Podcasts about braver angels

Coming up on this week's edition of The Spark Weekly. The Braver Angels National organization launched a two-year initiative around the topic of immigration - The Citizens Commission on Immigration. The goal is to demonstrate to our US Congress that Americans with differing views can find common ground. The initiative was launched after our 2024 convention and the result of a vote by a balanced red-blue group of about 750 delegates. It will culminate with a "Report to the Nation." The process is similar to the previous two-year initiative on Trustworthy Elections. Also on the program... The idea of a “traditional” college student — 18 to 24 years old, living on campus, and attending classes full-time — may no longer match reality. Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do we help people see their common humanity and find common ground? We discuss this and much more with our guest, independent filmmaker and storyteller, Swati Srivastava.At a time of polarization and deep political divisions in America, growing numbers of citizens are now pushing back against the fear, loathing and distrust that poison our national conversation. Our podcasts report on the people, projects, and ideas of this movement.Swati Srivastava is Director of Visual Media at Crossing Party Lines, a non-profit group that facilitates conversations among Americans of different opinions. She established the group's Long Island Chapter and is also active with Braver Angels. Her short video, “The Braver Angels Way” is designed to be played at the start of Braver Angels conversations and debates. Find out more about Swati's film and storytelling projects here. “Absolute certainty is the death of curiosity, conversation, and empathy,” Swati says. “Curiosity is the antidote which says ‘tell me more'… When listening happens almost anything is possible.”Our conversation includes Swati's insights about storytelling, moderating conversations and workshops across party lines, and her compelling life story as an immigrant, film director, producer and creator of innovative media.How Do We Fix It? is hosted by award-winning journalist Richard Davies. For more than three decades he was an ABC News Radio Correspondent. Today he's a podcast consultant, producer, and media trainer. Over the past decade, we've released more than 430 podcast episodes. A constant theme for us is how do we talk more creatively across party lines? If we brought the kind of energy and imagination to fixing our politics that we bring every day to our careers and family life, America would be in much better shape than it is today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Immigration has long been one of the most divisive issues in American politics. Now, Braver Angels, a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing political polarization, is taking on the challenge with its new two-year initiative: the Citizens Commission on Immigration.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send Wilk a text with your feedback!Common Ground from the Ground Up: Humility, Healing & Rethinking Our Politics In this episode of Derate The Hate, Wilk sits down with Nathan Smolensky—author of Common Ground from the Ground Up. Nathan brings a unique perspective shaped by his upbringing in a family of Soviet immigrants and his experience working with Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike.Together, they explore how humility, introspection, and storytelling can help us break through the noise of hyperpartisanship and rediscover the power of constructive dialogue. Nathan shares why political identity often feels personal, how passion rarely persuades, and why lowering barriers to entry in politics can create healthier conversations.✅ Why introspection and humility are vital for communication✅ How political identity complicates dialogue but also makes it meaningful✅ The role of storytelling in building understanding✅ Why certainty can block learning and open-mindedness✅ How constructive dialogue can heal relationships and enrich our politicsTune in for a refreshing take on depolarization, political innovation, and how we can all play a role in building common ground.The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you've got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) , YouTube Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America's largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

Send us a textMeet Wilk Wilkinson—host of the Derate The Hate podcast, Director of Media Systems and Operations at Braver Angels, and a man who turned hardship into purpose. From growing up in poverty and enduring relentless bullying to becoming a voice for civility, gratitude, and personal accountability, his journey is proof that our reactions define us more than our circumstances.  His mission is simple: help people break free from anger, division, and victimhood by embracing mindset shifts that lead to healing and growth. This is his story.  Listen now. His podcast:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/09xTTsS4yeoqUjJmExbucx?si=6ItM3uHfTXGu7XaGXJxpEAHis website:  https://www.deratethehate.com/We are forming a NEW GROUP!  Join the current group to stay up to date on the move and to get your personal invitation to join!Contact US:  Rumble/ YouTube/ IG: @powerofmanpodcastEmail: powerofmanpodcast@gmail.com.Twitter: @rorypaquetteLooking for Like-Minded Fathers and Husbands? Join our Brotherhood!"Power of Man Within" , in Facebook Groups:https://www.facebook.com/groups/490821906341560/?ref=share_group_linkFree Coaching Consultation call whenever you are ready... Message me!Believe it!

Today, on the Hudson Mohawk Magazine, First, Mark Dunlea speaks with Ethan Gormely of Citizen Action and Tim Judson of NIRS who went to the NYS Fair to try and convince the governor to reject new nuclear power plants and pipelines for fracked gas. Then, Moses Nagel speaks with Bob Sanders, a 70 year old who is on the final week of a ride across the country to raise awareness and money to oppose the genocide in Gaza. Later on, we will have a live interview with Bruce France of Braver Angels who will be having a workshop The Skills for Disagreeing Better in Colonie. After that, comedian / producer Ryan Shipley is in studio with Juan Pantaleon to promote the second annual Capital Regions Funniest Comic Competition. An open forum comedy competition where the audience decides the winner. Finally, Thom Francis welcomes Matthew Klane to the stage at The Linda in Albany, NY. Co-hosts: Vinny DamaPoleto and Andrea Cunliffe

What if staying curious — even when it feels risky — is an act of courage? In this episode of Nonviolence Radio, journalist and bridgebuilder Monica Guzmán joins us to talk about the power of curiosity in a polarized world. Together we explore how fear, pain, and technology amplify division, and how curiosity can become a nonviolent force that keeps bridges standing, even when crossing them feels impossible. Guzmán shares insights from her work with Braver Angels, stories of rehumanization across political divides, and why questioning — even our own side — takes courage. At a time when polarization tempts us to burn bridges, curiosity reminds us to keep them.“Anything courageous requires risk. You're not risking anything by attacking the other side. What's really brave is calling out your own side for making the culture toxic.” ~Mónica Guzmán

Join Kris Kington-Barker and guests Marc Ang, Co-Chair Braver Angels SoCal Alliance and Kate Christensen Co-Chair Braver Angels SLO Alliance, a group Taking a stand against toxic politics.Hear Central Coast Voices and call in this Thursday from 1-2pm on KCBX

Send Wilk a text with your feedback!On the Road with US United: How Sheriffs Spark Community ConnectionIn this episode of Derate The Hate, I'm joined by Adam Mizel, Co-Founder and CEO of Us United, for a conversation that gets right to the heart of how communities heal. Adam and his team are literally on the road, traveling across America to meet with sheriffs, local leaders, and everyday citizens. Their mission? To spark conversations, rebuild trust, and remind us that unity is still possible—even in these divided times.We dive into the dangers of labels and identity politics, and how they shut down dialogue before it even begins. Adam shares stories from the road about sheriffs stepping up as community connectors, about how sports and local events can bring neighbors together, and about the simple power of listening to one another.What I love about Adam's work with Us United is how much it complements the mission we're pursuing at Braver Angels: creating space for people to show up, talk honestly, and treat one another with respect. This episode will inspire you to think differently about how we bridge divides—because unity isn't about winning arguments. It's about communication, connection, and courage.The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you've got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) , YouTube Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America's largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

