https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtA_9myr96g&feature=youtu.be If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 43 years, it’s that most things of importance are complex and that the world is filled with nuance. The way we talk politics in the US, however, doesn’t allow for much of this complexity and nuance. We oversimplify things. We generalize. We hyperbolize. If you’re on the left, it’s, “How could they be so racist, stupid and selfish?” If you’re on the right, it’s, “Why are they trying to destroy Am...

My name is Joe McGovern. I recently drove 20,000 miles across the United States, through 35 states over 5 months to film my documentary, “The Other Side: A Liberal Democrat Explores Conservative America.” Accompanied by my dog, Charlie, I had one mission: To speak to conservatives of all stripes and truly get to know "the other side." READ MORE: A Liberal Democrat Explores Conservative America and Lives to Tell About It From California to New York, and most states in-between, I hit the road in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSDIomtEUkA Starting in July 2015, IVN partnered with independent filmmaker Joe McGovern to produce a documentary titled: “The Other Side: A Liberal Democrat Explores Conservative America." Joe hit the road in October 2014 with his dog, Charlie, traveling 20,000 miles over 5 months, through 35 states, and giving over 80 interviews with conservative voters of different socioeconomic backgrounds. Working with IVN and the Foundation for Independent Voter Education (...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCckmqImkyA Politicon, which was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on October 9 and 10, was billed as a nonpartisan, comic-con style event for politics and entertainment. There were panels, debates, TV & movie screenings, live radio and podcasts, comedy shows, Q&A’s, book signings, interviews, art exhibitions, and music. Trevor Noah was there. So was Newt Gingrich, James Carville, Ann Coulter, David Axelrod, Cenk Uygur from The Young Turks, Michelle Bach...

Today I want to talk to you about outrage and what I learned from filming my documentary, The Other Side: a liberal democrat explores conservative America. We’re addicted to it. It’s almost as if we like getting angry at the other side and we enjoy the delicious satisfaction of calling the other side ridiculous. But outrage is toxic – both for us and for our political process. Let’s break down the anatomy of outrage. This is from a recent post on my Facebook feed. It’s from Jim Gilmore, who is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D89se8YNfss So, I used to watch The Daily Show every day. It was smart, funny, insightful, revealing, and it reflected the obvious inconsistencies and hypocrisies of conservative America that made me so mad. It felt so good seeing Jon Stewart “stick it” to Fox News. However, sometime early last year it all started to lose its juice for me. It stopped being so entertaining and satisfying and I started to wonder why. What first occurred to me was that I just got t...