Blog
How My Church Stopped Avoiding Difficult Topics and Learned to Listen
By Chad Estes, Faith Communities Partner at Living Room Conversations My church looked different at the beginning of 2018. Walking into our sanctuary you would have thought that the maintenance staff forgot to
20 Tips for Great Conversation and 13 Things to Avoid
One of our dedicated and deeply appreciated volunteer hosts, Kathy Mitchell, created a list of insights from the Communicating With Care conversation. From her experience hosting this conversation, she generated
We Need to be More Curious and Less Furious
by Gayle Yamauchi-Gleason Michael C. Taggart is retired from a public service career in the Columbus, OH area and is one of many dedicated Living Room Conversations volunteers. A self-identified
I Can Do This
By Beth Raps Dr. David Sacks is in private practice as a clinical psychologist in the metropolitan DC area. He met us through one of our star organizers, Jessica Shryack,
What Type of Follower Are You?
By Debilyn Molineaux. Reposted from AllSides.com Since I saw this YouTube video on The First Follower, I’ve been fascinated by who follows whom, and why? We often see analyses of various
Paradox: Our Weakness Is Our Strength
By Joan Blades. Reposted from AllSides. I began describing Living Room Conversations as a domestic peace initiative just over a year ago. Individuals and communities that were at odds or disconnected were intentionally
What is Your Level of Listening?
By David Womeldorff & Donna Zajonc. Reposted from TED*. Are you a good listener? According to a recent business survey, even though people are frequently texting and checking their email
We Should All Speak to People We Don’t Agree With. Here’s How
By Joan Blades & John Gable. Reposted from The Aspen Institute. The Better Arguments Project is a new national civic initiative created to help bridge ideological divides – not by
Testimonial
By Gayle Yamauchi-Gleason Our organizer/volunteer, Gayle Yamauchi-Gleason shared the thoughtful write-up below about Living Room Conversations. I’m a Living Room Conversations organizer because the Living Room Conversations model has about
Hearing Every Voice
By Tom McSteen. Reposted from AllSides.com. How do you feel when your voice is heard? How do you feel when it is not? We all want our voice to be
Humanizing and Connecting San Diegans one Conversation at a Time
By Bogdan Matuszynski Over the weekend of March 31st several brave San Diegans and local leaders came together at the Museum of Man to get out of their comfort zone
This California liberal wants you to burst her progressive bubble
By Bill Manny. Reposted from Idaho Statesman. Mismatch.org is part of Joan Blades’ plan to unite the world. Blades is a delightful mismatch of a person herself. She is a
Rotary’s Peacebuilding Aided by Living Room Conversations
By Brooke Deterline and Maxim Schrogin This week’s Living Room Conversations note to their members details their powerful partnership with Rotary International. You might already know that “Rotary is a
Walking With a Giant
By Carlyn Montes De Oca. Reposted from animalhumanhealth.com What do you feel when you disagree with someone – discomfort, distaste, anger? Do you confront them or shut them out? Do
Contrarian or Jerk?
By Debilyn Molineaux. Reposted from AllSides. We all know them — and we may be them. Who? People who seem to tear down every idea, project or dream we’ve been
Living Room Conversations at the Unrig the System Summit
By Beth Raps. Reposted from AllSides. Living Room Conversations was recently represented at a major transpartisan conference—Unrig the System Summit—by our Chief Technical Officer Martin Wallace (who’s also one of
Middle of the Room Conversations
By Pedro Silva. Reposted from AllSides. As I sat in the front row of Second Baptist Church of Boulder, Colorado waiting to be called up to join my fellow panelists,
A Parish Administrator’s Perspective on Civil Disagreement
By Bruce Friesen. Reposted from AllSides. I used to think I knew what I stood for, what my make up as a person was. As the years go by, I’ve
Living Room Conversations for Inclusive Campus Environments
By Jessica Shryack. Reposted from AllSides. Minnesota has some of the worst gaps in educational attainment in the country. That’s not really news anymore. What may be news to people
We’re hosting monthly conversation events. You’re invited!
Join us for our first round of monthly video Living Room Conversations events! We are excited to be adding these monthly conversations as a staple of our mission to help
Righteousness and Relationships
By Serena Witherspoon. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I am of a mixed racial background. My mom is a white first-generation American and spent a large chunk of her adolescence being raised
Perhaps Americans are More Willing to Change Than We Think
By Erik Fogg. Reprinted from Huffington Post I’ve personally been an advocate of ranked choice voting for some time. This is due in large part to the fact that I
Being in the Season of Respect and the Presence of Civic Hope
By Cheryl Graeve, National Community Organizer, National Institute for Civil Discourse. Reprinted from Huffington Post. If you open your ears and listen quietly, if you set your eyes to look for
Affordable Housing and the American Dream
By Joan Blades, Founding Partner, Living Room Conversations. Reprinted from Huffington Post. Last month I was part of a community Living Room Conversation event about affordable housing at the Peninsula JCC in Silicon Valley, a
Preserving and Protecting Our Precious Civic Ecosystem
By Jacob Z. Hess, Ph.D. Reprinted from Huffington Post. Lots of attention is going today to physical habitat under siege (and for good reason): without more attention, many of these beautiful
Affordable Housing: Listening to Understand
By Joan Blades, Founding Partner, Living Room Conversations & Rabbi Lavey Derby, Director of Jewish Life, PJCC. Reprinted from Huffington Post. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Make America Great — Again? Or for the First Time?
