On July 17, 2025, another exciting evening of the Bayreuth Peace Talks in cooperation with the Bavarian Scientific Alliance for Peace, Conflict, and Security Research (FoKS) took place in the Bayreuth City Library. Under the title “Political polarization: On the effect of personal conversations and constructive journalism”, freelance Berlin journalist Hanna Israel spoke about ways to reduce social division.
Around 40 interested citizens listened to the lecture, in which Hanna Israel impressively demonstrated the potential of personal one-to-one conversations between political dissidents. As the former head of the international dialog platform My Country Talks (2020-2024), she gave insights into the innovative project that brings people with opposing views together – “Tinder for politics”, as she herself puts it. The aim: to break down prejudices and bridge political divides.
In her lecture, she presented, among other things, scientific findings that show how direct conversations can reduce affective polarization. It also became clear how important constructive journalism is, which does not focus on exaggeration but on solution-oriented reporting – for example in the context of conflicts such as in Gaza or Ukraine.
The subsequent discussion, moderated by Prof. Dr. Jana Hönke (member of the research association Conflicts.Meanings.Transitions), enabled a lively debate on the topic. Participants took the opportunity to ask questions and contribute their own perspectives – critical voices were also heard.
With events like this, the Bayreuth Peace Talks continue to contribute to strengthening social dialog and give an important voice to the topics of peace and conflict research in Bavaria.
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