On the Other Hand

Nate Bell, a former Arkansas Republican legislator turned "politically homeless" and a consultant currently active in seeking to enshrine Arkansas's Freedom of Information law into the state constitution, sits down with Glen and April. Nate advocates for good government in his work, and he also consults on commercial and off-grid solar power projects.  A self-described Reagan conservative, he draws a sharp contrast between his view...

In this second part of our conversation with Marquis Hunt, we explore his life as a musician, and he offers sage advice on how to work across divides in his community. He offers advice such as "hate that which is not love" and points out how often these days, some divisive elements are targeting as "bad" such currently central points in the culture wars as being black, gay, transgender, etc.  He focuses on finding ways to neutraliz...

Glen & April talk with Marquis Hunt, an eclectic community leader who is also a  talented saxophonist and recording artist, interfaith leader, author and thought leader. In this first part of the conversation, Marquis traces his origins in his upraising in Arkansas as a Christian, and how it has influenced his current views and work.  He also explores his roles in our community as a person of faith who reaches across religious ...

Rex Nelson is a veteran journalist who also served in key roles in Governor Mike Huckabee's administration. In this interview with Rex (a single, 45-minute episode), we hear his take on the uniqueness of Arkansas and how it provides him a rich depth of topics for his columns, which include historical, cultural, political and other coverage of life in Arkansas. Some recent developments in the state are seen as offering Arkansas an i...

In this second part of our interview with John Brummett, April and Glen hear John assert that "a steady, committed effort to human dialog" is a potential antidote to polarization. Currently, he views our nation as a "tied country" where the political math leads politicians to feed on division and pandering to the base of each party, while demonizing the other side. His solution is that moderates must become a movement on their own....

Glen and April interview John Brummett, prominent long-time Arkansas journalist and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. John describes his early family life as a pivotal influence, and he relates an instance when he was criticized in his family's church for an article he wrote, and how his family responded. Also, he noted that while he generally did very well in elementary school, there was one area of conduct in which he ...

In this second part of our interview with Kathy Webb, Little Rock city board member and longtime community activist in hunger, LGBTQ, and other issues, Glen & April learn ways Kathy feels we can each help manage emotion and tribalism, in order to better work toward the common good. She mentions several areas in which she sees opportunities for bipartisan agreement or compromise, including public safety and crime, as well as hom...

Glen & April interview Kathy Webb, Little Rock city board member and longtime community activist in hunger, LGBTQ, and other issues. In the first part of our interview, Kathy describes her early influences on her political views and activities as related to being raised as a "PK" or preacher's kid. Later, she came to identify with the feminist movement, and she also early on recognized the relative lack of opportunities for rol...

In the second part of our interview with Lisa McNeir, retired psychologist & Braver Angels Arkansas alliance co-chair, Glen & April hear how Lisa's past experience as a school teacher suggests to her the value of including early education about human differences as important.  She explains how this could be done via training of teachers to take advantage of daily opportunities in the classroom with students to promote toler...

In this first interview with Lisa McNeir, retired psychologist & Braver Angels Arkansas alliance co-chair, Glen & April hear how Lisa’s positive impression with Braver Angel's training and approach in helping prepare its activists influenced her decision to help her local alliance carry out its mission. She points out the vulnerability many feel in speaking up about political views as an impediment to confronting toxic pola...

In part 2 of our interview, Glen and April discuss with Dr. Nitin Agarwal, professor and chair of the Information Sciences department at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, what he has learned about how bad actors around the world plan and implement influence operations online, including through information environment manipulation, mis/disinformation and propaganda campaigns.  Dr. Agarwal explains how "social cyber forensics" i...

Glen and April welcome University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor Dr. Nitin Agarwal, the Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Chair & Distinguished Professor in the UA-Little Rock Information Science Department. Dr. Agarwal is also the Director of the Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (COSMOS). His work focuses on influence operations online, information environment manipulation, mis/disinformation and pro...

In this second part of Glen White's interview with Braver Angels Arkansas leaders April Chatham-Carpenter & Ray Hanley about their experiences at the 2023  Braver Angels National Convention, we hear April and Ray share their thoughts about the struggles they and most of us have in "walking the walk" in their work with Braver Angels.  Maintaining a respectful approach to one's conversations, social media interactions, and other ...

Glen White interviews Braver Angels Arkansas leaders April Chatham-Carpenter & Ray Hanley about their experiences at the 2023 Braver Angels National Convention.  In this first of two episodes, Ray provides a background on the historic nature of the setting of the convention, while April describes the wide variety of events and activities that made up the first in-person convention since the COVID pandemic.  "A Christian, a Jew,...

In part 2 of our interview with Dr. Rebecca Glazier, Professor in UA-Little Rock's school of Public Affairs, Rebecca reveals strategies she employs for dealing with difficult, rigid people in her attempts to bridge differences, including "cross-cutting," as ways to build more positive relationships and interactions. An example is described in how a potentially difficult conversation about immigration led to finding several elements...

Dr. Rebecca Glazier, Professor in UA-Little Rock's school of Public Affairs, is interviewed about her work, including research with various faith communities in central Arkansas and their interests in community involvement. She works with her students and the community in trying to explore sources of division and polarization, as well as ways of reducing those tendencies. A key goal of her work is to learn more about the impact of ...

In part two of our interview with Vic Snyder, he encourages citizens to not give up on their elected representatives.  Vic expresses concerns about current Arkansas politics becoming more extreme than most voters, but he recognizes that campaigning often leads candidates to go to the extreme views of their party in order to get elected.  However, when they get elected, they realize that governing isn't as easy as their campaigning ...

In this 2nd part of our interview with Braver Angels activist Rita Chisum, we hear Rita's thoughts about Truth (big T) versus truth (little t) and the importance of maintaining humility in one's beliefs about what we see as true.  She explains some concerns she has about stereotypes some Blues may have about Reds, quotes Maya Angelou, and talks about her hopes for where Arkansas may be headed. She ends with strong assertions about ...