A Braver Way

After a week that saw big news in the presidential race, we hear from many of you — our listeners from all across the political spectrum — about what you are wrestling with as we approach the 2024 election. What concerns come to the very top for Reds, Blues, independents, and everyone else? And what questions do you wish your fellow Americans would not just reflect on, but act on? Tune in for a snapshot of where we’re all at… and where we might be headed. 

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In this special guest episode, we’re going to pass the mic to a wonderful podcast, “Kelly Corrigan Wonders,” that recently invited our very own April Lawson to disagree openly and honestly with host Kelly Corrigan about one of the toughest issues out there — abortion.

Their conversation is in-depth, illuminating, and believe it or not — productive. Plus, it puts many of the tools we talk about on “A Braver Way” on full display. 

We’re back next week with a new Beat episode, and our first full-length episode of our new season will be up next! Kelly Corrigan Wonders - https://www.kellycorrigan.com/podcast 

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We’re back! To kick off our second season, we’re bringing you a totally radical — and totally possible — vision of what election years could look like if we approached them a little differently. First we hear from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox about how election campaigns could leave our communities better off, regardless of the results. Then Mónica reflects on Return Day, a unique election tradition in Delaware that’s been putting these ideals into practice since 1812.

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Mónica is joined by four friends in bridge building to answer your toughest questions about our shared mission of connecting across the political divide. Angel Eduardo, April Lawson, Manu Meel and Wilk Wilkinson get real about the challenges, opportunities, and misconceptions about our movement - are we all just a bunch of squishy centrists that brush deep concerns under the rug? And how can we possibly be expected to talk to someone who doesn’t even think we have a right to exist? These are questions with no easy answers and we tackle them head on. Finally, find out what Superman, Taylor Swift and Kirk Cousins have in common as we cap off the first season of A Braver Way.

• Derate the Hate Podcast 

• The Hopeful Majority Podcast 

• Coddling of the American Mind 

• How to Star-Man - Article by Angel Eduardo

• Nathan J. Robinson - Biden’s election is not a mandate for centrism 

• Daryl Davis  

• Jeff Schoep 

• Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings

• Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero”

• Chloé Valdary’s “Theory of Enchantment”

• Superman (1978) film rescue of Lois Lane

• LA becomes a hub for clown schools

• This is the Music America Needs - Gangstagrass in the New York Times

• Apply to attend the Braver Angels National Convention: Learn more and apply to attend here

• Submit a question: 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]. 

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• Show Notes and Trascript: https://braverangels.org/a-braver-way-episode-10/ 

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In Part two of this two-part story, Dr. Francis Collins, former head of the National Institutes of Health during COVID, and Travis Tripodi, a strong conservative critic of the US COVID response Dr. Collins helped shape, attempt the impossible —  sparring on everything from vaccine mandates to natural immunity freely, fully, and without losing it.  What does their collision achieve? And what does it leave hanging? April Lawson joins Mónica to break down this extraordinary conversation and figure out what it takes for the rest of us to tackle the hardest political disagreements we face… without getting burned.     

• Study: Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine (December 31, 2020) 

• Study: Comparing SARS-CoV-2 natural immunity to vaccine-induced immunity: reinfections versus breakthrough infections (August 25, 2021)

• Rachel Maddow Vaccination Segment (April 9, 2021)

• Additional Background: Derate the Hate Interview with Dr. Francis Collins

• Additional Background: Derate the Hate Interview with Travis Tripodi

• NIH: Vaccine Q&A with Dr Francis Collins (May 7, 2021)
• Braver Angels Debates: Learn more and register here: https://braverangels.org/what-we-do/debates/ 
• Submit a question: 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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How do you talk about a monster of an issue when the two sides are so far apart? Mónica brings together two unlikely guests to find out: Dr. Francis Collins, a man who helped shape the U.S. COVID response (and was Dr. Fauci’s boss!), and Travis Tripodi, a New Hampshire resident who believes that response was deeply wrong and misguided. In Part one of this two part story, Francis and Travis describe how they weathered very different challenges during the pandemic, their radically different perspectives on what went wrong during the crisis, and the extraordinary way that their perspectives first collided last summer in Gettysburg. What makes COVID disagreements so painfully divisive in the first place? Mónica and April follow up to unpack the giant barriers that complicate these conversations, and how their experiences both during the pandemic and in its aftermath have shaped their own novel perceptions on power, truth and morality.  

• Additional Background: Derate the Hate Interview with Dr. Francis Collin
• Additional Background: Derate the Hate Interview with Travis Tripodi
• NIH: Vaccine Q&A with Dr Francis Collins (May 7, 2021)
• Braver Angels Convention Panel: A Deplorable and an Elitist Walk into a Bar
• Submit a question: 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]. We love hearing what our episodes are bringing up for you! 
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Mónica welcomes David Brooks, author and New York Times columnist, to break down an essential and endangered skill  for talking politics  - hearing deeply and being deeply heard. David shares a bounty of tips and stories from throughout his career, including a public discussion where he says he failed both at understanding another person and at making sure he could be understood. Then April joins Mónica to ask what it all means for liberals and conservatives, and we hear from a man who runs a Pennsylvania barbershop where debating diverse viewpoints is on the house.     

• "How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen" by David Brooks

• At this barbershop in Chambersburg, Pa., red, blue and other come together…

• Submit a question: 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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• Show notes, transcripts and other episode details here

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Mónica asks author Chris Arnade how he’s bridged one of the trickiest divides in America by going to parts of the country that others dismiss. Chris shares what he sees differently now and what both our big political “sides” are missing when they claim to fight for the working class. Then we hear from Corrie, a wife and mother who shares what the class divide looks and feels like for someone in her position as she struggles to make ends meet.      Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade   We the People’s Project: An initiative from Braver Angels. We the People’s Project is a working-class coalition of conservatives, progressives, and independents working to build a house united in America.    • Submit a question: 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.    • Subscribe: If you like what you’ve heard, hit subscribe, and leave us a 5 star review!    • Share this episode: https://braverangels.org/a-braver-way-episode-6/   • Follow us: Instagram | X/ twitter | TikTok | Youtube    Supporting Partners: All of our supporting partners are members of Braver Network.    • Citizens Climate Lobby: empowers everyday people to work within their communities and members of Congress on climate change solutions.

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Mónica talks to Luis Mojica, a therapist who’s learned loads from his patients about how we physically react to intense political disagreement… and what we can do about it. Luis sheds light on what happens to us when we feel “triggered” by something someone says, and the two share tips and bold ideas on everything from how you can feel more secure in tough conversations to where that all-important line might be between what’s painful and what’s harmful. 

Then Mónica, a liberal, joins her conservative friend April to break down where Reds and Blues seem good and not so good with these strategies… and Moni recounts a tense exchange with a critic where all the trauma responses Luis talked about — fight, flight, freeze, and fawn — showed up big. 

• Luis Mojica - Holistic Life Navigation

• Bill Riddick - In ‘Best of Enemies,’ he helped change Durham history.

• Braver Angels 2023 National Convention Recap

• Healthline: A Brief Intro to the World of Somatics

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Supporting Partners: All of our supporting partners are members of Braver Network. 

• AllSides.com

• Rehumanize International

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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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• Follow us on Instagram at @abraverway

• 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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