Episode 162 - The Conversationalist: A Conversation with Sophie Beren - a podcast by Rabbi Ari Koretzky: Podcaster, Campus Rabbi and Curious Jew

from 2021-10-04T09:00

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Amplifying 1,000,000 Gen Z Voices With Sophie Beren

Gen Z is the generation that comes after the Millennials and before Generation Alpha. Beginning birth years are the mid-to-late 1990s, and ending birth years are the early 2010s, according to researchers and popular media. Most Generation Z people are Generation X's offspring.

Generation Z has been nicknamed "digital natives" because they are the first social generation to have grown up with access to the Internet and portable digital devices from an early age.

Generation Z uses social media and other sites to strengthen and form new friendships. They interact with people they would not have met in the real world, and they become a tool for forming identities. The disadvantage of mobile gadgets for Generation Z is that they are less "face to face," and hence feel more lonely and excluded.

Enter The Conversationalist. Sophie Beren is a unifyer from Wichita, Kansas. She is the founder and CEO of The Conversationalist, the go-to destination for amplifying Gen Z voices.

From their website:

"The Conversationalist is a non-partisan educational platform empowering the next generation to break out of their echo chambers, have difficult conversations, and unify together. Inheriting a world of polarization, our community of 15,000 young people is committed to unifying across differences through our Gen Z Talk Show, "POVz," our digital network on the Geneva app, and our text line. Sophie was recently named "25 Under 25" by Social Entrepreneur's Magazine and "21 Women Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2021." Her social impact journey began at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and her Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Leadership. Sophie is dedicated to breaking open echo chambers and unifying the world, one conversation at a time."

TIME STAMPS:

4:22 Growing up Jewish in states with small Jewish communities

7:11 The Beren family's philanthropy tradition

9:23 Sophie's college experience and discovering an entrepreneurial path

12:09 Talking Broadway musicals

15:25 Sophie's experience at Penn

21:09 The creation of the Table Talk club at Penn and its outcomes

34:35 Figuring out what to do after Table Talk: creation of The Conversationalist

42:26 Why create a new platform for conversations instead of using existing social media?

46:28 What is The Conversationalist

51:18 How hate speech is moderated on the platform

53:59 Difference between left- and right-wing members on the platform