How To Talk Politics With Your Dad (Without Yelling) Pt 1 - Encore

How To! with Mike Pesca

Peach Fish Projects

Education, How To

4.3 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jenn and Todd Brandel have a close, loving relationship with their father, Bruce. But one thing makes their blood boil: his political chain emails. The messages are often forwarded commentary written in a provocative tone, and are an unwelcome reminder of just how far apart the family is politically. On this episode of How To!, we're joined by Mónica Guzmán, senior fellow for public practice at Braver Angels and author of I Never Thought Of It That Way: How To Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times. In the first of a special two-part episode on talking politics with our parents, Mónica teaches Jenn and Todd how to aim for understanding with their dad, not agreement. Next week, Jenn, Todd, and their dad Bruce will put these tips into practice—on mic—around the kitchen table, as Mónica provides post-game analysis. We'll dive into what worked, what got a little messy, and how to keep making progress.

If you liked this episode, check out: "How To Embrace Your Anti-Vax Family This Holiday Season" and "How To Talk Politics Without Wrecking Relationships."

Do you have a question without an answer? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, I'm Susie Weiss, and I've noticed there's just simply not enough podcasts in the world. So I'm launching my own. Let's go. Let's go, baby. Second Thought is a weekly show about pop culture. The stuff everyone's been binging, arguing about, obsessing over. Here's the thing about heated rivalry. I mean, even the most devoted swifties, I think we can agree, not our best work. We'll be hosting thoughtful conversations with culture's most important figures. Talk about genius.
0:22.6	Talk about generational talent.
0:23.7	Coming to headphones near you
0:24.8	on April 17th with a first guest you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
0:32.4	Hey, how to listeners. Happy holidays. This is Carvel Wallace. and we're off for the rest of the year,
0:38.1	but we did want to leave you with this audio treat that hopefully makes spending time with
0:42.2	your family a little easier this holiday season. You'll learn how to talk politics with your parents
0:48.1	without yelling, and you'll get to hear our listener navigate a real life conversation with her dad and actually
0:56.3	get somewhere productive. So I'm going to turn the mic over to our former host Amanda Ripley.
1:01.7	Enjoy.
1:03.9	You know, there's a desire to connect and we do have opinions and want to talk about the world.
1:09.3	And yet we can't do it in a way that
1:11.5	doesn't end up with yelling, hanging up, you know, swearing the other person off, or overall
1:17.6	just feeling crappy and feeling, I mean, angry is one thing, but also just sad.
1:23.2	I think disappointed that we can't find a way to talk about this.
1:29.3	Welcome to how to. I'm Amanda Ripley.
1:31.3	I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes you can get pretty annoying
1:35.3	when I get added to a big group chat or email chain and my phone just start blowing up with memes and forwards and jokes.
1:42.3	But for our guest this week, that sound fills them with an extra
1:46.0	dose of dread. I have a family situation, a pickle, you might say, that I'm hoping y'all
1:52.8	can help us out with today that deals with political emails and fathers. That's Jen Brandel.
2:00.7	She's a friend of mine who I've worked with on a couple different
	...

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