452. How to Disagree Better with Julia Minson
From Psychologists Off the Clock by Debbie Sorensen, Jill Stoddard, Yael Schonbrun, Michael Herold & Emily Edlynn
March 25, 2026 · 57 min · Episode 452
About this episode
Julia Minson discusses how to engage in constructive disagreements and improve communication.
If you’ve ever ended an argument with your partner, coworker, or family member feeling confused about how it escalated so quickly, this episode is for you. Julia Minson , founder of the Constructive Disagreement Lab and author of How to Disagree Better , explains to us why trying to “win” arguments often starts fights and offers a different metric for success: a disagreement that increases both people’s willingness to talk again. Drawing on her work on naive realism and research on receptiveness, she discusses why differences feel threatening, how listening is hard to perceive in conflict, and how language can signal receptivity using the HEAR framework. Listen in to learn evidence-based tools to make hard conversations in your life more constructive. Listen and Learn: Julia’s upbringing in a family of psychologists, her immigrant experience, and her years as a ballroom dancer, and why people can share the same moment yet see it completely differently, making disagreement inevitable Why a truly constructive disagreement isn’t about “winning” or changing minds, but about improving mutual willingness to continue the conversation and deepening understanding Naive…
People in this episode
Hosts: Debbie Sorensen, Jill Stoddard, Yael Schonbrun, Michael Herold, Emily Edlynn
Guest: Julia Minson
Topics covered
- disagreement
- communication
- conflict resolution
- listening skills
- psychology
Keywords
- disagreement
- communication
- conflict
- listening
- psychology
- naive realism
- receptiveness
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Constructive Disagreement Lab
Books & works: How to Disagree Better
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