Andrew Collins, Democratic state representative and minority leader in the Arkansas House, sat down with Glen and April to discuss his work in the legislature, including the recently concluded 2025 regular session. In part 1 of our conversation, Andrew describes his early life and values that led to his career and his decision to run for elected office. His voting decisions include many votes for bills by Republicans, sometimes even members who in other instances hold positions antithetical to his own, but he explains how his votes are based on important considerations other than who sponsors the bill. Among the many bills he is asked to consider, he outlines some of concern to him as well as positive ones. Andrew also expresses concerns about the increasing incursion of national issues into their lawmaking, and of the spread of erroneous information that can sometimes be influential in voting behavior.

For the 3rd and final part of our interview with journalist, author and musician Philip Martin, Glen and April hear from Philip about some of the challenges he encounters as a public figure who offers opinions that are not always welcome by some people. He offers his thoughts on differences between advocacy journalism and that he sees being currently practiced at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Expressing his disappointment in how many people are easily manipulated in our current media environment, he offers some ideas on how to address that problem. Philip then concludes with a personal story about instructions from an editor early in his career and how that changed him.

In the second of our three episodes with Philip Martin - journalist, author and musician - April and Glen explore Phil's views of journalism past, present and future. He offers advice to young persons who may be considering journalism and the qualities that he'd prefer to see in who chooses to pursue that career. Phil also provides his perspective on the increasing problem of mis/disinformation and suggests some guidelines for where and how to gain information within the broader media environment. We also discuss with Phil his view of Hillary Clinton's presidential run, and he discloses some interesting inside information provided to him at that time.

April & Glen welcome Philip Martin, a journalist, author and musician, into conversation about his life and work. In part 1 of our interview with Philip, we briefly review his extensive pursuits over the years, which include a brief stint as a pro baseball player, author of several books, appearances over the years in local and national media, and his love of music (including being a musician and songwriter). We also explore his career in journalism, which most recently includes many years with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, for which he writes regular columns on music, movies, politics and other topics. Phil shares with us his wish for politics to once again be dull and not entertaining. His approach to ongoing demands for writing in his job is also described. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of our conversation with Philip.

In part 2 of this conversation with Shana Chaplin, Program Director for the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute in Arkansas, Glen and April hear how local government can get its citizens engaged and active. The new Civic Guide, recently published by the Civic Arkansas imitative (https://rockefellerinstitute.org/programs/civic-arkansas/), is posed as one important tool to help citizens get involved. The initiative also has partnered with Miss Teen Arkansas and with others to facilitate more involvement and education among young Arkansans. The fatigue by Arkansans over persistent divisiveness is one source of mistrust in news sources, worsened by current strong misinformation currents in the media environment. Ways the Civic Arkansas initiative addresses this challenge are discussed. Shana also describes an effort to encourage civility in public discussions to hopefully improve a sense of trust among those who seek to engage in their communities. Hopeful signs are highlighted, including the willingness of most Arkansans to help neighbors during times of community crisis without regard to their beliefs or political views, along with the difficulties accompanying that community response.

Shana Chaplin, Program Director for the Rockefeller Institute in Arkansas, speaks with Glen and April, focusing on the state of civic health in Arkansas. Born to an Arkansas family but raised in an international setting, Shana's experience and training that prepare her for expertise in civic engagement are traced. We then discuss the Civic Index, which in Arkansas has shown us to be in many ways very low in the country in civic involvement and awareness. In a move to help improve this status in our state, the Rockefeller Institute, the Clinton School, and other organizations worked together to plan how to address our state's deficiencies in this area through the Civic Arkansas initiative. Various community partners have joined in this initiative, including Braver Angels Arkansas. Shana provides concrete explanations and examples of civic engagement and why it is important in a democracy, while sharing findings from initial efforts by the Civic Arkansas initiative. She describes various similarities and differences across variables such as age or rural/urban settings. We explore with Shana what is being done now with partner groups as part of the initiative. Impediments to progress in civic education, including some aspects of the current media environment, limited public spaces for citizen engagement, and other factors, are described. Shana also argues that democracy requires participation and that the decline in citizen involvement in America has important implications for the health of our democratic form of government. Some of the tools that are already being offered via the Rockefeller Institute to address these concerns are outlined, along with challenges still needing to be addressed.

For this 5th and final part of our update on political polarization research and thinking, Glen begins with his thoughts on solutions for political polarization related problems, which include research on societal characteristics that are associated with peaceful societies. For the remainder of this final episode, we all discuss several other ideas, which include contact theory, and other positive practices. We then conclude our discussion with some thoughts on how we might best proceed in our society’s political conversations so that we retain a healthy, functioning democracy and society.

In part 4 of our 5 episodes devoted to updates on polarization research and related topics, Glen and April provide specific information that they chose as important in understanding and dealing with various polarization related issues. Glen begins by describing how various behaviors in society are enabled by powerful effects of social modeling, then he focuses on mis- & disinformation as a growing and malevolent influence on polarization. Glen offers suggestions for how we might address this increasing problem of erroneous information in our digitally influenced society. Suggestions include the importance of education that helps us all improve our media literacy, as well as the importance of building community. April encourages continued respect toward those who may be inadvertently spreading bad information and to continue to engage with others, even when some of their ideas are uncomfortable for us. Jerry points out how compassion and mindfulness practices can serve as a healing alternative to excessive reliance on either emotion or reason. April then discusses various types of civility and how they can be either more or less helpful in dealing with conflict. We conclude this round with a more in-depth discussion of the key points covered. Next up will be our 5th and final episode in this series on polarization research and thinking.