Blake Nicholas
Correspondent

Hi. I’m Blake Nicholas. I’m a recent graduate of Occidental College. I have assisted Professor Levinger in overlapping research and reporting capacities within public and foreign policy contexts. I am a San Diego Correspondent for the America’s Why project where I traverse urban, coastal, rural, and inland areas of San Diego County. I interview people across the political spectrum to trace sentiments and explore methodologies that help the right and left meet in the middle, without erasing their differences.

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I joined this project out of sustained disillusionment with certain aspects of the contemporary American political climate. As culture wars have erupted and hardened over the past few years, I see this project as an outlet for disciplined curiosity to become more open-minded and constructive in circles where people hold opposing views.

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Out of this project, I hope to have developed a concrete set of principles and a clearer understanding for what makes for productive policymaking. I think that having grassroots experience - where theory is stressed by practice - has pushed me to get my feet wet in the practical work of conflict prevention. I also hope to better understand, alongside my colleagues, the social norms and foundations of trust that allow coalitions to form across party lines.