Lost your appetite for politics? If so, the TV series “Breaking Bread With Alexander” is for you.

Alexander Heffner had a hunger for more civility in political discourse. He also had a craving to taste cuisine across the United States. So Mr. Heffner devised a show for Bloomberg TV in which he shares meals with politicians in their home states. In Episode 1, he devours vegan chicken and waffles in New Jersey with Democrat Sen. Cory Booker. The topic of conversation between mouthfuls: How can we develop empathy and compromise in politics?

“The hyper divisiveness and partisanship in the culture has become overwhelming,” says Mr. Heffner in a call. “The thread through all these episodes was, ‘We’re not imagining enough what bipartisan policies or accomplishments would look like.’”

During Episode 6, Mr. Heffner eats flapjacks with West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. They discuss how it’s possible to model civility with political colleagues one disagrees with. Yes, he knows that sounds like a cliché. But it can lead to bipartisan collaboration, such as a recent infrastructure law that includes funding to expand broadband in rural West Virginia.

Mr. Heffner’s goal was to create the politics equivalent of Jerry Seinfeld’s series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” The idea is to humanize politicians. There are laughs, but the show is often reflective. In North Dakota, Republican Gov. Doug Burgum served bison and candidly discussed abortion and the death penalty.

“Governor Burgum was an example of owning intellectual honesty in an age of politics that demands an ideological consistency,” says the series creator.

Mr. Heffner hopes these conversations will expand empathy and understanding among voters.

“Manifesting that constructive energy in ways that can improve and heal the country is what this series is trying to do,” says Mr. Heffner. “It’s not an overnight process.”