Making Peace Visible

In the United States, it’s no longer a given that our elections are free and fair.  To the great relief of many — in terms of freedom and fairness — the 2026 midterms were successful. But there’s a lot that can happen between now and the seating of new representatives on January 3. And our guest this episode says it’s up to us to stay vigilant. Hardy Merriman is an expert on civil resistance movements, democracy, and authoritarianism. Hardy has been involved in studying, supporting, and training leaders in nonviolent protest movements around the world for most of his adult life. He was President of the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) from 2015 to 2025. He’s also worked at USAID and the Atlantic Council, and authored numerous publications. We’re bringing Hardy back to the podcast this week to talk about how ordinary Americans can play a key role in protecting this and future elections. He’s part of an effort called Hold the Line, which gives people the tools to counter election interference, hold election officials accountable, and support the process. Learn more about Hold the Line, download the guide or take the course.Listen to our 2023 episode with Hardy, "Covering civil resistance amidst rising authoritarianism." ABOUT THE SHOW The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. The associate producer and graphic designer is Faith McClure. Emmy Todd runs our social media. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.orgSupport our workConnect on social:Instagram @makingpeacevisibleYouTube @makingpeacevisibleLinkedIn @makingpeacevisibleBluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.socialMaking Peace Visible is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts dedicated to creating a more informed, civically engaged electorate.We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!

A tweet on a quiet Sunday morning stops Dave Butler cold: a shooting at a Latter-day Saint church in Grand Blanc, Michigan. He doesn't know a single victim — but he’s a member of the same faith, so the attack feels personal. As the news spreads and fear turns to anger online, Dave makes a choice that no one sees coming, one that will pull him into the national spotlight and put him directly in the path of backlash he never expected.This week we’re featuring an episode of a new podcast hosted by Monica Guzman. Monica’s a journalist and a leading voice in efforts to bridge political divides in the United States. She’s author of the book I Never Thought of it That Way, and host of the podcast A Braver Way. Monica’s new podcast is called Dispatches from the Divide. It’s an immersive documentary series. Each episode follows an ordinary person navigating an intense conflict, and choosing an unexpected response. Dispatches from the Divide is a co-production of BYUradio, Disagree Better and Braver Angels. Connect with them on social media @DispatchesfromtheDivide. ABOUT THE SHOW The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. The associate producer and graphic designer is Faith McClure. Emmy Todd runs our social media. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.orgSupport our workConnect on social:Instagram @makingpeacevisibleYouTube @makingpeacevisibleLinkedIn @makingpeacevisibleBluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.socialMaking Peace Visible is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts dedicated to creating a more informed, civically engaged electorate.We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!

Making Peace Visible is hosting a free virtual event to reflect on what we’ve learned from the Beyond Polarization series, and how we’re thinking about polarization and solutions going into the 2026 midterms. “Polarization, the midterms & what comes next,” is happening at 7pm Eastern Time on October 27th.  RSVP here. We hope you'll join us to process some of what we've gathered about the forces driving polarization here in the United States, and some of the lessons we've taken away about what works to build bridges across the divide -- in journalism, online, in college classrooms in our communities and governments.  This isn't a lecture or a talk -- it's an opportunity for conversation and reflection. You also don't have to have listened to the whole series to participate. (There's no pop quiz). We'll have a few questions for discussion, but we're keeping it pretty informal. See you then? In this seventh and final episode in the series, we’re focusing on government. A New York Times investigation found that elected officials in state and federal offices have been subject to thousands of violent threats over the past two years. That includes 70 of the nation’s 100 senators, and at least 185 members of the House of Representatives. Threats target Democrats and Republicans alike. Candidates are spending millions on security. And there have been actual acts of violence too: For instance, Minnesota House speaker, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark were assassinated in June 2025, and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s house was firebombed. There are plenty of other indicators that the system of American democracy is under dire threat. But our guest, Lindsey Cormack has hope, and brings some much-needed historical and empirical perspective. Lindsay Cormack is an associate professor of political science at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. She’s also the co-host of a new podcast called Government that Doesn’t Suck, which dives deep into government projects and legislation that changed American history for the better. And she’s the author of the book How to Raise a Citizen, (And Why it’s Up to You to do it).Cormack is the founder and manager of DC Inbox, a searchable database of all the email newsletters sent from every member of Congress, going back to 2010. And she shares data and insights from her analysis of those emails on her Substack, DC Inbox Insights. More resources from Lindsey Cormack:Same Country, Different Dangers When Republicans and Democrats talk about public safety they mean different things, DC Inbox Insights, Oct 2026More Chances, Fewer Problems? Revisiting Ranked Choice Voting Errors in New York City, American Politics Research, May 2026Extremity in Congress: Communications versus Votes, Legislative Studies Quarterly, May 2016Follow her on Instagram @howtoraiseacitizenMusic in this episode is from Xylo-Ziko, Blue Dot Sessions and Poddington Bear ABOUT THE SHOW The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. The associate producer and graphic designer is Faith McClure. Emmy Todd runs our social media. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.orgSupport our workConnect on social:Instagram @makingpeacevisibleYouTube @makingpeacevisibleLinkedIn @makingpeacevisibleBluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.socialMaking Peace Visible is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts dedicated to creating a more informed, civically engaged electorate.We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!

