Derate The Hate

Wilk Wilkinson
  • 4.8 (42)
  • 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. Conversation Does Not Equal Complicity – DTH Episode 316 with Michael Lee

    6D AGO

    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.

    41 min
  2. 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.

    40 min
  3. 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.

    43 min
  4. 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.

    46 min
  5. 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.

    52 min
  6. Until All Of Us Are Safe, None Of Us Are Safe - DTH Episode 311 with Regi Wilson

    APR 15

    Until All Of Us Are Safe, None Of Us Are Safe - DTH Episode 311 with Regi Wilson

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Most people have spent their entire lives being measured — by achievement, status, approval, income, influence. It feels normal because it's constant. But Regi Wilson, founder of Equal Universe and creator of the Value Identity framework, argues that this is exactly the problem. We've been running on a broken definition of human worth, and the damage shows up everywhere: in how we treat ourselves, how we treat each other, and in the pain that underlies nearly every societal divide we can't seem to close. Value Identity is the paradigm shift. It starts with a single reframe: your worth isn't assigned by what you've done or what others think of you. It's built into your design. It was already there. The degrees, the titles, the likes — those things don't create your value. They acknowledge what already existed. In this episode, Regi and Wilk trace what happens when people live inside the old story — the pain it creates, the way it spreads, and why no law or policy can fix something that lives at the level of individual belief. They also explore what the human body can teach us about a society that actually works: one where differences aren't threats, they're the point. The shift Regi is describing isn't motivational. It's structural. And this conversation lays out exactly what it looks like. Learn more about and connect with Regi Wilson 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.

    37 min
  7. Passionate Convictions Without the Poison of Contempt - DTH Episode 310 with Beth Malow & Doug Teschner

    APR 8

    Passionate Convictions Without the Poison of Contempt - DTH Episode 310 with Beth Malow & Doug Teschner

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Doug Teschner and Beth Malow return to Derate the Hate for a catch-up conversation following the release of their book, Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times. The book has sold over a thousand copies, earned a Literary Titan Award, and is drawing audiences from across the political spectrum — including some surprising reception from high-profile conservative media. In this episode, Doug and Beth dig into the "black pill" mindset — the growing sense that division is too far gone to fix — and push back on it with both evidence and personal stories. They talk about "conflict entrepreneurs," the people and forces that profit from keeping us at each other's throats, and why most of us have far more in common than the news cycle suggests. Beth shares a candid story about a series of conversations with a Christian conservative friend in Nashville — one that started over guns and eventually moved into abortion — that shows what courageous listening actually looks like in practice. And both guests make the case that protesting and bridge building aren't opposites. You can hold strong convictions and still make room to understand someone else's. Learn more about and connect with Beth & Doug 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
  8. Teaching History Without Taking Sides - DTH Episode 309 with Monica Harris

    APR 1

    Teaching History Without Taking Sides - DTH Episode 309 with Monica Harris

    Send Wilk a text with your feedback! (incoming msgs only - I can't reply) Monica Harris returns to Derate the Hate — this time in person — to talk about FAIR's newly renamed curriculum, Many Stories, One Nation. It's a high school social studies elective that takes a different approach to teaching American history: broad, honest, chronological, and built around civil discourse. Monica breaks down what separates this curriculum from liberated ethnic studies — and why the oppressor/oppressed framework, even when well-intentioned, ends up hurting the very students it's trying to help. The damage, she argues, runs in both directions. They also dig into the "competing goods" framework, the reticular activating system and confirmation bias, what it means to teach kids how to think instead of what to think — and what Monica sees as realistic success in a state like Minnesota. If you care about what's happening in classrooms and why it matters beyond the classroom, this is the conversation for you. 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
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4.8
out of 5
42 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
    329
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Derate The Hate
  • Show Website
    Derate The Hate

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