Virginia Postrel, Columnist

Is There a Cure For Political Polarization?

A conversation with author Mónica Guzmán on the costs of burning bridges with those we disagree with — and how exaggerated fears of other people’s views are driving Americans apart.

April 3, 2022 at 12:00 PM UTC

By Virginia Postrel

Virginia Postrel is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a visiting fellow at the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy at Chapman University and author, most recently, of “The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World.”

Mónica Guzmán, author, “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times”
*Photo courtesy Mónica Guzmán*

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This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the world’s most pressing policy challenges. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Virginia Postrel : You’ve gone from being a community-oriented journalist to working for Braver Angels, a nonprofit organization working to address political polarization in America. You’ve now published a book called I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times. To ask one of your favorite questions, Why you? Why you as the author of this book?