Making Peace Visible

At college, young people have the opportunity to get to know peers from different ethnic, social, and political backgrounds. As a result, they meet students who see the world in completely different ways. So what should happen when students encounter ideas, histories, or each other in ways that make them deeply uncomfortable? Avoiding those conversations may reduce conflict in the short term. Simply encouraging students to “speak freely” isn’t enough either. Without trust and skill, difficult conversations can reinforce divisions instead of bridging them. Professors and other educators can provide guidance drawing from a wide array of sources and points of view. But how can educators teach healthy constructive ways to engage with new ideas and different perspectives, especially in an age of polarization? Universities have become one of the places where America’s conflicts over race, history, identity, and free expression play out most intensely. In the 2010s many scholars adopted a more critical view of American history and how it shaped our present. But the past few years have seen a roll-back of racial studies programs and diversity initiatives. Universities around the country have opened civics education centers, in some cases as a way of restoring a more traditional take on history. Our two guests this episode are professors who teach divisive topics including race in America and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. They've each found ways to engage students and create classroom cultures based on curiosity and respect. And they’re leading the way for other educators. Stephanie Shonekan is Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. While chair of the Black Studies Department at the University of Missouri, Stephanie created and ran several programs geared towards inclusion and diversity. She’s also an ethnomusicologist, and uses music to address difficult topics in class. She's the co-author of the book Race and the American Story. John Rose is a professor of the practice at the School of Civic Life and Leadership at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He teaches several courses on civil discourse, including one titled “How to Think in an Age of Polarization,” which has inspired similar classes at colleges across the country. He holds a doctorate in theology. Learn more from our guests: Watch Stephanie Shonekan’s TED talk: “SPF, WTF?” Watch Stephanie Shonekan and John Rose speak on a panel on civil dialogue at the Ohio Civic Center Symposium at the Ohio State University, May 2025 Watch Stephanie Shonekan and co-author Adam Seagrave discuss their book Race and the American Story Order Race and the American Story Read John Rose’s essay for the Wall Street Journal, “How I liberated my college classroom.” Dig deeper: 10 highlights from Yale’s new report detailing why Americans distrust higher education -The College Fix Higher Education’s Problems Go Way Beyond Trust – The Ringer Ibram X. Kendi vs. America’s “Antiracism Backlash” – Reveal The Most Important Question Is ‘What if I’m Wrong? ’ - David French, New York Times Inside the Trump Administration’s Assault on Higher Education - the New Yorker Buckley Institute 2025 national survey report on free speech and related issues on campus College Uncovered: the New College Compact - College Uncovered podcast, GBH Related article: Local colleges targeted amid growing campus culture wars A five-point plan to save Harvard from itself - Steven Pinker for the Boston Globe Harvard Derangement Syndrome - Steven Pinker for the New York Times 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

In our third episode in the Beyond Polarization series, we talk to two inspiring creators who are bridging the political divide on podcasts, YouTube, and even Instagram! Think about an issue that you're passionate about. Imagine sitting in a room with someone just as passionate as you, but on the polar opposite side of that issue. Now, imagine your conversation is being recorded and will be streamed online. What do you think would happen in that room? Our first guest this episode is a content creator who brings Americans with deeply opposing views together and streams the conversations on YouTube. But he's doing things differently. Larry Rosen is an attorney, a mediator and the host of The Enemies Project , a series where enemies – people who are polar opposites on an issue – participate in a conversation facilitated by Rosen. Some of the pairs featured include a transgender woman and a right-wing gender fundamentalist , a Black protester and a white police officer , and activists from both sides of the abortion debate. Over the course of an hour, the shift in the way the “enemies” feel about each other is dramatic and quite moving to watch. Our next guest widens the lens, asking how we can cultivate that same spirit of curiosity across a broader culture. Monica Guzman is a journalist, and public bridge builder. She's a host of A Braver Way , a podcast that looks for practical ways to bridge political divides in everyday life, and the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times . Much of Guzman's bridge-building work happens through online media, including podcasts and social media. We ask her what it takes to do this work on digital platforms that often reward conflict more than consensus. We speak about what bridge builders can and can't accomplish in that environment and how political conversations online might be shifting. Listen to our earlier conversation with Monica Guzman , recorded just after the 2024 presidential election. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

