Listen Now

Braver Angels national ambassador John Wood Jr. has launched a new podcast with the goal of uniting Americans. But episode one hit a splash of controversy after remarks from guest Sam Harris spread across the internet, provoking criticism from Elon Musk, Ben Shapiro and others. John explains the controversy and shares the mission of Uniting America with John Wood Jr. Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. YouTube link:  https://youtube.com/@unitingamericawithjohnwoodjr Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @JohnRWoodJr

Aziz Abu Sarah started Mejdi Tours to create a new kind of experience for travelers within conflict zones. Their trips, through places like Israel and the Palestinian territories, Northern Ireland, Colombia and the Baltics, present multiple perspectives on each site they visit, building ties with local communities and creating lasting friendships. Aziz joins Braver Angels leader Randy Lioz for a conversation about his work and his life story that brought him to the world of peace building, as they take on tough questions about power dynamics, victimhood, and what the U.S. can learn from conflicts in other places. For a look at the first chapter of Aziz’s book, Crossing Boundaries, click here!

Seriously: what's going on with Elon Musk? And what happens when "free speech absolutism" runs up against the realities of running the nation's defacto digital public square? How has Joe Biden performed in his first two years in office? And what can Americans expect from Braver Angels in 2023? In the final episode of the year, Ciaran O'Connor convenes fellow Braver Angels leaders John Wood, Jr., Monica Guzman, April Kornfield, and Gabbi Timmis for a freewheeling roundtable discussion. See you in 2023!

“The struggle between ‘for’ and ‘against’ is the mind’s worst disease.” In this episode of the Braver Angels Podcast, we brought some of the big, hairy questions that challenge political bridge building to one of the most outspoken voices in social psychology — NYU professor and best-selling author Jonathan Haidt. Can we ever really claw our way out of tribalism? What would it take to fix the structures that warp our thinking? And what does this leading scholar of morality make of the popular notion that you can’t engage some ideas across the political divide and still be good? Listen in as Haidt — author of The Righteous Mind, The Coddling of the American Mind, and the upcoming Life After Babel: Adapting To A World We Can No Longer Share — joins Braver Angels’ Mónica Guzmán for a conversation that explores everything from Haidt’s favorite bit of ancient wisdom to the problem with kids these days (especially girls on the Left) and what it might ultimately mean to be loyal to truth.

Paul Norris, who helps lead Braver Angels' Red Caucus, convenes an all-red panel to discuss what liberals, academia, and the mainstream media miss about conservatives. Featuring Mark Reinecke, Elizabeth Doll, and Barbara Farmer.

Monica Guzman is Braver Angels' Senior Fellow for Public Practice and the author of the best-selling book "I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times." Over the past few months, Monica's been traveling the country to lead curious conversations inspired by the themes of her book. Here she joins Braver Angels CMO Ciaran O'Connor to discuss what she's learned about the state of our nation's divisions, how different audiences engage bridge-building depending on their ideologies and identities, and how we can get more curious, together, as a nation in crisis. 

Braver Angels leaders John Wood, Jr. (red) and Ciaran O'Connor (blue) come together for a wide-ranging debate on the most critical issues animating the 2022 midterm elections, including the economy, abortion, and the future of American democracy. Throughout the discussion, John and Ciaran demonstrate how to embrace humility in the pursuit of deeper truth.

Barbara Walter is a political scientist and professor at the University of California San Diego who specializes in studying civil wars. Here she joins Braver Angels CMO Ciaran O'Connor for a wide-ranging conversation on the current state of political violence in the United States, what America can learn from civil conflicts in other countries, and how we, together as citizens, can take a stand for peace.

This week we put a Biden supporter in the hot seat. Wilk Wilkinson, a conservative Republican, interviews Jordan Carmon, a staunch Biden supporter, on everything from Hunter Biden to January 6th — showing us what's possible when we bring good faith to our richest, most passionate disagreements. Send us your feedback at media@braverangels.org.

From Braver Seders to the Catholic belief that we need not fear the truth, three Braver Angels leaders talk about how their respective religious traditions inspire their bridge-building work. They explore the spiritual side of Braver Angels, and how we can learn from the insights of each particular tradition. FB (@randy.lioz) and Twitter (@randylioz)

Braver Angels CMO Ciaran O'Connor is a progressive Democrat who previously worked for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Wilk Wilkinson is a Trump supporter who helps lead Braver Angels' efforts to engage working class Americans. In this episode of the podcast, Ciaran and Wilk come together to discuss the investigations into former President Trump's conduct, why conservatives are so angry about the FBI's raid of his residence at Mar-a-Lago, and what the "rule of law" means in a country this polarized.

