Title card: At StoryCorps something remarkable is happening: People with different beliefs, views, and life experiences are coming together and talking. Because it feels good to find our shared humanity.

Person 1: The climate we're operating under has everyone on the defensive.

Person 2: You see a person and you automatically put them in a box and say "well this is what a person should be like."

Person 3: All of this ostracizing people. What are we afraid of?

Person 4: We're called to love one another. It can't be "I reject you as a person."

Person 5: This country has been through so much. It's people have been through so much. Why can't we fix this?

Person 2: Do we have issues we have to deal with? Yes we do, but we're not going to be able to deal with them if we're fighting and yelling at each other and not listening.

Person 6: It was important for me to meet somebody who didn't have horns and a tail.

Person 7: Yes she has an accent. Oh gosh she talks funny. But we're talking the same thing. We're all concerned about our children, concerned about the world we live in.

Person 8: A lot of people wouldn't even think we should be here talking to each other but I'm sorry, I disagree.

Person 6: We are connected in probably 12 different ways I can think of. Let me give you a hug.

End card: Take a step toward bringing our country and your community together. Start a conversation at lovehasnolabels.com/onesmallstep

Title card: At StoryCorps, something remarkable is happening: People with different views, beliefs, and life experiences are coming together and talking. And it feels good.

Amina Amdeen, a Muslim student at the University of Texas, attended a rally protesting the election of Donald Trump in Austin, Texas.

Joseph Weidknecht was there as a counter-protestor, wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat.

Later, they came to StoryCorps to remember a moment that brought them together that day.

Amina: I noticed you with the hat and I noticed that you were surrounded by some people. And I noticed that they were being kind of threatening. And then somebody snatched your hat off your head. And that's the point where I...something kind of snapped inside me because I wear a Muslim hijab and I've been in situations where people have tried to snatch it off my head.

Joseph: Wow

Amina: And I rushed towards you and I just started screaming "leave him alone, give him that back."

Joseph: I don't think we could be any further apart as people, and yet it was just kind of like this common "that's not OK" moment. You are genuinely the only Muslim person I know. It's not that I've actively avoided...I've just never been in the position where I can interact for an extended period of time. So I guess my views on the Muslim community have been influenced by a lot of the news articles and things of that nature.

Amina: I feel like a lot of times in the media you don't see the "normal Muslim," the one that listens to classic rock like I do. You don't meet that Muslim.

Joseph: Can you tell me about where you grew up? What was that part of your life like?

Amina: I was born in Baghdad, in Iraq. I moved to the U.S. when I was 10 years old. Being a Muslim girl, I stood out in almost every single way that you can. In middle school, the worst time to stand out. What about you? How was it like when you grew up?

Joseph: I was homeschooled. So it was a vastly different experience socially. I didn't have, I guess, as many friends as most people would. I only went to a public school one year of my life, and I got into three fights and I lost all of them. So I hope that I can be the reason that someone decides to talk to someone.

Amina: I'd like for this to encourage other people to engage in conversations with people that you don't agree with.

Joseph: That's what it's all about. I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who felt like that.

End card: Take a step toward bringing our country and your community together. Start a conversation at lovehasnolabels.com/onesmallstep

Title card: At StoryCorps, something remarkable is happening: People with different views, beliefs, and life experiences are coming together and talking. And it feels good.

Cheraton Love is a liberal, and her father-in-law is a conservative.

Cheraton invited Jim for a conversation using the StoryCorps app at his home in Silver Valley, NC.

Jim: I think I want to be remembered, first of all, as a God-fearing man. Sometimes I'll be known as someone that might have been a bit of a pain to get along with. But I don't think there's anybody that can't say that I didn't show them love. How about you?

Cheraton: I want to be remembered as a hard worker. I want to show people that I care and treat everyone with kindness and respect because we all deserve that. When you think about the future, what are you most scared of and what are you most hopeful for?

JW: I think what I'm most scared of are my grand young'uns and what they may have to deal with in the future. Nuclear war, our resources being depleted.

Cheraton: What I'm most afraid of is that we'll keep getting divided. But all wrapped in that I'm hopeful because you and I come from maybe different backgrounds and maybe different political views and maybe different religious views but none of that has ever stopped us from being a family.

Jim: If we still lived in the circumstances from years ago, the way things were years ago, we would probably never know each other. There was some things that I thought when I was a young man that would never have allowed us to even have a conversation. But I thank God that he gave me the knowledge to understand what love really means.

Cheraton: Does it bother you that we don't agree about politics?

Jim: No it doesn't bother me. Being different shows us the different sides of things. We may differ on a lot of things but we agree on a lot of things and I think we listen to each other on a lot of things. You're precious to me. You really are.

End card: Take a step toward bringing our country and your community together. Start a conversation at lovehasnolabels.com/onesmallstep