Goody, humans. Welcome to the safe space for dangerous ideas. I hope you're feeling okay. I hope

you've got your head on straight. I hope you're not just like a cat in front of a laser pointer,

constantly following the jingling jangling keys that the media are trying to throw at you

this election cycle. Today we have a balm for you. We have an opportunity for you. We have a vision

of what the future could look like, what conversations could look like, what civilization could look

like if we were all a little less hunkered down in our rival camps. I know this is not exactly

the moment at which everyone wants to hear some big kumbaya message of comedy when all you're

trying to do is stop the other side from gaining power and ruining the world.

But there's an insight to be had that Stephanie Lepp today's guest brings to us, which is

worthwhile.

And the insight is this.

The alternative to the phony choice between any

two strident positions is not just some squishy compromise, some midpoint between two extremes.

There can actually be a genuinely new way of looking at every controversial issue, informed by the best of all sides.

And if instead of hunting for the worst in our opponent's positions, we decided to harness the

best, we would actually be able to create something new, something new that maybe a quorum of people

from the centre could use to construct something more beautiful

politically. That may sound extremely airy-fairy, and it is when I put it like that, but Stephanie

puts it into practice on, of all places, X, Twitter, perhaps the least conducive place to nuance.

And this is a fabulous conversation about her project, which is called Faces of X.

She's a producer.

It's a short series of short videos.

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