namely, conversations between our nation’s young people, trying to make sense of an increasingly fraught and complicated world, forming opinions and developing skill sets that will accompany them for the rest of their lives.

But also because the group of people I would be speaking to—middle and high school teachers who are navigating questions about polarization, civil discourse, and disagreement—is on the front lines of some of the most important conversations happening in our country right now:

When I was invited to be the Keynote Speaker at the Cato Institute’s Sphere Alumni Fellowship kickoff event last Friday, I was thrilled. Not just because I was honored to present almost ten years of More in Common’s work in political polarization at a well-respected think tank.

Note to anyone thinking of having kids: DO NOT DO IT.

You will start to love them so much it becomes physically painful

Allow me to (re)introduce myself. My name is Daniel, and I walked away from academia to live in New Orleans.

I believe success takes many forms.