Producers' Pick | David Isay: One Small Step

Radio that makes you think this is the Brian kill me show so we match strangers who disagree politically to put them face-to-face for 15 minutes. It's not the part about politics it's just talk about live facilitators begin by asking the participants one another's biography out loud in this recent session in Richmond, Virginia. The project tries to match people who may be from different political parties that had something else in common hi I grew up as an Army brat and an evangelical Christian, surrounded by a very powerful ideology of conservatism, patriotism, and religion. I am a Baptist pastor and performance artist, a native Charlotte civilian graduate of the University of Virginia and Union theological seminary in New York City.

Participants are encouraged to focus on what they share war passages and where were we to helping people to find their path and find the voice out Brenda I love what you just said about helping people find their path because I feel such a connection there so I don't to tell you they were polarized society. The people are so really dug into the potable believed to begin to stop talking to family members or friends if they disagree, David.

I say said the same thing he noticed that so we created what you just heard one small step is an offshoot of story core and story cores away of people come in and tell their stories, their own personal stories doesn't have to be an entertainment tonight. Not something you might prepare an inside edition will be featured on 60 minutes, but so-called average everyday Americans telling their stories and putting it into the archives and letting them know that their story matters. David Eisai is taking on this ambitious project, which is laudable. David congratulations on getting 60 minutes attention again what he told me about what how 60 minutes got a hold of you and Fred realizes project was something worth doing. Great to be on your show. Thanks. Yet 60 Minutes did a feature on one small step over the weekend and you know why I think we we launched about eight months ago and it's it, you know, as you said, we live things are a little bit bonkers right now in this country and you know this is in the country. One will be for kids will receive our neighbors as our most dangerous enemies and that given given all that's going on. I think that they felt like there was a story there also. As you said, the bigger story of story core, which is this 18-year-old effort as you said just about us just about regular people where to people who love each other. You bring your grandmother to a booth and interview her about her life with the help of the facilitator.

It's just audio and that interview goes to the Library of Congress or your great great great great grandkids to get to know your grandmother voice of story you know it's the beauty and power.

Power and grace and poetry in the stories hiding in plain sight all around us.

We take the time to listen and you know as as the polarization began to, you know, like like a hockey stick.

Just go absolutely crazy.

We thought you know were were nonprofit in the human connection business. Is there some way we can take the methodology of putting people together and put strangers together and see if we can make a difference and we tested it, tested it, you know, our Hippocratic oath as we do no harm to people, but so we spent a long time making sure that this was something that made a difference in the started now scaling this as well.

In the dream is to convince the country.

It's our patriotic duty to see the humanity of people we disagree with you what you believes and this is disappearing behind as you call it. It is called a contact theory that people disagree is harder to disagree when you stare each other face-to-face and see whether it's Russia, China, rather it's rush in the US or Russia, NATO when you it's easy to sit there and and throw barbs.

Each of the pony soup on a table. Hopefully they could start seeing a little bit more how the other side thinks so how did you execute this for people that Mr. 60 Minutes, how did you execute this project sure how the other side thinks is reminding the other side of being forgotten that and when you bring up the Russian and Chinese army and their polls out that say that we hate our you know our neighbors across the political divide in fear that more than we do our traditional international adversaries like the Russian Chinese show as you heard in that clip the execution of this is pretty simple. You sign up. We have a website take one small step.work and you write you write a bio and you can't talk little bit about your politics and we met you at some across the political divide that the piece usually there something you have in common with that person that you don't know what it is you get the bio of your partner and as you heard in that clip you when when the interview starts to end all these are done now over a special secure video connection that's you know feels like you're there with the other person that some kind of a bespoke easy-to-use video platform and you read your partner's biota them. They read it to you when you talk not about politics or start your lives, and at the end of these interviews, you know, these are people I mean you you know this is like what what's life about except being surprised right you know you realize someone you might've thought was not is just like you, I mean we have there so much more we share in common is a country that divides us and at the end of every one of these interviews to go on for 50 minutes at the end of the interviews. Every single one at the same way like let's take a walk together. You know when the pandemic so I'm having for dinner. Let me have your phone number and you know we just like you said it's 11 was when we see each other face-to-face were reminded of the truth and that truth is that you know if we spent more time listening to each other much time screaming would be a much stronger country. So if I wanted to its people listening right now want to participate. You pair them up today reach out and apply with you yes so we will pair you up and we have a waiting list now about 10 7000 people, but work at World War I. While working through it and were staffing up and working to get through that so it may be a little bit of a wait a couple weeks but yeah, you just sign up and repair you or someone you don't meet him face-to-face. You just made him online and you have this conversation and you know it we've we've had we've done about a thousand of these so far and not one of them has done wrong so right.

You tell me what usually happens heavy heavy as some universal truths which is absurd. What I mean. I think people when people talk way when people get on these obvious conversations. It's very similar to a typical story or conversation and that you know people people talk about you know who was kind as to your life or your parents people realize you not thinking about an interview. Now between a conservative guy and an illiberal woman and a conservative Godfather had been a photographer in World War II and had liberated the camps and he talked about when his father showed him the pictures of the camps. When he was four years old and the woman says of her parents had survived the Holocaust you know and you go you have a conversation like that and you begin to build some social capital. You know, so that when when you know when we start doubting each other.

Each other.

You got you got this kind of tunnel someone across the divide that you can reach out to and remind yourself that you know this is America we can do better than this.

