We Need to Talk About...
Membership

We need to talk about … finding common ground

We Need to Talk About... Series
More ways to listen

Presented by , audio produced by and and featuring , , and

Guardian supporters set the agenda and feature in this podcast considering whether society is becoming more polarised – and if so, how we might tackle the issue. With Jon Henley, Dawn Foster, Elle Hunt and Joseph Harker.

How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

How can we encourage people to accept different opinions – a vital first step to finding common ground? In this digital age are we destined for a future of back-slapping and vitriol and nothing inbetween? Do you think education (or a lack of) plays any part in current issues of polarisation?

Those are just some of the questions Guardian supporters asked deputy membership editor Vicky Frost to put to our panel in this edition of We Need to Talk About, the podcast in which Guardian supporters ask the questions and our panel of journalists do their best answer.

This time Vicky is joined by Joseph Harker, the Guardian’s deputy opinion editor, Dawn Foster, who writes on politics, social affairs and economics, Jon Henley, the Guardian’s European affairs correspondent and Elle Hunt, a commissioning and communities editor with Guardian Cities

We also hear from Sabrina Siddique, a political reporter for Guardian US based in Washington, about polarisation in the US.

You’ll hear a wide variety of responses and viewpoints as Guardian supporters and journalists grapple with these issues and ask not only how we might find common ground, but also whether we should – or whether polarised opinions are an inevitable outcome of challenging embedded societal wrongs and imbalances. How can common purpose bring people together?

If you enjoy this podcast and want to catch up with the rest of the We Need to Talk About series, you can listen to discussions on population growth, Brexit and nationalism, among other subjects, here. Guardian supporters can also suggest future topics for discussion by emailing us at weneedtotalkabout@theguardian.com — we welcome your input.

A man holds a sign asking for peaceful dialog between the Catalan and Spanish governments as thousands of people, dressed in white gathered and chanted the slogan "lets talk" outside the Barcelona City Hall on October 7, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Tension between the central government and the Catalan region have increased after last weekend's independence referendum. Spanish shares and bonds have been hit hard since the political turmoil with fears Spain could be on the brink of a financial crisis should the civil unrest continue. Two of Spain's largest banks, Banco de Sabadell and CaixaBank have both held meetings discussing steps to transfer their registered headquarters to other cities in Spain. The Spanish government suspended the Catalan parliamentary session planned for Monday in which a declaration of independence was expected to be made. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
)
Support The Guardian

The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all. But we increasingly need our readers to fund our work.

Support The Guardian
Topics