Deep Reads: School turned him liberal. His mom loves Fox News. Will their bond survive?
For much of his childhood, Mike Lindgren said, he parroted his mother\u2019s right-wing opinions without question. But after Mike failed several classes as a freshman in public high school, his mother, Jennifer Lindgren, sent him to a private boarding school that promised a hands-on, \u201cinclusive\u201d approach to learning. There, surrounded by teachers and classmates he described as liberal, Mike said he grew more curious about his peers\u2019 worldviews \u2014 and correspondingly less sure of his own.
Jennifer fought more with Mike after he went away to Ithaca College, and they spoke less. Then, after not seeing Mike for months, Jennifer traveled to Ithaca College for her son\u2019s graduation.
Could they accept each other, even if they didn\u2019t understand each other anymore?
This story is part of our Deep Reads series, which showcases narrative journalism at The Washington Post. It was written and read by Hannah Natanson. Audio narration comes from our partners at Noa, an app offering curated audio articles.