This is the second episode in Beyond Polarization, a special series about what polarization is costing Americans, and what we can actually do about it. You can find Episode 1, where we analyze research on polarization and disagreement, here . In this episode: how the news media can do less to reinforce polarized narratives, and more to meet the needs of audiences. Journalism is an essential component of our democratic system. But when it comes to politics, how much reporting do you read that actually helps you decide who to vote for? During an election cycle, candidates tell the press that if elected, they’ll work to solve problems that matter to their voters. Those with more controversial opinions or spicy personal backgrounds get more airtime. And pundits prognosticate about which candidate can win which demographic. Yet between elections, there’s a lot less coverage of how office holders are fulfilling their campaign promises, or trying to. News organizations cover corruption and scandal, an important role of journalism. But what about when things go right? Without good information about solutions to society’s problems, it’s easier to vote based on fear of the other side, vote along party lines, or just stay home. Outside of politics, everyday news coverage skews negative too. Our guests this episode are journalists committed to reporting on communities and current events in de-polarizing ways. They do that by focusing on what people need and want and how politics could affect that: covering the stakes, not the odds. Tina Rosenberg is a Pulitzer-prize-winning reporter and cofounder of the Solutions Journalism Network , which promotes rigorous reporting on solutions to social problems. At the New York Times , she wrote the Fixes column with David Bornstein. Sarah Jane Weaver is the editor-in-chief of the Deseret News based in Salt Lake City, Utah – one of the first outlets to embrace the Solutions Journalism model in the 2010s. Weaver first joined Deseret as a reporter in 1995. Resources mentioned in this episode: “ The Perception Gap: How False Impressions are Pulling Americans Apart,” report from More in Common Americans' Trust in Media Remains at Trend Low , 2024 Gallup poll Outlier Media , local news outlet in Detroit that provides information on housing, utilities and other essential information via text Sisters fight to pick up the pieces after catastrophic car crash , reporting by the Deseret News Small-town America is arguing over whether to welcome Syria’s refugees or fear them , story by The World from PRX 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

Political polarization in the U.S. can feel like a lost cause. Trying to have productive conversations with people you disagree with over politics can seem pointless, especially now. News media and social media often reduce “the other side” to its most extreme forms. This creates a negative feedback loop, weakening our ability to function as a democracy. But research suggests that Americans — on both the Left and the Right — often misperceive how hostile, uniform, or different their opponents really are. In our seven part Beyond Polarization series, we're talking to experts and practitioners from across the political spectrum — in journalism, education, government, and more — about what it’s costing Americans, and what we can actually do about it. The point isn’t to agree (not gonna happen), or even to move toward the center. As our guest for this first episode Julia Minson puts it, we need to learn to “disagree better.” Julia Minson is a social psychologist and professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She’s the author of How to Disagree Better published in March 2026, and the founder of the behavioral science consulting firm Disagreeing Better, offering speaking and training on effective management of conflict. In this episode she shares some of her research findings about what we get wrong about each other, and what interventions have worked to correct misperceptions. Plus, a proven formula you can use to have a meaningful conversation in conflict situations. Thoughts on this episode? Find us on social media @makingpeacevisible (details below) or email info@makingpeacevisible.org . The Beyond Polarization series publishes biweekly through October 2026, with our second episode on August 4. LEARN MORE: Read an excerpt from Julia Minson’s book How to Disagree Better Strengthening Democracy Challenge megastudy led by Stanford University Heineken – Worlds Apart : Watch the 2017 beer commercial that proved most effective at reducing polarization in the Stanford study The political polarization of COVID-19 treatments among physicians and laypeople in the United States , published in PNAS Special thanks to Adam Dusenberry and Harvard University Education Support Services. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