“Our political leaders— left, right, and center— have a thin view of citizenship,” says Braver Angels co-founder Bill Doherty. He argues that everything from healthcare and education to public safety and politics “is the work of we the people. That's the robust idea of citizenship…Ultimately the big problems are those of all of us”This episode features an interview recorded for “Derate The Hate”, a podcast hosted by Wilk Wilkinson in collaboration with Braver Angels, the nationwide movement that brings citizens together across political divides, and pushes back against grievance, outrage and toxic polarization.As Wilk writes in his show notes about this interview: “This is not about partisan politics—it's about restoring a sense of shared responsibility in our communities through intentional dialogue and real problem-solving.”Bill and Wilk discuss a new definition of citizenship and other topics, including how structured conversations can transform toxic divides, and why personal accountability is essential in civic life.Bill Doherty is co-founder of Braver Angels, professor at the University of Minnesota, and a nationally recognized expert in family therapy and civic healing. He is Director of the Minnesota Couples on the Brink Project at the University's Department of Family Social Science. Wilk Wilkinson is the new Director of Media Systems and Operations at Braver Angels. He plays a pivotal role in shaping national dialogue through conversations, storytelling and strategic media. His podcast, Derate The Hate, complements this mission by offering practical tools and conversations that inspire personal growth and civil engagement.“How Do We Fix It?” asks questions about critical solutions in public life. We report on the people, projects and ideas of Braver Angels. Our show is hosted by former ABC New Correspondent, podcast consultant and media coach, Richard Davies. Our producer, editor and sound designer is Miranda Shafer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send Wilk a text with your feedback!Courageous Connections: Embracing Pluralism Amidst American PopulismIn this Derate The Hate bonus episode, host Wilk Wilkinson sits down with fellow Braver Angels Ibrahim Anli and Will Harwood for a powerful discussion on cultural and religious pluralism in the face of American populism. They explore what it means to be American in today's polarized climate and the importance of courageous connections in embracing diversity. Ibrahim, an immigrant to the U.S., and Will, a native-born American, share their personal insights on how America's evolving identity can remain rooted in foundational civic values while allowing room for pluralism.Key Topics:The concept of American identity and civic creedEmbracing cultural pluralism and religious freedomThe challenges and opportunities of immigration in a populist eraHow to build courageous connections across dividesThe role of shared purpose in national unityThe importance of civic education and staying grounded in the nation's foundational valuesFeatured Guests:Ibrahim Anli – A passionate advocate for religious pluralism and an immigrant who chose America as his homeWill Harwood – A native-born American who focuses on civic culture and national identityTakeaways:Pluralism is vital to America's identity, not as a melting pot but as a kaleidoscope of diverse cultures.Courageous connections help bridge divides, whether through religious freedom, cultural exchange, or civic engagement.We must continually reconnect with America's founding ideals to move forward as a unified nation.Listen Now to hear a thought-provoking conversation on how we can embrace diversity, overcome polarization, and strengthen the fabric of American society in the face of modern challenges.The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you've got. Make every day the day that you want it to be! Please follow The Derate The Hate podcast on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter(X) , YouTube Subscribe to us wherever you enjoy your audio or from our site. Please leave us a rating and feedback on Apple podcasts or other platforms. You can share your thoughts or request Wilk for a speaking engagement on our contact page: DerateTheHate.com/Contact The Derate The Hate podcast is proudly produced in collaboration with Braver Angels — America's largest grassroots, cross-partisan organization working toward civic renewal and bridging partisan divides. Learn more: BraverAngels.org Welcome to the Derate The Hate Podcast! *The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.

As the political gap between urban and rural communities continues to widen, organizations like Braver Angels are working to bring Americans together across that divide. In a recent conversation, Ron Chadwell of Camp Hill, the group’s Blue Co-Chair, joined Tom Cook of Quarryville, a more conservative-leaning member, to explore how respectful dialogue can lead to greater understanding between people who often feel worlds apart. The discussion touched on what drives the urban-rural divide—whether it's values, lived experience, or media influence—and how common misconceptions fuel mistrust. Both men emphasized the importance of storytelling and curiosity. “When people take time to really listen, not just wait their turn to talk, it changes everything,” said Chadwell. Cook noted he’s witnessed people shift their views in real time during Braver Angels events. “It doesn’t always mean agreement,” he said, “but it means seeing each other as human.”Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send Wilk a text with your feedback!Episode 274: Reigniting Purpose Through Gratitude & Legacy with Dean TaylorIn this episode, Wilk is joined by Dean Taylor for a powerful discussion on how gratitude, personal accountability, and intentional mindset shifts can transform your life. Dean opens up about rediscovering his purpose after years of feeling stuck, inspired by the dream his father never got to fulfill. They explore the power of morning routines, the Miracle Morning framework, and how faith and storytelling can help build a life of meaning and impact.

Guzmán shares her personal experience of growing up in a politically divided family. She highlights the need for in-person interactions, attention, and containment in dialogues. She also discusses the role of media in perpetuating polarization and the potential for small-scale conversations to impact larger institutions like politics and media. Mónica Guzmán is a journalist and entrepreneur and is the Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a grassroots, cross partisan, organization working to depolarize America. She is cofounder of the newsletter The Evergrey out of Seattle Washington and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents and is a dual US/Mexican citizen. She is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times (BenBella Books 2022).Interview Date: 5/15/2025 Tags: Mónica Guzmán, listening, storytelling, uncertainty, assumption, biases, curiosity, Murial Rukeyser, Braver Angels, depolarizing America, attention, attention economy, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics, Community

Mónica Guzmán is a journalist and entrepreneur and is Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a grassroots, cross partisan, organization working to depolarize America. She is cofounder of the newsletter The Evergrey out of Seattle Washington and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents and is a dual US/Mexican citizen. She is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times (BenBella Books 2022)Interview Date: 5/15/2025 Tags: Mónica Guzmán, listening, storytelling, curiosity, Braver Angels, depolarizing America, asking permission to talk about sensitive topics, asking open-ended questions, authentic conversations, Glenn Beck, open conversations lead to better understanding, gentle questions, silos of curiosity, uncertainty, misperceptions, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Americans are divided by geography. Most of us live in overwhelmingly red or blue Congressional Districts. We are less likely than ever to know someone from the other side of the political spectrum. We are often misinformed about what members of the other tribe actually believe. In this episode we speak with Kirk Tatnall, Starla Brown, and Cade Smith about a Braver Angels exchange program. Participants from New York City and Jackson, Mississippi visited each other over two weekends. They held workshops and meetings, engaging in discussions across differences.“I just have a fundamental underlying belief that you cannot understand someone else unless you know them,” Kirk Tatnall told us. “You cannot really get to the motivations and the passions and the drive of other people until you see how they live.”The exchange began with the idea that only by coming together physically - in each other's backyards - can we begin to understand the other side.“We got to know each other, and we were allowed to be vulnerable in a very safe, wonderful environment,” said Starla Brown. “Being able to be vulnerable with people who don't agree with you is empowering.”Exchange participants learned about two very different parts of the country, and engaged with people not like them. “It's not just speaking. It's being open to seeing someone in a completely new light, and if you do you can never see them the old way,” Cade Smith told “How Do We Fix It?”This podcast is our latest to report on the people, projects, and ideas of Braver Angels, who aim to restore the American spirit of working together.Our guests:Starla Brown is the current State Director for Americans for Prosperity's Mississippi Chapter. Starla is a 5th generation Mississippian and spent a portion of her life in South Florida where she worked in the construction industry and marketing development, as well as with the Florida chapter of AFP. Kirk Tatnall has been a New Yorker for most of his adult life. His career in advertising has spanned the digital marketing era and he continues to focus his time at the crossroads of media, data and adtech to deliver cross-channel television solutions. He is a husband and father to an adult son who continues to seek out reconciliation across a deeply divided nation.Cade grew up in Grenada, Mississippi and is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Access and Community Engagement in the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Community Engagement at The University of Mississippi. His work includes advancing the formation of collaborative partnerships between UM scholars and communities. He is also responsible for building bridges across divided communities through dialogue, education, and scholarly inquiry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send Wilk a text with your feedback! Restoring Our Belief in Each Other: A New Civic Path for Healing America – Episode 272 with Rich Harwood In Episode 272 of Derate The Hate, Wilk welcomes Rich Harwood, founder of The Harwood Institute, to discuss how civic engagement, shared aspirations, and community agency can overcome toxic division in America. Drawing on decades of experience revitalizing communities, Rich explains how we can reject the ugliness of politics and embrace the dignity of building together. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to restore connection, purpose, and hope in their community.Key Topics:Civic engagement in a divided timeThe “Enough Time to Build” campaignReclaiming empathy and dignityBuilding a new civic pathCreating visible action in local communitiesRestoring agency and shared aspirationsWho is Rich Harwood? Rich Harwood is President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and author of The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation. He's spent over 35 years leading efforts to heal fractured communities and drive social change through public innovation.Connect with Rich Harwood:

Partisan polarization has long been a fact of political life in the United States. And it seems like politics is everywhere these days — at the dinner table, in the classroom and on every screen. That raises some big questions for parents. How do we talk to our kids about what's going on without passing along fear or cynicism? How do we raise thoughtful, respectful people amid divisive rhetoric?MPR News host Catharine Richert and her guests explore how parents can talk with their kids about politics without anger, divisive rhetoric and polarization. Guests:  Lindsay Cormack is an associate professor of political science at the Stevens Institute of Technology. She is also the author of, “How to Raise a Citizen (And Why it's Up to You to Do It)”  Bill Doherty is a professor emeritus in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. He is also co-founder of Braver Angels, a nonprofit that seeks to restore trust, respect and goodwill in American politics.

