healing divides
starts with conversation.
Living Room Conversations are a simple way to connect across divides - politics, age, gender, race, nationality, and more.
WATCH: Grover Norquist, Marianne Williamson, and other politically diverse leaders join in a Living Room Conversation on “Moving Forward Together” after the 2020 Election.
Getting at the heart of what we share in common with one another, these conversations have powerful, positive impacts across society – including a sense of respect, understanding, and even friendship in unexpected places!
The backbone of a Living Room Conversation is a conversational model developed by dialogue experts in order to facilitate connection between people despite their differences, and even identify areas of common ground and shared understanding.
Within this model, we have developed over 100 conversation guides on all sorts of topics that can otherwise be tense to talk about with friends, strangers, and even loved ones of differing backgrounds and political persuasions.
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What's New?
Our Newsletter Editor, Shannon Mannon, writes a needed perspective for USA Today when going into the holiday season.
Our work bringing people together virtually for conversations and vital connection amid the Coronavirus pandemic was covered in the New York Times!
From the article: ‘ “It’s a way of taking care of people,” Ms. Blades said. “Maybe you’re signing up for these conversations because you’re lonely, or maybe you’re hosting a conversation because you’re worried about someone in your network who’s isolated.” ‘
Trending Topics
Political ads and media are fanning our anxiety about the other side and threatening the very fabric of our communities. Can we engage with generosity and lead with our deepest values at this time of heightened political polarization? Can we be peace builders?
Have you read the headline news about the election and found your blood pressure rise and your mood change? Do you find your inner peace shaken by the stress of America’s election season?
Upcoming Events
How to Host a Conversation About Race
Hope
Press
How I learned to stop judging and start listening to people with different political views
Our limited exposure to each other this Thanksgiving makes it easier to practice the skills that can repair the fractures between us. Shannon
How to Meet New People, Even at a Distance
Online and offline platforms are helping strangers form social connections, which are crucial for our health, especially in a pandemic. A retired teacher,
Election 2020: 11 Ways to Engage Students From Now Until November
Though election news will dominate the headlines all summer, the global pandemic has thrown into question everything from how the candidates will campaign
Videos
LRC Live: A Potluck Across Generations
Watch the recording of LRC Live: A Potluck Across Generations,
The 2020 Election – Moving Forward Together
Highlights from our 2020 Election: Moving Forward Together #LivingRoomConversation featuring:
Forgiveness Living Room Conversations Highlights
This Living Room Conversation about Forgiveness was inspired by The
What a Living Room Conversation looks like
Two conversation hosts with different viewpoints each invite one or two others to join together for structured conversation on a specific topic. (We have a lot of structured topic guides to choose from, or you can create your own).
The Conversation Agreements and structure help assure a good experience and allow participants to get to know each other.
Living Room Conversations can happen anywhere: our homes, coffee shops, conference spaces, churches, and more and more online via video chat.
What People Are Saying
Newsletter
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Propelling ourselves back together, Thanksgiving Style
At the 2016 Thanksgiving table, hot off that divisive election, I blundered my way through trying to understand those who voted differently. Horrified to find
Good Questions for Great Gatherings
While we’re still processing this intense election season, the approaching holidays are suddenly clamoring for our attention. Holidays can be complicated, even without a pandemic.
Peace Doesn’t Magically Happen. We Make It So.
One of the most soothing images that came out of the election were the exhausted but diligent election staff from both sides with their heads