Derate The Hate

Wilk Wilkinson

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. Killed to Order: The Road from Dehumanization to Expendable – DTH Episode 319 with Jan Jekielek

    6d ago

    Killed to Order: The Road from Dehumanization to Expendable – DTH Episode 319 with Jan Jekielek

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Jan Jekielek spent years as a human rights worker before becoming a journalist — and the story he couldn't stop following eventually became Killed to Order, a New York Times bestselling investigation into China's forced organ harvesting industry. In this conversation, Jan and Wilk focus on a question at the center of both the book and the show: what does dehumanization actually produce when it's allowed to run all the way to its logical end?  Jan explains how the Chinese Communist Party has refined what he calls a "black class" system over decades — a machinery of mass propaganda designed to strip targeted groups of their humanity in the public mind, making atrocity not just possible but rational-seeming within the regime's logic. Falun Gong practitioners, who numbered in the tens of millions and practiced truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, became the primary target — and eventually the primary supply for an organ harvesting system that operates like an industry.  One detail from this conversation will stay with you: in China, a wealthy transplant recipient can be matched with a compatible organ in roughly two weeks. In the United States, the wait is months to years. The difference is what powers that system. Jan walks through exactly how it works — and what the evidence looks like after two decades of documentation.  This isn't a political episode. It's a human one. Find the book at KilledtoOrder.com and Jan's long-form show at The Epoch Times. The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    42 min
  2. We Were Given a Republic – But Can We Keep It? – DTH Episode 318 with Peter Calfee and Kevin Dolan

    Jun 3

    We Were Given a Republic – But Can We Keep It? – DTH Episode 318 with Peter Calfee and Kevin Dolan

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Kevin Dolan and Peter Calfee met at a Veterans Day luncheon in 2022 and spent three years writing Hijacked: Our Republic — a book built around one essential question: what does it take to keep what the founders built? In this conversation, Kevin and Peter walk through the six foundational pillars they believe hold a republic together — critical thinking, education, faith and values, history, political systems, and economics — and explain how each one has been quietly compromised. The word "hijacked" isn't hyperbole. It's a diagnosis. One exchange stands out: Kevin's explanation of why two people can look at the same set of facts, weigh them differently, and reach completely different conclusions — and why that's actually how it's supposed to work. The problem isn't disagreement. The problem is that we've stopped being interested in each other. If you want to understand the root causes behind the noise — and think seriously about what restoring the social contract actually requires — this episode is worth your time. Find the book at hijackedourrepublic.com. The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    42 min
  3. Before You Reform Anything, You Have To Start Listening – DTH Episode 317 with Brian Vogt

    May 27

    Before You Reform Anything, You Have To Start Listening – DTH Episode 317 with Brian Vogt

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Brian Vogt spent 20-plus years strengthening democracy around the world. Then he came home—and started listening. His Democracy Listening Tour of Red America is a qualitative research project with a simple but radical premise: before you can reform anything, you have to understand what people actually believe and why. In this conversation, Brian and Wilk dig into what “democracy” really means to everyday Americans, why that word lands so differently depending on who’s hearing it, and what the reform community gets wrong by skipping the listening step altogether. One story stands out: a Trump-voting Iraq veteran and community leader in Kentucky who defined democracy as equality—then shared a workplace experience that made him feel like anything but an equal. It’s the kind of story that doesn’t make headlines but shapes how millions of people relate to political institutions. If you believe that lasting change requires all voices at the table, this episode is for you.  Learn more about and connect with Brian Vogt by getting the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com.  The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    38 min
  4. Conversation Does Not Equal Complicity – DTH Episode 316 with Michael Lee

    May 20

    Conversation Does Not Equal Complicity – DTH Episode 316 with Michael Lee

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Michael Lee is a professor of communication and the director of the Civility Initiative at the College of Charleston. He came to civility work through competitive debate—and found that debate, at its best, is deeply connective and dialogic. In this conversation, Michael and Wilk explore what’s really going on when people avoid disagreement, and why that silence is often more damaging than conflict.  They dig into the nervous system roots of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn—and how those responses show up in everyday conversations, especially online. Michael makes a sharp distinction between healthy stress and distress, arguing that real growth requires exposure to discomfort, not protection from it.  One of the episode’s most powerful ideas: people confuse conversation with complicity. Michael unpacks why that conflation is so common and what tools—perspective-taking, norm-setting, reciprocity—can help us move past it. And he reminds us that the stranger you’re afraid to talk to is more likely to become a friend than an adversary.  If you’ve ever felt like civility is code for “stay quiet,” this conversation is for you. Learn more about and connect with Michael Lee by getting the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com.  The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    43 min
  5. Gun Rights and Gun Safety Don't Have to Be Enemies – DTH Episode 315 with Dr. Michael Siegel

