Podcast: Critically Thinking about the News with Mosheh Oinounou Pt. 2

Brave Writer Podcast

We’re continuing our conversation (here’s part one) with Mosheh Oinounou, a journalist who breaks down daily headlines of the biggest, most relevant news stories on his Instagram. He also publishes a newsletter that aims to share real, verified news sources and hosts a daily news podcast as part of his Mo News Network.

In today’s Brave Writer podcast, we discuss:

  • how to come together despite our division,
  • how to handle differences of opinion within our communities,
  • and what to do about our political polarization.

Show Notes

Coming together as a divided world

In an increasingly polarized political landscape, it can be tempting to hold your opinions close to your chest. We don’t want to push people away, after all. But that would be a mistake. What we really need is for people to share their opinions and beliefs even more. But how we do that matters.

Debating only drags us deeper into our individual belief systems—it inspires us to aim for victory, not solve problems.

Instead, we need to hear from as many people as possible, from as many different situations as we can. When our problem solving accounts for more people we are better for it. Part of what Mosheh does with his network is try and represent the variety of voices out there so that we can all come to better solutions instead of simply validating our own perspectives.

Handling differences of opinion within a community

How do you hold your own beliefs in a polarized world—not hiding them, but engaging with them?

We need to bring everyone into the discussion and make them feel that their experience matters.

People have to be working off of the same facts, even if their opinions on those facts are different.

At some point we stop debating facts. For instance, climate change: we know the climate is changing. It’s undeniable. But the question that we need to focus on is how we deal with that.

The answer to that question—”How do we deal with this?”—is going to be very different depending on who you ask. But when we’re coming up with a solution that is going to affect everyone involved, we need to hear all voices instead of believing that our solution, the one that benefits us the most, is the right one. That is how we bridge our differences.

Our political polarization

In the United States, our elected officials are meant to be representatives of the majority of the people who voted them into office—even when they go against an official’s personal beliefs. We are in an era where breaking party lines as a representative is not respected. It’s not rewarded. And yet, despite how broken our politics are, there is proof that democracy works. When people cause enough noise to get their voices heard, we can change our government.

If we can respectfully disagree with each other, the world will be a better place. Things will get done, and the actions we take will positively affect more people and leave fewer behind. But it’s going to take work to get there, and that work starts with you.

If you’re looking for tools and support in raising kids in a media-saturated environment, consider reading Raising Critical Thinkers. It is designed to raise kids who are mindful and know how to vet their own sources and think for themselves. In the world we live in today, I can hardly think of anything more important than that.

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