Big Idea presenter to speak on understanding, commonality

By Kelly Black
for the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

Five words just might be the antidote to our fractured society.

Warren Etheredge — Seattle based writer and cultural conversationalist — will be talking at Words & Wine on Friday at CAVU Cellars. The event is sponsored by the Walla Walla Public Library as part of the Big Idea Talks series. 

“We live in polarized times and there is a reflex to try to keep things simple and not consider the nuance,” Etheredge said. 

He has worn numerous hats — teacher, host, editor, producer, programmer — but the label he feels most comfortable with is story finder. 

“I think that most of the challenges facing us as a society can be initially addressed with better story telling,” he said. “To me, story brings back nuance.”

He thinks many of the problems we face as a culture are more complex than what we initially want to credit them for. It is tempting to try to oversimplify the issues into sound bites.  

Working in communities that are polarized is not new to Etheredge. As a founding faculty member of the Red Badge Project, which helps combat veterans work through post-traumatic stress by giving voice to their unique stories, he often enters classrooms of veterans who have polarizing political viewpoints. 

One of his goals is to transcend divisiveness and bring the group to a common place of emotional understanding. 

“It is getting way beyond the politics,” he said. “Politics are almost insignificant in the long run.”

What is significant to Etheredge are our emotional fears and what we feel like we are losing. 

While individuals may have theoretical and ideological differences, he believes that all people are concerned about the same things on a deep human level. Once that emotional commonality is discovered, the idea of being divided — or worse, the idea of hating — goes away pretty quickly. 

“To me, with good story it is impossible to hate,” he said. 

Etheredge is interested in the concept of restorative justice. Central to that process is perpetrators and victims meeting or exchanging letters to tell their stories. In their narrative they describe their personal experience, what happened to them and how it has affected them. Perpetrators witness and begin to own the emotional impact of their actions. Victims get an opportunity to understand how personal history and emotional place influenced the perpetrators’ decisions. 

Story brings back nuance. In nuance, the complexity of the issue is seen and the emotional impact on a broad range of people can be understood. People discover common ground. 

At this summer’s Walla Walla Movie Crush — a film festival Etheredge produced — there was a package of political films. A veteran attending the festival became upset by some of the concepts presented in the films. Etheredge sat down with him on a landing outside the theater to have a conversation. 

Superficially, the two did not have a lot in common. But when they started sharing their own stories they realized a sense of community. Etheredge recalls that within 10 minutes they were both laughing. 

“I don’t care how anybody voted one way or another,” Etheredge said. 

Instead of asking the question, “How could you vote for the other person?” a more relevant question becomes, “How were you thinking?” This query starts a critical process. 

“I am actually starting to consider what we can do about the things you are afraid of,” said Etheredge. “What can we do about the things that break your heart?”

At Words & Wine, Etheredge will invite the audience to reconsider the potential of five words: curiosity, compassion, accountability, success and faith. Etheredge believes these five words impact both the quality of our society’s communication and our ability as individuals — living in a fractured society — to tell our stories. 

“To me, these five words are the antidote to polarization,” he said.

He is thrilled to return as a speaker for the Big Idea Talks and help launch Words & Wine as an expansion of the series presented every year by the Walla Walla Public Library. 

Taking a Big Idea Talk to a new venue was the brainchild of Library Director Beth Hudson. 

“The library is a natural gathering place with its resources, central location and openness to new ideas but what about taking the mindset of the library to a new venue?” Hudson said. “What will change? Who will attend? We’re curious.” 

As a speaker, Etheredge looks for input and response from the audience. He hopes the new venue — and sharing a glass of wine together — will be conducive to the audience feeling part of the conversation.

“My job is to create a context in which people can think,” he said. “I hope it is provocative in a good way.”