it's just me and my mom and my dad, Mary Lou and Bob, who are right-wing, MAGA, Q&ON, true believers.

We've got a lot to talk about this week, obviously.

But we're going to start this episode as we start every episode with a question from one of our listeners.

Are you ready for this mom and dad?

I am ready.

All right.

This question, my dad is enjoying some headlicks from their dog, kitty cat.

The question comes to us from Aaron.

Was there a specific incident that led the family to cease communication, or did it stem from an accumulation of disagreements?

Did everyone explicitly agree that silence was the best course of action, or did it happen unconsciously during the six-year period in which the family avoided communication?

Did anyone question their personal beliefs,

given that they led to familial estrangement? Now that everyone has resumed speaking, does anyone

wish to return to see an inevitable return to silence? So a lot of questions here, but basically

around the idea that we stopped talking over politics, which is really the premise of this

whole show.

So do you remember, Mom, when we started this moratorium on communication or why?

I remember that one night when we lived in Richmond, Texas.

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