Often the news covers crises without context. That's especially true when it comes to coverage of the Global South in international media. Our guest this episode, journalist and documentary filmmaker Etant Dupain, gives us a behind-the-headlines look at events in Haiti, his home country. Dupain says that the gangs who control much of the country now are supported by powerful elites. Their aim, his says, is to suppress a grassroots protest movement that is calling for accountability for the embezzlement of billions of dollars in development funds. Dupain's documentary film, The Fight for Haiti , tells the story of the Haitian movement against corruption and impunity, which started with a tweet and at its height had hundreds of thousands in the street. This episode was first recorded in February 2025, and has been updated. In this episode, you’ll learn about The problematic history of foreign aid in Haiti including the aftermath of the the 2010 earthquake The Petrocaribe agreement with Venezuela that was supposed to fund crucial infrastructure projects in Haiti Creative tactics activists used to demand accountability Who profits when gangs overtake a country What the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the United States could mean for Haiti's future Watch a trailer and learn more about the film and the movement at thefightforhaiti.com. Want to host a screening? Email info@thefightforhaiti.com. Protest audio used in the episode is from the film The Fight for Haiti , used with permission. Other music in this episode by Xylo-Ziko, Toby Tranter, and Reed Mathis. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

Polarization in the U.S. is not just a Washington problem. It also shows up in our newsrooms, our social media feeds, our schools, our dinner tables, and most importantly, in the stories we tell about each other. That's why Making Peace Visible is launching a new limited podcast series called Beyond Polarization. We're speaking with people from across the political spectrum to break down what these deepening divisions are actually costing Americans — all of us. Across six sectors — journalism, new media, higher education, technology, government, and civil society — we’ll examine where familiar solutions have fallen short, what evidence-based efforts are working, and how trust can be rebuilt in practical, durable ways. Beyond Polarization launches in this feed on July 21 and will include in-depth conversations with: Harvard professor Julia Minson , author of How to Disagree Better , whose research explores the psychology of conflict and what it takes to engage more productively across political divides. Tina Rosenberg of The Solutions Journalism Network and Sarah Jane Weaver , Editor-in-Chief of Deseret News on the role solutions journalism can play in depolarization. Ethnomusicologist and University of Maryland dean Stephanie Shonekan and John Rose , professor of civil discourse at UNC Chapel Hill, who are teaching college students how to have difficult conversations with dignity. Larry Rosen, host of The Enemies Project YouTube Channel, and Monica Guzman, host of A Braver Way podcast, on telling stories that unite within an online ecosystem built on division. Plus technologists, elected officials, community leaders, and more. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

The MPV team is currently hard at work on Beyond Polarization , a limited series where we talk to people who are finding solutions to the increasing polarization we face in the United States. In the meantime, we bring you this episode from our friends at Disrupting Peace , a podcast from the World Peace Foundation about "why peace hasn't worked, and how it still could." What beliefs make people willing to commit violence, and what could change their minds? This episode explores what makes individuals vulnerable to white supremacist beliefs, what it means when extremism becomes mainstream, the surprising permeability of these groups, and how to talk to people in your life who express racist ideology. Peter Simi is a professor of Sociology at Chapman University, and an expert on extremist groups and violence in the US. Among his many publications, he is co-author of American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate , and Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacy and How It Can be Stopped . Sara Winegar Budge holds a doctorate in Psychology and is a licensed psychologist in Oregon. She is the Director of US Programs at Moonshot , which builds technology to identify and disrupt organized crime, child sexual exploitation, and trafficking, among other forms of abuse and violence. Her clinical work focuses on individuals who are or have been involved in violent extremism. Disrupting Peace is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