Lincoln Earls-Center, from Braver Angels, joins Anthony & Dan to discuss their mission of bridging the conversational divide between the Left and Right. @braverangels

Tim Milosch (Ph.D.) joins today's episode for another edition of Report From The Front, conversations with people who are doing it right, to speak with Tim and Rick about his work with Braver Angels, a non-profit dedicated to political depolarization. They discuss the function and benefits of parliamentary procedure - What is it? How to practice it? They discuss how roles like “the chair” and having established boundaries help to diffuse the heat when a disagreement gets combative, and they consider the relationship between the skill of health debate and being a good citizen.Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Coming up on this week's edition of The Spark Weekly. David Blankenhorn, a Harvard graduate and cofounder of Braver Angels, has stepped down after nine years as President of the nonprofit organization he helped launch in response to America’s growing political polarization. also, on the program. More than a decade after the loss of 19-year-old Peyton Walker to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the foundation created in her name is saving lives across Pennsylvania and beyond.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Blankenhorn, a Harvard graduate and cofounder of Braver Angels, has stepped down after nine years as President of the nonprofit organization he helped launch in response to America’s growing political polarization.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send Wilk a text with your feedback!Episode 270: From Polarization to Proactive Citizenship – with Dr. Bill DohertyIn the first official Derate The Hate episode produced in collaboration with Braver Angels, host Wilk Wilkinson is joined by Braver Angels co-founder Dr. Bill Doherty to explore how we can move beyond polarization through meaningful citizenship and personal accountability.Dr. Doherty shares insights on the founding of Braver Angels and introduces the concept of “thick citizenship”—a form of civic engagement that goes beyond voting and paying taxes to include structured conversations, problem-solving, and shared community responsibility.

Political speech in America is all too often dominated by hyperbole. We don't just disagree, we find those on the other side to be offensive or even worse. All too often the language of curiosity, nuance and humility is missing from our dialog.In this episode we look at a novel way to reach across the divide. During the spring, Minnesota Braver Angels leaders who live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region decided to visit six small towns in rural parts of the state. Our guests are Melinda Voss, who leans blue, and Scott Schluter who leans red. We find out what they learned while on their nine-day "Reduce the Rancor" bus tour. Melinda, Scott and other volunteers organized a series of events, including red-blue workshops, meetings with local community leaders, and conversations with people in six towns. They also did a lot of listening.“To be a Braver Angel requires a bit of humility," Melinda told us. "Your side might not have all the answers, and you might be wrong, and you might have something to contribute that would be valuable.”Getting both sides together to talk instead of yelling across the partisan divide has taken on a new sense of urgency. Nowhere more so than in Minnesota, after recent politically-motivated murders of a Democratic state politician and her husband, and the shootings of another Democrat and his wife. The violence was especially alarming in a state traditionally known for being “Minnesota Nice”, a term used to describe its courteous, mild-mannered, polite citizens. Here at How Do We Fix It? we look at ways to disagree better. Recent episodes have mainly focused on the people, projects and ideas of Braver Angels— an extraordinary collection of volunteers who work to depolarize America. More about our guests: Scott Schluter has been involved with Braver Angels as a red-leaning member since 2018, starting a Minneapolis Alliance in 2021 and then Minnesota State Co-coordinator in 2024. He spent a lifetime in photographic retail sales and management, which he's found ties in greatly to the Braver Angel model of listening, asking great questions, acknowledging and working toward shared goals.Melinda Voss is one of two state coordinators for Braver Angels Minnesota. She leans blue. Now retired, she was a staff writer for the Des Moines Register and Tribune for nearly 26 years, taught journalism at three universities, co-founded the Association of Health Care Journalists, and served as public relations director for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send Wilk a text with your feedback!Political Detox & Shadow Work: Reclaiming Emotional Sovereignty in a Polarized WorldIn Episode 269 of the Derate The Hate podcast, host Wilk sits down with Chuck Gafvert — a former corporate executive turned political detox coach and Jungian psychology practitioner. They explore the deep psychological roots of political stress, the harmful effects of toxic polarization, and how we can regain inner peace through self-awareness and emotional responsibility.

SPEAKING OF CIVILITY I love that there is an active effort to bring civility back to our lives and political discussions. Today at 2:30 I've got Lori Leander from Reclaiming Civility and Sandra Brownrigg from Braver Angels Southern Front Range Alliance on to talk about what their organization is trying to do to elevate the dialogue in our communities again. They've got an event coming up called "Civility on the International Space Station with Astronaut Jim Dutton" and you can go. To find out more and reserve your seat, click here. Find out more about Braver Angels by clicking here!

HOLY SMOKES YOU GUYS I won't have much time to blather on about the amazing trip we took to South Korea and Japan (but I'm sure I'll get in plenty of blathering) because you may have heard that the US did a sneak attack against the Iranian regime that may or may not have ended their nuclear program for the time being. President Trump gave some brief comments about it the other night and you can watch them here.I love that there is an active effort to bring civility back to our lives and political discussions. Today at 2:30 I've got Lori Leander from Reclaiming Civility and Sandra Brownrigg from Braver Angels Southern Front Range Alliance on to talk about what their organization is trying to do to elevate the dialogue in our communities again. They've got an event coming up called "Civility on the International Space Station with Astronaut Jim Dutton" and you can go. To find out more and reserve your seat, click here. Find out more about Braver Angels by clicking here!

About this episode: In 2016, the nonprofit Braver Angels was founded to bring together diverse groups of people to try and figure out why productive communication has become so difficult. During the pandemic, the conversations got even harder. In this episode: How Braver Angels is bringing together questioners and supporters of public health to hear each other out with a goal of humanizing, understanding, and remembering that “everyone is worth listening to.” Guests: Dr. Leslie Lapato is a retired psychiatrist who has worked with Braver Angels since 2017 in a variety of roles including alliance chair, debate chair, debate whip, moderator, and organizer.   Dr. Beth Malow is a neurology sleep physician and science communicator who has worked with Braver Angels since 2017 in a variety of roles including moderator, workshop designer, and debate chair. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. Show links and related content: Our Mission—Braver Angels Confronting our COVID condescension—Braver Angels Colorado Springs company works with Braver Angels to promote civility through debates—The Gazette Braver Angels spreads its ‘building bridges' gospel across Greater Minnesota—MinnPost Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

In a time of deep political division, two leaders with vastly different backgrounds—one in marketing, the other in human resources—are helping Pennsylvanians find common ground through Braver Angels, a national nonprofit focused on depolarization.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send Wilk a text with your feedback! Beyond the Politics of Contempt – DTH Episode 266 with Beth Malow and Doug Teschner In this powerful episode of Derate The Hate, host Wilk Wilkinson sits down with fellow Braver Angels Beth Malow and Doug Teschner to discuss their upcoming book, Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times. In a time when toxic polarization threatens the fabric of our nation, Beth and Doug offer a hopeful and actionable roadmap to reconnect with one another—across political, personal, and cultural divides.Key Topics Covered:The rise of "conflict entrepreneurs" and their role in fueling divisionWhy people are craving meaningful connection in today's polarized climateHow self-reflection and emotional intelligence are vital for healing dividesPractical tools for restoring relationships damaged by political conflictBridge-building activism that promotes dignity, respect, and understandingThe role of hope and empathy in shaping a better futureTips for standing firm in your beliefs while building bridgesNotable Quotes:“People are looking for something better.”“Self-reflection is key to change.”“It's about being part of the solution.”“We can solve any problem if we feel heard.”“Hope is essential for our country.”Connect & Subscribe:

From Silent Spring to Erin Brockovich, people have been captivated — and devastated — by stories of harmful chemicals and the many ways that they have altered and even ended human lives. From investigative journalist Mariah Blake comes a new book that recounts a small town being poisoned, a corporate cover up, and a grassroots movement to fight back. In 2014, after losing several friends and relatives to cancer, an insurance underwriter in Hoosick Falls, New York, suspected that the local water supply was polluted. When he tested his tap water, he discovered dangerous levels of “forever chemicals” (synthetic chemicals that are resistant to breaking down and can lead to adverse health and environmental effects). This set off a chain of events that revealed at least 100 million Americans' drinking water was tainted. The discovery of bad water was a shock to some, but perhaps more shocking was the discovery that the United States government and the manufacturers of these toxic chemicals — used in everything from cookware to lipstick to children's clothing — had known about these hazards for decades but had hidden them from the public. In her new book They Poisoned the World, investigative journalist Mariah Blake tells this story, tracing its roots all the way back to the Manhattan Project and through the postwar America. Drawing on years of reporting and tens of thousands of documents, Blake weaves the history of forever chemicals with the story of how a lone village took on the chemical giants all the way to the nation's capital — and won. Mariah Blake is an investigative journalist whose writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Mother Jones, The New Republic, and other publications. She was a Murrey Marder Nieman Fellow in Watchdog Journalism at Harvard University. Mónica Guzmán is author of I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times; founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity; Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels; and host of A Braver Way podcast. Mónica serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Multipartisan Education. She received an honorary doctorate degree from Wheaton College, and completed study and research fellowships at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, and the University of Florida. A Mexican immigrant, Latina, and dual US/Mexico citizen, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two kids and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents. Buy the Book They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals (Hardcover) Third Place Books

Send Wilk a text with your feedback!Replay: Polarization – The Issue of Our Time (feat. John Wood Jr.)This week, I'm re-sharing a powerful episode from the DTH archives during a little family downtime. In this classic, I sat down with my good friend and Braver Angels National Ambassador, John Wood Jr., to tackle what may be the greatest challenge facing our country: polarization.We discuss:Why polarization prevents progress on all other issuesHow to better engage with people who think differentlyThe dangers of whataboutism and political panderingWhy long-term thinking beats short-term outrageJohn brings the kind of insight and calm conviction that's rare in today's divided landscape. This episode is packed with value—don't miss it!

