If we’re going to get out of the political mess that we’re in right now, we will need a lot of help from Gen Z. Young people inherited our broken civic space, and they’re ones who will be the courageous citizens who reimagine it.

In this episode we learn from two former Braver Angels debate interns, Natalie LaRoche and Genevieve Raushenbush, about the skills, energy, and passion students and young people bring to the movement to depolarize politics. We also hear from them about they have learned at Braver Angels.

Natalie LaRoche is the program manager for the Debate Team. Natalie was an intern in late 2021 and joined the Braver Angels staff a year later. She holds a BA in Government at Smith College.

Genevieve Raushenbush was a recent intern at Braver Angels. Now she works at Sway, a start up focused on mobilizing citizen-led voting groups. Genevieve holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and in 2025 was a legislate intern on the Hill. Both women are in their mid-twenties.

“Young people are disengaging from political chaos,” says Natalie. But they’re also “really passionate about engaging in bridging movement exercises, whether with Braver Angels or partnership organizations like Bridge USA on campuses or Heterodox Academy. There are so many organizations in this space that really do engage young people.”

Both Natalie and Genevieve share creative ideas about how young people can help Braver Angels up its game with new forms of digital outreach. We share two examples of short videos they created. Genevieve told us what she’s learning about reaching out and organizing voters in her work with Sway,

“How Do We Fix It?” reports on the people, projects, and ideas of Braver Angels, the national movement working across tribal and partisan divides to heel our country and make a better world. Find more of our episodes about Braver Angels at our website. Subscribe to our latest episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

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For many Americans, taking part in a debate is just about the last thing they’d put on their dance card.

But Braver Angels debates are different. In this episode Sam Rechek explains why.

“Braver Angels debates are fun,” Sam tells us. “We’ve created a structure where people can have productive disagreements about contentious issues. That’s something many yearn for, and they get interested in really fast.”

Unlike most debates, there are no “winners” or “losers”. Speakers at Braver Angels debates are often passionate, but they can’t interrupt or be snarky about the other side. Compelling arguments are made on both sides in a respectful way. Different viewpoints about an issue are warmly welcomed, but all comments must be addressed to the chair, not directly to the person you disagree with.

“There’s a real hunger for environments where people can have productive disagreements and mutual understanding”, says Sam.

In our interview we also discuss LAPP skills, and the concept of courageous citizenship.

Many of our beliefs about politics and controversial events are formed, or at least influenced, by fleeting impressions: Hot takes on social media, sound bites on TV and radio, and comments by those we know. This episode makes the case for going deeper and spending time with those you may passionately disagree with.

Sam Rechek is Program Coordinator for the Braver Angels Debate Team. Several years ago as a undergraduate at the University of South Florida, Sam worked with FIRE - the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and Heterodox Academy. He founded a student organization, First Amendment Forum—1AF—which developed into a venue for contentious discourse and advocacy for free speech principles. Sam holds a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from USF and an MA in Legal and Political Theory from University College London.

"How Do We Fix It?" reports on the people, projects and ideas of Braver Angels, the nation's largest cross-partisan volunteer-led movement to bridge partisan divides.

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Pick a controversial topic. Whether it’s immigration, race, climate change, the role of religion, or the economy, many of our assumptions that we view as completely reasonable can seem whacky or wrong to others. This may well include very smart, thoughtful people, who’ve had very different life experiences than our own.

Our guest for this episode is Chauncey Williams, a Democratic-leaning Braver Angels volunteer in Denver.

He was shocked when Donald Trump was first elected President in 2016. But instead of retreating into his political silo, Chauncey began a unique project. On different occasions he set up a table with two chairs in local parks, and invited total strangers to have conversations about important public matters.

“One of the important things I came to realize is that I walk into a lot of those conversations with a host of assumptions about folks that aren’t always true,” Chauncey told us.

“I’ve often been fascinated and humbled by realizing my own limitations in knowledge, and having that revealed,” he said. “I’ve had this happen on more than one occasion… As uncomfortable as it is, I also welcome it.”

In our revealing interview Chauncey shares what he learned from his “chats in a park” project. We hear two audio extracts from his nuanced conversations— one with an outspoken conservative who challenged Chauncey on his views of drop boxes during elections, and another with a recent immigrant from Ecuador who explained what diversity meant to him and his family.

Chauncey Williams lives in Colorado where he is involved with the Southern Front Range and Denver Alliances. This year, he helped launch a "Share Your Story" event to learn how others came to their views on specific political topics and on politics, generally. He is a member of Braver Angels Denver Alliance.

“How Do We Fix It?” reports on the people, projects and ideas of Braver Angels, the cross-partisan citizen's movement that brings red, blue, and other Americans together in a working alliance. Braver Angels is building new ways for Americans to talk to one another, and act as courageous citizens.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.