Q

Shad: how conversation can build understanding through our differences

Shad reflects on how conversation can bring people together in spite of our wildly different lived experiences.
You probably won't see Shad trying to climb Niagara Falls any time soon, but the q host says learning about experiences vastly different from his own can build a deeper understanding between people. (Greg Mionske/Red Bull Content Pool)

How can peoples' differences bring them closer together, instead of wrenching them further apart?

Shad faced that seeming contradiction multiple times this week.

From adventurer Will Gadd who feels most comfortable while challenging the elements in his death-defying stunts, to listening to the gulf between Indigenous peoples and other Canadians with the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it might be hard to see another human being's lived experience as anything other than alien.

But, as Shad says in his essay this week, understanding comes through the power of conversation — and listening.