I would like to have an episode on the Israel situation. I am a 13 year old boy who lives in Israel and I want to know your views on the Israel situation. Without any dumb leftist or rightist garbage mixed in. No politics please. Also I admire you for being a great man who deals with his relationships with people in a way that is healthy for the human mind. This is the part that you will call me for. LGBTQ should never have existed. It is unnatural and from a purely scientific standpoint, it should not be encouraged to young children who can be easily imprinted upon. I encourage you to look into Disneys situation with enforcing leftist “ woke “ policies. And leftists “ converting “ children to transgender people. Those are horrible stuff and the “ spectrum “ is unnatural. Remember, don’t take this badly

I hate you so f$&@ing much! I hate that you brightened my awful day. I hate that you had kind respectful meaningful conversations with people who hold different opinions and beliefs. I hate that you are shining a spotlight on the fact that people are people and deserve to be treated with respect. (Even self identifying Trolls. 😁) And I really really hate that you are a beautifully warm and kind person who wants the world to be a safer, kinder place for everyone, but especially those of us who exist “in the margins”. Sorry, that was sarcastic. Truly though, thank you for your bravery and kindness! I look forward to “hating” you and ALL of your work for a long time to come. Keep it up!

After listening to so many negative political podcasts, I love this guy’s positivity. He’s working to make the world a better place, which I love.

Why do so many people hate jar jar binks??? He (in my opinion) is one of the BEST Star Wars characters. Heck, even George Lucas said that! Thanks for touching on that subject.

It's clear what Dylan Marron sets out to accomplish with this podcast is difficult, but very much worthwhile. I joined the audience after hearing the "Balloon Guy" would be on the show - and the surprise twist on that episode didn't shock me as much as what Michael Schneider revealed about his experience with online bullying - he put into words something I have been struggling with for a long time. This podcast is good for my soul and I love it.

I agree so much …. Myself being straight but loving and caring for many people that are LGBQ feel and see both sides and knowing the right side is hard , just like what u stand for . I see and believe you and this post cast %100. Any form of judgment on anybody is detrimental to their mental and physical health even though the people who are saying and doing it don’t realize it because they don’t see it but the person that is feeling it and getting it torched and receiving it knows which really frustrates me because everyone in this world has been judged in someway shape or form and yet they are quick to point out the more obvious ones and thinking they’re on a higher ground which they are not their skeletons or is just as white and dark and Ghostly as everyone else!

I find the premise of the podcast and your book fascinating and needed! I’m one who feels it’s not needed to tie up the loose ends at past events. But in today’s world, this skill is very much needed! And need badly! Love the podcast and look forward to listening to the book! Peace….

I’ve never woken up excited about finishing a podcast from the night before. The empathy and compassion from you and that you invite from your guests blows me away. It’s simple, it’s loving, it’s what the world needs more than ever.

Dylan Marron has the perfect temperament to do this podcast! He is SO patient and compassionate with his guests. It’s no wonder why none of them actually hate them when he asks the question at the end of each conversation. If he ever starts a podcast called People Who are Jealous of my Husband, I’d love to be on that one!

I really appreciate your strength and your ability to really listen to people. It is so hard to just listen and understand someone else’s life experience. So much of who we are clouds what we can understand, pulling back the veil and unlearning who we are is a very difficult task. Listening without judgement is quite an undertaking. Bravo.

I almost want to write a hate filled review so Dylan will invite me on the show. But from listening since season one I know better. I probably would not agree with the host, and many of the guests, on many social and political issues. Sometimes I feel as if more conservative leaning people are not given fair treatment. I do not mean when they are actually on the show but at the times where the two parties actually have much in common they usually make statements attacking the “other.” Examples are like when guests have overly used the terms homophonic, Nazi or Trumpster to really cast shade over anyone who may simply just passionately disagree with them. However, I think Dylan is a very fair host and moderator and even if we likely don’t see eye to eye, he is the kind of person I’d love to sit down and have a beer (or white wine spritzer, or apple juice, or glass of water…) with and talk about any number of things we could agree on.

Turning the moments of anger, rage and disgust we all experience in life into any conversation is a bold and necessary awkward ingestion we need to have. More. A few episodes in, I am realizing how valuable mediation can be and how infrequently people consider using the tool it is! So many of us feel marginalized - your podcast celebrates the powerful, often hurtful margins.

Balloon guy show was actually VERY good without the detractor! Dylan and Mike had a very insightful conversation that was probably way better than any other folks could have contributed.

This show makes my tear up (in a good way) every time! My go to feel good show. This is model for humanity.

Salvation was my first episode and it was beautiful. It’s opened my mind and made me think! I highly recommend this show to anyone looking to improve themselves and the people around them!!!

I never write reviews but for this Podcast it was worth it. We need more of this type of content. It’s a well needed “change-of-pace” type of content. People have gotten so removed from others stories and this podcast brings people together whom would never ever listen to each otherwise. The internet overlords(algorithm) does a great job of dividing people. Dylan does a very tasteful job of bringing people with different backgrounds and views/beliefs to have a very meaningfully and hard conversation. It’s lovely! Thanks Dylan, this is Grade-A content.

