How can you engage in healthy and fruitful conversation with people who think differently?

Brinda Adhikari joins Salma to discuss the importance of healthy disagreement and unpack how conversations between people who think differently can look like. Reflecting on Brinda’s experience in journalism and especially as co-host of “Why Should I Trust You?”—bringing together public health experts, physicians, and people deeply skeptical of both—they discuss the tools to set up and facilitate a hard conversation and the importance of engaging in these conversations to understand others’ points of view rather than to persuading them to change their positions. They also touch on some of the challenges that arise when facilitating these conversations and highlight why connection is a better measure of success. As Brinda points out, hard conversations should be treated as dinner parties, where debates can get rowdy, but people end the night wanting to meet again.

In a time of increasing mistrust and intolerance, this conversation will invite you to explore how to engage and connect across differences.

About the guest:

Brinda Adhikari is Co-Host, Co-Creator and Executive Producer of the top ranked “Why Should I Trust You?” podcast, which explores the erosion of trust in science and public health. She has over 25 years of experience in impactful storytelling and leadership across the streaming, digital, podcast and broadcast space, as a leader, producer, reporter, and a strategist.

Notes:

Acronyms mentioned in this conversation include:

• MAHA — Make America Healthy Again
• NIH — National Institutes of Health
• APHA — American Public Health Association
• AI — Artificial Intelligence

Useful resources:

• Why Should I Trust You (podcast):
  • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-should-i-trust-you/id1788335471
  • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ZvjT4Ls8Q54whJXCrdpjD?si=7a9f1d6ce57a4a82
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whyshoulditrustyou
• Edelman Trust Institute. 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report Trust and Health. 2026. https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2026-04/2026%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Special%20Report%20Trust%20and%20Health_Final.pdf
• O’Brian NA, Kent TB. Partisanship and Trust in Personal Doctors: Causes and Consequences. Brit J Polit Sci. 2025;55:e34. doi:1017/S0007123424000607

Host: Dr. Salma Abdalla

Editors: Catalina Melendez Contreras

Marketing: Kinkini Bhaduri

Music: Eden Avery / Melting Glass from Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/2fqOXWpHab/

The views and opinions expressed by the guest in this episode do not necessarily reflect those of their institution, the funders, or the podcast team.