Spectrum

Listening is the key to important and difficult conversations, according to Al Letson the current host of “Reveal,” the first hour-long public broadcasting show and podcast produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX). He claims with the explosion of social media and cable news shows that Americans have lost the ability to listen to each other. We talk past one another instead of with one another. He also claims that sometimes the best way to deal with a confrontational conversation or hostile ideas being expressed is to just walk away. He feels that bitter arguments should not replace constructive conversation--but if they do—he does not engage. He does not give them space in his life. Letson equates true listening to an “act of love.” He claims that sometimes the most powerful thing that a person can do is “shut up and listen.” Letson has spent much of his career listening and talking, especially on his famous radio programs and podcasts. From 2008 to 2014, he was t