Ring a Republican, dial a Democrat.
A new social experiment in the form of a modified pay phone is hoping to unite warring political parties by getting them talking.
The so-called “party line” was spotted on the streets of liberal San Francisco over the weekend.
The two phones are linked between liberal San Francisco and conservative Abilene, Texas. Matter NeuroscienceIn the liberal Bay Area enclave, callers who pick up phone that says “Talk to a Republican” will be connected to another modified pay phone in conservative Abilene, Texas, that says “Talk to a Democrat,” KTVU reported.
An Instagram post from Matter Neuroscience, the company behind the concept, shows both phones being set up 1,500 miles apart with the goal of getting “different people from different political viewpoints to have meaningful not hateful conversations.”
“We’re installing a pay phone in the most conservative city in the U.S. and one in the most liberal city. When one phone is picked up, it automatically calls the other,” the social media post added.
“The goal of this project is to create space for friendly, human-to-human conversations. We believe that a few different opinions (even on important political topics) should not block us from having a truly positive, maybe even fun conversation with other humans.”
Those who dared to join the chat said the rhetoric wasn’t so fiery.
The goal is to get people with different viewpoints to have meaningful conversations. Matter Neuroscience“This is kind of bringing people closer in a way,” said Steven Bednarczyk, who picked up the San Francisco phone, located outside a tattoo parlor, according to KTVU.
The calls are being recorded, and Matter Neuroscience said it hopes to highlight some of the calls on social media.
“Research shows that the core molecules associated with happiness are the same in all human brains, regardless of political identity. This project’s goal is to highlight that,” a social media post about the project stated.



