Civil Conversations Project: Kwame Anthony Appiah — Sidling Up to Difference

One of the more remarkable projects out there today is one called: Civil Conversations Project: A Public Forum Providing Ideas and Tools for Healing our Fractured Civic Spaces. It is hosted by Krista Tippet. Each week, those who listen to her show ‘On Being’ have the opportunity of listening to Tippett in conversation with some of the most interesting people in the world. No matter what the subject, by the end of the program listeners have had their assumptions challenged, awareness expanded, and new questions formed.

In this particular conversation, how can unimaginable social change happen in a world of strangers? Kwame Anthony Appiah is a philosopher who studies ethics and his parents’ marriage helped inspire the movie Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. In a tense moment in American life, he has refreshing advice on simply living with difference.

We as Catholics need to listen to many voices and the wisdom of God shared through the many rivers of faith and reason that flow throughout the world in many different ways. Our embrace needs to be wide and Mr. Appiah offers some interesting advice. Listen to this podcast from Krista Tippet.