You know are we going are we going to throw stones at each other pick him up and build a better did I say his programs were featured on 60 Minutes again. This was the second time he did it, but he's trying to break ground make a difference rather sit back and say in the countries polarized. He's trying 1 to 2 people at a time to change that. So people learn to talk to each other and hopefully it goes exponentially. So David just to fundamentally can we go back to your first program and that the first program is story core. Yeah so here's an example of story. Course would you do is get to people who are related or friends and they talk to each other about their story. Here's an example and this is a just to set it up. These are two kids talk about their dad is a Vietnam veteran is experience a loss of memory. He served as a US military pilot in World War II and Korea and Vietnam to his children, Isabel and Juan Pablo Encinas came to story core to remember when I was little I remember him flying in his fighter Waiting for him on the tarmac and thinking, God would hear my father is as he got older he was diagnosed with dementia, even at the end when he cognitively wasn't all there, she would hear a plane and just look up and started in the sky and you could tell that he just wanted to be up in that plane with every ounce of his being. Maybe he's listening to somewhere up there. I hope so that's always great your pictures to go along with it, where zero so we had 600,000 people participate in story core and a few of them are edited into these little three minute segment that we make animations out of you confided out story core SPR white CRPS.work all of the interviews go to Library of Congress, and again I mean this is as you said at the beginning it you know when you when you sit with your grandparent and you asked them who they are. You know how to they want to be remember to remind them that they matter they will be forgotten. Every interview goes to the Library of Congress. You know so you know, we know that that you know all the people around us are grandparents. They deserve to be part of American history.

But you know a lot of people feel in this country like their stories don't matter match. That's part of what story core saying that every story matters equally and intimately, and we gotta listen to each other and you know those stories. As you know, that aren't that famous people on entertainment tonight or whatever those are. The stories are really matter emotional stories that stick with us for the rest of our lives. So that's were trying to do it. You know, tilting at windmills. It's a bit of a difficult effort given the culture. We believe in it with every cell in our body organ excitements fight that we went to see is that I've had a chance to travel. In most of the Fox viewers and listeners are outside New York, so we located in the city so I probably will the lesson between my book to her from November to January. I probably met 5000 people in this know we could care less about the subway system in New York with the mayor is there talk about their own lives, their own things and as a relates to them and I find it all fascinating. I find them as interesting, if not the secretaries of State to get a chance to talk to on a regular basis and I just love the fact that instead of me just say I talk about it. You actually did it. So the credit to you and this is another example of what's on story core. Listen to this. I am proud of me. Of course you mom man. I just love everything about you. You never gave up on me � when things will always so father and son talking about each other at that age at that time and you start to animate them. I understand to sue people get a visual that's right that's right yes and you can you can you can watch these things again at our website. There's hundreds of animations there's thousands of stories to listen to, and hundreds of thousands of stories of the Library of Congress and you know at what what what you said, as you said, traveling around. It is exactly right that that you know that our stories are.

You know it.

It's also why I know you the right fantastic history books, you know that would history is also often told through you know states people and politicians and and you know, hearing history through our voices to our stories has know something really powerful to add to that that story about a month, history of who we are we bring that up to because the meeting to talk to Miller's project is Frederick Douglas wrote his own biography and any updated three times so just wipes out the analysis in the opinion part of it so you get them first hand and then the others. People write around it. I was like that's all I need so happy right yes you and I one of one of the thing which is that you and the other life. I'm sure you lurk alone on your book to work with facilitator to travel around like. Accordingly, stories listening to people whether it's regular story core. One small step and we had hundreds of them, who served a tour of duty with us again were nonprofit unit bearing witness to these interviews and every single one of them when they come off the road. She asked him what they learn they give a person of the Anne Frank with the people are basically good and you could say that maybe it was. There was some kind of a selection bias. We did tens or hundreds of thousands of interviews but when you're in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of truth to it. As Americans we are basically good and we forgot that we have to remember that for the future for democracy because of market cannot survive in a swamp of mutual combat how you survive with these programs. I knew you since nonprofit people will sponsor you yeah so we I spend my that we we we raise money from donors and and we work very very hard to know people do in the nonprofit sector. And we, and we make it work. We have we have corporate sponsors. We have individual donors. We have foundations on the left and right, and I think you know that people are unaware that you know this this what what's called toxic polarization in the country and this is not about arguing with each other arguing with each other's completely healthy. That's what democracy is all about. It's when we stop seeing the humanity in each other that things get really out of whack. It's called affect the polarization and you know we know what happens with affect the polarization in Nazi Germany. The Nazis used to call the Jews under mention less than human. When we start to see each other than as less than human. You enter it very, very dangerous territory and you know I hate to say it but that's were going this country and with one small step that's worth fighting against with every breath.

My body occurs because our country will be able to hold it if we cannot see the humanity and one another. Click how you feel is I can AOC and Jim Jordan sat down. You think that would be something that only get attention to your program would help.

Probably not. Unfortunately, I mean it's a good idea but people have preconceived notions about Jim Jordan AOC so they arty hate AOC of the RTE hatred toward when you got everyday people sitting that you don't know these people so you haven't turned them off.

Yet in your in your mind. Does that make sense find you know what I mean. So I mean we are going to do stuff in Washington DC but I think organa do is do it behind closed doors so these folks can get to know each other's human beings but not released it because that the environment, especially on twitter so toxic that I'm I'm not sure that it'll that'll help in the cause of just you know children shifting social norms, you know. At one point, you know it's not a perfect analogy, but smoking was cool and sexy and that it wasn't you know.

And right now treat each other like garbage and you know, treat each other without humanity is cool and sexy and you know what we have to do is make it so more. It's not okay not okay.

David, thanks so much.

We do tremendous credit foam at Dave. I say this day I essay why Dave, thank you Brian thankful. I really appreciate you to bring one small step and story core of the brain to meet your back with you in just a moment when you your story like you're with Brian kill me.

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