INDEED: Conversations Aren’t Enough When the House Is on Fire.

There’s a particular kind of American optimism that still believes if we just talk to each other, everything will work itself out. That if we break bread, sit porchside, and share stories, we’ll rediscover our common ground and stitch the country back together again.

Anthropologist Anand Pandian tried that.

For eight years, he crisscrossed the country, listening to the voices he least agreed with. He talked to white nationalists, progressive activists, small-town patriots, and big-city idealists.

His conclusion, published recently in The Guardian, was thoughtful and sincere: Americans are divided, but they still long to be understood.

I admire that mission.

But it doesn’t go far enough.

Interesting stuff.