How Do We Fix It? - podcast cover

How Do We Fix It?

DaviesContentwww.howdowefixit.me
From politics to the personal, we're about bridging rigid partisan divides and listening with respect to different points of view. Our podcast is hosted by longtime journalist Richard Davies. We challenge authors, experts and provocateurs in a search for positive, practical ideas. Guests include David Blankenhorn, Mónica Guzmán, Dr. Francis Collins, and other leaders and members of Braver Angels. “How Do We Fix It?" - a repair manual for the real world. Produced by DaviesContent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Episodes

Compromisers and Contrarians. Our 10th Anniversary Podcast: Richard and Jim

Ten years ago this month we launched our first show at a time of new beginnings for podcasts. We were early to this game, and well before podcasting became part of mainstream media.  In contrast to other shows about politics and current affairs we ran against the grain, avoiding snarky slogans and angry attacks. How Do We Fix It? focused instead on solutions journalism and what might be improved if we listen carefully to others who we don’t agree with. We urge listeners to ge...

Apr 25, 202543 min

Braver Angels First 100 Days Debates: "Is Trump Making America Great?" Jessie Mannisto

We release this show at a moment of high political drama. Economics, financial markets, and America’s relations with the rest of the world are in a state of tumult. So how on earth do we talk with and listen to people on the other side? Should you even try?  Jessie Mannisto , Director of Debates at Braver Angels says “yes!”  In this episode we learn why understanding those who you disagree with is a vital first step to repairing civic relations. We discuss the  First 100 Days...

Apr 11, 202525 min

Braver Angels: Beginnings and Today’s Challenge. David Blankenhorn

I don’t do this work in optimism. I do it in hope”,  Braver Angels  President  David Blankenhorn  tells our podcast. “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 libera...

Mar 28, 202521 min

Braver Angels. Learning & Listening Across Political Divides: Wilk Wilkinson

What do you think of people who you totally disagree with about politics? Can you listen to their point of view and have a constructive conversation? Do you dismiss the other side as evil or deplorable? In this episode we hear from  Wilk Wilkinson , a Christian conservative who voted for Donald Trump. He has working class roots and grew up poor. A decade ago Wilk was enraged at liberals, but today he’s working closely with both reds and blues at  Braver Angels  to turn down the vo...

Feb 21, 202524 min

Why Should I Trust You? Vaccines and Public Health. Brinda Adhikari and Tom Johnson

In the five years since the COVID pandemic began, trust in public health institutions and vaccines has plummeted. According to  a new opinion poll , just over half of the public now says they trust the Food and Drug Administration to make the right recommendations on health issues at least “a fair amount,” down from nearly two-thirds (65%) in June 2023.  About 1 in 4 Republicans parents now say they’ve akipped or delayed some children’s vaccines. " Why Should I Trust You? " is a n...

Feb 07, 202524 min

Braver Faith: Building Bridges With Respect Not Agreement. Mark Beckwith

How Do We Fix It? raises questions about solutions to divisive topics of politics and public policy: Decidedly secular matters. In this episode we look at how religious groups and institutions can help bring people together across divides.  Braver Faith  is our focus. The Right Rev.  Mark Beckwith  is our guest. Braver Faith is one the newest and most vibrant groups within  Braver Angels — America's largest cross-partisan, volunteer-led movement that works...

Jan 24, 202523 min

Braver Angels "Road Trip Across a Divided America": Joseph Sim

In the fall 2024, a young British filmmaker jumped in a small car and drove across America, asking more than 200 strangers the same two questions: "How did we lose connection with our neighbors, and how do we get it back?" Many of the answers and explanations are fascinating. "I am a firm believer that developing a curiosity or a curiosity in strangers is the cure for a polarized and isolated world," says  Joseph Sim , the director and producer of the new documentary, " A Road Tri...

Dec 13, 202423 min

Holiday Helper: Embracing Disagreement With Love. Tania Israel and Arthur Brooks

The holiday season is here, but many people across the country may dread sitting down with their nearest and dearest— all because of politics. In this episode we share down-to-earth advice from two wise experts who have thought deeply and creatively about how to minimize conflict and maximize cooperation with parents, family, and friends. Tania Israel  is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and award-winning author of " Beyond Your Bubble : Ho...

Nov 27, 202430 min

Braver Angels Reds and Blues: Election Day 2024 and Beyond

Some wore red hats, others wore blue. Outside scores of polling places in many states across the country, pairs of Democrats and Republicans sat together in a radically simple experiment called the Braver Angels Election Day Initiative. The contrast between dire media forecasts of violence, and calamity during the election and what actually happened was stark. The day passed by calmly with minimal reports of disruption. There was a sense of quiet majesty that d...

