By Zachary Elwood
My newest book is about our toxic divides and written for a liberal and/or anti-Trump audience: Learn more. (If you're a Trump voter, see my book Defusing American Anger.)
I host the psychology podcast People Who Read People. I also have a depolarization-aimed newsletter.
Reviews for my first book Defusing American Anger:
Tyler Dotson, author of The Divide:
"I recommend [this] to friends and family because it tries so hard to understand the perspectives of both liberals and conservatives." (full review)
David Foster, KnowTheSystem.org:
"He is genuinely detached from the partisan claims and is doing his best to be evenhanded and dispassionate at all times." (full review)
Daniel Stone, author of Undue Hate:
“If there was one book that I would ask my most polarized fellow Americans to read carefully this would probably be it." (full review)
America is deeply divided
We don't just disagree on issues; we increasingly view our political adversaries as immoral and dangerous. And our fear and anger affect our stances on issues, making us more hardened in our views and less willing to compromise.
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There’s a chance our problems will get a lot worse before they get better. To avoid worst-case outcomes, we need more people—from politicians to reporters to everyday citizens—to see the nature of our divides more clearly.
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Learn more about my books:
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For a liberal audience: How Contempt Destroys Democracy
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For everyone: Defusing American Anger
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"When we treat others with anger and disgust, we drive them further away from our reality; we aid them in building their narratives where we are the villains."
- from How Contempt Destroys Democracy
"Culture wars are different than real wars: the more you attack the other side, the more you strengthen it."
- Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind
You'll appreciate my work if...
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You think political animosity and fear have gotten out of control in America and want to know what you can do to help solve this problem.
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You're angry at the "other side" but want to understand why they think what they do.
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You're confused why people say our problem is "polarization" when it seems like the problem is just that one political party is so horrible.
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You want to have less angry, more productive conversations with people who are politically different from you.
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Your job requires you to understand and speak to people on the "other side."
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You're a political activist and want to be able to make more persuasive arguments to your political opponents.
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You work in the depolarization/bridge-building space and want some new ideas (for example, how to overcome common objections).
Get books
Learn more about my books:
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How Contempt Destroys Democracy (2024): for a liberal/anti-Trump audience
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Defusing American Anger (2023): for all audiences, only in ebook form
ABoUT the author
Zachary Elwood
I'm Zachary Elwood. I'm the host of the psychology-focused podcast People Who Read People. For my podcast, I've interviewed many people on topics related to our us-versus-them polarization and the psychology underlying our divides (see my politics-related episodes). I also have a depolarization-aimed newsletter: sign up to that to get updates about my work and this cause.
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My research into deceptive online activity has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Buzzfeed, and more.
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Have a media inquiry or other question or comment? Please reach out.​
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