{"id":886560,"date":"2026-10-18T11:43:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/886560\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T11:43:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:43:31","slug":"a-social-experiment-got-democrats-in-california-talking-to-republicans-in-texas-heres-how-it-went","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/886560\/","title":{"rendered":"A social experiment got Democrats in California talking to Republicans in Texas. Here\u2019s how it went"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n \u201cHello?\u201d says the male voice from San Francisco, a hint of uncertainty in its tone.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHi, I\u2019m Priscilla!\u201d responds Priscilla, with gusto. \u201cCalling from Abilene, Texas, the most conservative town in the country!\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Priscilla and Nick, her Californian conversation partner, wouldn\u2019t appear to be natural confidants. They live 1,500 miles away, and politically, they\u2019re from different universes.\n <\/p>\n

\n But they have entered into a social experiment with a bold but simple premise. In a country that hasn\u2019t felt more divided<\/a> in living memory, what would happen if Democrats and Republicans just \u2026 talk?\n <\/p>\n

\n For much of 2026, two free payphones \u2013 strategically placed in deep blue and red pockets of America \u2013 have connected the country\u2019s most polarized communities. Called the Party Line project<\/a> and run by a mental health startup, Matter Neuroscience<\/a>, the experiment has given liberals and conservatives a direct line into each other\u2019s lives.\n <\/p>\n

\n The project began when the company bought two cheap payphones, restored them, connected them to each other and placed them in two polarized cities: San Francisco, where four in five people voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election; and deep-red Abilene, where 74% of voters in surrounding Taylor County supported Donald Trump.\n <\/p>\n

\n When someone picked up one of the phones, it automatically rang the other \u2014 and for a few minutes at a time, two perfect strangers stopped to listen to the other side.\n <\/p>\n

\n The callers talked about their families, shared their ambitions and whispered secrets, sending private snippets of their lives to a person they\u2019ll likely never meet. Together, the hundreds of conversations reveal something surprising about America: The country is more united than many think.\n <\/p>\n

\n And listening to every chat were two experts in the science of happiness. They shared audio of several of those conversations with CNN \u2013 you can listen to them throughout this story \u2013 and they hope their project can create a blueprint for a better country.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n But even the project\u2019s architects weren\u2019t sure it would work.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was completely against it,\u201d said Axel Bouchon, a neuroscientist who made happiness his specialty after suffering from depression. \u201cI said, \u2018You\u2019re crazy.\u2019 This will be kind of an amplification of aggression and riot.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Bouchon said he believed those two trigger words \u2013 Democrat and Republican \u2013 had become so entrenched that any effort to bring the warring tribes together would fall flat. And in a contentious midterm election year, he braced himself for anger.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo, I think the person most surprised about the results was me.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Jared and Ben begin their conversation the way many people do: They talk about the weather. On this day, it\u2019s colder in Abilene than in San Francisco. They talk about their surroundings: a bookstore on a Texas main street, and the heart of the bustling Mission District. They talk about these two strange payphones, which appeared in their neighborhoods out of nowhere.\n <\/p>\n

\n And then something interesting happens: They go deep.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo what are you looking for, Ben?\u201d asks Jared from Texas, as though this is a first date. It seems to catch Ben off guard for a moment. But then he returns serve: \u201cWhat would make you happy right now?\u201d he asks Jared. \u201cWhat do you not have in life that would make you happy?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

‘I desperately want to get away’<\/p>\n

Source: Matter Neuroscience<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/uploads\/20261014-jared-ben.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n Jared tells Ben about his book club, and the novel the group just read about two elderly women who explore the world together.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI would like to travel more,\u201d Jared says. \u201cI desperately want to get away from where I am, even just for a little bit \u2026 I always want to see more than I see now.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou know, you saying that makes me kind of realize something,\u201d Ben says. \u201cI kind of live in a bubble here \u2026 It\u2019s a really comfy bubble \u2026 but I don\u2019t know what 2026 is like in the rest of America.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The two men speak for seven minutes, but their conversation goes to places that discussions with co-workers, friends and families rarely do. It\u2019s exactly what Bouchon and his business partner, the American entrepreneur Ben Goldhirsh, hoped would happen when they purchased two battered old payphones on Facebook Marketplace and formulated their project \u2013 even if Bouchon didn\u2019t believe it.\n <\/p>\n