Nov 15, 202423 min

Tangle: Independent, Non-partisan News. Isaac Saul

Do you believe what you see in newspapers, websites and on TV? Most Americans don't trust the people who are supposed to truthfully report the news.  A new Gallup poll  says Americans have record-low trust in mass media. Only one-in-three adults has a "great deal" or a "fair amount" of confidence in the media to report the news "fully, accurately and fairly." More than 150,000 readers each day turn to  Tangle , a website read by liberals, conservatives and inde...

Nov 01, 202425 min

Braver Angels Election Day Initiative. Elizabeth Doll and Don Goldberg

Are you fed up with politics and especially the presidential campaign? On How Do We Fix It? we're reporting on the people, projects and ideas of Braver Angels. This nationwide citizen-led movement is a growing coalition of liberals and conservatives working to  restore hope  and co-operation to our politics.  In this episode we speak with a second pair of Red-Blue volunteers who will be working together and meeting voters outside a polling site on November 5th. It's all part ...

Oct 25, 202422 min

Braver Angels: Red and Blue Voters Together on Election Day

These final days before the election are  tense times . Today’s toxic politics are  hurtful and heart breaking  for many of us. Maybe we all need a hope vaccine. An injection of kindness, curiosity and understanding for those who see the world differently than we do.  In our latest report on the work, ideas, and people of  Braver Angels , the nationwide citizen-led campaign against political polarization, we learn more about its  Election Day Initiative : A voluntee...

Oct 11, 202423 min

Braver Angels Trustworthy Elections Report: Larry Mayes and Walt McKee

Elections are vital to all democracies: The authority of the government comes solely from the consent of the governed. But millions of Americans  don’t trust the electoral process  and have highly  negative views of politics .. Many have little or no confidence that all votes will be fairly and accurately counted.  What should be done to improve our elections? We discuss reforms that both conservative reds and liberals blues can endorse. Some may surprise you, including endin...

Sep 27, 202426 min

How Braver Angels is Bridging Divides. David Blankenhorn (part 2)

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...

Sep 13, 202427 min

Braver Angels: Past Present & Future. David Blankenhorn (part 1)

“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 delega...

Aug 30, 202426 min

Braver Angels Truth & Trust. Francis Collins and Wilk Wilkinson

When renowned physician-scientist  Francis Collins  was about to have his first conversation with Christian conservative Wilk Wilkinson in early 2022, he admits that he had concerns. "I thought oh boy, this is going to be a tough one".  Dr. Collins had recently stepped down as Director of NIH— The National Institutes of Health. He served under Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden, and played a leading role in the federal response to the COVID pandemic. Podcaster&...

Aug 16, 202431 min

Braver Angels: Guide Across The Divide. Móni Guzmán

Toxic polarization is "the problem that eats all other problems... It's the sludge at the base of everything else," says our guest  Mónica Guzmán . Think how much progress could be made on the great problems of today if politics were much more about discovering nuance than shouting slogans. This show is our second episode on the work, people, and ideas of the volunteer-led cross-partisan campaign,  Braver Angels . In the coming months, we'll report on their initiatives and projects.&nb...

Aug 02, 202425 min

Braver Angels at The Republican Convention: Jessie Mannisto and Luke Nathan Phillips

This is our first in a series of new reports on the work, people and projects of  Braver Angels — the largest volunteer-led group in the bridging community. The show was recorded a few days after the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Our guests are  Jessie Mannisto  and  Luke Nathan Phillips , who spent this week in Milwaukee, right outside the Fiserv Forum Arena, site of the Republican National Convention.  Since its founding after the 2016 election, Braver An...

Jul 19, 202427 min

Special Announcement About Our Future

In the last episode Jim Meigs and Richard Davies celebrated more than nine years as co-hosts. They also announced that their podcasting partnership was ending. But "How Do We Fix It?" is not going away. Instead we plan to focus on something we've covered a great deal recently, and is of urgent importance right now: The broken nature of American politics. In the weeks to come, Richard will be the solo host of the show. We'll feature a series of creative, constructive conversations ...

Jul 18, 202459 sec

Jim & Richard: A Friendship Across Divides

When we first started our podcast in the spring of 2015, Jim and Richard came from different political tribes. They still do. But during more than 400 shows they've deepened their friendship and learned a tremendous amount from each other, and our remarkable guests. While "How Do We Fix It?" podcast will continue its journey, Jim and Richard's nine years as co-hosts ends with this show. We discuss why the partnership is ending (spoiler alert: it's amicable!) and what they discovered about p...

