Read Across the Aisle

To help people break out of their partisan bubbles and better understand issues from every angle, Nick Lum ’04, founder of BeeLine Reader, created a new app, Read Across the Aisle.

How is Read Across the Aisle causing a positive impact?
Read Across The Aisle encourages people to read news from sources all along the political spectrum, in order to helps us to understand the complexities of issues that are often glossed over in partisan reporting. Our project promotes cross-party understanding instead of political polarization so that we can create more civil dialogue on important political and social issues. Our user base includes liberals, conservatives, libertarians, and others—people who may disagree on substantive issues, but all of whom share a desire to better understand their fellow citizens.

What makes you proudest of it and where it's going?

The international appeal of Read Across The Aisle caught me somewhat by surprise. Even before the Kickstarter ended, I was contacted by major media outlets in other countries who were interested in what we are building. I didn’t realize the problem was quite as international as it apparently is.

Anything else you'd like to say?

I’ve been invited to come talk with Professor Denise Crossan’s class on social impact entrepreneurship this semester. I’m looking forward to meeting with students and seeing what Swarthmore is doing to help students learn about entrepreneurship.

+Read more about the app here