What does it mean to be a "reconciliation entrepreneur" in today's world? Our guest, Mark Beckwith, reveals how Braver Angels works to strengthen our democratic republic by bringing people together from across the partisan divide. Hear about their work with legislators and college campuses, and how the principle of "religious" meaning "to bring people together" can be applied to bridge the gap between mainline and evangelical Christians. #ReconciliationEntrepreneur #Bipartisan #IntergroupDialogue #FaithInAction #ProblemSolvers

Given the country's political divide, we often hear that conversations are the key to empathy and connection. Which is true. But that also doesn't scale very well. One way to combat this is to correct dangerous political misperceptions and help us find more overlap. In fact, a Hidden Tribes study shows that 85% of Americans are more similar than we think.Today, James Coan explains the Perception Gap and how it forces us to see each other as threats rather than with compassion. This applies to the workplace as much as politics. He talks about why conversations are great, but indirect interceptions also help close this gap and bring us together. This includes More Like US's work in education, journalism, and the arts to portray each other in a more accurate light. James also shares some advice for creatives and creators on how they can help. The work is intriguing and frankly, makes a lot of sense - and it can be used by corporate leaders as well. This conversation could not be more important right now, so please learn more about their work and take a listen. To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.comKey Takeaways:Books, movies, and other media that feature characters who are “not like us” are not there to convert your children; they are there to expose people to different experiences and lives for better understanding. We're never going to be able to tap into the conversations and the empathy of listening to one another until we realize that we're closer than we think we are.People who feel threatened, especially to their safety and security, are more open to authoritarian tendencies. By focusing on the desire for atypical leadership, people are able to work better together rather than fight. "Every day Americans tend to be more similar ideologically than fellow Americans tend to realize. An average Democrat or Republican will agree on more and are less extreme than people realize." — James CoanEpisode References: Mónica Guzmán: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Divided Political TimesEdwin Rutsch: How Empathy Circles Can Change the WorldSimilarity HubTrusting NewsHidden Tribes StudyBridge Entertainment LabsBuildersBraver AngelsStanford Strengthening Democracy ChallengeFrom Our Partner:SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.About James Coan, Co-Founder and Executive Director, More Like USJames Coan is Co-Founder and Executive Director of More Like US, which corrects dangerous political misperceptions of each other at scale. He previously served as DC Alliance Co-chair and Mid-Atlantic Regional Lead for Braver Angels, one of the largest organizations dedicated to reducing political divides, and previously co-led social media and Ambassador outreach nationally. He has been involved closely in the field since shortly after the 2016 election, with a main interest in achieving goals at scale. He brings 10+ years of strategy consulting experience and has worked at a think tank after receiving a degree in public policy from Princeton.Connect with James Coan More Like US: https://www.morelikeus.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-coan-6465b15/ Connect with Maria:Get Maria's books on empathy: Red-Slice.com/booksLearn more about Maria's work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake the LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaFacebook: Red SliceThreads: @redslicemariaWe would love to get your thoughts on the show! Please click https://bit.ly/edge-feedback to take this 5-minute survey, thanks!

If you're disturbed or simply turned off by America's rigid political divisions this is the show for you. We discuss creative skills and practices that put a little hope back in your political lifeDoug Teschner and Beth Malow are co-authors of the forthcoming book "Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times." Their work builds on what they've both learned as bridge builders and Braver Angels volunteers. They also write about their work on Substack.Imagine a country where people of opposing political beliefs and different social, geographical and educational backgrounds get along pretty well, and manage to make progress together on vital issues that they care about. Our two guests show how it can be done."We've always had debate and disagreement," Doug tells us. "The concern now is that this has become personalized. If you don't agree with me that means you're evil." People should disagree, but when it's about "us versus them, this is really dangerous for our country."Most Americans want to get along, says Beth. "I just think there are forces out there tearing us apart because that's what they see their profit and power in... We need to stand up and say enough is enough. We're better than this."Beth Malow leans blue. Doug Teschner leans red. He is a former Republican State Legislator in New Hampshire. Doug served as a Peace Corps country director in Ukraine and West Africa. He volunteers for Braver Angels as New England political leader. Beth Malow is a neurology physician, science and health communicator and lives in Vermont. She is also a trained volunteer moderator and debate chair for Braver Angels.This is our latest episode on the people, projects, and ideas of Braver Angels: The volunteer-led nationwide citizens' group that's working to bring people together across rigid and often antagonistic divides. During our interview Beth mentioned a May 20th Braver Angels New Hampshire debate that she's involved with.Our podcast host, Richard Davies, is a media trainer who works with clients to strengthen their public speaking, messaging, and interview skills. His email is daviescontentatgmail,com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hometown Radio 05/13/25 3p: Spotlight on Braver Angels then Dave & Craig get caught up

MIT Concourse is a program for first-year students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that “brings science into conversation with the humanities.” It also hosts the Civil Discourse Project, which seeks to “reinvigorate the open exchange of ideas at MIT.” In this episode of Higher Ed Now, ACTA's Bryan Paul interviews Senior Lecturer Linda Rabieh to learn how the Civil Discourse Project has used the Braver Angels debate format championed by the College Debates and Discourse Alliance — a joint program of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, Braver Angels, and BridgeUSA — to prepare our nation's future STEM leaders for thoughtful, engaged citizenship. He also speaks with Mariam Abdelbarr, Isaac Lock, and Siddhu Pachipala, three students who have helped plan and conduct debates at MIT.

