We set out to chart the divisions in America - here's what we found
Earlier this summer, Business Insider launched an ambitious series looking at many of the issues driving Americans apart. We call it "Undividing America" and we found some surprising common ground.
Take climate change. Many conservatives don't even accept the science showing rising global temperatures. Yet, step back and change the way you talk about the environment, and there's a lot more agreement than you might think. Could Republicans fix the planet?
This video is well worth ten minutes of your time. Our own Graham Flanagan traveled back to his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. What he found is that a few years after he graduated from the city's celebrated Central High School, Tuscaloosa effectively "resegregated" its schools. It's sobering.
While he was there, he also found a mother and daughter who hadn't talked much since the election. He was there for their emotional reunion.
There are many ex-felons in this country and most of them can't vote in elections. Elena Holodny reports that changing that would fundamentally change our politics, and could swing a few elections.
Speaking of elections, for all the talk of polarization in Washington, two of the most popular governors in the US won over voters from their opposing party. Eliza Relman interviewed Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, and found bipartisanship isn't dead, and - surprise! - people like it.
Fewer Americans than ever know someone who's served in the military. And that's making life harder for the country's veterans. Kate Taylor has that story.
In the middle of the 20th century, city planners across the country started building big, elevated highways that cut through urban neighborhoods. The hulking structures separated many lower income people of color off from services and stores. But now that cities like New York want to hit undo, and tear down those interstates, Danielle Muoio reports it's not so simple.
We traveled to Iowa where Dana Varinsky found farmers trying to reconcile their core conservative beliefs - especially on social issues like abortion - with their need for immigrant labor. It shows many don't fit neatly into a single political party.
And don't miss other Undividing stories, like the Jewish deli run by Muslims, how Carhartt managed to appeal to both rugged Americans in the West, and hipsters in Brooklyn, and 12 issues almost all Americans agree on (and one where they couldn't be further apart).
After you catch up on these stories, stay tuned for many more over the next few weeks, including a look at surprisingly bipartisan criminal justice reform, interviews with teens that reveal how they differ from their parents and millennials, and what happens when a bank decides to ignore its own lending standards.
All the stories can be found here.