Thursday is an opportunity for Americans to give thanks for one another.
In the midst of a pandemic, strained racial relations and a contentious presidential election, polite conversations around the holiday dinner table or in the family video chat may prove to be difficult. One pair of childhood friends feel it’s time to change that.
Rosina Samadani and David Youngdale met in Beaver Dam when they were around the age of 12. They have similar backgrounds as their dads were both doctors. Now in their early 50s and living on opposite sides of the country, they still agree on their love of the Green Bay Packers and that Walker’s Restaurant is the place to eat when visiting their beloved hometown. Politics, however, is another matter altogether.
Samadani texted Youngdale with an idea out of the blue not too long ago about starting a political podcast. Observing a deepening division in the country, she tossed around the premise of talking about a series of divisive topics in a very civil way.
“Instantly, Dave said, ‘let’s do it, I’m in,’” said Samadani.
Youngdale said because of their mutual respect he didn’t feel the need to know any details before agreeing.
“What’s the worst that could happen? There’s boldness and courage that comes with wisdom and age,” he said.
Claiming that neither is tech savvy or social media influencers, Samadani enlisted the help of friends to teach them the basics.
Before the election, on Oct. 18, the original ten episodes of the podcast “Red Fish Blue Fish” were launched. Topics have ranged from, “Does character matter?” to “Trump and women” to “Black Lives Matter” to “Climate change.” Episodes typically run approximately 30-45 minutes.
More than 1,000 people have downloaded the podcast so far, which can be found on Instagram @redfishbluefishpodcast.
Youngdale, from Texas, is the red fish and Samadani, from New York, is the blue fish. They point out that they are not political experts nor are they debating one another to declare a winner.
“Our goal is to have a civil discussion, learn about each other’s rationale and perspective, and we endeavor to end each podcast with what we agree on,” said Samadani.
“It is tough sometimes because these conversations are on tough topics. But if no one was listening to us I would still want to have these conversations with him.”
They record the podcast without a script while having a face-to-face discussion on Zoom.
“When I hear her heart on certain things, I’m learning. We’re not trying to change each other’s mind, that’s not a goal,” said Youngdale. “We want to be understood, but we really want to understand each other more than anything else.”
Youngdale said he knew he and Samadani were doing something right when his son’s 21-year-old friend commented that he loved the podcast. After asking him why, the young man answered that the liked the tone. He went on to say that the listener can tell when the conversations get hard, but realizes the importance of getting along with one another.
Although they are new to podcasting, they have received much positive feedback from the episodes. Some have said the conversations provide positive, mature conversations for those who don’t have people to talk to about the difficult issues facing the country. Others have commented that they were surprised two people can have such varying viewpoints and still be friends.
“That’s actually an incentive to listen,” said Samadani.
Youngdale said the heart behind the project is to replenish the kind of respect that can happen in good discourse.
“We truly both value growing up in Beaver Dam and love the salt of the earth people,” he said. “What we’re carrying forward in the podcast, that’s Beaver Dam, that’s who we are and the way we were raised and so we’re trying to preserve a little bit of that.”
Follow Kelly Simon on Twitter @KSchmidSimon or contact her at 920-356-6757.
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
November 25, 2020 at 06:15AM
https://ift.tt/3nUdlsX
RED FISH, BLUE FISH: Beaver Dam natives search for common ground in new political podcast - Beaver Dam Daily Citizen
https://ift.tt/35JkYuc
Fish
No comments:
Post a Comment