Politics with Paul #51: How to Have Constructive Political Discussions w/ Guy and Heidi Burgess
Update: 2025-07-29
Description
On today's guest episode, Guy and Heidi Burgess of the Conflict Information Consortium share 40 years of insights into the broken state of America's political discourse and how to fix it. Among their works are the Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base, Moving Beyond Intractability, and the Constructive Conflict Initiative, projects dedicated to making our conversations about the most divisive issues more productive and encouraging.
How do we improve America's political dialogue? What are intractable conflicts that need more constructive ways to be discussed? How do we come to a better understanding of each other and take steps to solve our intractable conflicts? Are we more polarized than ever? Tune in to hear Guy and Heidi's expertise on these questions and more!
(0:00 ) Introduction to Political Conflict Resolution
(1:54 ) Why Guy and Heidi Started the Conflict Information Consortium
(5:01 ) How has Polarization Changed or Stayed the Same for the Past 40 Years?
(10:40 ) Are We More Polarized Than in the Past Few Decades?
(16:57 ) Is Most of Our Polarization "False Polarization"?
(19:48 ) Key Impacts that Heidi and Guy Have Had with the CIC
(27:09 ) Shifting from "Blame" to "Contribution"
(36:45 ) More Examples of Intractable Conflicts
(45:07 ) Pushing Back Against "Ends Justify the Means"
(52:49 ) Simple Tools for Individuals to Tackle Intractable Conflicts
(59:10 ) Will Recent Political Violence Lead to a Breakthrough in Dialogue?
(1:03:25 ) Random Question: What Job Besides Your Current One Would You Want to Do?
(1:09:39 ) Closing and Our Other Media
How do we improve America's political dialogue? What are intractable conflicts that need more constructive ways to be discussed? How do we come to a better understanding of each other and take steps to solve our intractable conflicts? Are we more polarized than ever? Tune in to hear Guy and Heidi's expertise on these questions and more!
Guy and Heidi's links:
- Beyond Intractability website: https://www.beyondintractability.org/
- Beyond Intractability newsletter: https://beyondintractability.substack.com/
My links:
- Buy my book on Amazon (ebook and paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Why-Independents-Rarely-Win-Elections-ebook/dp/B09K8PYM5J/
- Download my FREE 5-day educational email course: https://detoxifyamericanpolitics.com/
- My website: https://paulrader.org/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulRaderWrites
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulrader352/
- Medium: https://paulrader-42650.medium.com/
- Email: paulraderwrites@gmail.com
- Matchmaker FM profile for booking me on your podcast: https://www.matchmaker.fm/podcast-guest/paul-rader-329e65
(0:00 ) Introduction to Political Conflict Resolution
(1:54 ) Why Guy and Heidi Started the Conflict Information Consortium
(5:01 ) How has Polarization Changed or Stayed the Same for the Past 40 Years?
(10:40 ) Are We More Polarized Than in the Past Few Decades?
(16:57 ) Is Most of Our Polarization "False Polarization"?
(19:48 ) Key Impacts that Heidi and Guy Have Had with the CIC
(27:09 ) Shifting from "Blame" to "Contribution"
(36:45 ) More Examples of Intractable Conflicts
(45:07 ) Pushing Back Against "Ends Justify the Means"
(52:49 ) Simple Tools for Individuals to Tackle Intractable Conflicts
(59:10 ) Will Recent Political Violence Lead to a Breakthrough in Dialogue?
(1:03:25 ) Random Question: What Job Besides Your Current One Would You Want to Do?
(1:09:39 ) Closing and Our Other Media
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