This episode is an audio only version of our TV program "A Braver Arkansas," a TV partnership between Braver Angels Arkansas and Arkansas TV, Arkansas's public television network. It was first aired August 18, 2026. A Braver Arkansaspremiered Tuesday, July 7, 2026, at 6 p.m. on Arkansas TV. A new episode is shown every two weeks, and all episodes are available on demand after they air by searching for the show A Braver Arkansas in the Public Affairs section of the Arkansas TV YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@arkansastv.

In this episode, hosts April Chatham-Carpenter and Glen White open by demonstrating something Braver Angels calls the LAPP skills — Listen, Acknowledge/Agree, Pivot, Perspective — including an unscripted admission from Glen about times he's gotten it wrong, and a live role-play on a genuinely divisive topic that shows how the skills work (and don't) in real time. Then they sit down with Dawn Groover, a retired hospice nurse from Carroll County who found Braver Angels while she was losing the ability to talk to her own sons about politics. What she describes isn't a tidy fix — it's a slow, sometimes humbling process that changed how she listens, what she reads, and eventually where she'd place herself on the political spectrum. She's since helped start a new Braver Angels alliance in Northwest Arkansas. Glen and April close with a franker-than-usual discussion of the psychology behind why these conversations are so hard in the first place.

Check out Part 1 of our On The Other Hand podcast conversation with Dr. Daniel Fudge, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of the Ozarks, Glen and April talk with Daniel about the winding path that took him from studying English and business at UA Fort Smith to a political science PhD at Ole Miss—including a brief detour toward law school and a formative stint working both sides of the aisle during a 2012 campaign internship in Charlotte. That experience left him determined to teach politics without the "boogeyman" framing, and he explains how that shapes what happens in his classroom. Daniel also shares what he's seeing in student attitudes toward civic engagement right now—some surprising, some predictable—and points to a specific example of local civic energy in Fort Smith worth knowing about.

Check out Part 2 of our On The Other Hand podcast conversation with Dr. Daniel Fudge, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of the Ozarks. In this half, Glen and April dig into Daniel's work with Civic Arkansas and the Arkansas Collegiate Civic Leadership Academy, including how he keeps a program built on non-partisan ground rules, working even with speakers as different as a former Republican governor and a sitting Democratic state senator. Daniel offers a practical, Stoic-influenced framework for civic engagement he uses with students, then turns to a topic with real teeth: how the 24/7 news cycle is reshaping political trust, and a specific approach he recommends for sorting reliable information from noise. The conversation closes on a debate worth hearing in full — a proposal that would change who gets to vote in Arkansas primaries, and what Daniel thinks it would mean for an already low-turnout state.

In this episode (originally aired July 21, 2026 as "A Braver Arkansas," a TV partnership between Braver Angels Arkansas and Arkansas TV, Arkansas's public television network), we feature audio only from that program, in which Glen and April talk with Lisa McNeir, a retired psychologist and longtime member of Braver Angels Arkansas leadership, currently serving as the organization's statewide Alliance Co-chair. The conversation opens with Glen and April reflecting on moments that showed them this work actually makes a difference, along with some background on how Braver Angels Arkansas got started in 2017 and how its leadership is deliberately structured to keep Red and Blue voices equally represented. Lisa then joins to share a psychologist's perspective on polarization — what she sees underneath political disagreement that people outside that field tend to miss — her take on common stereotypes people hold about those on the "other side," what she's seen change in the people and groups she's worked with, and what she'd tell someone new to Braver Angels who wants to get better at respectful conversation across political lines. Glen and April close out with their own reactions to the conversation.

A Braver Arkansas premiered Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at 6 p.m. on Arkansas TV. A new episode is shown every two weeks, and all episodes are available on demand after they air by going to the Public Affairs section of the Arkansas TV YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@arkansastv. Just look for the show A Braver Arkansas.

In part 2 of our conversation with John Patton, president of the Jimmy Buffett fan club Strange Birds of Little Rock, & Paul Tull, musician and Strange Birds member, John and Paul detail the community service work behind the Strange Birds' motto, including their long-running water station at the Little Rock Marathon, food drives with the Arkansas Foodbank, and recycling volunteer work with Keep Little Rock Beautiful at the Little Rock Zoo. They also describe the group’s support for veterans through the Arkansas Veterans Home and the new Fisher House in Little Rock — where Tull recounts helping fund a red guitar donated through singer-songwriter Thom Shepherd's Red Guitar Campaign. They also discuss the club's longtime support of Alzheimer's Arkansas, a cause tied to Buffett's own father, and how the group rotates its fundraising among several causes each year. Turning to Braver Angels' focus on bridging divides, Patton and Tull describe a club where members "check politics at the door," united instead by shared music, service, and what Tull calls the "sweat equity" of working side by side at events. They close with an invitation: the Strange Birds meet the third Thursday of each month at a local restaurant or bar, with more information available on Facebook and at lrphc.org.

In the third and final part of our conversation with Nate Coulter, Director of CALS, the Central AR Library System, Nate lays out libraries' five-fold values — preserving everyone's stories, education, civic space, filling social-service gaps (three social workers on staff), and defending intellectual freedom. Recent CALS events Nate describes include: Be Mighty Little Rock (50,000+ meals), 500–600 at summer reading kickoff, digital cards for 57,000+ K-12 students. He discusses a bipartisan push on exploitative social media/device use in schools, and his approach to disagreement (find common ground, stay in the conversation). Nate closes on hope for reduced political negativity, consistent-principle leadership, and partnering with groups like the Civic Action Network of Arkansas to engage young people in local government.

In this first part of our interview with John Patton, president of the Strange Birds of Little Rock, & Paul Tull, musician and Strange Birds member, Glen White and co-host John O’Brien talk with John and Paul about the local chapter of Parrot Heads in Paradise, the national fan organization built around Jimmy Buffett's music and community service. Parrot Heads in Paradise has contributed $61 million and 5 million volunteer hours over the last 18 years to charity. The Arkansas chapter was formed in 2004 and has donated $20,000 and 3,000 volunteer hours to local not for profits since 2020. John and Paul trace how the "Parrot Head" name emerged from a 1985 Buffett concert near Cincinnati, when Eagles bassist Timothy Schmit likened the Hawaiian-shirted crowd to Grateful Dead fans, and how the movement grew out of an early Atlanta fan club. Both hosts and guests share personal Buffett stories — including Tull's account of ending up on stage with Buffett and Stephen Stills at a political event in Orlando — and discuss how the club got its name from "Strange Bird," the moniker Buffett used for his jet company, which was serviced in North Little Rock. Patton and Tull describe how the group has kept its momentum since Buffett's 2023 death, and they explain the meaning behind the club's motto, "Party With A Purpose" — a condition Buffett himself set for any group using his name, requiring real community service in return.

In part two of our conversation with Nate Coulter, Nate describes reopening CALS safely during the pandemic and parlaying that credibility into a tax-adjustment win that funded raises and renovations without a tax increase. He walks through Act 372 — the 2023 law that would have criminalized librarians for "harmful to minors" materials — his conversations with sponsors Dan Sullivan and Rob Steinbuck, and his concern that a "government speech" legal doctrine could let officials purge collections based on political makeup. He distinguishes good-faith concerns about kids' access from bad-faith actors exploiting homophobia & transphobia, and notes the fight has quieted locally but remains live at the state level.