Over the last five weeks, I’ve been criss-crossing the country, hitting college campuses to talk about Tangle, political polarization, and the state of the media.
I’ve spoken at Rowan University in New Jersey, Davidson College in North Carolina, Brigham Young University in Utah, Harvard University in Massachusetts, and St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Five very different campuses with very different student bodies in very different parts of the country.
There’s so much to say about each of these places and these visits, but the top-line takeaway is what I said last month: The kids are alright — smart, kind, thoughtful, inquisitive, skeptical, and desperate to find reliable sources of information. On every campus, the concept of Tangle was welcome; the most pushback I faced was probably at Harvard, speaking to a group of Nieman Fellows who weren’t really students but mid-career journalists, many of whom seemed more skeptical about the idea Tangle could bridge a trust gap in America.
On the whole, though, it’s been an uplifting and fulfilling few weeks. And as I’ve traveled the country, I’ve been thinking even more deeply about our state of affairs, the real factors driving our divisions, and where we go from here. These thoughts culminated in the last talk I gave on the last stop on my de facto campus tour at St. Olaf, outside Minneapolis. I wrote the talk the morning of May 2, at a coffee shop around the corner from campus, and then delivered it that afternoon.
Today, I’m sharing that talk — which I’ve amended, edited, and rewritten in parts — as our members-only Friday edition. I hope you enjoy.