Conversations! Actual conversations where people listen and learn from one another! Can’t say enough good things about this podcast.

What a gem this show is. It models exactly the kind of compassionate communication the world needs more of. I’ve learned a lot from it and I even think it’s made me a better person. I think everyone should listen to it.

Heard his interview on the Argument podcast and got curious about him, liking what I’m hearing so far..

Dylan is a very good person, I think that it’s good that he is making conversation with people that have sent him hateful messages. Btw, in response to the haters: He’s not giving a platform to these people, he’s empathizing with them and trying to figure out why they are doing what they’re doing. Because if you watched the first episode, this podcast is meant to be an experiment rather than pleasurable content

I like this podcast. All of us humans need to learn how to have conversations like thes. I appreciate, because as a teacher, developing habits of control and inviting another perspective are critical.

Thank you for this! I am at a point in quarantine that has me questioning everything (for better or worse). I have a beautiful marriage (of the deeply California kind) and a child who struggles with suicidal ideation and high IQ Autism spectrum (among other diagnosis which we seek constant clarification of). I avoid your podcast normally because it’s often just a little too real....I’m the best possible way. And I was so happy to come back today and not only find you here with what I was hoping to find but even more. I’m thankful that you have curated a special group of people to aid you on your path to expressing humanity. This first show has me hooked and now I definitely want to donate so that I can get my own shout out bumpy another equally well curated emoter. I need my mundane (read as totally human) triumph. Thank you and keep up the spectacular content and humanity!!!!

I love this pod. I first heard you on Welcome to Night Vale and loved your voice and wanted to hear more from you. And I am so glad I did. Honestly what you are doing is very strong and brave and I think it is great. I know I could never talk to someone with such different beliefs than me and be so cool and collected. I love your pod.

I love the concept of this podcast and it is beautifully executed. Dylan is patient and empathetic, and I am amazed by his ability to have a heartfelt conversation with someone he doesn’t agree with. Keep it up!

This is exactly what the world needs right now! It’s so easy to get caught up in the bickering and name-calling and mudslinging, but I’m trying to remember that there’s a human being on the other side of the computer. Thank you for helping me to suppress some of my worst instincts lol

We as a species need more people like you! All over the world, in major metropolitan cities to the smallest townships, there are people that are being repressed, abused and shut down. And I will bet that in almost any situation that there is someone who knows that what is going on is wrong, but that person is not willing to speak up to do what is right... I endured years of child abuse and I experienced time and time again people who would make eye contact with me showing that they care, but in the end they never did anything to help me. So long story short, I cried my eyes out when I found your podcast and listened to your first episode. I feel that I had to give you a little of my history for context so that you would know what I’m trying to explain. Keep doing your magic!! Gratefully yours, Shelli

The host is so kind and understanding. He’s a terrific counselor and arbitrator between people he treats as equals.

When is you’re birthday?? Can we have a special episode where we tell you all the reasons why I/we love you??

Finding this podcast has truly been life changing; not in an over the top dramatic way, but in a practical day-to-day bettering myself kinda way. No matter your political, religious, national identity, this podcast highlights the best of human nature. The conversations and topics are timely and interesting, with the focus being on decency and respect, not on changing anyone’s mind about specific views.

I started listening to the show because I really liked the concept. There were some really good conversations had in the beginning. Now it seems to be conversations between people on the same side who are jerks to each other online. Conversations are riddled with virtue signaling instead of just talking to each other. Still listening hoping for a voice farther right than Joe Biden to show up again.

I really love this podcast and the fact that it stands for open and respectful communication...but I think Dylan mostly speaks in an echo chamber. I’d like to see him get out to debate someone like Steven Crowder. He’s very respectful and civil...but I think this podcast would honestly be better if he understood both conservative and liberal view points at a deeper and sophisticated level.

Thank you so much for being brave and introspective enough to confront the humanity behind the hate that’s so rampant in our world. I truly believe that it’s conversations like these that is the medicine we need today. The idea of “civility” can easily turn toward sugar coating, silencing, and watering down the truth, but this podcast really gets down and dirty in the most wholesome and healing way possible. Love love love.

I love this podcast and recommend it to friends and colleagues all the time!

Thank you, Dylan, for facing the hate head-on and seeing the humanity in everyone (without compromising yourself). Keep up the great work! Your courage is inspiring.

I am an avid listener and long time fan but I have grown frustrated with not addressing the harmful things people say. The detransition article has so many harmful claims in it and constantly uses the wrong terminology like “born into a gender” and to focus on the other transgender guest’s mental health and addiction problems was extremely problematic. Katie said multiple times there was constructive criticism about her piece and yet we never heard about it or why it was so harmful to center a story like that while transgender people fight for their right to live every day. Not to mention it wasn’t even discussed how her piece was such a medicalized point of view and so many trans people live in the world without seeking HRT or surgeries.

