Derate The Hate

Wilk Wilkinson
  • 4.8 (45)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

Bettering the world one attitude at a time. We did not create the hate, but together, we can 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙩𝙚! In a world filled with divisiveness, and dominated by F.O.G. (Fear, Outrage & Grievance), it's time we find a better way to engage. That all starts with each of us as individuals. We cannot control all that we encounter within our day to day lives, or the environment in which we live, but we certainly have the ability and responsibility to control how we react to it. For me, it starts with gratitude and personal accountability. Take a listen and see if there is something here to help you in taking your part in turning down the hate. Welcome to the 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩...

  1. 4d ago

    Change the Incentives, Change the Politics – DTH Episode 335 with Matt Koesters

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Matt Koesters didn’t come to electoral reform through theory. He came to it by watching it happen. As a reporter in southern Indiana, he covered a sheriff’s race where the winner needed just 37.7 percent of the vote, because the majority split its support between two candidates. The result reshaped local politics almost overnight. When a crowded 2016 presidential primary field divided support in much the same way, Matt recognized the pattern. Today Matt leads Fortify Democracy, an organization focused on the structural root causes of our political dysfunction. His premise is one Wilk has been circling for years: if the same bad outcomes keep showing up no matter who’s in office, it’s worth asking what the system is rewarding. In this conversation, the two walk through how partisan primaries and pick-one voting shape candidate behavior, why so many Americans have quietly checked out, and what a better set of incentives could look like. Key Themes •        Vote splitting isn’t a fluke. It’s built in. Under plurality voting, a candidate with a consolidated base can beat several similar candidates who divide the majority between them. Matt traces the pattern from a county sheriff’s race to a presidential primary, where early wins came with pluralities in the 20s and 30s. •        Pick-one voting drives the two-party system. Matt explains Duverger’s Law and why most people use their single vote strategically—to stop the side they fear most rather than support the candidate they actually prefer. Wilk shares what that has looked like for him as a conservative voter who has repeatedly felt he was choosing the lesser of two evils. •        Primaries reward the edges. With so many districts safely red or blue, the primary is often the real election. That means candidates cater to the most motivated voters, avoid crossing party leadership, and guard against getting outflanked. Matt compares the result to a pendulum that swings harder every cycle. •        Negativity is a rational strategy under the current rules. When the general election is a binary choice, you don’t have to be good. You just have to be less disliked than the other candidate. That, Matt argues, is a big reason our political discourse feels the way it does. •        Approval voting changes the math. Let voters choose as many candidates as they like, and whoever gets the most approval wins. Suddenly, attacking an opponent risks alienating voters who might have supported you both. Wilk connects this to a deeper point: when people fold politics into their identity, an attack on their candidate feels like an attack on them. •        Checking out isn’t always apathy. Matt points to high numbers of Americans who identify as independents or want a viable third option, and argues that sitting out can be a rational response to a system that offers no real choice. Give people candidates who represent them and have a real path to winning, and they come back. Takeaways •        When the same bad outcomes keep repeating, look at the system producing them, not just the people inside it. •        Politicians respond to incentives. If we want candidates who build coalitions instead of tearing each other down, the rules have to reward that. •        Walking away from politics isn’t always indifference. For many people, it’s a response to having no good options. •        Solutions deserve as much attention as problems. Approval voting won’t fix everything, but it’s worth understanding—and worth talking about with people who see politics differently than you do. About Matt Koesters Matt Koesters is the founder and president of Fortify Democracy, a Cincinnati-based organization he launched in 2025 to address the structural root causes of dysfunction in America’s electoral system. An award-winning former journalist, Matt covered local and state government and politics for daily newspapers before working in public affairs at the University of Cincinnati and in strategic communications at Rasor, a Cincinnati agency. Learn more about and connect with Matt Koesters: Website: https://www.fortifydemocracy.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fortify-democracy/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579298361939 X (Twitter): https://x.com/FortifyDmcrcy _____________________________________________________________________________________ AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    Change the Incentives, Change the Politics – DTH Episode 335 with Matt Koesters

  2. Sep 23

    Dialog Lab: An App for Talking to People Who Disagree With You – DTH Episode 334 with Spencer Frank