    May 13

    Gun Rights and Gun Safety Don't Have to Be Enemies – DTH Episode 315 with Dr. Michael Siegel

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) What happens when a gun violence prevention researcher walks into a gun shop, sits down with the owner, and actually listens? For Dr. Michael Siegel, it changed everything. In this episode, Wilk sits down with Dr. Mike Siegel to talk about his Bridging the Divide on Firearm Policy project — a three-year effort that brought together 23 gun owners and non-gun owners from across the country to find real common ground on gun policy. The result isn't a watered-down compromise. It's a 67-page bipartisan policy framework that both gun rights advocates and gun violence prevention leaders helped write. They dig into what it actually takes to bridge a divide this charged: the role of respect, the power of listening, and the surprising policy agreements that emerged when people stopped talking past each other and started talking to each other. If you care about reducing gun violence — or protecting constitutional rights — or both — this one's worth your time. Learn more about the Bridging the Divide on Firearm Policy and connect with Dr. Michael Siegel by getting the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com.  The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    42 min
  6. America Has a Crisis of Belief - The Answer is a New Moral Vision – DTH Episode 314 with Rich Harwood

    May 6

    America Has a Crisis of Belief - The Answer is a New Moral Vision – DTH Episode 314 with Rich Harwood

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Many Americans now feeling we’re too divided to agree on anything. Rich Harwood disagrees — and he has the stories to back it up. In this episode, Rich returns to DTH to talk about the new moral vision he sees emerging across the country: a shared yearning for decency, dignity, and the belief that we can still come together and get things done. Rich and Wilk dig into why politics can’t save us — and why that’s actually good news. Real change, Rich argues, doesn’t start with the right person winning an election. It starts with individuals choosing to show up in their communities, building trust one small action at a time. From Jim Jordan’s congressional district in Ohio to the basement of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, the stories Rich shares prove that the people most written off are often the ones leading the way. You don’t need a big platform or a comprehensive plan. You just need to start. This is a conversation about reclaiming the civic space that the loudest, most divisive voices have been filling by default — and what happens when the rest of us decide to show up. Learn more about and connect with Rich Harwood by getting the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com.  The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    45 min
  7. Your Brain on Tribalism: Why It Derails Relationships & What You Can Do About It - DTH Episode 313 with Corey Nathan

    Apr 29

    Your Brain on Tribalism: Why It Derails Relationships & What You Can Do About It - DTH Episode 313 with Corey Nathan

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Corey Nathan, host of "Talkin' Politics and Religion Without Killin' Each Other" joins Wilk for a conversation about what it actually takes to bridge divides, starting with one of the hardest conversations a person can have: telling your Orthodox Jewish father you've become a Christian. They dig into the real mechanics of tribalism — how confirmation bias works, why the reticular activating system locks us into one-sided views of the world, and how outrage entrepreneurs profit from keeping people angry at each other. But this isn't just a diagnosis. Corey and Wilk talk about practical ways to shift your frame of reference, why one degree of movement matters more than a 180-degree conversion, and what it looks like to stay in relationship with people you profoundly disagree with. If you've ever lost someone — not to death, but to a divide — this one is worth your time. Learn more about and connect with Corey Nathan by checking out the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com. The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    48 min
  8. You Are The Power: The Movement To Stop Local Government Abuse – DTH Episode 312 with Spike Cohen

    Apr 22

    You Are The Power: The Movement To Stop Local Government Abuse – DTH Episode 312 with Spike Cohen

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Spike Cohen — 2020 Libertarian VP candidate, founder of You Are The Power — sits down with Wilk to talk about what happens when families are torn apart by a system that never had to answer to anyone. Until now. You Are The Power is a nonprofit that steps in when local government oversteps. They research cases, amplify stories, organize people, and push for real policy change. Their work with the Hernandez family — falsely accused of child abuse, children seized, criminal charges filed — led to family reunification and landmark legislation in Georgia. This is a conversation about civic power, individual responsibility, and what it actually looks like when ordinary people take on government overreach — and win. If you've ever felt helpless against a system that didn't care, this one's for you. Learn more about and connect with Spike Cohen in the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com.  The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) ,  YouTube  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.

    54 min
4.8
out of 5
43 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...

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