If you’ve been listening to TTBOOK for awhile, then maybe you know that we feel pretty committed to pushing back on simple categories. Firm "either/or" and "this/that" divisions pain us. A basic black and white picture just doesn't represent the messy complexity of how the world really is.
Lately, this has seemed even more urgent. We are living through one of the most polarized periods in American political history. Fox and NPR listeners live in different worlds. We are in danger of losing the ability to talk with each other across party, class, race and gender lines.
The show we're re-airing this week is the kind of thought experiment we like to challenge ourselves with, and maybe you’ll enjoy the exercise too. Think of someone you vehemently reject, someone you consider evil. Can you find anything good to say about him or her? Anything you can admire? What changes when we break down a simple dichotomy and try to see everyone as flawed and human? Is it possible to have sympathy for — even friendship with — someone you detest?
—Anne