With Pennsylvania’s primary election just weeks away, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt joined WITF’s The Spark to walk voters through the critical deadlines and options for casting their ballots. “The primary in Pennsylvania is May 20th,” Secretary Schmidt reminded listeners, noting that “the last day to register to vote is May 5th” and “the last day to apply to vote by mail … is May 13th.” For people of faith, civil discourse often begins in recognizing the image of God and/or the inherent dignity in our conversation partner. As a result, Braver Angels approach involves mutual respect. Respect, not agreement, is an essential key for a healthy discussion. Asia speaks with two representatives of Braver Faith to speak on their process and the benefitsSupport WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On May 2, Braver Angels’ own Red Co-Chair of Braver Faith, Lenny Greenberg, and Reverend Chad Butz joined The Spark to explore how faith communities can heal our fractured political landscape. Lenny, a retired high-tech executive, explained that “we must learn to talk to each other about our disagreements in a civil way again,” while Pastor Chad reflected on the shared mission of church and Braver Angels: “Relationship is at the heart of what it means to be Christian… and Braver Angels teaches us to compromise for the benefit of the relationship.” Both guests underscored the importance of releasing our need to be right so that love and care for our fellow humans can guide us toward a more united future.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First, author and filmmaker Chris Whipple discusses his book "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History." Then, University of Pennsylvania Economics professor Jesús Fernández-Villaverde -- discusses declining fertility rates in the U-S – and the economic impact. Plus, a conversation with Bill Doherty, co-founder of the non-profit group Braver Angels – about efforts to reduce political polarization in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A year ago, the great American historian Adam Hochschild came on KEEN ON AMERICA to discuss American Midnight, his best selling account of the crisis of American democracy after World War One. A year later, is history really repeating itself in today's crisis of American democracy? For Hochschild, there are certainly parallels between the current political situation in the US and post WW1 America. Describing how wartime hysteria and fear of communism led to unprecedented government repression, including mass imprisonment for political speech, vigilante violence, and press censorship. Hochschild notes eery similarities to today's Trump's administration. He expresses concern about today's threats to democratic institutions while suggesting the importance of understanding Trump supporters' grievances and finding ways to bridge political divides. Five Key Takeaways* The period of 1917-1921 in America saw extreme government repression, including imprisoning people for speech, vigilante violence, and widespread censorship—what Hochschild calls America's "Trumpiest" era before Trump.* American history shows recurring patterns of nativism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and scapegoating that politicians exploit during times of economic or social stress.* The current political climate shows concerning parallels to this earlier period, including intimidation of opposition, attacks on institutions, and the widespread acceptance of authoritarian tendencies.* Hochschild emphasizes the importance of understanding the grievances and suffering that lead people to support authoritarian figures rather than dismissing their concerns.* Despite current divisions, Hochschild believes reconciliation is possible and necessary, pointing to historical examples like President Harding pardoning Eugene Debs after Wilson imprisoned him. Full Transcript Andrew Keen: Hello, everybody. We recently celebrated our 2500th edition of Keen On. Some people suggest I'm mad. I think I probably am to do so many shows. Just over a little more than a year ago, we celebrated our 2000th show featuring one of America's most distinguished historians, Adam Hochschild. I'm thrilled that Adam is joining us again a year later. He's the author of "American Midnight, The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis." This was his last book. He's the author of many other books. He is now working on a book on the Great Depression. He's joining us from his home in Berkeley, California. Adam, to borrow a famous phrase or remix a famous phrase, a year is a long time in American history.Adam Hochschild: That's true, Andrew. I think this past year, or actually this past 100 days or so has been a very long and very difficult time in American history that we all saw coming to some degree, but I don't think we realized it would be as extreme and as rapid as it has been.Andrew Keen: Your book, Adam, "American Midnight, A Great War of Violent Peace and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis," is perhaps the most prescient warning. When you researched that you were saying before we went live that your books usually take you between four and five years, so you couldn't really have planned for this, although I guess you began writing and researching American Midnight during the Trump 1.0 regime. Did you write it as a warning to something like is happening today in America?Adam Hochschild: Well, I did start writing it and did most of the work on it during Trump's first term in office. So I was very struck by the parallels. And they're in plain sight for everybody to see. There are various dark currents that run through this country of ours. Nativism, threats to deport troublemakers. Politicians stirring up violent feelings against immigrants, vigilante violence, all those things have been with us for a long time. I've always been fascinated by that period, 1917 to 21, when they surged to the surface in a very nasty way. That was the subject of the book. Naturally, I hoped we wouldn't have to go through anything like that again, but here we are definitely going through it again.Andrew Keen: You wrote a lovely piece earlier this month for the Washington Post. "America was at its Trumpiest a hundred years ago. Here's how to prevent the worst." What did you mean by Trumpiest, Adam? I'm not sure if you came up with that title, but I know you like the term. You begin the essay. What was the Trumpiest period in American life before Donald Trump?Adam Hochschild: Well, I didn't invent the word, but I certainly did use it in the piece. What I meant by that is that when you look at this period just over 100 years ago, 1917 to 1921, Woodrow Wilson's second term in office, two things happened in 1917 that kicked off a kind of hysteria in this country. One was that Wilson asked the American Congress to declare war on Germany, which it promptly did, and when a country enters a major war, especially a world war, it sets off a kind of hysteria. And then that was redoubled some months later when the country received news of the Russian Revolution, and many people in the establishment in America were afraid the Russian Revolution might come to the United States.So, a number of things happened. One was that there was a total hysteria against all things German. There were bonfires of German books all around the country. People would take German books out of libraries, schools, college and university libraries and burn them in the street. 19 such bonfires in Ohio alone. You can see pictures of it on the internet. There was hysteria about the German language. I heard about this from my father as I was growing up because his father was a Jewish immigrant from Germany. They lived in New York City. They spoke German around the family dinner table, but they were terrified of doing so on the street because you could get beaten up for that. Several states passed laws against speaking German in public or speaking German on the telephone. Eminent professors declared that German was a barbaric language. So there was that kind of hysteria.Then as soon as the United States declared war, Wilson pushed the Espionage Act through Congress, this draconian law, which essentially gave the government the right to lock up anybody who said something that was taken to be against the war. And they used this law in a devastating way. During those four years, roughly a thousand Americans spent a year or more in jail and a much larger number, shorter periods in jail solely for things that they wrote or said. These were people who were political prisoners sent to jail simply for something they wrote or said, the most famous of them was Eugene Debs, many times the socialist candidate for president. He'd gotten 6% of the popular vote in 1912 and in 1918. For giving an anti-war speech from a park bandstand in Ohio, he was sent to prison for 10 years. And he was still in prison two years after the war ended in November, 1920, when he pulled more than 900,000 votes for president from his jail cell in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.So that was one phase of the repression, political prisoners. Another was vigilante violence. The government itself, the Department of Justice, chartered a vigilante group, something called the American Protective League, which went around roughing up people that it thought were evading the draft, beating up people at anti-war rallies, arresting people with citizens arrest whom they didn't have their proper draft papers on them, holding them for hours or sometimes for days until they could produce the right paperwork.Andrew Keen: I remember, Adam, you have a very graphic description of some of this violence in American Midnight. There was a story, was it a union leader?Adam Hochschild: Well, there is so much violence that happened during that time. I begin the book with a graphic description of vigilantes raiding an office of the Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, taking a bunch of wobblies out into the prairie at night, stripping them, whipping them, flogging them fiercely, and then tarring and feathering them, and firing shotguns over their heads so they would run off into the Prairie at Night. And they did. Those guys were lucky because they survive. Other people were killed by this vigilante violence.And the final thing about that period which I would mention is the press censorship. The Espionage Act gave the Postmaster General the power to declare any publication in the United States unmailable. And for a newspaper or a magazine that was trying to reach a national audience, the only way you could do so was through the US mail because there was no internet then. No radio, no TV, no other way of getting your publication to somebody. And this put some 75 newspapers and magazines that the government didn't like out of business. It in addition censored three or four hundred specific issues of other publications as well.So that's why I feel this is all a very dark period of American life. Ironically, that press censorship operation, because it was run by the postmaster general, who by the way loved being chief censor, it was ran out of the building that was then the post office headquarters in Washington, which a hundred years later became the Trump International Hotel. And for $4,000 a night, you could stay in the Postmaster General's suite.Andrew Keen: You, Adam, the First World War is a subject you're very familiar with. In addition to American Midnight, you wrote "To End All Wars, a story of loyalty and rebellion, 1914 to 18," which was another very successful of your historical recreations. Many countries around the world experience this turbulence, the violence. Of course, we had fascism in the 20s in Europe. And later in the 30s as well. America has a long history of violence. You talk about the violence after the First World War or after the declaration. But I was just in Montgomery, Alabama, went to the lynching museum there, which is considerably troubling. I'm sure you've been there. You're not necessarily a comparative political scientist, Adam. How does America, in its paranoia during the war and its clampdown on press freedom, on its violence, on its attempt to create an authoritarian political system, how does it compare to other democracies? Is some of this stuff uniquely American or is it a similar development around the world?Adam Hochschild: You see similar pressures almost any time that a major country is involved in a major war. Wars are never good for civil liberties. The First World War, to stick with that period of comparison, was a time that saw strong anti-war movements in all of the warring countries, in Germany and Britain and Russia. There were people who understood at the time that this war was going to remake the world for the worse in every way, which indeed it did, and who refused to fight. There were 800 conscientious objectors jailed in Russia, and Russia did not have much freedom of expression to begin with. In Germany, many distinguished people on the left, like Rosa Luxemburg, were sent to jail for most of the war.Britain was an interesting case because I think they had a much longer established tradition of free speech than did the countries on the continent. It goes way back and it's a distinguished and wonderful tradition. They were also worried for the first two and a half, three years of the war before the United States entered, that if they crack down too hard on their anti-war movement, it would upset people in the United States, which they were desperate to draw into the war on their side. Nonetheless, there were 6,000 conscientious objectors who were sent to jail in England. There was intermittent censorship of anti-war publications, although some were able to publish some of the time. There were many distinguished Britons, such as Bertrand Russell, the philosopher who later won a Nobel Prize, sent to jails for six months for his opposition to the war. So some of this happened all over.But I think in the United States, especially with these vigilante groups, it took a more violent form because remember the country at that time was only a few decades away from these frontier wars with the Indians. And the westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century, the western expansion of white settlement was an enormously bloody business that was almost genocidal for the Native Americans. Many people had participated in that. Many people saw that violence as integral to what the country was. So there was a pretty well-established tradition of settling differences violently.Andrew Keen: I'm sure you're familiar with Stephen Hahn's book, "A Liberal America." He teaches at NYU, a book which in some ways is very similar to yours, but covers all of American history. Hahn was recently on the Ezra Klein show, talking like you, like we're talking today, Adam, about the very American roots of Trumpism. Hahn, it's an interesting book, traces much of this back to Jackson and the wars of the frontier against Indians. Do you share his thesis on that front? Are there strong similarities between Jackson, Wilson, and perhaps even Trump?Adam Hochschild: Well, I regret to say I'm not familiar with Hahn's book, but I certainly do feel that that legacy of constant war for most of the 19th century against the Native Americans ran very deep in this country. And we must never forget how appealing it is to young men to take part in war. Unfortunately, all through history, there have been people very tempted by this. And I think when you have wars of conquest, such as happen in the American West, against people who are more poorly armed, or colonial wars such as Europe fought in Africa and Asia against much more poorly-armed opponents, these are especially appealing to young people. And in both the United States and in the European colonization of Africa, which I know something about. For young men joining in these colonizing or conquering adventures, there was a chance not just to get martial glory, but to also get rich in the process.Andrew Keen: You're all too familiar with colonial history, Adam. Another of your books was about King Leopold's Congo and the brutality there. Where was the most coherent opposition morally and politically to what was happening? My sense in Trump's America is perhaps the most persuasive and moral critique comes from the old Republican Center from people like David Brooks, Peter Wayno has been on the show many times, Jonathan Rausch. Where were people like Teddy Roosevelt in this narrative? Were there critics from the right as well as from the left?Adam Hochschild: Good question. I first of all would give a shout out to those Republican centrists who've spoken out against Trump, the McCain Republicans. There are some good people there - Romney, of course as well. They've been very forceful. There wasn't really an equivalent to that, a direct equivalent to that in the Wilson era. Teddy Roosevelt whom you mentioned was a far more ferocious drum beater than Wilson himself and was pushing Wilson to declare war long before Wilson did. Roosevelt really believed that war was good for the soul. He desperately tried to get Wilson to appoint him to lead a volunteer force, came up with an elaborate plan for this would be a volunteer army staffed by descendants of both Union and Confederate generals and by French officers as well and homage to the Marquis de Lafayette. Wilson refused to allow Roosevelt to do this, and plus Roosevelt was, I think, 58 years old at the time. But all four of Roosevelt's sons enlisted and joined in the war, and one of them was killed. And his father was absolutely devastated by this.So there was not really that equivalent to the McCain Republicans who are resisting Trump, so to speak. In fact, what resistance there was in the U.S. came mostly from the left, and it was mostly ruthlessly silenced, all these people who went to jail. It was silenced also because this is another important part of what happened, which is different from today. When the federal government passed the Espionage Act that gave it these draconian powers, state governments, many of them passed copycat laws. In fact, a federal justice department agent actually helped draft the law in New Hampshire. Montana locked up people serving more than 60 years cumulatively of hard labor for opposing the war. California had 70 people in prison. Even my hometown of Berkeley, California passed a copycat law. So, this martial spirit really spread throughout the country at that time.Andrew Keen: So you've mentioned that Debs was the great critic and was imprisoned and got a considerable number of votes in the election. You're writing a book now about the Great Depression and FDR's involvement in it. FDR, of course, was a distant cousin of Teddy Roosevelt. At this point, he was an aspiring Democratic politician. Where was the critique within the mainstream Democratic party? Were people like FDR, who had a position in the Wilson administration, wasn't he naval secretary?Adam Hochschild: He was assistant secretary of the Navy. And he went to Europe during the war. For an aspiring politician, it's always very important to say I've been at the front. And so he went to Europe and certainly made no sign of resistance. And then in 1920, he was the democratic candidate for vice president. That ticket lost of course.Andrew Keen: And just to remind ourselves, this was before he became disabled through polio, is that correct?Adam Hochschild: That's right. That happened in the early 20s and it completely changed his life and I think quite deepened him as a person. He was a very ambitious social climbing young politician before then but I think he became something deeper. Also the political parties at the time were divided each party between right and left wings or war mongering and pacifist wings. And when the Congress voted on the war, there were six senators who voted against going to war and 50 members of the House of Representatives. And those senators and representatives came from both parties. We think of the Republican Party as being more conservative, but it had some staunch liberals in it. The most outspoken voice against the war in the Senate was Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin, who was a Republican.Andrew Keen: I know you write about La Follette in American Midnight, but couldn't one, Adam, couldn't won before the war and against domestic repression. You wrote an interesting piece recently for the New York Review of Books about the Scopes trial. William Jennings Bryan, of course, was involved in that. He was the defeated Democratic candidate, what in about three or four presidential elections in the past. In the early 20th century. What was Bryan's position on this? He had been against the war, is that correct? But I'm guessing he would have been quite critical of some of the domestic repression.Adam Hochschild: You know, I should know the answer to that, Andrew, but I don't. He certainly was against going to war. He had started out in Wilson's first term as Wilson's secretary of state and then resigned in protest against the military buildup and what he saw as a drift to war, and I give him great credit for that. I don't recall his speaking out against the repression after it began, once the US entered the war, but I could be wrong on that. It was not something that I researched. There were just so few voices speaking out. I think I would remember if he had been one of them.Andrew Keen: Adam, again, I'm thinking out loud here, so please correct me if this is a dumb question. What would it be fair to say that one of the things that distinguished the United States from the European powers during the First World War in this period it remained an incredibly insular provincial place barely involved in international politics with a population many of them were migrants themselves would come from Europe but nonetheless cut off from the world. And much of that accounted for the anti-immigrant, anti-foreign hysteria. That exists in many countries, but perhaps it was a little bit more pronounced in the America of the early 20th century, and perhaps in some ways in the early 21st century.Adam Hochschild: Well, we remain a pretty insular place in many ways. A few years ago, I remember seeing the statistic in the New York Times, I have not checked to see whether it's still the case, but I suspect it is that half the members of the United States Congress do not have passports. And we are more cut off from the world than people living in most of the countries of Europe, for example. And I think that does account for some of the tremendous feeling against immigrants and refugees. Although, of course, this is something that is common, not just in Europe, but in many countries all over the world. And I fear it's going to get all the stronger as climate change generates more and more refugees from the center of the earth going to places farther north or farther south where they can get away from parts of the world that have become almost unlivable because of climate change.Andrew Keen: I wonder Democratic Congress people perhaps aren't leaving the country because they fear they won't be let back in. What were the concrete consequences of all this? You write in your book about a young lawyer, J. Edgar Hoover, of course, who made his name in this period. He was very much involved in the Palmer Raids. He worked, I think his first job was for Palmer. How do you see this structurally? Of course, many historians, biographers of Hoover have seen this as the beginning of some sort of American security state. Is that over-reading it, exaggerating what happened in this period?Adam Hochschild: Well, security state may be too dignified a word for the hysteria that reigned in the country at that time. One of the things we've long had in the United States is a hysteria, paranoia directed at immigrants who are coming from what seems to be a new and threatening part of the world. In the mid-19th century, for example, we had the Know-Nothing Party, as it was called, who were violently opposed to Catholic immigrants coming from Ireland. Now, they were people of Anglo-Saxon descent, pretty much, who felt that these Irish Catholics were a tremendous threat to the America that they knew. There was much violence. There were people killed in riots against Catholic immigrants. There were Catholic merchants who had their stores burned and so on.Then it began to shift. The Irish sort of became acceptable, but by the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century the immigrants coming from Europe were now coming primarily from southern and eastern Europe. In other words, Italians, Sicilians, Poles, and Jews. And they became the target of the anti-immigrant crusaders with much hysteria directed against them. It was further inflamed at that time by the Eugenics movement, which was something very strong, where people believed that there was a Nordic race that was somehow superior to everybody else, that the Mediterraneans were inferior people, and that the Africans were so far down the scale, barely worth talking about. And this culminated in 1924 with the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act that year, which basically slammed the door completely on immigrants coming from Asia and slowed to an absolute trickle those coming from Europe for the next 40 years or so.Andrew Keen: It wasn't until the mid-60s that immigration changed, which is often overlooked. Some people, even on the left, suggest that it was a mistake to radically reform the Immigration Act because we would have inevitably found ourselves back in this situation. What do you think about that, Adam?Adam Hochschild: Well, I think a country has the right to regulate to some degree its immigration, but there always will be immigration in this world. I mean, my ancestors all came from other countries. The Jewish side of my family, I'm half Jewish, were lucky to get out of Europe in plenty of time. Some relatives who stayed there were not lucky and perished in the Holocaust. So who am I to say that somebody fleeing a repressive regime in El Salvador or somewhere else doesn't have the right to come here? I think we should be pretty tolerant, especially if people fleeing countries where they really risk death for one reason or another. But there is always gonna be this strong anti-immigrant feeling because unscrupulous politicians like Donald Trump, and he has many predecessors in this country, can point to immigrants and blame them for the economic misfortunes that many Americans are experiencing for reasons that don't have anything to do with immigration.Andrew Keen: Fast forward Adam to today. You were involved in an interesting conversation on the Nation about the role of universities in the resistance. What do you make of this first hundred days, I was going to say hundred years that would be a Freudian error, a hundred days of the Trump regime, the role, of big law, big universities, newspapers, media outlets? In this emerging opposition, are you chilled or encouraged?Adam Hochschild: Well, I hope it's a hundred days and not a hundred years. I am moderately encouraged. I was certainly deeply disappointed at the outset to see all of those tech titans go to Washington, kiss the ring, contribute to Trump's inauguration festivities, be there in the front row. Very depressing spectacle, which kind of reminds one of how all the big German industrialists fell into line so quickly behind Hitler. And I'm particularly depressed to see the changes in the media, both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post becoming much more tame when it came to endorsing.Andrew Keen: One of the reasons for that, Adam, of course, is that you're a long-time professor at the journalism school at UC Berkeley, so you've been on the front lines.Adam Hochschild: So I really care about a lively press that has free expression. And we also have a huge part of the media like Fox News and One American Network and other outlets that are just pouring forth a constant fire hose of lies and falsehood.Andrew Keen: And you're being kind of calling it a fire hose. I think we could come up with other terms for it. Anyway, a sewage pipe, but that's another issue.Adam Hochschild: But I'm encouraged when I see media organizations that take a stand. There are places like the New York Times, like CNN, like MSNBC, like the major TV networks, which you can read or watch and really find an honest picture of what's going on. And I think that's a tremendously important thing for a country to have. And that you look at the countries that Donald Trump admires, like Putin's Russia, for example, they don't have this. So I value that. I want to keep it. I think that's tremendously important.I was sorry, of course, that so many of those big law firms immediately cave to these ridiculous and unprecedented demands that he made, contributing pro bono work to his causes in return for not getting banned from government buildings. Nothing like that has happened in American history before, and the people in those firms that made those decisions should really be ashamed of themselves. I was glad to see Harvard University, which happens to be my alma mater, be defiant after caving in a little bit on a couple of issues. They finally put their foot down and said no. And I must say, feeling Harvard patriotism is a very rare emotion for me. But this is the first time in 50 years that I've felt some of it.Andrew Keen: You may even give a donation, Adam.Adam Hochschild: And I hope other universities are going to follow its lead, and it looks like they will. But this is pretty unprecedented, a president coming after universities with this determined of ferocity. And he's going after nonprofit organizations as well. There will be many fights there as well, I'm sure we're just waiting to hear about the next wave of attacks which will be on places like the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation and other big nonprofits. So hold on and wait for that and I hope they are as defiant as possible too.Andrew Keen: It's a little bit jarring to hear a wise historian like yourself use the word unprecedented. Is there much else of this given that we're talking historically and the similarities with the period after the first world war, is there anything else unprecedented about Trumpism?Adam Hochschild: I think in a way, we have often had, or not often, but certainly sometimes had presidents in this country who wanted to assume almost dictatorial powers. Richard Nixon certainly is the most recent case before Trump. And he was eventually stopped and forced to leave office. Had that not happened, I think he would have very happily turned himself into a dictator. So we know that there are temptations that come with the desire for absolute power everywhere. But Trump has gotten farther along on this process and has shown less willingness to do things like abide by court orders. The way that he puts pressure on Republican members of Congress.To me, one of the most startling, disappointing, remarkable, and shocking things about these first hundred days is how very few Republican members to the House or Senate have dared to defy Trump on anything. At most, these ridiculous set of appointees that he muscled through the Senate. At most, they got three Republican votes against them. They couldn't muster the fourth necessary vote. And in the House, only one or two Republicans have voted against Trump on anything. And of course, he has threatened to have Elon Musk fund primaries against any member of Congress who does defy him. And I can't help but think that these folks must also be afraid of physical violence because Trump has let all the January 6th people out of jail and the way vigilantes like that operate is they first go after the traitors on their own side then they come for the rest of us just as in the first real burst of violence in Hitler's Germany was the night of the long knives against another faction of the Nazi Party. Then they started coming for the Jews.Andrew Keen: Finally, Adam, your wife, Arlie, is another very distinguished writer.Adam Hochschild: I've got a better picture of her than that one though.Andrew Keen: Well, I got some very nice photos. This one is perhaps a little, well she's thinking Adam. Everyone knows Arlie from her hugely successful work, "Strangers in their Own Land." She has a new book out, "Stolen Pride, Lost Shame and the Rise of the Right." I don't want to put words into Arlie's mouth and she certainly wouldn't let me do that, Adam, but would it be fair to say that her reading, certainly of recent American history, is trying to bring people back together. She talks about the lessons she learned from her therapist brother. And in some ways, I see her as a kind of marriage counselor in America. Given what's happening today in America with Trump, is this still an opportunity? This thing is going to end and it will end in some ways rather badly and perhaps bloodily one way or the other. But is this still a way to bring people, to bring Americans back together? Can America be reunited? What can we learn from American Midnight? I mean, one of the more encouraging stories I remember, and please correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't it Coolidge or Harding who invited Debs when he left prison to the White House? So American history might be in some ways violent, but it's also made up of chapters of forgiveness.Adam Hochschild: That's true. I mean, that Debs-Harding example is a wonderful one. Here is Debs sent to prison by Woodrow Wilson for a 10-year term. And Debs, by the way, had been in jail before for his leadership of a railway strike when he was a railway workers union organizer. Labor organizing was a very dangerous profession in those days. But Debs was a fairly gentle man, deeply committed to nonviolence. About a year into, a little less than a year into his term, Warren Harding, Woodrow Wilson's successor, pardoned Debs, let him out of prison, invited him to visit the White House on his way home. And they had a half hour's chat. And when he left the building, Debs told reporters, "I've run for the White house five times, but this is the first time I've actually gotten here." Harding privately told a friend. This was revealed only after his death, that he said, "Debs was right about that war. We never should have gotten involved in it."So yeah, there can be reconciliation. There can be talk across these great differences that we have, and I think there are a number of organizations that are working on that specific project, getting people—Andrew Keen: We've done many of those shows. I'm sure you're familiar with the organization Braver Angels, which seems to be a very good group.Adam Hochschild: So I think it can be done. I really think it could be done and it has to be done and it's important for those of us who are deeply worried about Trump, as you and I are, to understand the grievances and the losses and the suffering that has made Trump's backers feel that here is somebody who can get them out of the pickle that they're in. We have to understand that, and the Democratic Party has to come up with promising alternatives for them, which it really has not done. It didn't really offer one in this last election. And the party itself is in complete disarray right now, I fear.Andrew Keen: I think perhaps Arlie should run for president. She would certainly do a better job than Kamala Harris in explaining it. And of course they're both from Berkeley. Finally, Adam, you're very familiar with the history of Africa, Southern Africa, your family I think was originally from there. Might we need after all this, when hopefully the smoke clears, might we need a Mandela style truth and reconciliation committee to make sense of what's happening?Adam Hochschild: My family's actually not from there, but they were in business there.Andrew Keen: Right, they were in the mining business, weren't they?Adam Hochschild: That's right. Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Well, I don't think it would be on quite the same model as South Africa's. But I certainly think we need to find some way of talking across the differences that we have. Coming from the left side of that divide I just feel all too often when I'm talking to people who feel as I do about the world that there is a kind of contempt or disinterest in Trump's backers. These are people that I want to understand, that we need to understand. We need to understand them in order to hear what their real grievances are and to develop alternative policies that are going to give them a real alternative to vote for. Unless we can do that, we're going to have Trump and his like for a long time, I fear.Andrew Keen: Wise words, Adam. I hope in the next 500 episodes of this show, things will improve. We'll get you back on the show, keep doing your important work, and I'm very excited to learn more about your new project, which we'll come to in the next few months or certainly years. Thank you so much.Adam Hochschild: OK, thank you, Andrew. Good being with you. This is a public episode. 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Many Americans think Trump is harming democracy; they see him as acting undemocratically in various ways. At the same time, Republicans and Trump supporters can view Democrats/liberals as themselves acting in highly undemocratic ways: as embracing various beliefs and actions that violate the spirit of democracy. I talk to Elizabeth Doll, who has worked in the political depolarization/bridge-building space for several years; she is currently the Director of Braver Politics for the organization Braver Angels. She is also someone who has been frustrated with various stances of liberal “defenders of democracy” that she sees as undemocratic and hypocritical. Topics discussed include: why anti-Trump people should want to understand these criticisms; various Republican-side views that liberals have behaved “undemocratically,” the debate over the electoral college; the debate over adding Supreme Court justices (stacking the court); the ambiguity in the word “democracy” and how that ambiguity leads to many things being called “undemocratic,"; why trying to understand each others' concerns is important for reducing toxicity, and more. Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.