By Debilyn Molineaux. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I cry every time I watch the six minute opening scene from The Newsroom, an HBO series from 2012. Yes, it’s well produced, written
Will We Meet Up on the Bridge?
By Keith Kozloff. Reprinted from Huffington Post. What should one do when approaching the bridge over the political divide, but can’t see anyone coming from the other side? The goal
The American dream
By Michael V. Rodriguez. Reprinted from Huffington Post. At 6 am as coffee attempts to dominate sleepiness I find a fitting state of mind to recall last night’s Living Room Conversation about
What safety looks like
By Serena Witherspoon. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I ride my bike to school. When you enter Sproul Plaza (the entrance point at the South Side of the UC Berkeley campus) there
It really is all about me
By Rev. Linda Taylor. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I just discovered that the thing I love best about Living Room Conversations is purely selfish. Living Room Conversations ring a lot of my bells. I
Growing up in school for democracy
By John Kesler. Reprinted from Huffington Post. Maturity is one important lens for assessing progress in developing a healthier American democracy both in terms of competent citizenship and effective leadership. This
At Long Last, People Under 40 Care about Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear weapons are the other mega issue we are failing to address. These weapons can end the world as we know it in a day- for all humanity. Mutually assured
The really big issue is not free speech, It’s survival of the planet and its people.
By Joan Blades. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I don’t know anyone that is pro Nazi or pro White Supremacist. I also don’t know anyone that is against freedom of speech. There
The really big issue is not free speech, It’s survival of the planet and its people.
By Joan Blades. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I don’t know anyone that is pro Nazi or pro White Supremacist. I also don’t know anyone that is against freedom of speech. There
Warming up to global warming: A case for climate dialogue
By Jacob Hess. Reprinted from Huffington Post. The floods in Houston last week were described by the Washington post as “rainfall of Biblical proportions.” If not Biblical, they were certainly momentous, as the “most extreme
Free Speech, Humus and a Koi Pond
By Rodney Ferguson. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I’m going to let you guys in on a secret: Oakland, Ca, despite its reputation, has many nice neighborhoods and beautiful homes. My last Living
Inclusive not exclusive…
By Rev. Erik Swanson. Reprinted from Huffington Post. One of the intriguing conversations that underlies some of the political unrest over the last several weeks and months is the question of
A UVA alum weighs in on Charlottesville: casting out hate with civility
By Billy Binion. Reprinted from Huffington Post. It’s rare that people across the political aisle find common ground on much of anything these days. Health care, tax law, abortion, gun rights, and
Energy conversations – finding common ground for a better energy future
By Susan Abahazy. Reprinted from Huffington Post. I held my first Community Energy Conversation after a brainstorming meeting about how to contact diverse groups of people and invite their participation. I decided that my neighbors
Science can change dialogue on LGBT rights and religious freedom
By the Rev. Marian Edmonds-Allen and Derek Monson. Reprinted from Huffington Post. What do advocates for LGBT rights and religious freedom have in common? According to science, both have a tendency toward prejudice and
A mosaic – what picture will we piece together?
By Mary Gaylord. Reprinted from Huffington Post. Last week I had the pleasure of experiencing a Living Room Conversation via video technology on the topic of Faith and Religion in Society. I have
Free speech or hate Speech? where do we draw the line?
By Serena Witherspoon. Reprinted from Huffington Post. Spring semester 2017 at UC Berkeley followed the precedent of tension that was set after Trump’s inauguration in the Fall. The presence of the ‘Trump’
When southern conservatives & san francisco liberals listened first
By Pearce Godwin. Reprinted from Huffington Post. While celebrating Independence Day, I reflected on the current condition of America. There’s not much we can all agree on these days, but on
Maybe it’s time for a declaration of interdependence
By Randy L. Langford. Reprinted from Huffington Post. My study of, and experience in, our society’s “justice” system has led me to believe it’s functioning as intended. I don’t believe we
Connecting students across the partisan divide
By Kent Lenci. Reprinted from Huffington Post. About two years ago, I found myself wandering the streets of Birmingham, Alabama. The city was eerily deserted on a Sunday evening, and I
The case for civil discourse
By Billy Binion. Reprinted from Huffington Post. If you’ve tuned into the news at all within the last year, you’re aware of at least one thing – the political climate has
A tale of two fathers
By Mary Gaylord. Reprinted from Huffington Post My father is a conservative, mid-western man of great principle. He is a practicing Catholic, a devoted husband, and he’s the first person I
Fake news: a reflection
By Beth Raps. Reprinted from Huffington Post. Exactly one week ago, I hopped on a video call without much expectation except to learn more about Living Room Conversations. As our new
The role of contempt and self-righteousness (and politics)
By Debilyn Molineaux. Reprinted from Huffington Post. Like many people, I grew up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic adult. I was in a constant power struggle with my step-parent