Blog Posts by Tag

How to Actually Fix Social Media to Reduce Political Polarization

Common Ground / July 25th, 2023 / By Aaron Kohrs

In the early days of social media, when the promise of connections around the world seemed real, likely some people would have associated social media with broccoli. Now social media has lost its luster. But with the right kinds of policy reforms, can some of social media’s luster come back?

Braver Angels, Big Tech, Social Media, Polarization

How Drawing, Designing, and Directing Documentaries May Depolarize America

Common Ground / June 19th, 2023 / By Aaron Kohrs

Could purposeful artistry of some medium ever be used to depolarize politics?

Braver Angels, Arts And Entertainment, Polarization

Beyond 1:1 Dialogue: How We Can Depolarize at Scale and Climb Mount Polarization

Common Ground / May 8th, 2023 / By Aaron Kohrs

Dialogue is essential but insufficient: We need bigger, better ideas to scale up the massive mountain of political polarization.

Bridging Divides, Braver Angels, Depolarization, Civil Discourse

ACROSS THE DIVIDE: Perspectives on President Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness

Recommended Reading / October 3rd, 2022 / By Braver Angels

Below are four perspectives — two red and two blue — on President Biden’s recent executive action on student loan forgiveness.

Braver Angels, Bridging Divides, Student Loan Forgiveness, Education, Biden

We Do Not Draw the Line: Braver Angels & Censorship

Recommended Reading / February 4th, 2022 / By John R. Wood Jr.

Our differences do not disappear when we deplatform people, or cut them out of our lives. So how can we contend with the differences that challenge us so deeply?

Censorship, Free Speech, Big Tech, Braver Angels, YouTube

Understanding the American Schism

Recommended Reading / November 18th, 2021 / By Braver Angels

Why do Americans hold such dissonant perspectives on the meaning of our core ideals?

Podcast, Polarization, Culture, American Heritage, Braver Angels

Odd Couples: Red Braver Angel + Blue Braver Angel

Recommended Reading / August 17th, 2021 / By Respect + Rebellion

This is a friendship all about appreciating differences — and helping other people to do the same through their leadership.

Bridging Divides, Braver Angels, Polarization, Odd Couples

Challenging the Narrative

Bias / August 2nd, 2021 / By John R. Wood Jr.

You hear a whole lot of talk about “narrative” these days. Who is setting the narrative? Which candidate is winning the news cycle? Which party’s message is breaking through? It all gets to feeling a bit tactical. I guess that’s the point. We live in the age of the attention economy, with...

Media Bias, Bridging Divides, Braver Angels

This Group Invites Liberals and Conservatives to Discuss Across Divides

Bias / June 29th, 2021 / By AllSides Staff

Watch what happened when Trump voters and Clinton voters got together in the same room.

Media Bias, Polarization, Bridging Divides, Braver Angels, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton

How Media Can Be a Bridge, Not a Weapon, to Address Political Divides: John R. Wood Jr.

News / June 23rd, 2021 / By AllSides Staff

John R. Wood, Jr.’s biracial background and bipartisan parents laid the framework for his extensive career working across differences and divides.

Braver Angels, Bridging Divides, Civil Discourse

Do you have what it takes to ‘Walk A Mile In My News’?

Recommended Reading / June 17th, 2021 / By Monica Guzman

From the Center This viewpoint is from a writer rated Center. Wynette Sills had done several workshops through the Braver Angels Sacramento Alliance when she realized two things. First: She wanted to go deeper. And second: it was time to tackle the biggest force she saw jamming...

Braver Angels, News

Cancel Culture, Communication, & the Quest for Humanism | Steven Pinker with John Wood, Jr.

Recommended Reading / June 9th, 2021 / By John R. Wood Jr.

Professor Steven Pinker is on a mission to spread the good news of human progress. He asserts that human life, for all its problems, has overwhelmingly improved in recent generations. But how is the progress of humanity threatened by our inability to appreciate it? And how is that...

Braver Angels, Podcast, Cancel Culture

Trust & the Election: Left, Right & Center | Wilfred Reilly, Shouvik Banerjee & Chris Paul with John Wood, Jr.

Recommended Reading / May 27th, 2021 / By John R. Wood Jr.

America is more than half a year removed from the 2020 election. Most Trump voters still suspect voter fraud determined the outcome. The vast majority of Biden voters think such ideas are off the wall. Many Americans, meanwhile, believe that media bias and the practices of Big Tech are...

Braver Angels, Podcast, 2020 Election

Calling Out or Calling In?

Recommended Reading / January 25th, 2021 / By John R. Wood Jr.

Editor's Note: This piece originally appeared as a Braver Angels newsletter. To subscribe to Braver Angels, sign up here . From the Center This piece is from a writer rated Center. "You can tell more than one story about what’s happening, but what’s undeniable is that something is broken...

Braver Angels, Unity, Violence

Reclaiming Nonviolence in the Age of Antiracism

Recommended Reading / December 9th, 2020 / By John R. Wood Jr.

Editor's Note: An abridged version of this essay was originally published on Persuasion.com , and the full version appeared on Braver Angels . We must surely have the answer, by now, to Langston Hughes’ question, “What happens to a dream deferred?” The poet wonders—“does it dry up like a...

Braver Angels, Race And Racism, Systemic Racism

President Trump and Black America

News / September 2nd, 2020 / By John R. Wood Jr.

Editor's Note: This post originally appeared as a Braver Angels newsletter. In the last several days the United States of America has again witnessed a law enforcement shooting of a Black man that has again triggered, in turn, dramatic unrest in American cities. We have seen political...

Black Lives Matter, Podcast, Kenosha Shootings, Donald Trump, Braver Angels

Braver Angels Podcast: Conservative Leader Meets Black Lives Matter Leader

Bias / July 14th, 2020 / By John R. Wood Jr.

Braver Angels 2020 brings you a conversation like few others. Bob Woodson and Hawk Newsome are among the most important voices in black America today, but their politics couldn't be any more different on the surface. Hawk Newsome is the chairman and former president of Black Lives Matter...

Conservatives, Black Lives Matter, Leftism, Liberals, Podcast, Braver Angels

Arriving at the Grand Divide | Jonathan Haidt, John Wood Jr. and April Lawson

News / June 17th, 2020 / By John R. Wood Jr.

American social fabric is tearing apart at catastrophic speed. How did we get here and where does hope come from for the future? Braver Angels leaders John Wood, Jr. and April Lawson are joined by author, social psychologist and Braver Angels board member Jonathan Haidt to discuss the...

Polarization, Political Polarization, Morality, Braver Angels

Black Lives

Recommended Reading / June 11th, 2020 / By John R. Wood Jr.

Editor's Note: This post originally appeared on Braver Angels . This past December, before the world changed but at a moment when most of the problems that led us here were in full view, I was invited to speak at an event organized by Bishop Omar Jawar of Dallas, Texas, in front of the...

Black Lives Matter, Political Polarization, Braver Angels

Tag: Braver Angels