The Political Empathy Lab, an initiative of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Paideia Program, launched a podcast series on Oct. 10 discussing civil discourse and Pennsylvania state politics.
The Lab is headed by Lia Howard, fellows director at the Paideia Program and senior fellow in the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program. She and seven Penn undergraduate students traveled around Pennsylvania this past summer to sharpen their political discourse skills and connect with residents, visiting Troy, Allentown, Lancaster, and Johnstown, among other areas.
The series is part of Paideia’s podcast “The Park,” which examined various topics related to civil discourse in its five previous series. In the first episode of PEL’s new series, participating students introduce themselves and provide an overview of political empathy.
Howard has taught the course “Political Empathy and Deliberative Democracy” in the Political Science Department. While deliberative democracy is well-defined in the political science field, Howard said that she believes political empathy is less so, explaining she has “75 working definitions” of the term.
“Empathy is both a product and a process, meaning that as you engage in empathy, you become more empathetic, which is an active, applied thing you must do,” Howard said.
Howard added that previous students often reported encountering a lack of diverse perspectives on divisive issues on Penn’s campus. Their feedback inspired her to consider a trip through Pennsylvania given its “swing state” status alongside its demographic and political diversity.
After approaching Provost John Jackson Jr. about the trip, Howard received funding for the pilot program that took place this summer, as well as one-week programs planned for the summers of 2025 and 2026.
College sophomore Noah Kocher, who was on the trip over the summer and is now involved in podcast production, said that the PEL program has been “a really beautiful community” of different perspectives around Penn’s campus, from “athletic teams to a cappella.”
Kocher, a native of Phoenixville, Pa. — an hour west of Philadelphia — was drawn to the Lab because they hoped to get to know Pennsylvania beyond the region where they had grown up. Kocher said he also hoped to learn about an approach to political discourse rooted in mutual care and respect.
“'I’ve been to Lancaster, I’ve been to Allentown, I've been to a lot of the places that we went to, but, I haven't spent a lot of time in any of those places,” he added.
Kocher said that they hope the podcast will share the personal experiences of students on the trip as they were able to make “really great” personal connections with people whose views differed from their own. According to Kocher, future episodes of the podcast will cover strategies for political discourse, Pennsylvania’s political geography, primary issues for Pennsylvania voters, and insights from each student on their experiences and growth during the trip.
College senior Autumn Cortright, another student on the trip, recalled her encounter with two employees of a solar panel business in Troy about energy and economic issues. They were initially hesitant, she recalled, but “once the trust was built,” they started leading the conversation themselves.
“It seems that folks appreciated the space our conversations gave them to talk through those internal evaluations [on political issues],” Cortright said.
Cortright added that the experience taught her more about “the power in listening,” helping her participate more intentionally in sensitive conversations and allowing people “to open their hearts and minds" to her.
The students shared their hope to see the podcast — and other efforts by the PEL — impact campus discourse positively, especially amid tensions around the war in Gaza. Kocher especially noted a need for people to be “caring with each other” at Penn.
“We need to look at each other like people, and we need to take that responsibility to look at each other like people very seriously,” Kocher said.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate