On the Other Hand

#49 Marquis Hunt, recording artist, interfaith leader, author and thought leader, 9-25-23, Part 1: OTOH episode 49

Glen & April talk with Marquis Hunt, an eclectic community leader who is also a  talented saxophonist and recording artist, interfaith leader, author and thought leader. In this first part of the conversation, Marquis traces his origins in his upraising in Arkansas as a Christian, and how it has influenced his current views and work.  He also explores his roles in our community as a person of faith who reaches across religious boundaries, as he shares some of his key notions about the intersection of personal morality and spirituality. His creation of an online program - The Flow - during the COVID pandemic led him to numerous conversations in response to the racially tinged environment that arose after the George Floyd and related incidents. He describes a public event at that time in which he took a conciliatory approach to those who often are in position, such as law enforcement, people of color, politicians, and others. Marquis shares his approach to dealing with those who are different, how one can respond with love despite being treated at times with bias or other forms of mistreatment. You'll find intriguing his comparisons of his work as a jazz musician with approaches to interacting with others in potentially difficult situations.

#48 Rex Nelson, veteran journalist and political/governmental figure, 9-27-23, single episode: OTOH Episode 48

Rex Nelson is a veteran journalist who also served in key roles in Governor Mike Huckabee's administration. In this interview with Rex (a single, 45-minute episode), we hear his take on the uniqueness of Arkansas and how it provides him a rich depth of topics for his columns, which include historical, cultural, political and other coverage of life in Arkansas. Some recent developments in the state are seen as offering Arkansas an important opportunity to grow economically and culturally, although he describes some concerns from current political developments in the state that may fail to take advantage of this moment.  A long-time Republican, Rex explains his recent criticisms of the state and national Republican party and his desire for a return to what was historically considered conservative philosophy. He outlines key current political movements and media developments that he sees as jeopardizing our democracy and reviews some key potential efforts that could help move us back to a more healthy and effective democracy. He also contrasts how Mike Huckabee's governorship functioned with how the governor's daughter and current governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has performed so far as governor. Tips are offered for how to get along with those who have differing political philosophies, and he suggests some areas of bipartisan agreement that have the potential to improve the current polarized state of Arkansas politics.

#47 John Brummett, prominent and long-time Arkansas journalist & columnist, 8-25-23, Part 2: OTOH Episode 47

In this second part of our interview with John Brummett, April and Glen hear John assert that "a steady, committed effort to human dialog" is a potential antidote to polarization. Currently, he views our nation as a "tied country" where the political math leads politicians to feed on division and pandering to the base of each party, while demonizing the other side. His solution is that moderates must become a movement on their own. The current state of the media, which is discussed in some detail, makes a movement from the middle particularly tough, as he feels our politics have become largely nationalized. Unfortunately, John feels this reality has made state and local news sources less relevant and influential in the community. Options for maintaining a healthy “media diet” are discussed. In addition to pushing for a more involved moderate element in this country, John advocates for "a movement for human connectedness." Finally, John sheds light on the evolution of his alter ego “Bubba” in his columns.

#46 John Brummett, prominent and long-time Arkansas journalist & columnist, 8-25-23, Part 1: OTOH Episode 46

Glen and April interview John Brummett, prominent long-time Arkansas journalist and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. John describes his early family life as a pivotal influence, and he relates an instance when he was criticized in his family's church for an article he wrote, and how his family responded. Also, he noted that while he generally did very well in elementary school, there was one area of conduct in which he persistently got poor ratings, and how this may explain his subsequent success in his career choice. Although he is widely viewed as liberal, John says he now is "formerly liberal, never conservative" and that he has disdain for extremes on both sides of the political spectrum (for example, he views some extreme leftists as "illiberal"). At this point, he believes neither main party now serves our country well. Instead, he advocates for a "muscular moderation" by persons in the broad center, whether right or left leaning. A key for him in doing this is via the strength of human connection. 

#45 Kathy Webb, Little Rock city board member and longtime community activist in hunger, LGBTQ, and other issues, 6-21-23, Part 2: OTOH Episode 45

In this second part of our interview with Kathy Webb, Little Rock city board member and longtime community activist in hunger, LGBTQ, and other issues, Glen & April learn ways Kathy feels we can each help manage emotion and tribalism, in order to better work toward the common good. She mentions several areas in which she sees opportunities for bipartisan agreement or compromise, including public safety and crime, as well as homelessness. She shares her hopes and concerns for Arkansas, and then she concludes with a story about a powerful moment for her that involved famous (and now recently deceased) rock and R&B singer Tina Turner. 

#44 Kathy Webb, Little Rock city board member and longtime community activist in hunger, LGBTQ, and other issues,, 6-21-23, Part 1: OTOH Episode 44

Glen & April interview Kathy Webb, Little Rock city board member and longtime community activist in hunger, LGBTQ, and other issues. In the first part of our interview, Kathy describes her early influences on her political views and activities as related to being raised as a "PK" or preacher's kid. Later, she came to identify with the feminist movement, and she also early on recognized the relative lack of opportunities for role models for gay/lesbian youth. All of these experiences, she feels, led her to grow and learn how to deal with being different from others. Later in her life when she was elected multiple times to the Arkansas legislature, she gained additional insight into how building relationships and compromise was critical to being effective.  A recent influence was a book she read by author Monica Guzman (a previous guest on our podcast), who emphasizes curiosity as a way to reduce negative emotion and hostility in discussions, while building a closer relationship. She also described some work she and others have done in Arkansas recently to work toward civil discourse in the community, something she feels Braver Angels Arkansas can help promote.

#43 Lisa McNeir, retired psychologist & Braver Angels Arkansas alliance co-chair, 6-14-23, Part 2: OTOH Episode 43

In the second part of our interview with Lisa McNeir, retired psychologist & Braver Angels Arkansas alliance co-chair, Glen & April hear how Lisa's past experience as a school teacher suggests to her the value of including early education about human differences as important.  She explains how this could be done via training of teachers to take advantage of daily opportunities in the classroom with students to promote tolerance and empathy, not necessarily as a specific course. Although Braver Angels promotes civility, she also points out ways that civility and politeness can serve as a cover for cruelty and to reduce chances for compromise if not utilized in good faith. As a former psychologist, she talks about the potential for teaching everyone basic emotion regulation skills as another avenue to help reduce the innate tendency to make political decisions based on largely unrecognized emotional/tribal factors. For Lisa, the critical issue in dealing with polarization is "what we are capable of vs what we choose to do." She sees connection with others as foundational if we are to improve our work in our country's political environment.

#42 Lisa McNeir, retired psychologist & Braver Angels Arkansas alliance co-chair, 6-14-23, Part 1: OTOH Episode 42

In this first interview with Lisa McNeir, retired psychologist & Braver Angels Arkansas alliance co-chair, Glen & April hear how Lisa’s positive impression with Braver Angel's training and approach in helping prepare its activists influenced her decision to help her local alliance carry out its mission. She points out the vulnerability many feel in speaking up about political views as an impediment to confronting toxic polarization. However, she suggests skills taught in Braver Angels, along with self-awareness and determination to be a better human being, can overcome this obstacle. She also advocates early education about human differences as a long-term approach with merit. While she views social media as a "beast" in worsening tribalism, she also feels each side has important contributions. For example, she sees the liberal view as "bringing people together" as a central principle.

#41 Nitin Agarwal UA Little Rock Professor and Social Media influence researcher, 7-18-23, Part 2: OTOH Episode 41

In part 2 of our interview, Glen and April discuss with Dr. Nitin Agarwal, professor and chair of the Information Sciences department at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, what he has learned about how bad actors around the world plan and implement influence operations online, including through information environment manipulation, mis/disinformation and propaganda campaigns.  Dr. Agarwal explains how "social cyber forensics" is used to investigate "mal-information" online, how "adversarial AI" is being increasingly used in social media to negatively impact countries by other nation-states or groups who seek to sow discord in their enemies' culture, and the impact this has on democracies. His work with Arkansas government officials, the US defense establishment, and NATO has led his group to provide important insights into the potential harm that certain social media influence operations can cause, as well as to suggest ways to combat these destructive efforts. Nitin concludes with several ideas about how individuals, media platforms, and government can help work against these negative influence operations. 

#40 Nitin Agarwal, UA-Little Rock Professor and Social Media influence researcher, 7-18-23, Part 1: OTOH Episode 40

Glen and April welcome University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor Dr. Nitin Agarwal, the Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Chair & Distinguished Professor in the UA-Little Rock Information Science Department. Dr. Agarwal is also the Director of the Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (COSMOS). His work focuses on influence operations online, information environment manipulation, mis/disinformation and propaganda campaigns that primarily originate outside the US and which potentially impact US defense strategic interests. As a subject matter expert on how social media is used to impact people and societies, such as through promoting toxic polarization and other negative consequences, Dr. Agarwal was interviewed to help us better understand what he and his team have found through his research about the ways that social media is being used in nefarious ways around the world. We also explore with him ways to improve our interactions with social media in our culture. In this first episode, Nitin describes the "good, bad and ugly" behaviors on social media, tactics, techniques and procedures used for online influence campaigns, and how social media, which originated with high hopes for positive use in society, has gone down a dark path in many ways currently.