Interview with Peter T. Coleman, author of The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization
Peter T. Coleman, author of The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization recommends a great collection of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Peter's book:
Review from Book Depository:
The partisan divide in the United States has widened to a chasm. Legislators vote along party lines and rarely cross the aisle. Political polarization is personal, too-and it is making us miserable. Surveys show that Americans have become more fearful and hateful of supporters of the opposing political party and imagine that they hold much more extreme views than they actually do. We have cordoned ourselves off: we prefer to date and marry those with similar opinions and are less willing to spend time with people on the other side. How can we loosen the grip of this toxic polarization and start working on our most pressing problems?
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The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization
The Way Out offers an escape from this morass. The social psychologist Peter T. Coleman explores how conflict resolution and complexity science provide guidance for dealing with seemingly intractable political differences. Deploying the concept of attractors in dynamical systems, he explains why we are stuck in this rut as well as the unexpected ways that deeply rooted oppositions can and do change. Coleman meticulously details principles and practices for navigating and healing the difficult divides in our homes, workplaces, and communities, blending compelling personal accounts from his years of working on entrenched conflicts with lessons from leading-edge research. The Way Out is a vital and timely guide to breaking free from the cycle of mutual contempt in order to better our lives, relationships, and country.
Buy On:
Book Depository €23.10
Waterstones £22.00
Wordery $27.41
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
Sapiens. By far. Read it and annotated it. Twice. Back to back. Fascinating, even if I took issue with some of Harari's positions/interpretations. But the idea that all is story is profound.
A fascinating whirlwind tour of the history of the human species, from cave paintings to the industrial revolution onwards. Provocative concepts delivered with effortless eloquence, well that's how well it reads anyway. (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Buy On:
Easons €9.49
Book Depository €11.61
Waterstones £8.99
Wordery $13.59
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
Thinking Fast and Slow. I was familiar with much of the science but not of the context in which it arose and is applied. I would rate it highly.
Review From Book Depository: Why is there more chance we'll believe something if it's in a bold type face? Why are judges more likely to deny parole before lunch? Why do we assume a good-looking person will be more competent? The answer lies in the two ways we make choices: fast, intuitive thinking, and slow, rational thinking. (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy On:
Easons €12.99
Book Depository €11.73
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $15.35
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
Can I say Catcher in the Rye? If not, The BFG by Roald Dahl, Charlotte's Web or The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, Uncle Shelby's ABZ BookThe Giving Tree.
Review From Book Depository:
The brilliant, funny, meaningful novel (The New Yorker) that established J. D. Salinger as a leading voice in American literature--and that has instilled in millions of readers around the world a lifelong love of books.
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
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The Catcher in the Rye
The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caufield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days.
Buy On:
Easons €18.19
Book Depository €12.06
Waterstones £12.99
Wordery $15.35
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I prefer holding a paper book in my hands.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
I love to visit the COOP in Cambridge whenever I visit there. Eclectic reads, great vibes, and their wall of Harvard authors always irritates me and motivates me to write better books.
Many thanks to Peter for recommending a great collection of books! Please don't forget to check out Peter's book The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Columbia University Press (The Way Out), Vintage Publishing (Sapiens), Penguin Books Ltd (Thinking, Fast and Slow, The Catcher in the Rye) .
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