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Community sessions TALK out the issues Thursday Jan 25, 2018 at 4:39 PM Jan 25, 2018 at 4:39 PM By Kaylee TornayMail Tribune Marla Estes said the 2016 presidential election was what alerted her to a need for change. "I woke up the next morning thinking, this polarization has got to stop, or we're not going to go anywhere," she said. The teacher and founder of the School of the Examined Life, which focuses on inner understanding through film, joined forces the next year with Rob Schlapfer. Schlapfer, a former evangelical pastor and information architect, had launched an event in the summer of 2016 to let the public talk out its issues. Schlapfer and Estes' Weekly TALKs are two-part, often two-day events that begin with a documentary viewing. After that, they both lead attendees in a discussion, typically on the following day, about the topic at hand. So far, the pair has hosted conversations on such subjects as, "Why Do We Disagree On the Facts?" "How to Change Minds (Including Your Own)" and "Can We Be Good Without God?" The topic of this week's talk is "What Happened to Free Speech?" which was held first in the Ashland Library Jan. 5 and 7, and will be hosted again in the Medford Library Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27. The film to be screened at 7 p.m. Jan. 26 is “Shouting Fire: Stories From the Edge of Free Speech.” The 2009 documentary explores various cases of free speech controversy in the U.S. Community members are invited to a follow-up discussion the next day at 3 p.m. Schlapfer and Estes said their styles of communicating complement each other, and each leads a section of the talk. Estes starts with leading the “Viewpoint” section, which centers more on personal stories and experience. After that, Schlapfer directs the "Lesson," which defines terms and identifies parameters for the discussion. From there, the guests are invited to speak further with one another. Schlapfer said the purpose of the Weekly TALK series is not to convince people to agree, but to enable and teach people of different backgrounds, preferences and beliefs to live in a democratic society together. "The point of the TALKs is really to reach this term 'consilience' that I use — it's the bringing together of the best ideas," he said. Schlapfer and Estes said that political discussion is becoming increasingly polarized, and they believe that U.S. democracy is suffering as a result.  “We confuse opinion with fact," Estes said. "We want people to get used to being comfortable with uncertainty." The TALKs also bring community members out from behind screens to talk together. Schlapfer, who has written several letters to the editor over the years, said he's been called a racist or a fraud in the comment sections of the Mail Tribune. At the events, however, he's met some of the commenters in person. "They're quite different," he said. The TALKs have also been painful, and at least one person has walked out. There hasn't apparently been very much racial diversity among attendees at previous events, which could be particularly relevant at a discussion examining free speech as it relates to race. Schlapfer and Estes also hope for more conservative-leaning participants to add to the conversations. Other groups are also planning talks about race and its impact on society later in the year. The Racial Equity Coalition will host "What Stands Between Us" from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, at Southern Oregon University's Stevenson Union. The Hearth, an Ashland-based nonprofit, will host "Finding Our Way Amidst Racial Differences" April 27, led in part by Marjorie Trueblood-Gamble, SOU's director of diversity and inclusion. A full schedule of the Weekly TALKs is available at www.theweeklytalk.com. Upcoming talks will explore the many sides of fighting poverty, empathy and social justice. — Reach Mail Tribune reporter Kaylee Tornay at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ka_tornay.