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Dialog Lab is a new app built on a simple premise: most people want to talk to someone who disagrees with them, they just don't know where to find that person, or they're afraid of what it might cost them. The app matches users with someone who sees a topic differently, lets the conversation happen asynchronously over messaging instead of demanding a scheduled call, and uses AI moderation that blocks abuse without ever weighing in on who's right. The app grew out of founder Spencer Frank's own experience. A year ago, the same week Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Spencer realized he'd never actually had a real conversation with anyone who supported Kirk's views — despite having people like that in his own life. He found Braver Angels' one-on-one matching program — full disclosure, the organization Wilk works for — and used it himself. It worked, but it was slow. That gap became the seed for Dialog Lab. Spencer and Wilk dig into the design choices behind the app: why conversations are anonymous but verified, why there's no audience, no likes, and no upvotes to reward saying something inflammatory, and how the AI moderator draws the line between a heated opinion and an abusive one. One story from the platform stands out — an Iranian-American user who supported U.S. intervention in Iran, afraid to even say so in his own community, found someone on Dialog Lab willing to actually hear him out. Being heard, he told Spencer, changed how he felt about speaking up at all — which is the whole premise of what the app is trying to do. Key Themes •       The barrier to dialogue is rarely desire — it's access and risk. People want these conversations; what stops them is not knowing where to find someone, or fearing what it might cost them with friends, family, or their job. •       Removing the audience changes the conversation. No likes, no upvotes, no one watching — Dialog Lab is built on the idea that the incentive to perform is what makes online disagreement ugly. •       Anonymity can lower the wall without removing accountability. Verified users and an AI moderator that blocks abuse — not disagreement — let people speak freely without the platform turning into a free-for-all. •       Dialogue is a first step, not the finish line. Dialog Lab is framed as a way to rebuild the civic muscle for harder work down the line — in-person meetings, community involvement, actually working across difference. Takeaways •       You don't need a scheduled Zoom call or an in-person meetup to start. Dialog Lab is built for conversations that happen in ten-minute windows, spread across days. •       The AI moderator doesn't referee opinions — it blocks abuse and flags personal labels, but it lets people actually disagree. •       Dialog Lab launches on the App Store September 24th. Learn more at joindialoglab.com.  About Spencer FrankSpencer Frank is the founder of Dialog Lab. His engineering career goes back to 2009, when he was still an intern; he earned his PhD in mechanical engineering in 2017 and spent the following eight years in the medical device industry before leaving, a year ago, to build Dialog Lab full-time. Learn more about and connect with Spencer: Website: joindialoglab.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencertfrank/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joindialoglab/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61593210993278 AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    Dialog Lab: An App for Talking to People Who Disagree With You – DTH Episode 334 with Spencer Frank

  3. Sep 16

    Why Purity Tests Are Killing American Politics – DTH Episode 333 with Lura Forcum