We release this show at a moment of high political drama. Economics, financial markets, and America's relations with the rest of the world are in a state of tumult. So how on earth do we talk with and listen to people on the other side? Should you even try? Jessie Mannisto, Director of Debates at Braver Angels says “yes!” In this episode we learn why understanding those who you disagree with is a vital first step to repairing civic relations. We discuss the First 100 Days Debates: “Is President Trump Making America Great?” Braver Angels is holding a series of structured debates this spring on birthright citizenship, DEI, foreign policy, the limits of executive power and more.Everyone has an opinion about the President and his Administration. “Right now we are all in some way emotionally activated, whether with triumph or with fear and anger,” Jess tells How Do We Fix It? host Richard Davies. “At Braver Angels we are coming together to try to live well in a polarized time.”This episode is our latest report on the people, projects, and ideas of America's largest cross-partisan group that's boosting civic friendship. Bringing Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic is vital work. At a time of so much anger and misunderstanding the repair of our national conversation may be the biggest challenge the nation faces. Subscribe to our podcast. Like us at your favorite podcast platform. Head to Braver Angels to learn more about the work they're doing.Jessie Mannisto came to Braver Angels as a volunteer after being "cancelled" by friends for disagreeing with some of their political views—an experience that led her to seek a space where she could, in the words of the Braver Angels Way, "speak freely and fully without fear." Now she works to cultivate such a space for others, regardless of their beliefs. She also trains Braver Angels members to chair their own debates; one major part of this is mastering our own responses to fear and anger so that we can support others in doing the same, learning from those emotions what they are trying to tell us and using this information constructively.Before joining Braver Angels, Jessie served as a leadership analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency focusing on Eastern Europe. She is also the founder and editor emerita of Third Factor, a magazine and membership community for creative and intellectually excitable people striving to develop and live by their values. She is a native of Detroit, Michigan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wilk Wilkinson is a Christian conservative and host of the 'Derate The Hate' podcast. Through his podcast and volunteer leadership with Braver Angels inspires others to embrace a cross-partisan organization dedicated to political depolarization in America." braverangels.orgSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, host Corey Nathan welcomes back Monica Guzmán, Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, host of A Braver Way podcast, CEO of Reclaim Curiosity, and author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times. Monica's mission is to help bridge America's political divides through fearless curiosity. With deep reflections on the 2024 election, evolving friendships across ideological lines, and her renewed commitment to bridge building, Monica shares how we can stay grounded and connected—especially when it feels impossible. What We Discuss: How Moni processes political polarization and stays grounded—even when the world feels divided Practical strategies for engaging with people across ideological lines without compromising your values Why shared outrage across political lines can be a gateway to unity The role of empathy, humility, and curiosity in depolarizing conversations How journalists and moderators can better navigate falsehoods without censoring legitimate concerns Episode Highlights: [00:03:00] – Mónica explains how her emotional radar helps her know when to seek out conversations with people who see politics differently. [00:08:00] – Unexpected agreement: conservatives and liberals are both frustrated with Congressional dysfunction and executive overreach. [00:14:00] – Moni shares how talking with people who had different experiences during COVID reshaped her understanding and empathy. [00:21:00] – Corey and Mónica discuss boundaries in bridge building—when is it time to walk away from a relationship? [00:29:00] – Moderating contentious conversations: “police the structure, not the content.” [00:36:00] – The relationship between activism and dialogue—and why one without the other can be reckless or ineffective. [00:46:00] – Tips for recognizing quality journalism and avoiding emotionally manipulative content. [00:56:00] – Mónica's closing advice: engagement is not endorsement. Curiosity and conversation don't mean you're compromising your values. Featured Quotes: “I've been persuaded over and over again that positions against mine are not ludicrous.” – Mónica Guzmán “Engagement is not endorsement. Having a conversation doesn't mean you're capitulating.” – Mónica Guzmán “Find your edge—and push it. That's all you need to do to build a bridge.” – Mónica Guzmán “I don't want a decision or a position to get in the way of our relationship. I want to understand it better.” – Corey Nathan Resources Mentioned: I Never Thought of It That Way by Monica Guzmán - moniguzman.com/book Braver Angels - braverangels.org

I don't do this work in optimism. I do it in hope”, Braver Angels President David Blankenhorn tells our podcast. “If we're going to have any chance to fix this and save our country, this is what needs to be done.”Soon after the tumultuous 2016 election Braver Angels sprung to life— co-founded by David, Bill Doherty and David Lapp. Two years after its founding this nationwide volunteer-led citizen movement had its first convention attended by 72 conservative and 72 liberal delegates. Last summer, more than 750 reds and blues were at the Braver Angels national convention in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In the past few years Braver Angels workshops, debates, and other events have been held in all 50 states. The work continues every day all across America.We are releasing this repeat episode of our 2024 interview with David, recorded at Braver Angels offices in New York. This June he will transition from his role as Braver Angels President. Episode 416 includes more of our conversation and David's thoughts.This episode is the latest in our series of reports on the people, projects and ideas of Braver Angels. For the past ten years, How Do We Fix It? has featured lively and creative cross-partisan interviews with a broad range of authors, journalists and public thinkers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mónica Guzmán is author of I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times; founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity; Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels; and host of A Braver Way podcast. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Mónica Guzmán discuss how to build trust across political divides and the joy of heated debates. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone. Email: podcast@persuasion.community  Website: http://www.persuasion.community Podcast production by Mickey Freeland, and Leonora Barclay Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion Youtube: Yascha Mounk LinkedIn: Persuasion Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode's guest is Mónica Guzmán, the author of I Never Thought of It That Way – a book with very practical advice on how to have productive conversations in a polarized political environment via authentic curiosity about where people's beliefs, opinions, attitudes, and values come from. It's also about how to learn from those with whom we disagree by establishing the sort of dynamic in which they will eagerly learn from us as well.- How Minds Change- Show Notes- Newsletter- David McRaney's BlueSky- David McRaney's Twitter- YANSS Twitter- Mónica Guzmán's Website- Mónica Guzmán's Twitter - I Never Thought of it That Way- Braver Angels- My Article on Intellectual Humility

