How Communities Can Heal Our Polarized Society with Rebecca Davis
- Brianna Leever
- Oct 6
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 8
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 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
(32:27) Make sure your community tools and design deliver on the community promise
(35:11) Is it unethical to charge for community membership?
(41:29) The simplest data-backed thing you can start doing now to bridge the gap
Resources Mentioned:
🎳 Learn more about Join or Die and find a screening near you here.
📺 Watch the full documentary on Netflix.
🎧 Catch my interview with Mallory Contois on Dear Bri Episode 11.
🎙️ Check out The Necessary Conversation podcast.
🎤 Catch my interview with Noele Flowers on Dear Bri Episode 4.
👥 Learn more about the new community app LOCL by Bob Dalton.
❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.
💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.
Noteworthy quotes:
"One of the ultimate messages of the film is that it is with others that we build power. And I think anytime we are building power, it is political because we can then use that power towards very great ends of change in how we want to see our world looking." - Rebecca Davis
" Part of what I've grown into and learned from other community builders even in this space is that connection in itself isn't necessarily an outcome, it's a vehicle for this outcome, which is social capital, it is the building of the value of these social connections." - Bri Leever
Rebecca Davis
Rebecca is one of the directors & producers of the feature-length documentary, Join or Die, on the life and work of civic guru Robert Putnam. She was a senior producer with NBC News for nearly a decade, where her work focused on social movements, environmental and economic justice, and community innovators. She has produced for HBO, VICE, Al Jazeera and A&E and was the supervising producer for Season 2 of Vox’s Netflix show Explained.
🖥️ Website
Bri Leever
Bri got her start building a community and growing it to a multi-million dollar revenue stream for a social enterprise in Portland, OR. Now, she supports folks used to running their business on content, coaching, and consulting to create their community offer. She's a Community Strategist by day and a Campervan host by night on the Big Island of Hawaii and you'll usually find her on, in, or under the water.
🖥️ Website
📹 Youtube
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