Why mutual listening and shared inquiry should trump argument in these divisive times -- an exchange with my former student Chad Adams

The Openist - Podcast of Democracy Cafe/Socrates Cafe

Once upon a time, nearly a decade ago, a student of mine by the name of Chad Adams, in a course I developed and taught called "Deliberative Traditions and Democracy," wrote a brilliant paper on Socratic inquiry. I gained new insights from it, even though my doctoral dissertation had been on this very subject. Chad -- who has a tattoo on his arm, in Greek, that says 'the unexamined life is not worth living' -- wrote me some years later to tell me how meaningful my course had been. He told me that my class and what he learned had stayed with him, and he just wanted to thank me. And so, about six years after I got that wonderful message from Chad (who'd since forgotten he'd sent it! :). He is now living and working in the St. Petersburg/Tampa, FL area, where my late father was raised and where his life was tragically truncated in 2011. Chad is doing great things professionally -- not to mention that he has become quite an adept surfer. And so here we are, back in the saddle again, on our podcast The Openist, more or less picking up where we'd left off long ago. He's the same admirable young man I knew from way back when. It was an honor to have him as a student, and is an honor to still be in touch after all these years. Among other things, Chad and I explore why thoughtful, rigorous, methodical Socratic inquiry, when entwined with careful and sympathetic listening, is needed now more than ever in these polarizing times. Listen in.