I'm Alan Alda and this is Clear and Vivid, conversations about connecting and communicating.

The last time I was in California, I visited with Sarah Silverman at her kitchen table.

And we had this really interesting conversation.

Sarah sees some of the barriers that exist between us and our culture now.

And she's dedicated to using her comedy talents to doing something about it.

I'll tell you what I've learned doing this show is that no one changes their mind from

you yelling at them or giving them even facts.

But mostly I just wanted to love them and for us to have our porcupine needles down.

Clear Silverman's new show is called I Love You America.

And she brings people together on the show who don't always agree with her.

And by the end of the show, even though they still might not agree, they often leave

as friends.

And the interesting thing is she doesn't just reach out to people on her show.

She also does it in her life.

You got to eat.

It doesn't matter when you eat.

As we begin, Sarah and I are about to talk about whether people nowadays can actually

listen to one another.

But we're not rushing into the hard stuff.

First we're trying to establish some kind of contact just between the two of us.

Do you get nervous when you perform?

Sometimes.

...