Suzette Brooks Masters is a thought leader, political strategist and Senior Fellow at the Democracy Funders Network. She says that for American democracy to thrive, it's not enough to defend the existing system against attack, because the system doesn’t work well for most people. She’s been researching ways to invigorate democratic practice, including citizen’s assemblies and participatory budgeting – frameworks that give ordinary people a bigger say in government. And she advocates for storytelling that envisions positive, possible futures. LEARN MORE Suzette Brooks Masters’ articles for The Fulcrum Imagining Better Futures for American Democracy report Becoming Futures Ready: How Philanthropy Can Leverage Strategic Foresight For Democracy report This episode was originally published in May 2025. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

The world is missing the perspective of peacebuilders at a critical moment, as we live through this time of one war after another. We need skilled negotiators and mediators who know how to listen to both sides of a dispute and find common ground. We invited Joshua Weiss to the podcast to help us understand what happened in the negotiations that preceded the Iran war, and how negotiators might bring it to an end. Josh Weiss is an internationally recognized conflict resolution expert, educator, and author. He is co-founder of Harvard University 's Global Negotiation Initiative and Senior Fellow at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. He also directs the Masters in Leadership and Negotiation program at Bay Path University, and runs a private consulting firm. And he’s a co-founder of the Abraham Path Initiative , a network of walking trails that connect communities and helps support local economies in the Middle East. Weiss’ latest book i s Getting Back to the Table: 5 Steps for Reviving Stalled Negotiations. Explore related episodes: How one Iranian content creator is fighting the information war (February 2026) Reporting from Iran with a bias towards peace (February 2024) Building peace on a walk through the Middle East (June 2022) 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

For her whole life, Iranian-American actor and activist Nazanin Nour has been calling attention to the distinction between the Islamic Republic – the face of Iran in the news – and the Iranian people. And she’s not stopping any time soon. In normal times, Nour hosts Iranian diaspora musicians, comedians, journalists and others on her online show Mehmooni with Nazanin . But since mass protests began in December, she's been using social media to amplify the message of the protesters and call attention to the massacre and disappearances of thousands. She's also calling out others – including news organizations that cover nuclear talks without mention of the government's brutality, social justice activists who are strangely quiet on Iran, and content creators who've taken government-sponsored trips to the country. Making Peace Visible spoke with Nazanin Nour on February 10, 2026. Follow Nazanin Nour Instagram @iamnazaninnour Youtube @nazaninnour Facebook @iamnazaninnour Follow Mehmooni with Nazanin on Spotify Human rights organizations mentioned in the interview Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran / @iranrights Center for Human Rights in Iran / @centerforhumanrights Iran Human Rights Documentation Center Music 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

"I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will." This aphorism from political philosopher and journalist Antonio Gramsci is one of our guest Neha Sanghrajka’s favorite quotes. When you learn her story, you’ll understand why. A Kenyan born lawyer, Sanghrajka spent almost a decade in Mozambique mediating a peace process between the country’s president and a guerrilla leader stationed on a remote mountaintop. Sanghrajka and her colleague, Swiss Ambassador Mirko Manzoni, travelled back and forth between the capital of Maputo and the militant headquarters in the remote Garongosa Mountains 45 times – a journey of over 1000 km each way. And when she wasn’t hoofing it up the mountain, Sanghrajka spent many hours just listening to local people, without expectation. The peacebuilders walked a delicate line. Knowing that previous processes had failed when they were over-exposed to the media, they protected the negotiations from scrutiny. At the same time, they engaged journalists and civil society with the public implementation of the process. Neha’s story presents a fascinating example of how polarized groups can actually buy into a process of reconciliation, despite major setbacks along the way; and how journalists can report responsibly and critically, while still supporting the aspiration of peace. Before moving to Mozambique, Neha Sanghrajka worked with former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during the 2007 election crisis in Kenya and helped facilitate election reform there. She’s now a fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Learn more about Neha Sanghrajka Read Sanghrajka and Mirko Manzoni’s report on the peace process in Mozambique Visit the Maputo Accord website 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

