Ep 90 Reconciliation Activist J. Christopher Collins Midlife Mixtape

“A sense of endless possibility”: Different Together founder J. Christopher Collins on his new book, “Mending Our Union,” why face-to-face conversation by people with differing viewpoints can foster hope, and practical tips for tense talks.



* J Christopher Collins’ website

* Mending Our Union

* Different Together

* Glide Memorial Church

* Living Room Conversations

* Braver Angels



I could be wrong. I suppose it’s possible. (I could be right)

Thanks as always to M. The Heir Apparent, who provides the music behind the podcast – check him out here! ***This is a rough transcription of Episode 90 of the Midlife Mixtape Podcast. It originally aired on February 2, 2021. Transcripts are created using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and there may be errors in this transcription, but we hope that it provides helpful insight into the conversation. If you have any questions or need clarification, please email dj@midlifemixtape.com ***

 

J Christopher Collins 00:00

I’ve asked some of the Different Together participants, why do you keep on coming back here? And I commonly hear that, “it’s because I’m more hopeful. I’m less dismissive of people’s opinions.” And that is a starting point that is hopeful.

Nancy Davis Kho 00:16

Welcome to Midlife Mixtape, The Podcast. I’m Nancy Davis Kho and we’re here to talk about the years between being hip and breaking one.

[THEME MUSIC – “Be Free” by M. The Heir Apparent].

Nancy Davis Kho 00:38

Hi listeners – This is Nancy Davis Kho, host of the Midlife Mixtape Podcast, and author of The Thank-You Project: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time. Valentine’s Day is coming and if you’re thinking, “Oh great, yet another holiday in captivity,” may I suggest a way to make it stand out from every other Sunday since last March? Write your Valentine, your Galentine or your Bacchanal-entine a gratitude letter for all the ways they’ve improved your life, and hand it over along with a copy of my book! You can find The Thank-You Project in bookstores, online, or for audio download and here’s some incentive – if you buy the book and you’re planning to give it to your Valentine, email me at dj@midlifemixtape.com tell me who you’ll gift the book and letter to and I’ll mail you a personalized bookplate to stick inside! Valentine’s Day SOLVED. Now let’s get back to real romance by which I mean, rewatching Bridgerton.

[MUSIC]

Hi everyone, and Happy 2021! You know if you listened to Episode 89 at the end of last year that I needed to take a bit of personal time off after the death of my mom in December. And I just wanted to start off this episode in this year by thanking all of you who reached out to check in on me and express condolences. It was a rough go as, frankly, was appropriate, and even once I started feeling better, I really couldn’t really exhale until after Inauguration Day.

But I found once January 20th was behind me, I was actually feeling inspired and excited about the chance to talk to someone for the podcast and in particular today’s guest, J.