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Lura Forcum returns to talk about a word that's everywhere in politics right now: purity test. Her recent USA Today op-ed argues that the Democratic Socialists of America have pulled the Democratic Party further left, and Wilk and Lura use that as a jumping-off point to dig into something people on both sides of the aisle will recognize: why political parties keep drifting toward their most extreme edges instead of the center. The conversation moves through Minnesota's record primary turnout, the DFL's shrinking influence against a rising DSA, and a line from the current Trump administration — that the president answers to Republicans, not the country — that Lura says marks a real break from how American politics used to operate. Underneath all of it is the same mechanism: purity tests turn political parties into something closer to gangs than coalitions. Pass the test, or you're out, regardless of what you actually believe. But this isn't just a diagnosis. Lura shares how she personally engages politically without becoming a partisan cheerleader — voting in primaries she isn't excited about, being upfront about which candidates disappoint her, and finding other voters willing to hold that same honest, non-cheerleading stance. Wilk and Lura agree that a healthy civic culture has to be modeled from the ground up, since parties have little incentive to dial back tribal loyalty on their own. Key Themes ●       Purity tests turn political parties into something closer to gangs than coalitions — you pass the test or you're out, regardless of what you actually believe. ●       Tribalism, not any single policy fight, is the real threat. A psychological switch flips once “our side” becomes identity rather than ideas — old wiring reasserting itself in modern politics. ●       Political parties benefit from tribal loyalty, so there's little incentive from the top to dial it back. A healthier civic culture has to be modeled from the ground up, not handed down. ●       Real change starts small: Lura describes voting in primaries she's not excited about, being upfront about which candidates disappoint her, and finding other voters willing to hold the same honest, non-cheerleading stance. ●       Building something together across difference — not just disagreeing more politely — is what actually shifts a civic culture. Takeaways ●       You don't have to pick a side entirely to participate. Disagreeing with your own party on some issues doesn't make you a traitor to it. ●       Show up to primaries. Low-turnout primaries are exactly where purity-test politics gets its power. ●       Find people, even a small group, willing to say “this worries me too” without it turning into partisan warfare — that's where a healthier civic culture starts. ●       Learn more about Lura's work at her newsletter, How to Human, or connect with her on LinkedIn. About Lura Forcum Lura Forcum, Ph.D., is a social psychologist, writer, and strategic advisor whose work focuses on political tribalism, polarization, and civic culture — how identity and belonging shape the way people engage, or disengage, with politics. She previously served as president of the Independent Center and now advises organizations working to strengthen civic engagement. She sits on the board of advisors for the Pro Human Foundation, writes the newsletter How to Human, and co-hosts the podcast We Made This Political. Learn more and connect with Lura Forcum: Website: https://luraforcum.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luraforcum/ Podcast: https://wemadethispolitical.substack.com/ AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    Why Purity Tests Are Killing American Politics – DTH Episode 333 with Lura Forcum

  4. Sep 9

    Unity Seats for 9/11, Break the Algorithm – DTH Episode 332 with Adam Mizel

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Adam Mizel is back on the show with an update on Unity Seats, the program he built to get strangers from different walks of life sitting together at games — and it's grown fast. Since his last visit, Adam and his team at US United have run Unity Seats with the Twins, the Lynx, and the Vikings here in Minnesota, working closely with the Sheriff Unity Network to bring together people who'd otherwise never cross paths. Now he's taking the concept national. This Friday, the 25th anniversary of 9/11, hundreds of high schools across the country will host Unity Seats at their Friday Night Lights games, led by local sheriffs, with moments of silence and coin tosses honoring that day. Adam was living six blocks from the World Trade Center when it happened, and that history shapes why this project matters so much to him. Wilk and Adam dig into what makes sports such a powerful unifier, why sheriffs are uniquely positioned to lead this kind of work, and Adam's simple ask for anyone listening at home: post one positive thing you did or saw this week and help “break the algorithm.” It's a grounded, hopeful conversation about what unity actually looks like when it isn't just a talking point. Learn more and find a Friday Night Lights event near you at us-united.org. Key Themes ●       Sports as the last shared language — Adam makes the case that sports remain one of the few things left that cross nearly every line in this country, from a locker room full of people who “aren't supposed to like each other” to strangers in the stands who become friends over three hours. ●       Sheriffs as apolitical community builders — elected by voters rather than appointed by politicians, and often the largest providers of mental health services in their counties, sheriffs occupy a rare position outside the usual political fight, which is why US United built an entire network around them. ●       Scaling from stadiums to Friday nights — most of America doesn't live in a city with a pro team, so Adam and his partners built Friday Night Lights Unity Seats to bring the same idea to high school football games in communities of every size, from Manhattan to rural Montana. ●       Breaking the algorithm — Adam's answer to “what can one person actually do” is deliberately small: post one positive, community-building moment a week and help shift what social media rewards. ●       Getting out of the bubble — Wilk and Adam talk candidly about how quickly people get sorted into labels based on appearance alone, and what gets missed when we stop there instead of getting to know the person. Takeaways ●       You don't need a title, a platform, or money to build unity — Adam's ask is 30 seconds a week, posting one positive thing. ●       Local partners — sheriffs, sports teams, schools, community organizations — are what make bridging work scale beyond one city at a time. ●       The unity so many people associate with 9/11 in 2001 wasn't a one-time fluke — it's something Americans can choose again without needing a tragedy to prompt it. ●       Get involved: follow US United on social media, email info@us-united.org to bring Friday Night Lights Unity Seats to your community, or simply show up to a game. Learn more about and connect with Adam Mizel Adam Mizel is the co-founder of US United, a nonprofit built to help Americans reconnect across political and cultural divides, and co-founder of the Sheriff Unity Network alongside Genesee County, Michigan Sheriff Chris Swanson. He created Unity Seats, a program that partners with sports teams and local sheriffs to seat strangers side by side at games, and now leads the Friday Night Lights Unity Seats initiative marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11 in high school stadiums across the country. Website: https://www.us-united.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/US-United-105221345302216 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-united/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@usunitedorg Instagram: us_united_org  |  TikTok: US.united AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    Unity Seats for 9/11, Break the Algorithm – DTH Episode 332 with Adam Mizel

