ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- Occasionally, I'll find myself standing in front of a group of college journalism students. It's my job to give them tips on writing and storytelling and the proper way to communicate.

I yammer on even though I'm not sure if I'm getting through. I hope I am. But I've learned that the generation gap is a real thing, and -- when I'm speaking to members of Generation Z -- this old geezer from Generation X must sound like I came from a different planet.

You got it, kid. It was a strange land where young people survived without cell phones, texting, internet or streaming services.

I tell the baby-faced students sitting before me that I want them to think critically, write clearly and communicate effectively. I tell them that they need to use their imagination to tell stories that capture the imagination of other people. And I tell them that they have to listen intently, not just hearing what people say, but picking up on what they don't say.

And now I have something new to share. I want them to try to keep an open mind and make room for the possibility that even those people with whom they disagree can still teach them something now and then. They can tell themselves that a broken clock is right twice a day or rely on whatever cliche they like if it helps them make sense of it. But they should strive to accept the truth behind the concept.

In today's society, it can be tough to learn something from someone you don't like. Columnists, podcasters, and other content providers get one strike and we're out. The audience quickly jumps to conclusions about people's motives and judges for themselves whether they have anything to offer. And it all happens in about three seconds.

Cancel culture is alive and well. Someone might begin to read one of my columns, make it halfway through and decide they have me all figured out.

I get it. People are protective of their time. Me too. Yet, a few weeks ago -- over a couple of days, between the multitasking of cooking meals and washing dishes -- I invested nearly two hours of my time listening to a podcast that I might have normally taken a pass on because it featured a former acquaintance whom I've written off.

That person is Tucker Carlson, who recently found himself in a lengthy conversation with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, an Opinion Audio podcast host for The New York Times. Carlson and Navarro spoke as part of "The Interview" -- a regular podcast from the Times.

Cards on the table. Tucker -- who I've known for nearly 30 years and with whom I've clashed publicly a time or two -- is not my cup of tequila. He's wrong on identity politics, race, immigration, trade, Jews, Israel, the Iran War and a bunch of other stuff.

Carlson has said things that sound racist, nativist and anti-Semitic.

In 2018, on his Fox News show, he lectured immigrant lawyer Cesar Vargas -- a former "Dreamer" who came to the United States with his parents illegally as a child and worked his way through college and law school. At the time, Vargas had yet to become U.S. citizen.

"I'm an American and you're not," Carlson snapped at his guest. "I don't think you should become a citizen. No offense or anything."

With social skills like that, it's no surprise that Carlson has the trifecta of pink slips. He was fired by CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.

Still, during the interview with Navarro, I was surprised to find myself agreeing with some of what Carlson had to say.

About President Donald Trump: "Trump is not well-informed on a lot of topics, for sure. He's proudly ignorant on a lot of topics. But he has remarkable powers of insight into people and power dynamics."

About the Middle East: "I'm against the idea that Hezbollah and Hamas are at the center of our domestic conversation, like they're the big problems we face. They're not. They're not a bigger problem than the behavior of Citibank. Credit card debt is a much bigger problem.

About the political parties: "The Republican Party could not be more repulsive to me. The Democratic Party, same thing. So I just am in this weird, non-aligned place, and it's totally sincere. Like, I think the parties -- and I'm saying this on the basis of a lot of knowledge -- are rotten beyond repair, or at least simple repairs."

Now I really do feel like I'm on another planet. When did Tucker Carlson start making sense?

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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