Across the Divide

Available for over a year

Oliver Burkeman has noticed that even if wants to have a conversation with someone who disagrees with him, it’s harder and harder to find them. In this episode Oliver talks with Robert Talisse, about his research into how society has become so polarized along the political divide that he could tell at a glance which political view you ascribe to by the coffee you drink, the car you choose buy, or where you would choose to relax on a day off, and how our innocent desire to make a pleasant little slice of the world for ourselves to live in is leading to an ever more fractured society. And Oliver hears from two friends, Guardian journalist Poppy Noor, and her friend Ronan Walsh, who are best friends despite having very different political views, despite the modern polarized world pressuring them to split apart.