Episode 3: The Cost of Caring

Out of 65 people I talked to, 55 said politics feels divisive and negative. Most had personal experience with confrontation—arguments online, ruined friendships, the sense that expressing a belief could cost them a relationship.Here's what surprised me: the less engaged someone was, the more willing they were to listen to people they disagreed with. But they were also the most likely to stay quiet. Meanwhile, the people most eager to talk politics often couldn't understand why anyone would opt out.Being political isn't just a set of actions—it's an identity. And for a lot of young people, it's one they don't want to adopt. In this episode, we explore what that identity looks like from the outside, and why the people most willing to have real conversations are the ones least likely to start them.