What happens when a heated professional conflict comes back years later with unexpected consequences? In this episode, Bill Imada, Chairman and Chief Connectivity Officer at IW Group, shares a high-stakes agency clash that nearly burned a bridge only to reveal a deeper lesson about communication, trust, and second chances. Drawing on IW Group's research into national civility trends, he discusses a striking paradox: most people believe they’re civil, yet expect others not to be. This dynamic fuels silence, avoidance, and missed opportunities for connection. Together, we explore how incivility isn’t just loud and aggressive, but also quiet and withdrawn and why both are dangerous. The path forward? Curiosity, courage, and conversations that bring more voices to the table before it’s too late.

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In this episode of When We Disagree, host Michael Lee sits down with advocate Radia Baxter, a community advocate and political advisor in South Carolina, explores a powerful tension: our desire for economic growth without equal access to opportunity. Drawing from her experience as a teen mother who defied expectations, Baxter shares how personal adversity shaped her commitment to second chances and community empowerment. She argues that true “significant success” means helping others see their own value and bringing them along in the process. From leading programs inside detention centers to building trust across divides, Baxter reveals how vulnerability, access, and belief can transform lives. This conversation explores what it really takes to create opportunity and why trust is the foundation of it all.

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Wilk Wilkinson, host of the Derate the Hate podcast and a leader with Braver Angels, about what it really takes to bridge deep divides. During the pandemic, Wilk worked at a job where he was forced to enforce a mask mandate he disagreed with. The tension between his personal belief and professional responsibility was powerful, and that moment sparked a personal and professional transformation in his life. He dedicated himself to depolarization and constructive dialogue. This conversation explores why curiosity, humility, and a willingness to be wrong are essential for meaningful conversations, why “you can’t hate someone into changing their mind.” Wilk offers a hopeful vision: if more people embraced these habits of curiosity, we might move from zero-sum politics toward genuine understanding and shared solutions.

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