Back in June we told you about a new project we were launching, One Small Step. The series pairs community members with different political or religious views to have a conversation and get to know each other as people.
Now, the conversations are ready to debut on WYSO, with new conversations coming each Wednesday.
In this interview ahead of the launch, we spoke with Will Davis, director of the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO, which led the project.
This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Jerry Kenney: This is WYSO Weekend on 91.3 WYSO. As always, thanks for sharing your weekend with WYSO and sharing some studio space with us. Right now is Will Davis, Director of the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices here at WYSO. Will, thanks so much for stopping by.
Will Davis: Oh, thank you for having me, I always love being in the studio with you.
Kenney: Last time we talked, or one of the last few times we talked there was a program, a series of stories just getting underway from the Eichelberger Center and it is One Small Step. It's my understanding that those conversations have all taken place and that series will begin airing on WYSO soon.
Davis: It will, this is together with StoryCorps. WYSO joined with them and we did this project called One Small Step, which was about bringing together strangers to find a connection. And we have been recording conversations since the summer. We recorded 25 conversations, that was our goal. We met our goal and that means 50 participants. So 50 strangers in our community came together and met each other and talked for an hour about whatever they wanted to talk about. And so we completed the recordings and now beginning on the 28th of January, 2026, on Wednesday during Morning Edition and All Things Considered, we'll start to hear those conversations, excerpts from those conversations. And it's really fun.
Kenney: You mentioned the last time we spoke about the experience during the, I think maybe a first run on this series where you were working at another place in Tennessee and you mentioned the impact that it had on you.
Davis: Yeah, I did this project before, when I was working at the University of Tennessee. And it was so impactful to me and to the participants. What was different this time, I facilitated every one of them in Tennessee. And so I met with every single person that participated. I was in the studio with them. I shared that responsibility this time. So I facilitated some of them, but not all of them. But yeah, Jerry, when you see people, it's such a peculiar and a lovely project because when two people who have never met before, come together and have a very intimate conversation in how they communicate and how it moves them and what they take away from it. And two, when it's over, how they're exchanging numbers and email addresses and they want to keep in touch. It's just kind of like lovely. It gives you faith in humanity.
I hope this doesn't come out wrong, but it's kind of like you get to eavesdrop on a blind date or something. You're a fly on the wall. Are these people going to connect? Are they going to get along together? Are they going to make each other laugh? Are they going to challenge each other? It's really fun, for one thing. But then also it really does give you faith in humanity,
Kenney: Especially when you consider the wide variety of personalities and talents and values that people bring to the table, some may be introverts with thoughts of where they might want to go in the conversation or extroverts and people who are just happy to talk about anything. I imagine some of that was at play.
Davis: It was. This wasn't really a project about politics. It was created by StoryCorps just after the 2016 election when people were really getting divided, and StoryCorps wanted to do something about the division like a lot of us did. And they had this conversation model that they had perfected. So they said, well, this is what we can do. We usually bring together, loved ones, and have these conversations that we hear here on Friday. But for this project, One Small Step, let's bring together strangers and talk about politics. That's how it began, but it evolved into something else.
Many people chose to talk about politics, but a lot of the people that participated didn't. Once they got together and they were matched based upon their differences and their similarities, they could talk about whatever they wanted to talk about, and it was interesting to see some people really lean into a conversation about this moment in time in America right now. And others just wanted to talk about something else, grief, or a new job, or their children. People really made the time and the space their own. And you learn a lot about people when they have an hour together. What did they talk about?
Kenney: And so when you think of the title One Small Step, tell us how that fits into the premise of this series.
Davis: I think the mission of the project was to take one small step. StoryCorps wanted to do something about the division. A lot of people want to do something about division, and they don't know what to do. And so the idea is, well, this is one small step to bring America together, it's a David versus Goliath battle. It's going to take a lot of conversations to bring us together now. But what do you do? You can't just say, well I'm not going to do anything. And this is one small step toward connecting with somebody who is different from you. It is a lovely project. It's wonderful. I've learned so much and I think our listeners will have a similar experience when they hear it. I feel like I've made 50 new friends.
Listen as more people go from strangers to neighbors every Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. on WYSO 91.3 or anytime at WYSO.org.
