The Purple Principle Podcast

Series produced by Fluent Knowledge

Caption: The Purple Principle Podcast , Credit: Fluent Knowledge
Image by: Fluent Knowledge 
The Purple Principle Podcast  

The Purple Principle is a non-partisan podcast for independent-minded Americans exploring the perils of partisanship in U.S. politics, society and daily life.

By most measures, the US has over 40 million independent or unaffiliated voters (that’s a large audience!) representing more than a third of the electorate. Yet despite large and growing numbers, independents are often missing from the national conversation.

Independents have no cable channel or national newspaper. You rarely encounter an independent perspective on a major network or opinion page. And there’s a surprising lack of scholarship on them as well. Yet independents loom large come election time precisely because of their large numbers and low predictability.
At the Purple Principle, our audience is those independent-minded and unaffiliated Americans.

These questions lie behind every episode of The Purple Principle: How did these United States get so thoroughly partisan? How do we get less partisan? Can independent-minded Americans help bridge the divide?

Along our podcast journey, we interview experts from many different backgrounds: neuroscientists, comedians, mediators, legislators, musicians, non-partisan groups, political scientists and statisticians.

At the end of each episode, we ask this Exhausted American Majority tired of partisan political battles, to share their own purple tales as mediators between blue and red family members and friends. Hide full description

By most measures, the US has over 40 million independent or unaffiliated voters (that’s a large audience!) representing more than a third of the electorate. Yet despite large and growing numbers, independents are often missing from the national conversation. Independents have no cable channel or national newspaper. You rarely encounter an independent perspective on a major network or opinion page. And there’s a surprising lack of scholarship on them as well. Yet independents loom large come election time precisely because of their large numbers and low predictability. At the Purple Principle, our audience is those independent-minded and unaffiliated Americans. These questions lie behind every episode of The Purple Principle: How did these United States get so thoroughly partisan? How... Show full description


77 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Like Family, Like Nation: A Braver Angel Mediates Polarization at Home & Nationwide, Credit: The Purple Principle
Mónica Guzmán of Braver Angels is a fascinating conversationalist who knows how to stop a conversation, particularly among blue-leaning Seattle fri...

  • Added: Apr 26, 2022
  • Length: 29:15
Caption: Is Texas the Future of America? These Not So United States (TX Finale), Credit: The Purple Principle
The Purple Principle brings its seven-part series on politics and identity in the already huge, yet fast-growing Lone Star State to a conclusion wi...

  • Added: Apr 12, 2022
  • Length: 27:16
Caption: A New American Operating System? These Not So United States (TX Part 6) , Credit: The Purple Principle
Purple Principle listeners know these not so United States need a new political operating system. But who’s going to code it? We talk this episode ...

Bought by RadioFreePalmer and KNCT FM


  • Added: Apr 01, 2022
  • Length: 24:12
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Lone Star Launch Pad for Rear-Guard America? These Not So United States (TX Part 5), Credit: The Purple Principle
Our special guests for this fifth episode on Lone Star State identity are two authors with Texas-sized reputations: Lawrence Wright (The Looming To...

  • Added: Mar 29, 2022
  • Length: 32:31
Caption: Polarized Politics & Hispanic Identity: These Not So United States (TX, Part 4) , Credit: The Purple Principle
The Purple Principle is visiting the Lone Star State, and wondering if the famously strong Texas identity is holding up under the powerful forces o...

Bought by KNCT FM


  • Added: Mar 24, 2022
  • Length: 34:31
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Growth, Diversity & One Party Politics? (TX Part 3), Credit: The Purple Principle
Is democracy still democracy when one party wins all the elections? That’s a question we’ll be asking around the country on our state level identi...

  • Added: Mar 15, 2022
  • Length: 32:57
Caption: Strongest Identity of Them Y’all? These Not So United States (TX Part 2), Credit: The Purple Principle
Texas has long had one of the most powerful and vocal identities of any American state. But how’s that unique Texas pride faring under the homogeni...

  • Added: Mar 08, 2022
  • Length: 29:43
Caption:  Messing with that Texas Identity? These Not So United States (TX Part 1), Credit: The Purple Principle
The Purple Principle kicks off its extended Season Three series on state level polarization with a mini-series on the great state of Texas. And who...

  • Added: Mar 01, 2022
  • Length: 27:42
Caption: Heard the One About a Centrist Congressman? Carlos Curbelo on Polarization in the House, Credit: The Purple Principle
What’s it like to represent one of the very few remaining swing districts on the U.S. Congressional map, and be virtually the only Republican membe...

  • Added: Feb 22, 2022
  • Length: 27:47
Caption: Voice of Reason for Independent Minds: Talking Media & Polarization with CNN's Michael Smerconish, Credit: Fluent Knowledge LLC
Join us today for this master class from Michael Smerconish on partisan politics in the media and partisan media in politics, the tightly-wound sym...

  • Added: Feb 08, 2022
  • Length: 28:00
Caption: The United States of Narcissism? Speaking of Democracy's Worst Enemies with Tom Nichols, Credit: Fluent Knowledge LLC
A conversation with the author Tom Nichols about his book Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy, and the threat that we ...

  • Added: Jan 25, 2022
  • Length: 29:45
Caption: Wait, I’m Not the Crazy One! Sarah Longwell, Conservative Watchdog of Republican Sanity
Sarah Longwell on Republican accountability post-Trump, in conversation with creator/host and lifelong Independent Robert Pease, and co-host and Ex...

  • Added: Jan 11, 2022
  • Length: 29:20
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We review the top insights given by Purple Principle guests in 2021.

  • Added: Dec 28, 2021
  • Length: 19:28
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We discuss important questions around social identity with Dr. Dominic Packer.

  • Added: Dec 14, 2021
  • Length: 28:45
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In this Purple Principle Part Two of our Holiday Survival Kit, we learn from Lee McIntyre how artful pushback must be to reach skeptical counterpar...

  • Added: Nov 30, 2021
  • Length: 28:09
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Our featured guest, social psychologist Tania Israel, thinks not and should know. Dr. Israel has been holding workshops over the past two decades t...

  • Added: Nov 16, 2021
  • Length: 28:12
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In this episode we talk to Paul Redford: a writer from The West Wing, Luke Savage: a culture critic, and Dr. Betty Kaklamanidou: a media scholar

  • Added: Nov 02, 2021
  • Length: 01:14:18
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In this episode we talk to David Mandel head writer and showrunner of the iconic HBO satire, Veep.

  • Added: Oct 19, 2021
  • Length: 39:26
Caption: Amazing Grace For Our Partisan Times: Sarah and Beth, Creators of Pantsuit Politics
Is it possible to have grace-filled conversations during these ingracious times of ours? After 500 episodes heard by hundreds of thousands of lis...

  • Added: Oct 05, 2021
  • Length: 29:42
Caption: Liberty  & Justice For Some: Two Centuries of Independent Black Leaders & Political Movements
Here’s a seemingly inexplicable historical event: How did the anti-slavery Republican party take the White House in 1861, only six years after its ...

  • Added: Sep 21, 2021
  • Length: 32:00