about the podcast
Do you worry about politics being unhinged and unsalvageable? Does the state of the world worry you? Do you ever feel hopeless about what you — a lone person — could possibly do to make things better?
“Dismantling the Divide” is a podcast exploring these questions and others, with a simple goal: to build a more peaceful world. The show is built around the 2024 World Summit of Nobel Laureates for Peace, which took place in Monterrey, Mexico. The multi-day event brought together Nobel Laureates, businesspeople, economists, academics, scientists, researchers, politicians, activists, and importantly, young people.
Each episode is framed around a key aspect of human civilization: peace, narratives, art & music, war, and justice, with a bonus episode focusing on actionable next steps. Gandhi said it best: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” We start there, but we also recognize that each person sees the world differently and imagines a different world of tomorrow. The goal is not to promote one idea over the other, but to encourage listeners to value diverse opinions, because this diversity is the foundation of a healthy, prosperous, and peaceful society.
The podcast is produced and hosted by award-winning journalist and professor David DesRoches, in partnership with the Albert Schweitzer Institute and the Quinnipiac University Podcast Studio.
about the host
David DesRoches is Quinnipiac University’s director of community programming, where he manages and hosts a network of podcasts. He is also an adjunct professor who teaches Podcasting, Audio Storytelling and Advanced Podcasting.
As a podcaster at the university, he’s hosted several podcasts including Isolated Together, about life during the pandemic, and also Baffled with David DesRoches, which was a finalist for the 2022 People’s Choice Podcast Award. He is also the creator of the YouTube news satire show, Frenemies of the People!
He worked for a decade as a journalist, with half his time spent with WNPR, the NPR member station in Hartford, Connecticut. His reporting has appeared nationally and internationally, earning him over two-dozen awards, including twice being named New England's "Reporter of the Year" and being added to Connecticut Magazine's "40 Under 40" list in 2015. He's hosted live talk shows as well as the flagship NPR programs "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition."
He's also a musician who loves rye Manhattans, cheese, and mudita.
