I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 08 March 2022
Publisher: BenBella Books

Porchlight Books June 2022 Nonfiction Bestseller




“I can see this book helping estranged parties who are equally invested in bridging a gap—it could be assigned reading for fractured families aspiring to a harmonious Thanksgiving dinner.” — New York Times


“Like all skills, these techniques take practice. But anyone who sincerely wants to bridge the gaps in understanding will appreciate this book. Guzmán is emphatic about making an effort to work on difficult conversations.” — Manhattan Book Review


We think we have the answers, but we need to be asking a lot more questions.


Journalist Mónica Guzmán is the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who voted—twice—for Donald Trump. When the country could no longer see straight across the political divide, Mónica set out to find what was blinding us and discovered the most eye-opening tool were not using: our own built-in curiosity.


Partisanship is up, trust is down, and our social media feeds make us sure we're right and everyone else is ignorant (or worse). But avoiding one another is hurting our relationships and our society.


In this timely, personal guide, Mónica, the chief storyteller for the national cross-partisan depolarization organization Braver Angels, takes you to the real front lines of a crisis that threatens to grind America to a halt—broken conversations among confounded people. She shows you how to overcome the fear and certainty that surround us to finally do what only seems impossible: understand and even learn from people in your life whose whole worldview is different from or even opposed to yours.


Drawing from cross-partisan conversations she's had, organized, or witnessed everywhere from the echo chambers on social media to the wheat fields in Oregon to raw, unfiltered fights.

Weight: 440g
Dimension: 161 x 235 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781637740323