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Can a trivia platform help people break their partisan echo chambers?

Harvard students participate in Tango trivia at the 2025 freshman orientation. (Courtesy of Dustin Weyand/Harvard University)
Courtesy of Dustin Weyand/Harvard University
Harvard students participate in Tango trivia at the 2025 freshman orientation. (Courtesy of Dustin Weyand/Harvard University)

Anyone who’s joined a pub trivia night knows its a fun way to meet people and maybe even learn something. A new online trivia game, Tango, pairs anonymous players from opposite political sides and challenges them with questions designed to get them to collaborate. Research shows that this simple act encourages people with different ideologies to better empathize with individuals on the other side

Harvard University psychology professor and Tango co-creator Joshua Greene discusses the science behind it.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

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