Public funding for peace efforts took a massive hit with the gutting of USAID last year , and other donor countries have ramped down aid as well, in a world that feels increasingly less safe for many. That’s why our ears perked up when we heard about Brian Abrams, an American venture capitalist who is investing in technology to find solutions to violent conflict. In the new field of ‘peace tech,’ companies are using AI to predict the likelihood of major events – like military invasions or popular uprisings, and modeling how to prevent violence before it starts. With their ability to process massive data sets from intelligence, journalism and other sources, these tools can also quickly gain insights on what’s driving conflicts on a population level. Important tools for governments and mediators, they also appeal to corporations working around the world – customers who Abrams hopes will bring in revenue to sustain the peace tech sector. And as you’ll hear, he’s very optimistic. Brian Abrams founded B Ventures Group, a venture capital firm for peace tech, in 2023. Prior to that he was president of Ibex Investors and a managing partner at Row Capital. Connect with Brian Abrams on LinkedIn. Learn more about the peace tech companies discussed in this episode: Anadyr Horizon From Business Insider: Inside the Billion-Dollar War over Peace Tech Transcend AI CulturePulse odr.com 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

It’s hard to keep up with the number of unprecedented actions the second Trump administration has taken, but what happened on January 3 – when the US military extracted Venezuela’s president and first lady amidst an aerial assault on Caracas – is impossible to ignore. Also seemingly overnight the U.S. government’s narrative on why they were taking action against Venezuela changed – from interdicting the drug trade to restoring the country’s oil sector. In this special episode, we look at the many narratives surrounding the U.S. action in Venezuela, and separate fact from fiction. We also discuss what this power shift means for Venezuelans, who have been living under a repressive regime, and a longrunning economic crisis. Our guest is Enrique Roig , an international relations expert whose career has spanned government, NGOs and the private sector, and more than 40 countries. Roig has more than two decades of experience in diplomacy, development and human rights, including extensive experience in Central and South America. He’s testified before Congress about human rights abuses committed by the Maduro regime. Roig served in the State Department during the Biden administration, as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Currently the Vice President for External Affairs at Human Rights First, he writes about Venezuela and U.S. foreign policy on Substack at Enrique Roig - Unleashed . LEARN MORE Enrique Roig’s Substack On human rights in Venezuela from Human Rights Watch On journalism in Venezuela and the diaspora: How Venezuelan journalists broke the information blockade with a 10-hour broadcast of Maduro’s ouster Listen: MPV’s episode with Caracas-based journalist Tony Frangie Mawad: Journalism under authoritarianism: An indie reporter persists in Venezuela 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

William Ury is one of the world’s most influential peacebuilders and experts on negotiation. He advised Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos in the lead up to that country's historic 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, and played a key role in de-escalating nuclear tensions between the U.S. and North Korea in 2017. Getting to Yes, which Ury co-wrote with Roger Fisher back in 1981, is the world’s best selling book on negotiation. Ury co-founded the Program on Negotiation at Harvard, as well as the Abraham Path Initiative, an NGO that builds walking trails connecting communities in the Middle East. His new book is called Possible: How we Survive - and Thrive - in an Age of Conflict . It’s filled with incredible stories from Bill’s career. In this episode, Bill talks about how lessons from the failures and success of the past – in places like Northern Ireland, Colombia, and the Middle East – can be instructive when dealing with the conflicts of today. He shares exciting ideas about how journalists can tell stories about peace. What’s more, his insights on managing conflict can be applied anywhere from the UN to the boardroom to your own family. William Ury’s ideas aren’t easy to implement – in fact they’re incredibly challenging. Ury says conflicts don’t end, but they can be transformed, from fighting with weapons to hashing differences out in a democratic process. And if Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Colombia – places where people said violent conflict would go on forever – could transform their conflicts, then there’s hope for the seemingly “impossible” conflicts of today. Music in this episode by Joel Cummins, Podington Bear, Kevin MacLeod, Meavy Boy, and Faszo. This episode was originally published in May 2024. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

