Republican Like Me

Widening the dialogue begun with Strangers in Their Own Land and Hillbilly Elegy, a former NPR CEO and lifelong Democrat's chronicle of his immersion in Republicanism to understand his fellow Americans across the political divide.

Ken Stern doesn’t believe that our political world is as binary as either the elector map shows or pundits say. Extensive research has demonstrated that much of the partisan divide in our country is artificial, driven by media, campaign spending, and the increasing isolation of political communities. He believes that chasm can be bridged with a little listening, and a little human contact. To test his idea, the media executive stepped out of his liberal bubble and hit the road, traveling deep into "red" territory.

For one year, he donned the mantle of Republicanism and spent time listening, talking, and praying with Republicans of all stripes—from neocons to traditionalists, fiscal conservatives to social conservatives, moderates to libertarians. With his mind open and his dial tuned to the right, he went looking for rationality, insight, and maybe even persuasion from conservatives across the land.

Republican Like Me reveals what he found. Stern considers the issues that divide and inflame the left and right: immigration, gun control, abortion, the environment and global warming, elitism and the establishment, the government, the "makers" and the "takers," and attitudes toward gender and race. He introduces the people he met and the viewpoints and opinions he heard, and examines their impact on his own long-standing views.

A look at the nation and politics beyond the headlines, Republican Like Me challenges assumptions and attitudes, and offers Americans of all stripes a road map for coming together.