The question came at the end of an energetic workshop on climate change.
It was early March, just before COVID-19 changed everything. In a room full of Duke alumni and alumnae, a middle-aged woman started, haltingly at first.
“I have a relative- an uncle- who just won’t listen to the facts about climate change. He doesn’t believe in it, and doesn’t want to hear about it. I love him but I can’t change his mind. How can I talk with him about it?”
She was asking a simple question: How can we have difficult conversations that matter?