\"Organizers<\/p>\n

\n Their start-up, Matter Neuroscience, was founded in 2019 with the mission of better understanding what makes humans feel good. \u201cWe have to decrypt the code of happiness,\u201d Bouchon says.\n <\/p>\n

\n As with the strangers who picked up their phones, the two partners seem an unlikely pair. Goldhirsh speaks with the smooth ease of a tech bro, while the German-born Bouchon rhapsodizes about the brain with the eccentricities of a mad scientist. When CNN spoke with them, Bouchon was in Munich and Goldhirsh was nine time zones away, in his daughter\u2019s bedroom in Santa Barbara, California.\n <\/p>\n

\n But together they have watched as the United States drifted further apart into two bitterly divided factions. A survey by Pew last year found that four in five Americans<\/a> disagree with the other side not just on policy, but on \u201cbasic facts.\u201d In another 2025 study, the research nonprofit found that half of Democrats and Republicans say the other party makes them feel angry<\/a>. And a Gallup poll last year revealed a majority of Americans<\/a> feel that both parties have gone too far in their use of inflammatory rhetoric to criticize their opponents.\n <\/p>\n

‘Congrats bro, you’re normal’<\/p>\n

Source: Matter Neuroscience<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/uploads\/20261014-republicans.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n Bouchon and Goldhirsh said they realized something had gone very wrong in the way people in the US talk about politics.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bouchon explains it scientifically: Political arguments lead to spikes in cortisol, the brain\u2019s primary stress molecule, he says, essentially putting the brain into fight mode. Once there, we\u2019re no longer hearing each other\u2019s viewpoints because the brain is filtering out information that isn\u2019t relevant to our survival.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn a political fight, nobody\u2019s listening anymore,\u201d Bouchon says. \u201cBecause they cannot listen anymore, neurologically.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n But Goldhirsh felt there was a better way to have these conversations.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI have friends who are Democrats (and) I have friends who are Republicans. We don\u2019t actually hate each other,\u201d he says. \u201cI think you\u2019re far less likely to be an a**hole when you\u2019re actually connected with someone.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It quickly became clear that something unexpected was happening, Bouchon and Goldhirsh said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Most conversations followed a typical pattern. The two strangers would usually begin with safe, easy topics: the weather, their jobs, what they were doing that day.\n <\/p>\n

\n Then, many would switch to politics \u2013 but without devolving into anger. Bouchon theorized about why: After easing into the discussions, cannabinoids \u2013 chemicals that regulate functions like mood, sleep and pleasure \u2013 blocked the fight-or-flight effects of cortisol.\n <\/p>\n

‘I have to say it quietly’<\/p>\n

Source: Matter Neuroscience<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/uploads\/20261014-trans-child-(1).mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n Soon, the researchers say, many strangers would realize that neither fit entirely into the labels \u201cDemocrat\u201d or \u201cRepublican.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And then they\u2019d start sharing. A mother in Abilene tells her California conversation partner that she has a trans child. \u201cBut I have to say it quietly. I have to say it really quietly,\u201d she says through nervous giggles.\n <\/p>\n

\n In another conversation, Matt in San Francisco tells Aubrey about his love of motorbikes. \u201cYou are so cool!\u201d Aubrey says effusively in response. \u201cI hope that you know that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHella love going from San Francisco to Abilene, Texas right now,\u201d Matt replies.\n <\/p>\n

‘You are so cool’<\/p>\n

Source: Matter Neuroscience<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/uploads\/20261014-aubrey-matt.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n Not every call was profound. But even the mundane conversations were remarkable in their unremarkableness. People weren\u2019t arguing. They weren\u2019t slamming down the handset. They were talking.\n <\/p>\n

\n As Californians and Texans spoke to each other, Bouchon and Goldhirsh were gathering data on their conversations.\n <\/p>\n