April Lawson Kornfield interviews Annette Ritter about what it means to be working class in America, how she sees regular people engaging politics, and how her own journey through trauma and addiction led her to become an addiction recovery counselor. Annette shares openly and with great insight about what it will take to bring people—all people—together to bridge the divide. Annette is an addictions counselor trainee, a graduate of Maryland’s Allegheny College, and a We the People's Project leader at Braver Angels. She lives with her husband, three cats, and a red slider turtle in beautiful western Maryland. Twitter: @braverangels, @AprilALawson

At a time of deepening polarization and social division, it's easy to become discouraged, disillusioned, and depressed. In this special roundtable episode, Braver Angels leaders Ciaran O'Connor, John Wood Jr., April Lawson Kornfield, and Monica Guzman come together to discuss how they keep the faith in our work and in each other. The group also discusses the recent abortion decision by the Supreme Court and what it means for Braver Angels' efforts to bridge the divide. Help us build a house united by supporting our work: www.braverangels.org/support-us  Twitter: @braverangels, @ciaranjoconnor, @AprilALawson, @JohnRWoodJr, @moniguzman 

As the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court weigh in on gun rights and gun safety, Americans remain bitterly divided on the right to bear arms. Is it possible to bridge this divide on the level of shared values? What can we learn from one another’s lived experiences that influence our thoughts and feelings about deadly weapons? What are the tradeoffs between gun rights and public health, and how do we navigate them as fellow Americans?   Ciaran O'Connor convenes Mark Beckwith, a longtime gun safety activist, and Wilk Wilkinson, a strong gun rights proponent, for a passionate, emotional conversation. Mark and Wilk don’t see eye to eye, but they do see each others’ hearts. This discussion is a testament to what’s possible when we speak fully, freely, and without fear—with charity for all and malice toward none.   Twitter: @braverangels, @ciaranjoconnor

Monica Guzmán and Daniel Acosta-Rivas share intimate stories about growing up in their respective Hispanic contexts and the diversity of the Hispanic world. They offer riveting insights on why the Hispanic community is underrepresented in organizations like Braver Angels and why Venezuela’s population may, shockingly, be less divided than America’s, illustrating the unique power of its approach to bridge-building.  Daniel, originally from Venezuela, currently lives in Washington, D.C. and works for Stand Together. He is a recent graduate of American University, where he founded the Students for Free Expression chapter. Mónica Guzmán is the director of digital & storytelling at Braver Angels and the author of the bestseller I Never Thought of It That Way. Twitter: @braverangels, @moniguzman, @AprilALawson  

Manu Meel and the students of the cross-partisan campus group BridgeUSA are the vanguard of the civic bridge-building movement nationwide.  What characterizes the 20-year-olds who are working across the divide to save American democracy, and what is the theory of change that defines the bridging/depolarization movement writ large? Does this work imply a centrism in defense of the status quo? Or is it an effort to establish a new type of political "center" that's not about political ideology at all? BridgeUSA co-founder and CEO Manu Meel tackles all of this and more with Braver Angels national ambassador John Wood Jr.  Learn more about BridgeUSA’s work at www.bridgeusa.org, and follow them on Instagram at @BridgeUSA_. Twitter: @braverangels, @JohnRWoodJr, @manumeel1, @BridgeUSA_ 

In the year that followed the first Braver Angels workshop in December 2016, Braver Angels went from an experiment with a handful of citizens in small-town Ohio to a growing national movement.  In this second part of “How Braver Angels Began,” the co-founders of Braver Angels (David Blankenhorn, Bill Doherty, and David Lapp) narrate how Braver Angels found itself on a three-week bus tour, navigating flag controversies, and following the lead of citizens everywhere in building what is now the nation’s largest grassroots organization working for depolarization.  Watch part 1 of this conversation here: https://youtu.be/dzNDUowRedw  Learn more and support our mission: braverangels.org/support-us Twitter: @braverangels, @blankenhorn3, @davidlappoh

April Lawson Kornfield hosts two thoughtful young people—Zoomers, as they're sometimes called—for a conversation about depolarization, campus culture, and what it would take to bring more youth into the bridge-building movement. Isaac Humrich is a rising sophomore at Arizona State University and the incoming president of the Arizona State College Republicans. Ope Tukuru, a recent graduate of the University at Albany, just finished his internship with the media team at Braver Angels. The guests offer surprising insights about friendship, which stereotypes about their generation are unfair and which ones hit the mark, and how it feels to be coming into adulthood amidst a pandemic, intense social justice movements, and a political world that feels increasingly unstable. Twitter: @braverangels, @AprilALawson, @IsaacHumrich

Will Donald Trump run again in 2024? How will the recent leak of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade affect the 2022 midterm elections? How can Democrats and Republicans address the divides within their own parties? Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Lincoln Project Co-Founder Rick Wilson join Ciaran O'Connor for a wide-ranging discussion—previously recorded as part of the Crosscut Festival—on the state of the national political landscape. Twitter: @braverangels, @ciaranjoconnor, @TheRickWilson, @Robt_Gibbs 

U.S. Senate candidate Steven Olikara has already had an impact on American democracy. He’s the founder of the Millennial Action Project, a nonprofit that works with young policymakers on both a national and state level to bridge the partisan divide and spur collaborative legislation. But is that the type of attitude that can get you elected to Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate seat in today's divided America? In this first-ever candidate interview on The Braver Angels Podcast, Steven Olikara gives us the backstory of his relationship to democracy through his love of jazz, his work in the field of depolarization, and his experiences on the campaign trail. Learn more about Steven's campaign: www.stevenolikara.com  Twitter: @braverangels, @StevenOlikara, @JohnRWoodJr