About this episode

Ashley Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Oldfield discuss fostering genuine connections across ideological divides and the importance of community in today's fragmented society.

Ashley Fitzgerald sits down with Elizabeth Oldfield to explore how we can foster genuine connection across ideological and cultural divides and why it matters more than ever. Drawing on Elizabeth’s experience leading the Theos think tank, hosting the acclaimed podcast The Sacred, and living in an intentional community, they discuss the power of combining rigorous research with compelling storytelling to actually shift culture and change minds. They dig into why demanding ideological purity fractures movements and how to build real coalitions across genuine disagreement instead. Elizabeth shares her hard-won insights into the neurobiology of listening, understanding our fight-or-flight responses and the human tendency toward homophily, and how this knowledge can help us create spaces where people can actually hear each other. The conversation takes a deeper turn as they wrestle with the surprising case for institutions. Even imperfect ones like churches, schools, and intentional communities are essential scaffolding for human flourishing. Elizabeth shares her own journey from childhood cultural Christianity through atheism and back to a grounded, mysterious faith, and reflects on…

People in this episode

Host: Ashley Fitzgerald

Guest: Elizabeth Oldfield

Topics covered

• community building
• ideological divides
• cultural connection
• neurobiology of listening
• human flourishing
• spiritual hunger

Keywords

• community
• connection
• ideological purity
• neurobiology
• spirituality
• intentional communities
• cultural change

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Theos

Books & works: The Sacred

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