Fascinating research reveals stark differences between American and Canadian Twitter users.

Analyzing 40 million tweets, researchers at McMaster University show that Americans use a lot of swear words and describe negative emotional states, while Canadians use a lot of positive words like great, amazing, awesome, thanks. The researchers believe this is a reflection of cultural norms more than personality traits.

We shape our environment through what we bring to it, including our language. We create the norms that become our culture.

Listen to the 4-minute interview between David Greene of NPR and Bryor Snefjella of McMaster University.

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This is a short document produced by The Better Arguments Project, outlining a framework for more productive arguments. While not entirely in line with the approach of People Beyond Politics™ (for example, we make clear distinctions between debate, discussion, and dialogue—each requiring different skills and producing different outcomes—whereas this group does not), the document nevertheless highlights some useful concepts and thought-provoking ideas. (Thanks for forwarding this, Kevin!)

“The project stems from the foundational premise that America doesn’t just contain arguments, America is an argument—between Federalist and anti-Federalist worldviews, strong national government and local control, liberty and equality, individual rights and collective responsibility, color-blindness and color-consciousness, pluribus and unum.”

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Krista Tippett has been interviewing a wide range of interesting people for many years through her show On Being. On October 18, she interviewed Arlie Hochschild, sociologist and professor emerita at UC Berkeley, and author of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right.

”What I came to feel and realize is that both the left and the right have different deep stories. So what is a deep story? A deep story is what you feel about a highly salient situation that's very important to you. You take facts out of the deep story. You take moral precepts out of the deep story. It's what feels true. The deep story – and again, we all have a deep story – it repels certain facts that don't fit it, and it invites other facts that do." – Arlie Hochschild

Click here for podcast and transcript

On November 2, 2018, Munk Debates hosts a debate between Steve Bannon and David Frum on The Rise of Populism. Steve Bannon is a “populist conservative” and David Frum is an “establishment conservative.” In other words, they are both conservative but they have vastly different perspectives on what that means.
 
The Munk Debates are held twice a year in Toronto. These are high-quality debates that can be watched in real time or anytime thereafter.

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The Flip Side provides a summary of daily news items from sources on the left and the right. It’s not just about politics. For example, I learned something new when reading all of the perspectives on Amazon’s decision to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. The sources they choose for both the left and right columns provide thought-provoking commentary. (Thanks for forwarding, Brian!)

"The Flip Side is on a mission to help bridge the gap between liberals and conservatives. We're a one-stop shop for smart, concise summaries of political analysis from both conservative and liberal media. Our goal is to become a news source for liberals, moderates, independents, conservatives, and even the apolitical."

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Eugenia Cheng, a mathematician and scientist, says that the missing ingredient from political discourse today is mathematical logic. It not only helps create better arguments; it also fosters common ground. Her newest book is titled: The Art of Logic in an Illogical World.

She recently gave a 20-minute interview to CBC Radio, in which she describes a process of exploring the context and building blocks of someone else's argument. While I come from an intercultural perspective and she uses mathematical logic as a framework, we arrive at a remarkably similar place. The interview is well worth listening to. (Thank you for forwarding this, Ingrid!)

Podcast and transcript of Eugenia Cheng’s interview

What if journalists covered controversial issues differently  —  based on how humans actually behave when they are polarized and suspicious?

By Amanda Ripley / Solutions Journalism Network

This is an outstanding article about the importance of spending time to explore complex narratives, because doing so will give us a different understanding of any given issue and make us less prone to binary thinking. Thank you, Francesco, for forwarding it!

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Guy Raz, host of the TED Radio Hour, interviews four people who have a particular perspective on free speech. This is a very interesting exploration of what to do when we find some views offensive. You can read the transcript or listen to the podcast.

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These are pearls of wisdom, expressed in a way that makes a lasting impression. George Saunders is a gifted writer because he writes about familiar ideas in new ways. This is George Saunders' convocation speech at Syracuse University for the Class of 2013. Watch the video of his speech or read the transcript. It is well worth the time. Thank you, Cindy, for forwarding it!

“Do all the…ambitious things — travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers… — as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness.”

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By Lou Marinoff

This is a useful explanation of why and how to conduct a Socratic dialogue, for questions such as: “What is justice?” Thanks for forwarding, Gerry!

“Socratic dialogue helps a group to discover what something is, as opposed to what it isn’t.”

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This is a fascinating TED Talk by Lisa Feldman Barrett, neuroscentist and psychologist. It will forever change how you think about emotions.

For the past 25 years, psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett has mapped facial expressions, scanned brains and analyzed hundreds of physiology studies to understand what emotions really are. She shares the results of her exhaustive research – and explains how we may have more control over our emotions than we think.

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By Elizabeth Kolbert

 “New discoveries about the human mind show the limitations of reason.” This is an excellent article by Elizabeth Kolbert, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, published in The New Yorker.

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June 20, 2017

Zach Wood explains the importance of hearing and debating controversial ideas, even those we find offensive. He gives an important and eloquent 5-minute speech before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

“For me, free speech is not about grinding a partisan axe or advancing any set of enduring ideological preferences. I care deeply about my education and I value the freedom to interrogate all manner of contentious ideas and beliefs in hope of gaining a deeper understanding of the world and using that knowledge to one day make a positive difference in the lives of others. Free speech and intellectual freedom matter to me because they are among the founding principles that animate the vibrancy and ensure the sustenance of our democracy.”

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