This week we’re featuring an episode from American UnExceptionalism , a limited podcast series that examines the intersection of authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism around the world – looking for lessons that Americans can learn from to resist Christian nationalism and the threat it poses to our democracy. The series turns the idea of American exceptionalism on its head, asking: What can we learn from others about protecting democracy when the stakes are high? Co-hosts Susan Hayward and Matthew D. Taylor bring their expertise to bear as scholars of religion, religious extremism, and peace. In this episode, Taylor and Hayward explore Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma), two Buddhist-majority countries. In the words of one guest, a “minority complex” exists in both countries – the sense among members of the dominant group that they’re under threat from minority groups inlcuding Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Authoritarian leaders have exploited these fears, but religion has also been used in creative ways as a tool of resistance. And in Sri Lanka, a nonviolent uprising unseated an elected president who had become increasingly authoritarian, amidst an economic crisis in 2022. Guests are Geethika Dharmasinghe from Sri Lanka, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, with a PhD in Asian Literature, Religion and Culture, and David Thang Moe from Myanmar, is a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer in Southeast Asian Studies at Yale University. American UnExceptionalism is a project of Axis Mundi in collaboration with the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies. This episode was produced by Scott Gill and engineered by Scott Okamoto, with production help from Kari Onishi. The executive producer is Bradley Onishi. Additional producer by Andrea Muraskin and Jamil Simon at Making Peace Visible. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

In the last decade, the field of peace-building has turned its eye toward the United States, as polarization has gotten worse, and political violence has increased. Our guest Peter T. Coleman is a part of that movement to bring peace-building or bridge-building to Americans. Coleman is a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University, and a renowned expert on conflict resolution and sustainable peace. He first appeared on Making Peace Visible in January 2023 to discuss his book The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization. The bad news is polarization efforts in the United States haven’t been very successful, according to an analysis of 77 interventions aimed at decreasing partisan animosity , published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . It showed that while interventions can briefly reduce animosity, their effects are small and short-lived. But Coleman’s not giving up - he's just changing tactics. In this episode, we discuss some of the most recent findings from Coleman’s lab at Columbia University Teachers’ College, which he says is part of a “ radical new science of peace .” In their latest study, Coleman and colleagues focus on the media: using AI to comb through 700,000 news reports from a diverse group of 18 countries, including the United States. What they found points to a new way to understand what makes a society more peaceful – or more polarized. LEARN MORE: Peter T. Coleman’s research lab: The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution Coleman’s Medium post on classifying peace in global media, “A Radical New Science of Peace.” AI for Good? AI Finds Lasting Peace in Unexpected Places in Psychology Today , by Peter T. Coleman and Larry S. Liebovitch. Take the Polarization Detox Challenge Listen to our December 2022 episode with Peter Coleman. Follow Peter T. Coleman on Bluesky 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

“ Military children serve alongside their parents, except they're invisible.” – Harold Kudler, M.D. Millions of American children have had parents serve in Iraq, Afghanistan, or other wars following September 11, 2001. This episode focuses on the wellbeing of those children, who tend to grow up fast. Susan Hackley is the director of the short documentary film Veteran Children . The film offers a window into the often hidden lives of military spouses and kids. Through interviews and roundtables, viewers meet children who have suffered as a result of their parents’ service, and also those who stepped up to help a wounded parent. Hackley made the film after a long career in peacebuilding, during which she served 19 years as managing director of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, one of the world’s leading centers of negotiation and conflict analysis. She also served as Chair of the Alliance for Peace Building. Military lives and families are personal to Hackley. She lost a boyfriend in the Vietnam war, and her son served as a Marine Corps infantryman in Iraq. Dr. Harold Kudler is a psychiatrist and expert on the mental health of veterans and their families, who is featured in Veteran Children . He’s a Medical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University. LEARN MORE Watch Veteran Children for free (30 minutes) Statistics and recommended reading from the Veteran Children Project Issue of the journal The Future of Children on Military Children and Families , with chapter Building Communities of Care for Military Children and Families co-written by Dr. Harold Kudler The Military Child Education Coalition Sesame Street’s Resources for Military Families Zero to Three’s Resources for Military Families The Military Family Research Center at Purdue University 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

