Be The People. Healing America and Restoring Civic Muscle: Maury Giles

Just over three months into his new role as leader of Braver Angels, we hear from CEO Maury Giles about his hopes, plans and goals for America's largest volunteer-led movement working to bridge partisan divides and disagree better for the common good.

America has lost much of its civic muscle, and it's time to get it back, Maury tells our host, Richard Davies. 

Rising polarization, declining trust in public institutions and the media, the spread of misinformation, the longest-ever government shutdown, and recent political violence are all signs that something is deeply wrong with our public square.

"We're trying to help people understand first and foremost that the choice you have to make is that of personal agency: To say am I going to act or react?,” Maury says.

"In this country we all have the ability to express a point of view and to try to work to solve things, and we don't have to rely on our elected officials to do that. But we’ve lost sight of our civic muscle.”

Maury Giles came to Braver Angels after a career in journalism, politics, market research, communications strategy, experience design, and business development. Richard asked him about the challenges and opportunities he faces as a bridge builder at a difficult time.

We hear about the case for citizen-led solutions, and why the true remedy to our civic challenges isn’t reaction, but action, with neighbors working with their neighbors across divisions and mistrust. 

Over the past sixteen months, “How Do We Fix It?” has published more than twenty episodes about the people, projects and ideas of Braver Angels. Find them at our website. Like and subscribe to our shows on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about Maury’s work and Braver Angels’ mission here.

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