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In Episode 303 of Derate The Hate, Wilk Wilkinson sits down with poet and author April Ossmann to explore how poetry can become a powerful tool for bridging America’s political divide.

April is the author of We: Poems (Red Hen Press, 2025), a collection devoted to healing polarization through empathy, metaphor, and shared humanity. A recent member of Braver Angels, she brings a unique voice to the civic renewal movement — one grounded not in rhetoric, but in soul.

In this episode, they discuss:

• How poetry fosters understanding where arguments fail
• The difference between compromise and “synergizing”
• Why civility is strength — not weakness
• Family estrangement and political division
• Listening with intention
• Seeing past ego to soul
• April’s “Peace Hymn for the Republic”

If you care about democracy, dialogue, and restoring decency in public life, this conversation will challenge and inspire you.

Learn more about April Ossmann in the full show notes for this episode at www.DerateTheHate.com.

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!

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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

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*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.