For most of human history, offensive speech was equal to violence, and saying the wrong thing could get your tongue chopped off. Today, we aim to use words instead of violence. But what do you do when those words really hurt?

This week on A Braver Way, Moni sits down with Greg Lukianoff, who she fondly calls “the free speech guy.” Greg is an attorney, author and president of the mighty Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Together, they explore the complicated relationship between speech and safety, and how what we let ourselves say determines how we let ourselves live.

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With political tensions at a new peak, the pressure to take a stand — or keep the peace — can be intense. But how do you know the difference between the move that feels right and the one that is right?

In our first episode after a long break, Mónica, a liberal, talks with her conservative friend and fellow bridge builder April Lawson about what it takes to know what’s truly yours to do at this moment. Drawing on ideas from people who’ve seen the best and worst of humanity, along with their own struggles to navigate what feels like an increasingly scary world, Moni and April explore how to step out of the heat long enough to ask: 

• How do I avoid using "peacemaking" as a cover for a lack of courage?
• What's the line between humanizing someone … and enabling them? 
• When it comes to division in my community, my family, and my country: What will I wish I had done when my grandchildren ask what I did?

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Two weeks after the 2024 election, left-right tensions are through the roof. In this special “Ask Us Anything” episode, a cross-partisan panel of Trump and Harris voters take on a fiery handful of YOUR toughest questions about how in the world we bridge political divides from here… just in time for the holidays. Join host Moni, April, and our special guests — Angel Eduardo, Shira Hoffer, and Travis Tripodi — as they close out this season of A Braver Way with a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Featuring:

• Angel Eduardo, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

• Shira Hoffer, Institute for Multipartisan Education

• Travis Tripodi, Braver Angels New Hampshire

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Remember Election Day — before we knew the outcome and we were all on pins and needles, worried about what might happen if the other side won?  On that day, dozens of pairs of Trump and Harris voters stood outside polling places in different parts of the country, shoulder to shoulder with their political opposites. With half our country in pain, and the other half feeling relief, what can we learn from six of these Americans and their radically simple experiment? 

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How can you navigate this election with integrity? No matter who wins… no matter what? In this special election week episode, Moni and April roll out a survival guide that lends wisdom to all this anxiety. Drawing inspiration from A Braver Way guests like somatic therapist Luis Mojica, trans activist Kai Cheng Thom, conservative podcast host Wilk Wilkinson, and many more, your politically red and blue co-hosts ask what it’ll take to manage the one and only thing we can control this election… ourselves.

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Many Americans expect bitterness and mistrust between Democrats and Republicans on Election Day. Here’s something they won’t expect: hundreds of everyday liberals and conservatives pairing off at polling places nationwide to try to show voters — and themselves — that whoever wins, our union can’t lose. What’s motivating these Trump and Harris voters to stand side-by-side in front of anxious voters Nov. 5? We talk to pairs in a red state, a blue state, and a swing state to find out. 

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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the flood of election headlines and opinions. But does following the news have to drive us crazy…or drive us even further apart? Mónica talks with Isaac Saul, the founder of Tangle — a political newsletter that’s earned trust across the political spectrum — to ask how we the people can take control of our news habits for a clearer, less polarizing view of the campaigns, the issues, and each other. Then, April and Mónica discuss how our behaviors shape our media and why following the news with a “red” ear and a “blue” ear could help us tune in all the better.

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It might have been the prayer, the land acknowledgment, the Pledge of Allegiance, or the moment everyone started sharing their pronouns. But opening rituals that disagree with you can leave you feeling shut out. So what do you do when the culture of a group you want to belong to goes somewhere you can’t follow? We talk with Braver Angels leader Steve Saltwick about the clashes that come up for conservatives in particular, and what it looks like to acknowledge someone else’s framework without abandoning your own.

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How do you talk across the political divide with someone who might exclude you, fear you, or even believe you shouldn’t exist? And what if it’s your beliefs that seem to paint someone else out of the picture? Award-winning writer, performer, and trans activist Kai Cheng Thom has wrestled with these questions in a more visceral way than most… and in a more universal way than you might expect. Kai shares the groundbreaking ways she manages the tension between advocating and understanding, then April joins Mónica to explore contrasting views on gender and sexuality from the left and the right, and together they face the quagmire at the heart of so many of our toughest clashes: How do you love people well while holding strong to your convictions? 

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Who is responsible for building the future we deserve? For making sure that no matter who wins the presidential election, our country won’t lose? With so many liberals and conservatives  believing that defeat on their side would spell disaster and despair,  Moni — with a little help from American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Yuval Levin and Washington Post columnist Amanda Ripley — makes the case for a daring, more muscular kind of hope. 

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