This introductory essay to the Making Sense of Toleration book of interviews and conversations brings to the forefront the importance of dialogue as one of the original forms of philosophical inquiry. Its opening allusion to one of the most memorable stories from the ‘literary nonsense’ genre points to a growing trend in contemporary academic publishing that strive for more flexibility in discussing various issues or problems in a less formal and more engaged way (equally beneficial to both its reading audience and the contributors alike). At the same time, this introductory essay underscores that the dialogue format is particularly well-suited to a topic of as complex and controversial as toleration. It emphasises that each interview published in this volume goes beyond the customary refinements of arguments and positions usually embedded in academic conversations and provide a multilayered set of responses and reformulations, standard formats of scholarly publishing may struggle to deliver.