The stories we tell about "those people"

The stories we tell about "those people"

From More In Common by More In Common Podcast

May 8, 2026 · 30 min · Episode 233

About this episode

The episode explores the narratives we create about others and their impact on our perceptions and policies.

We told ourselves these stories were just being careful. Discerning. Realistic. This week Keith and Gerren get into why that's almost never actually true — and what the brain is really doing when it writes narratives about other people before we've said a word to them. Keith tells the story of a missing wallet, a homeless man on Manhattan Beach Pier, and what happened when they chose curiosity over certainty. Gerren brings research showing that dehumanizing narratives about groups literally constrain what policies people will accept — even against their own national interests. Together they work through the contact hypothesis, Jackie Robinson, warmth vs. competence, and why you cannot simply decide to stop stereotyping. This is the arc finale. It earns everything that came before it. Neither of us settled it. The Arc: 🎧 Episode 1 — The Trust Recession 🎧 Episode 2 — The Cost of Being Right 🎧 Episode 3 — Tightly Held Values, Loosely Held Beliefs 🎧 Episode 4 — The Stories We Tell About Those People Resources Mentioned: 📊 2026 Political Research Quarterly → https://prq.sagepub.com 📚 Contact Hypothesis → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_hypothesis Find Us: 🌐…

People in this episode

Hosts: Keith, Gerren

Topics covered

  • narratives
  • stereotyping
  • dehumanization
  • contact hypothesis
  • curiosity
  • policy acceptance

Keywords

  • stories
  • narratives
  • stereotypes
  • dehumanization
  • curiosity
  • contact hypothesis
  • policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Political Research Quarterly, Contact Hypothesis

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