Healing a Country’s Wounds (Pt. 2)

While a past Peace Talks Radio program on Transitional Justice included

legal strategies such as a truth and reconciliation commission, this

program deals with conversations that aren’t judicially mandated. Instead,

Public Dialogues happen when people willingly listen to and talk with

other citizens, develop understandings across differences, and collaborate

on shared solutions. They discover a space between the two poles of

‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ about an issue. The need for Public Dialogue is

most acute in complex issues such as racial equity, poverty, climate

change, and mental health where it’s hoped that it’ll increase

participatory democracy.

Suzanne Kryder talks with three experts in this field: Carolyne Abdullah,

the ; and Marion Sanchez, Community Engagement Manager with the City of

Austin; and Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Former and First Executive Director of

the National Institute for Civil Discourse, headquartered at the

University of Arizona.