Arianna Huffington talks with us about The Huffington Post’s new web series Talk to Me.
“Creating a brighter future starts with a conversation. Moments of connection between generations. Experiences shared. Lessons learned.”
This is the mission of The Huffington Post’s new web series Talk to Me, which launched April 4. The series, created and executive produced by Christina Huffington—daughter of Arianna Huffington—gives parents and children a platform for intimate conversations through tough questions and heartfelt advice.
Talk to Me features videos of influential parents answering questions from their children—including conversations between Arianna and Christina; former First Lady Barbara Bush and daughter Laura; former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg and daughter Emma; and founder of Virgin Group Richard Branson and son Sam—as well as videos submitted from children and parents from around the world.
Arianna shared her thoughts on the series with us, as well as insights garnered from watching the videos.
How did you come up with the idea for the Talk to Me series?
Christina had the idea, and when she first told me about it, I was immediately excited. What I particularly loved about Talk To Me, and why I wanted it to be a HuffPost series, was the fact that it’s classic HuffPost—engagement, conversation, and connecting people across boundaries, in this case generational ones.
What do you hope comes from the series—effects on society, open communication, real world interaction vs. social media interaction, etc.—both in terms of the conversations between influential parents and their children and the conversations between everyday parents and their children?
So often, when the kids are grown, both parents and children are so caught up in the day-to-day details of our lives that it can be difficult to make the time to sit down, stop all the noise of the outside world for a while, and really talk. So it’s our hope that by providing a structure, and creating a community of other parents and children from around the world, we can make the experience more accessible.
Where do you hope to see the series in the next few months? In the next year?
We’ve already received hundreds of videos, which are posted on a dedicated section on HuffPost. And the series involves all of our 15 international editions as videos are coming from across the world—bringing not just individual families closer, but our HuffPost global family as well. So in the coming months and year we’re excited to see the momentum build on a global scale, with more and more people creating their own videos and sharing their Talk to Me conversations.
Why did you decide to open the video series to the public, rather than keeping it to conversations with influential parents?
This has been part of HuffPost’s DNA from day one—there’s no hierarchy. From the beginning, the whole point of The Huffington Post was to take the sort of conversations found around dinner tables and open them up and bring them online. We wanted to open up Talk To Me to everyone—not just influential parents and children, but anyone and everyone around the world with a story to tell.
Have you seen any trends in the submitted videos that shed light on what children want to know from their parents?
As Christina wrote when we launched Talk To Me, it’s often said that as a society we no longer place the same value we once did on the wisdom of our elders, but these videos show that there’s actually a tremendous and widespread desire among children to learn from the mistakes and experiences of their parents.
I’d add that, in video after video, you see the same desire on the part of parents—to learn from their own children.
Do you have a favorite video that has been posted and/or submitted so far?
I have honestly been enchanted by every video I’ve seen. There’s something incredibly moving about seeing parents and children together on screen, talking about what matters most to them. We so often hear about tension and negativity between generations—millennials being denigrated, baby boomers being blamed, etc. But what you see over and over again in these videos is an authentic connection between generations that’s so inspiring and so much more convincing than the conventional narrative.
Are there any celebrities that are on your wish list to do a video with their child?
We’ve had so many great celebrities. I’m actually more excited about seeing hundreds of people from around the world take the initiative to interview their parents and join the conversation.
Is there anything surprising that you’ve learned during the process of creating the series and during your Talk to Me conversation?
We’ve learned so much. Often with parents and children, it’s expected that the conversation will revolve around the child. And there’s so much to be gained from flipping the dynamic and having a truly two-way conversation. For example, I loved how I was able to delve into topics, such as death, that we might normally stay away from in everyday exchanges.
Main photo: Arianna Huffington (center), with daughters Christina (left) and Isabella (right)
Courtesy The Huffington Post
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