Spencer Cox, the Republican governor of Utah, and Troy Williams, the activist at the head of Utah’s most active LGBTQ rights organization, don’t buy the notion that a good way to stand for the ideas on your side is to attack the people on the other. Reflecting on their sometimes contentious relationship, the two talk with Mónica about how they’ve both been able to advance their sides through honest dialogue and good-faith engagement, resulting in some surprising win-win policy outcomes for the people in their state. 

• Featured Song: “While There Is Still Time”- Hillary Rollins and Michele Brourman

• A Braver Way is a production of Braver Angels. 

• We get financial support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Reclaim Curiosity.

• If you’ve found yourself mulling on a concern or reflection as you’ve listened, turn it into a question and share it with us in a quick email to [email protected]. Mónica and friends will be answering questions on an upcoming episode.

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• Disagree Better- National Governor’s Association Chair’s Initiative

• Equality Utah - LGBTQ Civil Rights Organization

• Gangstagrass- Artists in Residence

• Braver Angels

• Braver Network

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In this special episode, Mónica — a liberal — joins the two people she’s argued with most — her conservative parents — for a candid conversation about one family’s struggles with a political divide that cuts right through their own home. Looking back on the biggest disagreements that tested their relationships, like Moni’s pro-choice stance on abortion and her parents’ votes for Donald Trump, they open up about the strategies that keep them talking. *** A Braver Way is produced with financial support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Reclaim Curiosity.

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Mónica talks to two friends whose lives changed in profound ways when they discovered that the family of one had owned the family of the other as slaves. Exploring our racial and religious divides as well as our political ones, their conversation takes on tough questions about how we honor past and future in our shared story, and the role repentance and forgiveness can play in relationships burdened by pain. 

*** A Braver Way is produced with financial support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Reclaim Curiosity.

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Mónica talks to historian Ron C. White to find out how our nation’s most renowned bridge builder disagreed fully and freely with those around him while leading the nation through the Civil War. Taking a closer look at private notes Lincoln wrote to himself, the two explore everything from how to approach deep moral disagreements to what to do with your anger with the injustice you see.

*** A Braver Way is produced with financial support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Reclaim Curiosity.

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Done with the divisiveness in our politics and ready to do something about it? Host Monica Guzman is joined by guests from across the political spectrum to unearth tools, insights, and messy real life stories that can guide you over the divide in your everyday life. So whether you’re Red, Blue, or something entirely different, “A Braver Way” will help you hear and be heard by people who confound you. 

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