Jon Stewart got a dose of Daily Yonder demographics this week, when Yonder Co-editor Bill Bishop appeared as a guest on the Daily Show. Bishop discussed his book, The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart.

Stewart grasped the seriousness of the issue right away. "Are you afraid we are going to have a lifestyle civil war" between Republicans and Democrats?, he asked. "Obviously the Reds [Republicans] would win because they have guns. Although, you throw a nice hot latte in someone's face, that's not going to feel good."

Bishop's study shows that Americans are choosing to live near and associate with people who share their political and social beliefs. He said the trend is reflected in rural America. Thirty years ago, rural Americans voted along the same lines as the rest of the nation. Today, the rural vote trends Republican.

Watch the whole interview here

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For all its country music history, Knoxville might have been "Music City U.S.A." And now with the Blue Plate Special, broadcast live, it's tugging at the title again.

"Some of us are gonna have to cross the street, folks." Former President Bill Clinton broke that news to the audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival over the weekend. To press the point, Clinton recommended a book to the crowd, "It's called The Big Sort." And the author? "His name is Bill Bishop. He lives in Texas...."

And he's the co-editor of The Daily Yonder and instigator of The Rural Blog, which spread the word.

The Big Sort, published in May, shows how over several decades Americans have drifted into niche communities, surrounded by others who vote, believe, and behave as we do.

"We are growing more isolated in our communities," Clinton said in an interview with Jane Wales. "This is not good for a democracy." Clinton spoke of "an interdependent world" undermined by the kinds of social clustering and extremism Bishop and co-author Bob Cushing document in the book. "I urge you to read it," he said. "We can maximaize our impact, if we reach out to people who are different from ourselves."