\n Out of roughly 400 chats, 80% were positive, Bouchon says, while just 5% were negative. Just over half included laughter; around 70% involved some kind of agreement or affirmation. The word \u201clove\u201d was mentioned 398 times; \u201cTrump\u201d was said 64 times. And the f-word, says Bouchdon, wasn\u2019t even heard once.\n <\/p>\n

‘We all want the same thing’<\/p>\n

Source: Matter Neuroscience<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/uploads\/20261014-rebecca-abbey.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n Those figures were gathered by Matter Neuroscience and have not been verified by CNN. But Bouchon and Goldhirsh say their company has handed over the set of conversations to Pepperdine University, in Malibu, California. After researchers there study its impact, every transcript will be made public, they say.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bouchon thought the experiment would lead to people \u201csmashing the phones\u201d in anger, but it led him to a different conclusion: \u201cWe can disagree without fighting.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n So, Matter Neuroscience ran two more experiments. One project, carried out over the spring, connected \u201cZoomers\u201d \u2013 students on the campus of Boston University \u2013 with \u201cBoomers\u201d at a senior living facility in Reno, Nevada.\n <\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\n Again, the phones connected disparate worlds. The conversations often touched on loss, grief and the unpredictability of life.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat advice do you have for a young 20-year-old?\u201d Sylvie asks the 66-year-old Valerie in one conversation shared with CNN. \u201cOh man, have fun while you can,\u201d replies Valerie. \u201cAll of a sudden, bam, (I) woke up and here I am.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

“What advice do you have for a 20-year-old?”<\/p>\n

Source: Matter Neuroscience<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/uploads\/20261005-boomer-genz.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n Valerie\u2019s partner of a decade died after overdosing on fentanyl, she says over the course of the 15-minute conversation. \u201cI got a knock on the door, and your whole world changes,\u201d she says.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou better find somebody to take care of you when you get older,\u201d Valerie adds. \u201cBecause you know what, it\u2019s tough when you\u2019ve got to do it by yourself.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n More recently, Matter launched a third project, aiming to link the \u201c99%\u201d with the \u201c1%\u201d by placing a payphone in the trendy Abbot Kinney shopping district of Los Angeles\u2019 Venice neighborhood and pairing it with another in Watts, a lower-income neighborhood south of downtown.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe\u2019re right here in the heart of it,\u201d a community resource coordinator in Watts says on her first day of work, in one of the conversations. \u201cThe surroundings that I see is probably different from yours, she says \u2026 Just people trying to get by.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Another call begins bluntly. \u201cHey, I need some money,\u201d a man in Watts says. He\u2019s met with an awkward laugh. \u201cSo do I,\u201d says the woman in Venice.\n <\/p>\n

\n Goldhirsh and Bouchon say the payphones project has restored their faith in the country at what feels like a pivotal time. Goldhirsh says he \u201cslept better\u201d after hearing the conversations.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cA meaningful slice of America was like, \u2018f**k yeah, we\u2019re Americans, and we\u2019re dope humans, and we want to connect as humans,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be framed as this malicious group of tribes that are at each other\u2019s necks.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And as a bitter midterm campaign season enters its final weeks, Bouchon and Goldhirsh understand the stakes.\n <\/p>\n

\n Goldhirsh hopes that politicians are listening. Over the course of the year, he says he has presented his project\u2019s findings to state governors and other political leaders and encouraged them to lower the temperature in their messaging.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m an optimist,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, I think we\u2019re going to see leaders move towards those areas where we can find common ground.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n But he believes the shift towards a happier America can start with all of us.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have to be proactive at reducing cortisol,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can\u2019t fight it with fire \u2026 You have to fight it with humor. You have to fight it with affection. You have to fight it with friendship.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And the payphone callers seem to agree.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a great idea \u2026 I think conversation and community is the tops of what\u2019s going to save us,\u201d Priscilla in Abilene tells Nick during their chat. \u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re out there, and I\u2019m glad I got to talk to you.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHello?\u201d says the male voice from San Francisco, a hint of uncertainty in its tone. \u201cHi, I\u2019m Priscilla!\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,11718,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-886560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-enterprise","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}