  5. Sep 2

    The Father and Daughter Who Created "The Enemies Project"– DTH Episode 331 with Larry and Sadie Rosen

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Larry Rosen built a career as a mediator, working through disputes between people who already knew each other and had a reason to want to get along — business partners, divorcing couples, families untangling an inheritance. He started wondering whether that same process could work between total strangers who disagreed about nothing more personal than politics. He didn't know if the motivation would even be there. He built the Enemies Project to test it, with one structural addition borrowed from television rather than mediation: let people argue first, then guide them toward seeing each other as human beings before ever touching the actual dispute. His daughter Sadie came on originally to help launch the project on social media. She ended up embedded in nearly every part of it — recruiting and screening guests, producing episodes, and, this past summer alone, having conversations with roughly a hundred people trying to find the right voices for the show. Key Themes ●       Stoke the flames, then build the bridge.  Larry's early instinct in mediation was to defuse conflict immediately. For the show, he learned to do the opposite — let people argue first — and found that the more heat there was at the start, the deeper and more surprising the resolution turned out to be. ●       The bridging space may be aiming at the wrong audience.  Larry argues that people already interested in “depolarization” and “cross-partisan dialogue” are a narrow, self-selecting group. The much larger audience is people who've simply tuned politics out because it's exhausting — people who just want their own relationships to work better. ●       Numbers versus individual impact.  Larry and Sadie both describe the strange experience of watching follower counts climb into the hundreds of thousands while the moments that actually stick with them are single messages — a viewer who says a conversation with an estranged parent finally happened again. ●       Two skills a mediator needs.  Larry breaks down the two core abilities he believes this work requires: deep empathy, and the more analytical skill of mapping a conversation's structure in real time. Few people, he says, naturally have both. ●       Built at the family dinner table.  Sadie traces her own instinct for seeing things from someone else's perspective back to childhood car rides, where her dad's oft-repeated advice eventually became a running family joke — “no dad lessons today” — that, as she got older, turned out to have worked anyway. Takeaways ●       Structured conversation can transform a relationship even between two people who've never met and have no built-in reason to want to get along. ●       The Enemies Project has grown into one of the most-watched shows in the bridge-building space — closing in on 200,000 Instagram followers and nearly 100,000 on YouTube — but Larry and Sadie both point to individual stories, not the numbers, as what actually keeps them doing the work. ●       Learn more, watch episodes, or connect with the Enemies Project at enemiesproject.org. Learn more about and connect with Larry and Sadie in the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com.  AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    The Father and Daughter Who Created "The Enemies Project"– DTH Episode 331 with Larry and Sadie Rosen

  6. Aug 26

    Leave Your Bubble, Find Your Country – DTH Episode 330 with Wesley Warshawer

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Wesley Warshawer grew up in Tucson in a house full of difference — different religions, politics, and backgrounds — and never thought much of it. That changed in 2017, when a poll about the American electorate made him realize how disconnected he'd become from half his own country, despite years spent studying and living abroad. So he did something about it. He sold sold most of his stuff, got in his car, and spent 18 months living and working from towns across red America — Bismarck to Biloxi — asking open questions instead of yes-or-no ones. Instead of “are you for the wall,” he'd ask people to paint him a picture of what fair immigration policy would look like. The answers, again and again, sounded a lot like what he'd hear back home in California. Wesley and Wilk get into what that means for how divided the country actually is, why ridicule culture — yes, the “crush the libs” and “owned by facts” clips — is doing real damage, and why the fastest way to understand your own country might be to leave your bubble and just start asking questions. Find Wesley's writing and more about his travels at wesleywarshawer.com. AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    Leave Your Bubble, Find Your Country – DTH Episode 330 with Wesley Warshawer