Literally. I’m depressed and neurotic, and I work on that constantly. After a serious bout of cyber bullying/harassment about my patient advocacy (for myself and others), I was feeling very low and worthless. Listening to the different points of view you present so well on your show allowed me to see that people don’t always mean the cruel things they say, or there is more nuance behind their words. Like one of your episodes says: Hurt People Hurt People. While I may never know the reasoning behind their jabs, I can let them go peacefully knowing they most likely had nothing to do with me. Thank you for that.

This show is just everything. I reference it a lot when talking to others about empathy, listening to each other, etc. Dylan’s quote: “Empathy is not endorsement” is written large on my glass office wall for students to see as they walk past. In a country where we are so divided it is a breath of fresh air to see someone trying to bridge the divide. Dylan is making the world a better place.

Just found the show. It’s so great!! Way to go Dylan!

I absolutely LOVE this podcast, however I cannot stand when he brings someone on his show who is “open minded” and they just shut down the conversation and goes nowhere. It’s happened a couple of times and drives me up the wall. What’s the point if you don’t actually get anywhere in the conversation? How is this actually helpful towards making a better society towards the people who need it the most?

I find this podcast an interesting way to hear the liberal point of view, in a way that doesn’t make me feel like the left thinks I’m some toothless hillbilly toting a shotgun because I happen to be a conservative.

I call myself friendly, friendly to every type: gay, black, local, foreign, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve always thought we’re all people right? I was sure I would love this podcast, but Dylan took a little getting used to. At first I thought he was just whining. Then I listened a little bit better and I realized what he was doing. He was creating a bridge! He was allowing himself to be walked on so the two sides could finally see each other. Thanks Dylan! Don’t stop what you’re doing, we all need to hear it.

I love this podcast! Dylan has created a safe platform where individuals can be vulnerable, and through vulnerability there becomes understanding which ultimately provides healing. Dylan you have a beautiful soul keep up the amazing work

This is a very helpful podcast for me in my job. Teachers can get some vitriolic hate mail every year. One my colleagues has suggested that I call these “enemies” on the phone. Thanks for giving me confidence and examples about how to do this.

I love this podcast with everything in me! This show literally gets me in tears and warms my heart with understanding biased people with negative comments and seeing where they come from! Dylan Marron is such an incredible person with a lot to show the world!!!❤️

I heard one of the episodes on welcome to nightvales playlist. I usually listen when I sleep and I woke up to one of the episodes of this podcast. The guy was talking to a guy who told someone they should be burned at the stake cause they didn’t like the office. The guy who didn’t see at all like the type to care did a detailed explanation of why he was wrong and apologized, cause people on the internet are totally like that.

Dylan is a breath of fresh air. His calming and relaxed approach in difficult conversation makes this not only a refreshing podcast to listen too but also helps me think about my own actions and thoughts when it comes to partaking in similar dialogues. Thanks for all that you do!

I came here after hearing Dylan on “Food 4 Thot.” I was intrigued when Dylan pointed out the problem with people making snarky arguments whose only purpose is getting praise from people who already agree with them. Let’s learn from his example. As a (gay, white, cis male) member of the queer community, here are my thoughts on the opinion that individual queer people are not responsible to educate/change the minds of others: in general, I appreciate that this criticism exists, however I think it doesn’t apply to this podcast. I would be completely overwhelmed and bothered if a stranger asked me to explain my identity, or if they expressed hateful opinions about it. However, I think differently when it comes to my family. I’ve recently been outed to a religious, semi-accepting, semi-resistant family who have a slew of hurtful beliefs about my identity and ask inappropriate questions about my relationships. I’ve consciously decided to extract out of them every painful misconception they have about the “gay lifestyle” and how it applies to me. I listen and talk to them, slowing nudging them to see me as a complex person whose made up of the parts they’ve always known and the parts of my personality I am sharing with them now. I actively choose to endure the discomfort of these conversations in order to promote change in the people around me and, in turn, my environment. I think this could be applied to Dylan, except he is inviting many more into his “family.” I think that it irritates some people that his podcast grants him the privilege of being relatively safe while having these conversations. However, I’ve never heard him reprimand anyone for not following his lead. Similarly, I absolutely believe that many queer folx do not have the privilege of having a semi-accepting, semi-resistant family like I do. With that said, what’s wrong with people like us changing the few minds that we can? I know he doesn’t claim to be changing discriminatory systems in place, but he is willingly, vulnerably suggesting our humanity in a way that may persuade. If he is able and willing, why shouldn’t he?

Dylan Marron brings together disagreeing voices without being disagreeable. His campaign to make the internet a kinder forum is not just laudable; it may actually be working. Keep up the good work!

This podcast gives me hope in humanity. If I’m having a bad day I know I will feel better after listening to the absolute “love fest” that is this podcast. Dylan has a huge heart and he cares about his fans and his haters. Thank God for giving the world Dylan Maron.

Wow. This podcast makes me feel so validated in a way I’ve never felt before. I think Dylan and I have very similar views on communicating with people and sharing ideas and empathy and I LOVE the discourse that happens in every episode. There’s no “gotcha” journalism. It’s all incredibly genuine, trying to find a respectful common ground. This podcast is a heart hug. Thank you thank you thank you so much for hosting this podcast, Dylan. I love to learn ways I can always improve having conversations.