riptide

I was swimming with friends when I got caught in a riptide—a strong ocean current that can quickly end badly for swimmers.

When we find ourselves trapped in the riptide dynamics of a deeply polarized community, research suggests it is best to figure out how to work with what is already working in the situation to find a way out.

Heidi Klum's Rescue: Heidi Klum saved her 7-year-old son Henry and his two nannies from a riptide in Hawaii on Sunday.

Politicians typically run the other way, knowing the riptide of the issue is dangerous for those who wade out too deep.

There may have been a riptide effect, where the unions turned out their people very strongly in their get out the vote campaigns.

But exaggerated fears can fuel themselves, and the dynamic of prejudice can be a riptide.