About The Listening Tour

"We Rise Or Fall As One"

The first episode of The Listening Tour was nearly finished when President Obama gave his farewell address on January 10th, 2017. Nevertheless, his words spoke clearly to our mission:

"...Democracy does not require uniformity.  Our founders quarreled and compromised, and expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity – the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one....

“Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this increasingly diverse nation...We have to pay attention. And Listen.

“For too many of us, it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles...surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions....

“Politics is a battle of ideas; in the course of a healthy debate, we’ll prioritize different goals, and the different means of reaching them.  But without some common baseline of facts; without a willingness to admit new information, and concede that your opponent is making a fair point...we’ll keep talking past each other, making common ground and compromise impossible.””

-President Barack Obama, 2017

The mission of The Listening Tour is to foster "common ground and compromise" by sharing the personal stories of Americans that led them to their 2016 vote.
Not their politics... Their stories.

It's too easy to dismiss the views of people we don't know...
So, let's get to know them.

Each episode of The Listening Tour will include the stories of at least two varied American view points: Republican, Democrat, third party voter, those who didn’t vote… Anyone willing to tell their personal story will get a chance to be heard.

You don't have to like what you hear, and you don't have to agree. You can shout through every episode.
But we hope, in the end, that something will be gained from absorbing a perspective different from our own.