Dear friends of My Country Talks,

We are excited to bring you the fifth edition of our monthly newsletter. October was quite a busy month for our team and media network, and we have a lot to share from the world of political dialogue. In this newsletter, we have a sneak peek into thousands of conversations from the third annual Europe Talks, a new study on the lasting power of conversation, and our first event in Asia - Thailand Talks.

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues. Anyone can subscribe here.

Europe is talking - join the debate!

On October first, we launched the third annual Europe Talks together with 22 media partners. Over the past five weeks more than 10,000 participants have signed up from 35 countries. We have already matched over 4,000 pairs to meet a perfect stranger from another European country with totally different political views. 

This year we are asking Europe Talks participants a range of questions that cover the most pressing issues in Europe today. Here are some of the answers so far:

You can sign up for Europe Talks until the end of November. Be sure to mark your calendars for our digital live event on December 12.   

Announcing: Thailand Talks

Thailand Talks will take place on November 20, the first My Country Talks event in Asia. Thailand Talks was organised by six local and national media partners from across Thailand and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. Participants will discuss the following controversial questions:

1. Should the state give out money to stimulate the economy?
2. Are the police, prosecutors and courts free and fair?
3. Should the military play a role in politics?
4. Are homosexual couples treated the same as heterosexual couples?
5. Is religion still necessary in the modern world?
6. Should every province have an election for governor in order to have more self-governance?
7. Should children have the right to argue with adults?

Hundreds of participants have already signed up to meet a discussion partner who answered these questions differently. On November 20, Thailand Talks will bring together the country for a day of dialogue, featuring a hybrid live/digital event.

The power of conversation

People tend to think that most conversations do not have a lasting impact on the people they’ve talked to. A recent study from the psychologist Gus Cooney from the University of Pennsylvania challenges this assumption. His team came to the conclusion that people tend to chronically underestimate how much and how often people think and reflect about what they have heard in conversations. In fact, conversations can have a lasting impact on both sides. 

Read the paper to learn more