  7. Aug 19

    Why Minnesota is Building a Statewide Campaign of Neighbors – DTH Episode 329 with Libby Stegger and Bill Doherty

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) The Minnesota Land of Neighbors campaign is a multi-year, collaborative effort by a coalition of Minnesota foundations and bridging organizations — including Braver Angels, Civic Bridgers, Common Ground USA, CRD Connect, and Media Minefield—highlighting our shared values while countering toxic division and helping Minnesotans reconnect as neighbors, regardless of politics. Two-thirds of Americans say they're exhausted by division but don't know where to start; this campaign is Minnesota's answer. (Full disclosure: Wilk is part of the campaign's leadership team.) Libby Stegger and Bill Doherty, two of the people helping lead and speak for the campaign, join Wilk to walk through how it works. The approach starts small and builds outward: neighborhood, then town, then state, using a three-tier listening session structure and a simple set of questions — not “what's wrong here,” but what people already share and what they aspire to. One story from an early listening session in Fergus Falls stands out: a shared love of land and water surfaced as a value that cuts across political lines, in a place where the environment usually becomes a wedge issue instead. Libby, Bill and Wilk dig into why that kind of grounded, values-first storytelling works where policy talk usually fails. Listening sessions are already underway across the state, from Lake City to Beaver Creek to Hibbing, with many more communities signing on to host. Learn more and get involved at Minnesota Land of Neighbors. AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    Why Minnesota is Building a Statewide Campaign of Neighbors – DTH Episode 329 with Libby Stegger and Bill Doherty

  8. Aug 12

    A House Divided: Reality TV Meets Real Deliberation – DTH Episode 328 with Roshan Bliss

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Roshan Bliss has spent his career working the space between people who disagree — first as a mediator, then as a public deliberation practitioner, and now as the architect of one of the more ambitious bridging projects out there: a reality TV show called A House Divided. Roshan and Wilk dig into the idea of “many-to-many” conflict — why the tools that help two neighbors resolve a dispute fall short when it's millions of people who disagree — and why defining the problem has to come before anyone starts arguing about the solution. Then they get into the show itself: three groups, one from the left, right, and center, locked in a house for seven days, working through a real cultural flashpoint from a real American community — think Big Brother meets jury duty, built entirely around deliberation instead of drama. It's a conversation about taking the tools of dialogue and deliberation out of the conference room and putting them somewhere people will actually watch — and why that might be exactly what's needed to compete for attention in a media landscape built on outrage. AllSides Student Journalism Award application process is open now! AllSides, a national leader in balanced news and media bias ratings, is awarding three students with Five Hundred Dollars for reporting on all sides of an issue. It's open to any student in any type of school, grades K through 16.  Deadline to submit is December 31st. 👉🏻Check it out at allsides.com/dth-award.  The world is a better place if we are better people. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow the DTH podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube,  Substack  Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America’s largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

    A House Divided: Reality TV Meets Real Deliberation – DTH Episode 328 with Roshan Bliss
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4.8
out of 5
45 Ratings

About

Bettering the world one attitude at a time. We did not create the hate, but together, we can 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙩𝙚! In a world filled with divisiveness, and dominated by F.O.G. (Fear, Outrage & Grievance), it's time we find a better way to engage. That all starts with each of us as individuals. We cannot control all that we encounter within our day to day lives, or the environment in which we live, but we certainly have the ability and responsibility to control how we react to it. For me, it starts with gratitude and personal accountability. Take a listen and see if there is something here to help you in taking your part in turning down the hate. Welcome to the 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩...

Information

  • Creator
    Wilk Wilkinson
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    349
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Derate The Hate
  • Show Website
    Derate The Hate

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