Two emails from viewers of What’s Your Problem:

Gentlemen: What a delight it is to see an intelligent discussion of issues without the vitriol and name-calling that pervades almost everywhere else. It’s like a breath of fresh air. And for the first time in as long as I can remember, I am listening to the side with which I do not by nature agree. Thank you for showing that this can still be done. Now, how can the process be expanded to other forums?

And:

Peter,and Jonah,
I enjoy listening so much to your discussions, particularly because it is refreshing to listen to two people who obviously enjoy each other’s friendship discuss opposing points of view respectfully and, what’s more, very intelligently. I learn a lot about both conservative and liberal positions. Thanks. I wonder though if there is any effort to make this more broadly available, as for instance, in a television broadcast by a major broadcast channel. I think it might help, in some small way, to healing the divisions in our country and show by example that people can have sincerely held differing beliefs without holding that their opponent is an emissary of Satan. I would certainly be a viewer.

Me: I post this not so much to pat my own back, but to make a larger point lost on some critical viewers of the show and/or my performances on it. The basic idea of the “What’s Your Problem?” is to provide a civil, intelligent, hopefully illuminating or entertaining conversation that isn’t keyed to the latest shout-show outrage (I don’t think we always succeed, we’re still learning). Lots of people write me to say “why didn’t you go for the jugular?” or “you let him off easy.” I know Peter gets the same sort of email. I agree that sometimes we could be more pointed. And I surely sometimes regret not making this or that devastating rebuttal (clinically known as the shoulda-coulda-wouldas). But basically, the idea is that what’s missing from a lot of political debate isn’t cut throat tactics or in-your-face confrontation. What’s missing is the old Firing Line spirit of informed, mutually respectful, disagreement. It helps that Beinart and I like and respect each other. It probably hurts that we sometimes try to avoid the easy gotchya because we assume it won’t work, when in reality sometimes the most obvious argument is actually the best one (Occam’s Razor and all that). But, it’s a work in progress. And, email like the above is frequent and encouraging.