Since the election, Americans on both sides of the political divide have been feeling deeply alienated and profoundly misunderstood. So we’ve been asking our listeners one central question: What’s the thing that you wish other Americans understood about you, that they don’t?

In this live call-in special, Anna speaks with listeners about their answers to this question. Among the Americans we hear from are Kelly, a black woman in Portland, Oregon, who feels frustrated by the “smugness” of the white liberals she’s surrounded by and sometimes feels like she’s not being seen in her community; David, a first-generation Jewish American who was inspired by a recent white nationalist speech to wear a kippah for the first time in his adult life; Katherine, a Republican who’s tired of being labeled a racist and a bigot; and Jorge, who identifies as a progressive but wants other Americans to know that plenty of Latinos lean right politically. 

We also hear from Nora*, a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill who voted for Hillary Clinton and was shocked when Donald Trump won. “When I voted for Hillary…I did it completely against my own career interests,” Nora says. “There are so many people [on Capitol Hill] like me…We are simultaneously terrified of the uncharted unknown but also really excited to…do what we envision for the country.” 

This call-in special is part of The United States of Anxiety, WNYC’s election series. Find out more about the series here.