Purple States | A House Divided?

In production, April 2016 — October 2016. Aired on TIME.com, October 13. Are we as polarized as pundits and politicians say we are? We hear from a political scientist — and get to know a red/blue couple. Sean and Kim are building a shared future across party lines And as it turns out, lots of us are: 30 percent of married households are made up of voters who share a life but not a political identity. What does this mean for our politics? A portrait of their red/blue union — and ours.

Index

TIME features A House Divided?

Platforms

Partners

Process

Selection

Kim and Sean surfaced in the online recruitment process for Strange Bedfellows in 2012.
Eitan Hersh is the co-author of a recent study on Mixed Partisan Households.

Participants

Eitan Hersh
Kimberly Neff
Sean Sexton

Filming

TIME Magazine hired a freelance director/videographer who spent a weekend with Kim and Sean. TIME also filmed the interview with Hersh.

Purpose

To anchor the discussion of polarization and partisanship in the experience of ordinary citizens.

Financing

TIME paid for the production, and hired Cynthia Farrar as the producer.

Editorial Control

Purple States brought the idea to TIME’s director of enterprise video. Cynthia Farrar and Justine Simons jointly designed and produced the segment and exercised full editorial oversight.

Credits

Produced by Cynthia Farrar
Filmed by Colin Archdeacon
Edited by Spencer Bakalar

TIME features
A House Divided?

He’s a Republican. She’s a Democrat. Are they a house divided or an example to us all? Watch, read, and respond on TIME.com.