Difficult Conversations, with Kern Beare
Talking to people we disagree with can be fraught with fear and anxiety — triggering our fight/flight survival drive. We fight by arguing to win, or we flee by avoiding the conflict altogether. But to resolve our differences, we need to move beyond this ancient instinct and access our capacity for connection, creativity and compassion.
Join Kern Beare — founder of the Difficult Conversations Project and author of Difficult Conversations: The Art and Science of Working Together — as he explores how we can have conversations that can actually heal divides and change hearts and minds.
For more about Kern and his work, check out his website: www.difficultconversationsproject.org.
Episodes
12 episodes
Waging Conflict Without Violence: A Conversation with Political Scientist Maria Stephan
Can nonviolent civil resistance be successful even against the most militarily sophisticated and brutal regimes? My podcast guest this month, political scientist Maria Stephan, says...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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44:36
Looking for the light in each other: A Conversation with Listening Expert, Kay Lindahl.
If there's one thing we could all be doing to make the world a better place, it would be to become better listeners. That's why I'm so interested in the work of listening guru Kay Lindahl. Kay is the founder of
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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30:34
From 'Problems' Journalism to 'Solutions' Journalism: A Conversation with David Bornstein.
Like a lot of people, I find the news these days dispiriting. But it’s not just the events being reported that I find depressing, it’s the way they’re being reported: scored with a relentless drumbeat of negativity that makes me feel a...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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34:08
Facing our Humanity: A Personal Story.
Thinking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine reminded me of a very personal experience I had years ago — one that taught me something about why it's so important to face our own humanity._______________________________
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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6:00
"I never thought of it that way." A conversation with journalist and author Mónica Guzmán on how to heal our national divide.
Mónica Guzmán is the author of a wise, entertaining, inspiring and fantastically helpful new book called “I never thought of it that way: How to Hav...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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49:53
Breaking the patterns of "high conflict": A conversation with author Amanda Ripley.
Amanda Ripley is an investigative journalist and a New York Times best-selling author. Her most recent book, and the subject of our conversation, is
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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1:08:13
"Landing in the truth of who you are." A conversation with mindfulness coach Brett Hill.
Show NotesWhenever you're perusing the web, you're likely to come across some new discovery about the benefits of mindfulness —a simple form of meditation that psychologists and neurologists have been studying for decades. Simple, bu...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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48:25
"It's all about love": Three lessons from crisis intervention expert Joe Smarro on how to de-escalate conflicts.
My latest podcast guest, Joe Smarro — featured in the Emmy award winning HBO documentary, Ernie and Joe: Crisis Cops — taught me something about navigating difficult conversations: It helps to...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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29:24
A more powerful force: A conversation with ex-CIA analyst Janessa Gans Wilder.
"It was so clear to me in that moment that the river was the more powerful force. It flowed on uninterrupted, no matter how many bombs went off. The bombs couldn’t affect the flow and trajectory and stillness of that river. It was more powe...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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32:23
"There are no things, only relationships." A conversation with author and musician Stephen Nachmanovitch.
What can improvisation teach us about the art of life and, more specifically, the art of difficult conversations? Plenty, it turns out. Join me in this provocative and thoughtful interview with Stephen Nachmanovitch — world-class improvi...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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28:36
"Just do these three things." A conversation with author/mediator Douglas Stone.
Did you know that every difficult conversation is actually three conversations, and two of them we ignore at our peril? Did you know that one of the longest standing national border disputes finally got resolved after two of the adversaries dis...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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46:38
"A liberal walked into a gun shop...." A conversation with author Jon Karpilow.
Talking to people we seriously disagree with can sound like a recipe for a bad headache and high blood pressure. But does it have to be? Might it instead be a recipe for understanding, connection, and even friendship? To find out, my libe...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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38:04
