"I sat there with them and realized I had no story to trade. Not a faded one. None." - Ken Woodward
"I sat there with them and realized I had no story to trade. Not a faded one. None." - Ken Woodward
With the election less than two weeks away, I caught myself asking how those knuckleheads could vote that way. Underneath it: I would never do that if I were them.
It starts with an observation from Jason Pargin about a particular question that is often misinterpreted and a couple others that sound alike. What would you do? What would you do in my shoes? What would you do if you were me?
I tell the story of my turn from straight-ticket Republican to bright blue, and the six months in 2016 when new friendships showed me how little I understood about lives I thought resembled mine.
Drawing on Melissa Harris-Perry’s Sister Citizen, Thomas Nagel’s idea of moral luck, and research on deep canvassing, I ask how much credit I can take for changing, and what I owe the people who pay for a vote.
It closes with sonder and a question: What don’t I know about the life behind this choice?
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Episode Notes
00:00 Brutal Memories
02:05 Judging Other Voters
02:31 Pargin’s Question
03:33 Three Ways To Ask
04:08 Advice And Blind Spots
04:52 The Silent Verdict
05:31 From Red To Blue
06:27 Six Months Of New Friends
07:08 Stories I Couldn’t Trade
07:59 The Canary Sentence
08:52 Quietly Changing
09:36 Moral Luck Explained
12:07 Conversations Change Minds
13:57 Votes And Consequences
15:44 Sonder And A New Question
17:37 Closing Credits