Today we're going to see if one American family can flip the usual, tortured and tedious script for arguing about politics and do something more interesting. Jenn and Todd Brandel sit down with their dad, Bruce, to see if they can come to a better understanding about what has shaped their different political views. Mónica Guzmán, senior fellow for public practice at Braver Angels and author of I Never Thought Of It That Way: How To Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times, is back to provide some insightful post-game analysis. In this second episode of our special two-part series, she breaks down what went well, what got a little messy, and what we can all apply to our own conversations with loved ones.  Listen to the first part of our series: “How To Talk Politics With Your Dad (Without Yelling) Pt 1” If you liked this episode, you might also like: “How To Rescue Someone From a Conspiracy Theory.” Do you have a question without an answer? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jenn and Todd Brandel have a close, loving relationship with their father, Bruce. But one thing makes their blood boil: his political chain emails. The messages are often forwarded commentary written in a provocative tone, and are an unwelcome reminder of just how far apart the family is politically. On this episode of How To!, we're joined by Mónica Guzmán, senior fellow for public practice at Braver Angels and author of I Never Thought Of It That Way: How To Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times. In the first of a special two-part episode on talking politics with our parents, Mónica teaches Jenn and Todd how to aim for understanding with their dad, not agreement. Next week, Jenn, Todd, and their dad Bruce will put these tips into practice—on mic—around the kitchen table, as Mónica provides post-game analysis. We'll dive into what worked, what got a little messy, and how to keep making progress. If you liked this episode, check out: “How To Embrace Your Anti-Vax Family This Holiday Season” and “How To Talk Politics Without Wrecking Relationships.” Do you have a question without an answer? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices