‘The Enemies Project’: A Radical New Way of Seeing Each Other

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We are living in challenging times where it's hard for people with different opinions and views to understand one another.

Larry Rossen is about to change that. He is a professional  mediator-attorney who started a law practice dedicated to resolving legal challenges through understanding. He helps clients “move on in their lives, replacing animus with respect, and often outright warmth”.

Larry’s novel The Enemy Dance which is about how our society can heal from polarization will be released soon. He has said he was bullied and was a bully in his childhood which gives him a unique point of view as an adult into both empathy and callousness.

   Professional peacemaker Larry started The Enemies Project in the light of current politics. In 2024 he began inviting and filming people on his podcast that had very different views from each other: a conservative woman and a transwoman; a Palestinian American man and a Hasidic American Zionist Jewish man; an Anti-Zionist American Jew and an Israeli soldier; a pro-choice woman and a conservative pro-life Christian man; and a  far-Left Progressive and far-Right Proud Boy.

Larry’s goal is for each participant to see the humanity in the other and to come to an understanding and appreciation for each other's differences and to see the person and their view in a new way.  He asks each participant to explain why they feel the way they do; why their views matter to them; and what they want others to understand about their perspective.

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After this he asks the participants to say what they find beautiful in their own lives; it can be as simple as family, friends, and grandchildren.

The final part of the experience is where the two people step into each other’s shoes, roleplaying each other, and talking as if they were the other person.

This has led to friendships on and off the podcast. For example, one unlikely friendship to come out of the podcast was the Democrat and the Proud Boy. They became good friends and found they had a lot in common.

In the episode about Nancy, the conservative woman, and Eve, the transgender woman, the two women developed such a strong bond that Nancy said she wanted to protect Eve and other trans women like her from harm and bigotry.

Even though you might not share the same opinion as another, everyone is still a human being who deserves love, kindness, and compassion. When you understand them, they are more open to what you have to say, and you might develop a friendship you couldn’t even have imagined.

From The Enemies Project website:

“We bring people together — not to debate, but to come face-to-face. Not to argue, but to understand. Not to compromise their values — but to reclaim something deeper: the capacity to recognize each other as fellow citizens, fellow humans, insightful, valuable, real.

“Understanding is not just a bridge — it’s a barricade against those who thrive on our estrangement.”

If you were invited to participate in Larry’s podcast, who would you most want to get to know and what might you ask them?