One Small Step – StoryCorps

Curiosity Leads to Finding Commonalities and a Neighbor

When Alexandra Slusher heard about One Small Step at church, she knew it was something she wanted to do. The daughter of an immigrant from India, she had traveled extensively, gone to college in Hawaii, and experienced different cultures throughout her life. And so, she immediately connected to the premise of One Small Step.

“I’ve always felt that knowing people takes away the fear,” she says. “And fear is really where prejudice comes from.”

Perhaps her history as a portrait artist allows her to see the inner qualities of people; Alexandra remembers being enthusiastic at the prospect of her conversation. Talking to strangers, after all, was always something that came easily to the retired office manager and substitute teacher who moved to Virginia from New Jersey almost 40 years ago.

It didn’t take long to discover some commonalities with her One Small Step match. From the outset, they discovered they were practically neighbors, living just one block apart in rural Goochland County. She also learned that she shared a common heritage with his wife, who, like her mother, is Indian. And while she is a Christian, Alexandra has studied a variety of religions, and so she had an underlying understanding of his Buddhist faith.

Alexandra describes herself as a “democratic Republican”– a little more conservative than most Democrats.

“Once we started talking, we learned we had so much in common, even though we thought differently politically,” Alexandra says. “Perhaps the biggest commonality is that we are both intellectually curious people.”

When she returned to Seventh Street Christian Church after her conversation, Alexandra shared her experience and encouraged others to participate. The church has a history of bringing disparate voices together. At one point, she said that the head of the Richmond Republican Party and the head of the Democratic Party were in the same Sunday School class.

“That led to some really interesting conversations, and back in those days, people could have conversations without getting upset about it,” she remembers.

Through One Small Step, perhaps past is prologue.

Interested in participating in your own conversation through One Small Step? You can sign up to be paired with a conversation partner here.

Meet Ryan Jacobsen: A One Small Step Advocate

Since its launch in 2021, StoryCorps’ One Small Step (OSS) has brought strangers with different political beliefs together for a conversation—not to debate politics—but to get to know each other as people. Currently, the initiative is intensively focused in three Anchor Communities including the Fresno/Central Valley region. The success of OSS in each location is largely due to the advocacy of local partners and individuals who believe strongly in the OSS mission and are willing to work alongside the OSS team as advocates.

One such advocate is Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting agriculture. StoryCorps sat down with Ryan to talk about his passion for One Small Step and why he thinks the Fresno/Central Valley area is the perfect location for an Anchor Community.

How did you first become aware of OSS?

In January of last year, I saw the OSS feature on “60 Minutes” and around this same time, I also started to hear about Fresno/Central Valley being picked as one of just a handful of communities nationwide to lead OSS. My first impression was ‘this is terrific’ because we need to be able to do something to counter the hyper-partisanship in America today. 

We also had Dave [Isay, StoryCorps founder and president] here to speak to our Rotary club and afterward, I think we all felt very supportive of OSS and proud that we were chosen to lead this project.

Why do you think Fresno/Central Valley is a great choice to be an OSS Anchor Community?

This area is different from people’s perceptions of what California is. For example, we are purple — with a real mix of politicians from both sides of the aisle and a very diverse population. Historically, many different groups have come here to farm over the generations and that diversity is borne out by the fact that 59 languages are spoken by students and their families within the Fresno Unified School District. The Central Valley feeds the rest of the country with over 350 different types of crops.

You participated in an OSS conversation—what was that experience like for you?

I want to assure anyone who is hesitant to participate in a conversation that there is nothing to worry about. The conversation process is so easy because the facilitator who leads the discussion is highly trained and makes sure you and your partner feel comfortable the whole way through. I’ve encouraged lots of people here to participate in a conversation and no one has had regrets. 

As an OSS Community Advisory Group (CAG) member, why are you continuing to support OSS?

As a member of the advisory group, I am here to be the voice of the community. I’m invested in OSS because I believe that we all have much more in common than we have differences and the current divisions in our country are not good for us. We need a better way forward and OSS is just that: one small step in the right direction.

Creating Deeper Connections: Five One Small Step New Year’s Resolution Ideas

January is the perfect time to set new year’s resolutions. And while there is nothing wrong with trying to exercise more or eat healthier, we here at StoryCorps are in the human connection business, so naturally, our resolution suggestions are all about personal connection. 

In our modern world, you may already feel hyper-connected through the 24/7 nature of traditional and social media. But some of these channels can amplify divisive opinions, especially political ones, making us feel more isolated and divided. What we’re often missing is more meaningful person-to-person connections, which can expand our sense of community, while reminding us that we have more in common than divides us.

StoryCorps’ One Small Step initiative brings strangers with different political beliefs together for a conversation—not about politics—but to get to know each other as people. We’ve seen first-hand how simply talking face to face to someone with whom you might disagree has the power to bring people and communities together, one conversation at a time. 

So in the spirit of feeling more connected to one another, here are our top five resolution ideas for 2023: