Benjamin Franklin spoke and wrote in ways that, if taken up now, could begin to erode the polarization of the current era.
A Trump supporter and an anti-Trump demonstrator shout at each other near Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., Nov. 14, 2020.
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Biden's winning campaign message was one of unity. But even the people who study polarization can't agree on whether it's possible to unify the United States.
A woman views a manipulated video that changes what is said by President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama.
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Randy Stein, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Alexander Swan, Eureka College, and Michelle Sarraf, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
How much weight would you put on a scientist's expertise versus the opinion of a random stranger? People on either end of the political spectrum decide differently what seems true.
Talking politics increasingly seems like an exercise in talking past one another.
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Using machine learning to study over 85 million YouTube comments, a research team has, for the first time, identified linguistic differences among cable news viewers.
People see bias in the stories that favor the other party, but they tend not to see bias in stories favoring their own party.
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Charges of media bias are nothing new, though they've gotten louder since 2016, led by President Trump. But a press free to take a variety of viewpoints was the founders' intention.
Something about our current moment seems to have put a particular strain on our personal relationships.
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A recent Pew survey showed just how deep the divide has become, with about 40% of registered voters saying that they didn't have a single close friend supporting a different presidential candidate.
Both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump have been accused of using hate speech.
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My research shows that when politicians use hate speech, it's not just empty rhetoric or political theater: Domestic terrorism increases, in the US and in other countries.
Protestors hold anti-mask signs at a protest in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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A growing chorus of people say the US has never been so politically divided. A Civil War historian reminds readers that there was once a far more divided time.
More Americans say they now avoid the news altogether.
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Whether due to Trump or unhappiness with the mainstream media, Americans say that they are avoiding the news more than before.
Senator Chuck Schumer holds up the White House transcript of a call between President Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
A growing body of research points to the importance of one personality trait – intellectual humility – and how it influences our learning, relationships and worldview.
Although headlines scream culture wars, Atlantic Canadians agree on a lot of key issues. Here, a view of the Halifax skyline, early morning.
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As Canada approaches its federal election, political pundits have been warning of a polarized war among Canadians. But a new survey tells a story of unity.
Days before their Oct. 28 presidential election, Brazilians protested news that supporters of right-wing front-runner Jair Bolsonaro had used WhatsApp to spread false information about his opponents.
Reuters/Nacho Doce
Facebook retired its 'Move fast and break things' slogan – perhaps because, as new research from Brazil confirms, democracy is among the things left broken by online misinformation and fake news.