How can community repair our polarized politics? With Rebecca Davis, Director & Producer of Join or Die

2025-10-07

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In this episode, we’re hearing from Walking on Eggshells. Our letter today is from a community builder who wants to know how we can bridge the political gap in our families and communities when it all feels so impossibly polarized.To better help Walking on Eggshells, I invited the director and producer of the documentary Join or Die, Rebecca Davis, as my guest. This feature-length documentary is a commentary on the decline of social capital in the US over the last two decades and its implications for democracy.It can be scary and d...

To better help Walking on Eggshells, I invited the director and producer of the documentary Join or Die, Rebecca Davis, as my guest. This feature-length documentary is a commentary on the decline of social capital in the US over the last two decades and its implications for democracy.

It can be scary and despairing to bear witness to the quickly growing divides in our society. I don’t need to sit around your Thanksgiving table to know most of our attempts at conversations result in more disconnect than repair.

Thankfully, this episode will leave you filled with hope, excitement, and an actual game plan to start bringing us out of these dark times, one small step at a time. So, be sure to tune into this spectacular conversation with one of the few people who has studied it in tremendous depth.

In this episode:

(03:00) Meet Rebecca Davis and her documentary, Join or Die

(04:44) Why the word “community” is absent from the film

(07:28) The actual outcome of connection

(09:26) The communitea: Walking on Eggshells’ letter

(11:25) A counterintuitive solution for healing the political divides

(14:04) Why digital spaces and conversations aren't working

(17:26) How purely social clubs can easily build power and start creating change

(21:05) The very political history of women only book clubs

(23:03) How groups both impact and reflect society

(24:14) Rebecca's journey from covering worsening symptoms to highlighting the root cause

(27:37) How to build a loyal and engaged community instead of just an audience