In our time when rumors and lies spread across the internet with lightning speed, journalists play a vital role in debunking misinformation and disinformation. Media outlets run by and for non-white audiences, while working under great financial pressure, occupy a special role in the information ecosystem. With immigrants and people of color so often targeted, ethnic and indigenous media outlets are often paying closer attention to these rumors and lies about their own communities. So, they’re well positioned to address disinformation before it reaches the general population. And they offer lessons for mainstream journalists and news consumers. A new report, Disarming Disinformation: United States takes an in-depth look at how disinformation shows up in ethnic and indigenous communities and in their news media, and also highlights ways these outlets are fighting disinformation. It was published in October 2025 by the International Center for Journalists in collaboration with journalism schools at the University of Maryland and Arizona State University. Our guests this episode are: Garry Pierre-Pierre, editor-in-chief of The Haitian Times , an English-language news outlet that covers Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. The Haitian Times was one of five case studies highlighted in the disinformation report. Sarah Oates, Associate Dean for Research/Professor and Senior Scholar at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Oates is a co-author of Disarming Disinformation: United States, and of the book Seeing Red: Russian Propaganda and American News. Special thanks to Nabeelah Shabbir. Music in this episode by Doctor Turtle. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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 Megan K. Stack began a recent op-ed in the New York Times describing a contentious debate about anti-immigration riots in the Northern Ireland Assembly, “each speaker straining to upstage the last in outrage and fervor.” But unlike many opinion writers, she doesn’t go on to expound on the importance of civility in public discourse. Instead, she marvels that this debate is happening at all – amidst the children of Protestant paramilitaries and I.R.A. bombers, people who grew up in communities that battled each other bitterly for about 30 years – but now share power under a peace agreement that’s endured for almost as long. Megan K. Stack is a journalist and contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, who’s reported from several conflict zones including Israel/Palestine and Northern Ireland. In this episode, she analyzes key moments and actors in the negotiations that ended the “Troubles,” the 3 decades of violence between Irish Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. And she makes the case for applying lessons from that peace process to Israel’s negotiations with Gaza – including on the sensitive issue of disarmament. Read Megan Stack’s essay Northern Ireland, Gaza and the Road to Peace . Use this link to share the episode: www.makingpeacevisible.org/megan-stack Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Joel Cummins. 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!

Since his election in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has transitioned Hungary from a democracy into a quasi-authoritarian country, and provided a blueprint for Project 2025 in the United States. Elections, economic policies, and the media have been transformed to benefit Orbán and his far-right Fidesz Party. Orbán’s government, with its consolidation of executive power, Christian nationalist and anti-LGBTQ policies served as inspiration for Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s plan for Donald Trump’s second term. Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts has called modern Hungary “not just a model for conservative statecraft but the model.” A new documentary film, Democracy Noir , shows how Orbán changed Hungarian politics. In the words of Budapest-based journalist Babett Oroszi, Orbán has “hacked democracy” – quietly using the levers of democracy, rather than a violent revolution, to accomplish his aims. The film tells the story of modern Hungary through the eyes of three female members of Hungary’s resistance – reporter Oroszi, nurse and activist Niko Antal, and Tímea Szabó, an opposition leader in Hungary’s parliament. Our guest, director Connie Field, has followed Hungarian politics since the country’s first years as a democracy in the early 1990s. An American progressive and award-winning documentarian, she has a shrewd eye on how Orban’s actions are being mirrored in the United States. The episode also includes discussion of a new leader who observers think has a real chance of upending Orbán’s hold on power in the 2026 election. LEARN MORE: Stream Democracy Noir now! Watch a trailer for the film , find out where it’s being screened, or request a screening Download the discussion guide. Connie Field bio 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. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support our work Connect on social: Instagram @makingpeacevisible YouTube @makingpeacevisible LinkedIn @makingpeacevisible Bluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social Making 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!