Government

Can America Depolarize?

We went to a Better Angels workshop to see if Americans still knew how to talk politics without trying to kill each other.
At a Better Angels workshop, left-leaning attendees Kevin Chen, Naomi Pena, and Donna Pittman list their side's biggest stereotypes. Ciaran O’Connor/Better Angels

On a fall foliage-filled Saturday before Election Day 2017, sixteen people got together in a suburban church basement just outside Washington, D.C. to hash out their political differences for seven hours. They started at 10 a.m.; they had a lot of ground to cover.

“In my house, we’ve trained my granddaughter to yell ‘no politics’ when someone mentions Trump or Obama,” said Paul Roche, a retired financial consultant.