Our guest this episode is an ordained pastor and journalist who's traveled the country speaking to conservative Christians and facilitating discussions about politics and division. But she's come to believe those efforts are ineffective, and has shifted her focus to combatting Christian Nationalism. This is episode 6 in Making Peace Visible's special series, Beyond Polarization. In episodes 1 through 5, we spoke to Americans invested in bridging political divides through journalism, social media, higher education and in civil society. This episode, with a spotlight on religion, examines the limits of trying to find common cause with people you disagree with. Rev. Angela Denker is an ordained Lutheran pastor and a journalist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She's the author of two books: Red State Christians (2019), and Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood  (2025). Having grown up with a mix of Baptist, Evangelical and mainline Protestant influences, Angela eventually embraced a more liberal Christianity and progressive politics.While researching her first book, she saw some openness to dialogue and empathy for immigrants, for instance. But she says, by and large, efforts at bridge building between liberal and conservative Christians have fallen flat.Her second book focuses on the threat of Christian Nationalism, particularly among young white men and boys. In this interview, Denker speaks about why she thinks there are more important threats to the country and the church than polarization. And she makes a case for why we should be paying more attention to the role of religion in American politics today. We also touch on Denker's experiences and writing during ICE's Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. More from Angela Denker: Substack: I'm Listening"I Am a Minneapolis Mother and Pastor, and I Know Where I Stand", The New Republic, January 2026Writer and pastor Angela Denker investigates what's going on with young white men in America, interview by Sarah McCammon, March 2025"The End of Dialogue?" Church Anew, December 2020"Why I’m Teaching a Class on Political Dialogue When No One Wants to Talk to Each Other", Faith+Lead, February 2020***JOIN US ON ZOOM! POLARIZATION, THE MIDTERMS AND WHAT COMES NEXT Producing this series has given us a lot to think about. And we'd love to talk through some of it with you. Please join us at 7PM EDT on Tuesday, October 27th for an open discussion of the themes raised on Beyond Polarization, and how you're thinking about the 2026 midterm elections. RSVP here.  ABOUT THE SHOW The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. The associate producer and graphic designer is Faith McClure. Emmy Todd runs our social media. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.orgSupport our workConnect on social:Instagram @makingpeacevisibleYouTube @makingpeacevisibleLinkedIn @makingpeacevisibleBluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.socialMaking Peace Visible is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts dedicated to creating a more informed, civically engaged electorate.We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!

Civil society organizations are crucial to peacebuilding efforts, in the US and around the world. That includes nonprofits, school boards, churches, membership organizations and charities. A number of international peacebuilding organizations launched local programs in the United States after the 2016 election revealed heightened levels of polarization and dehumanizing rhetoric that mirrored what they'd seen in countries with ongoing violent conflicts. Now we have about 10 years worth of experience, and data from this kind of work to learn from.Do Americans even care about bridging political divides? When people attend an event where they come to see the humanity in their opponents and learn how to disagree better, do they take those lessons home to their communities? Are these efforts scalable, or do they just reach a small number of people? Does it reduce polarization when you bring people together just to talk about polarization...or should there be a particular goal in mind? We attempt to answer these questions this episode with two guests.Lance Walker is a barber and a community bridge builder in rural Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He's a Black man and father of mixed race children, a veteran, a small business owner and a self-described "disciple of Christ." After building a reputation for facilitating conversations across a variety of political views at his barbershop, Walker co-led two projects aimed at preventing identity-based and political violence in his area, organized by the nonprofit bridge building organization Urban Rural Action. He also served on a highly polarized school board. Lisa Inks  is the Senior Director of Evidence and Learning for Urban Rural Action. Previously, Inks worked at Mercy Corps for 10 years, serving in positions including Director of Conflict Management Programs in Nigeria and Director of Peace and Conflict Programs, where she led global peacebuilding and violence prevention strategy, program design, implementation support, and thought leadership. She is based in Indianpolis, Indiana. LEARN MORE:Wisconsin group defies trend by drawing more conservatives into bridge-building efforts - PBS Newshour, October 2025 200 miles from where Trump was shot, ordinary citizens combat political violence - The Christian Science Monitor, July 2024Central Pa. community group prepares plans to tackle identity-based violence in their communities - WITF, June 2023Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.  ABOUT THE SHOW The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. The associate producer and graphic designer is Faith McClure. Emmy Todd runs our social media. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.orgSupport our workConnect on social:Instagram @makingpeacevisibleYouTube @makingpeacevisibleLinkedIn @makingpeacevisibleBluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.socialMaking Peace Visible is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts dedicated to creating a more informed, civically engaged electorate.We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!