This article explores why modern discourse feels broken, and how productive disagreement leads to better thinking, stronger ideas, and more effective collaboration.

Banjo surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. college students about free expression, debate, and what it feels like to disagree on campus in 2026. What they told us was consistent, candid, and a little alarming. Before the numbers, we wanted their voices to have their own moment.

Ken Allen spent nearly three decades in finance before walking away to build Banjo — an AI-powered platform for civil dialogue. In this interview, he explains what's broken about how we communicate, how Banjo works, and why he thinks better conversation might be the most urgent problem of our time.