Braver Angels is addressing a huge threat that could disrupt the future of our democratic republic: The rigid, often bitter, divisions between reds and blues. While nearly four in ten voters identify as "independent", more than nine in ten Americans fall into one of two broad categories. They identify as either conservative or liberal leaning and tend to vote for either Republicans or Democrats.

"If this country breaks apart, if violence increases to the point where we are killing each other, it will be because of those two groups and the extreme leaders of those two groups," says Braver Angels co-founder and President David Blankenhorn. "That's the division we are looking at. That's the bridge we want to build. That's what's threatening the country."

This episode is part two of our "How Do We Fix It?" podcast interview with David. We discuss Braver Angels bridge building by young people. Our conversation also explores America's political divisions and the Braver Angels approach to reforming and rebuilding American political discourse one conversation, one debate, one workshop at a time. In part one— our previous episode— we began by discussing the movement's origin story.

“I don’t do this work in optimism. I do it in hope”, Braver Angels President David Blankenhorn tells us. “If we’re going to have any chance to fix this and save our country, this is what needs to be done.”

Soon after the tumultuous 2016 election Braver Angels sprung to life— co-founded by David, Bill Doherty and David Lapp. Two years after its founding this nationwide volunteer-led citizen movement had its first convention attended by 72 conservative and 72 liberal delegates. This year, more than 750 reds and blues were at the Braver Angels national convention in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In the past few years Braver Angels workshops, debates, and other events have been held in all 50 states.

In this episode, we hear from David about the Braver Angels origin story and much more. We also feature a brief update from Jessie Mannisto, Braver Angels Director of Debates, about her experience as a Braver Angels volunteer outside the DNC Convention in Chicago.