Jun 28, 202425 min

The Case For Ranked Choice Voting. Rob Richie

Supporters of Ranked Choice Voting argue that we need to a big change how we vote. Our “choose-one” elections, they say, deprive voters of meaningful choices, create increasingly toxic campaign cycles, advance candidates who lack broad support and leave voters feeling like our voices are not heard.  We examine the case for this form of proportional representation. Ranked Choice Voting could boost electoral turnout, reduce polarization, and cut the public cost of running elections. This...

May 30, 202427 min

Refuge: A Unique Strength of Liberalism: Professor Bryan Garsten

Liberalism is out of fashion. You might say that it's under siege. From the populist right to the progressive left, liberal touchtones of limited government, personal freedom, the rule of law, and a mixed economy have come in for harsh criticism. Liberalism is assailed by many critics, but it has not failed, argues Yale Political Science Professor  Bryan Garsten . "A liberal society is unique in that it offers refuge from the very people it empowers" through "institutions and different...

May 17, 202433 min

The Collapse of Local News and How to Rebuild Regional Journalism: Anna Brugmann

In much of the country local news has collapsed, threatening civic pride and a sense of community for countless towns and cities. This dramatic change has also  deepened America's divides . As our guest, journalist and public policy researcher  Anna Brugmann  explains in this episode, "the internet disrupted the local journalism model". Newspaper advertising revenue fell 80% since 2000. Thousands of local and regional publications closed. Most surviving newsrooms fa...

Apr 19, 202424 min

Diversity Is Great. DEI Isn't. Amna Khalid and Jeff Snyder

Diversity equity and inclusion: Sounds like a good thing in an incredibly diverse country such as ours, especially when teaching young people at American colleges and universities. But the DEI industry - or DEI Inc. — has arguably gone off the rails. There’s a big difference between the intentions behind a lot of diversity training and the results. We learn about the crucial difference between training and education, and hear the case against the  Stop WOKE Act  in Florida. H...

Mar 22, 202436 min

Politics: Majority In The Middle. Shannon Watson

News coverage of Super Tuesday and other party primaries focused mainly on base voters— Democrats and Republicans. But most Americans are actually on the political sidelines or somewhere in the middle. Many have a mix of conservative and liberal views. This episode is about them. Our guest is  Shannon Watson , the Founder and Executive Director of  Majority in the Middle . Her Minnesota-based non-profit group works to give voters and elected officials a pl...

Mar 08, 202430 min

Changing Journalism: Boosting Trust in the News Media. Joy Mayer

Only  four-in-ten Americans  say they have a lot of trust in the news media. That's a big problem for our democracy, especially in this volatile presidential election year. While journalists are supposed to tell the truth and get the story right, just 35% of right-of-center voters have some trust in what they see on the news. Democrats and independents are much more likely to trust journalists, but Americans of almost all shades of opinion are skeptical of the journ...

Feb 09, 202426 min

Ideas For Everyone: The Virtues of a Liberal Education. Roosevelt Montás

What is the point of a good education? Do we need it to learn a narrow set of skills ro help us get ahead in the workplace, or should knowledge and learning to be used over a lifetime to acquire wisdom that enables us to think more deeply about our place in the world? This question has profound resonance at a time of angry divides over American politics and moral confusion at elite American universities. The President of Harva...

Jan 26, 202430 min

What Could Go Right? 2024 Predictions Show

From the economy and prospects for a Biden vs Trump rematch to the future for global energy and artificial intelligence, Richard and Jim make their forecasts for 2024.  And we re-visit our predictions from exactly a year ago and report on precisely how we did. "It's sort of like weather forecasters and opinion pollsters going back and owning up to their mistakes," says Richard. "I mean, who often do we see that!" Once again, Meigs and Davies make their best guesses about what's to come this...

Jan 12, 202426 min

How to Escape The Identity Trap - Yascha Mounk (part two)

We continue our discussion with Yascha Mounk, one of the leading public intellectuals of our time. The subject is a hugely influential ideology that attempts to put racial, sexual and gender identity at the center of our social, cultural and political life. The "identity synthesis", Mounk argues, denies that members of different groups can truly understand one another and this stifles public discourse. In this podcast episode, we learn why an obsession with identity undermines social justic...

Dec 29, 202332 min

The Origins of Today's Identity Politics - Yascha Mounk (part one)

Having skewered right-wing populism and its demagogues in his two previous best-selling books, politics professor, writer, and podcaster  Yasha Mounk  turns now to the threat posed to liberalism from those progressives who champion "woke" identity politics. We discuss his latest, " The Identity Trap : A Story of Ideas and Power In Our Time ." This episode— the first of two with Yasha Mounk — looks at the complex roots of a highly influential ideology based on personal identit...

Dec 15, 202332 min
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