MóNICA GUZMáN

The other night here in Cape Town, South Africa, I turned to one of the most extraordinary teachers I’ve ever met and asked her a question that had been tickling me for days.

In two days I’ll be traveling somewhere I’ve never been and can’t wait to learn from — South Africa.

One day when I was six, my teacher told me to go to a “drawer,” and I had no idea what she meant. I had just moved to a new school — a new country — and was still learning the language. When I repeated the mystery word back — “drawer?” — one of the boys laughed.

Not long ago I saw a poster that stopped me. "The only thing we have to fear,” it read, “is how easily I can make you afraid."

A couple weeks ago, I had one of those simple, profound moments with a friend that left a mark.

Curiosity is a muscle. And today — only if you’re up for it — I have a challenge to help you build it.

“Disagreeing in public should not be a death sentence.” I heard a fellow bridge builder say those words a few days ago and they haven’t left me since.

Because of this weird work I do, I sometimes find myself dipping deep into a conservative-dominated conversation, then deep into a liberal-dominated conversation — or vice-versa — always coming out a little stunned.

I’ve had some amazing conversations this month with the likes of brilliant Ivy League students and passionate pluralism pros. But none were as memorable as the one I had with July...

It’s been an intense couple weeks since the new administration rolled in, and in addition to this wild idea ⬆️ I know inspired at least one person to actually call their representative (YES!), I’ve got three quick things to spark your curiosity...

For someone who goes on and on about staying curious, I haven’t made a lot of time to read books. Until now. I just finished one by one hell of a bold thinker — the sociologist Musa Al-Gharbi. We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite looks like a takedown of “wokeness,” but is actually a very uncomfortable mirror held up to the kinds of people, left and right, who have arguments about things like “wokeness” in the first place — college-educated

Hey there friend, The Obama Foundation picked “pluralism” as the theme for its 2024 Democracy Forum, and I was humbled — and challenged! — to be invited to speak. Watch my talk (just 6 minutes) See a photo from a moment I’m not about to forget So many of my heroes in political bridging were there, too: Manu Meel of BridgeUSA, Eboo Patel of Interfaith America, Layla Zaidane of the Future Caucus, and more. If you don’t already follow their work, go check them out! See ab

These days, most of my thoughts around curiosity, ending divisiveness, and creating community have been going straight into my podcast, A Braver Way, and I'd love to start sharing them with you! So without further ado... let's dive into our latest podcast: Whether it was about foreign policy, the economy, or the best route to the grocery store, chances are you have changed your mind about something. What happens in your brain when you do, and what does that teach us about

Hello! Congratulations! And thank you so much for this amazing honor, what in the world, this is still not quite real – I have my husband and two kids here just to make sure I don’t think I’m dreaming later – thank you. What a thing. And from a community I know is asking what it means to be open, to be curious, at a time where that can feel risky, scary, and wrong. Let me tell you a story I heard some years ago that, when I do the work that I do, is never far from my mind. So

Hey friend, It occurred to me the other day that I’m learning constantly from some very thoughtful, curious, and hard-working friends whose views span the political spectrum, and (where are my manners?!) I have completely neglected to introduce them to you. So here are a few fine folks to get to know. I’ll let you all take it from here. 💛 April Lawson April is the architect of Braver Angels Debates, which has the most successful structure I have ever seen — or more like

It’s here! 😱 My brand new podcast, A Braver Way, is out in the world with three new episodes — yes, THREE — razor-focused on the podcast’s whole mission: equipping you with the tools you need to bridge the political divide in your everyday lives and confront the barriers in your way. Got a coffee break? Lunch break? Commute? Pick one of the below episodes, take a listen, and please please please let me know what you think! ♥️ What could possibly be so funny about the big pol

It’s finally official! A Braver Way, a brand new podcast I’m hosting about how to stay curious across divides, launches October 2023 and the trailer is here! Can you share it with your networks today? It would mean the world. ❤️ I love building mission driven media, and A Braver Way is no exception. It’s razor focused on equipping people with the tools they need to bridge the divide in their everyday lives and confront the barriers in their way. And I’m so grateful to my pro

Partway through my curiosity workshop this summer, after an exercise where participants came up with quick questions about each other’s favorite childhood memories, a woman raised her hand. She wanted to share one way she hadn’t listened to what her workshop partner was saying. “She told me about a day camp she’d gone to one summer. That made me think of the summer camp I went to, which was an overnight camp,” the woman said. “I asked her what the cabins were like, totally o

Why do we read? We read to escape. We read to learn. And we read for this bright, shining moment of illumination where we understand something, or know something, we didn’t know before. Most of us read because we’re curious — about someone’s life, a certain topic, a fictional world, or a particular place. Looking for a good book to dig into? Below you’ll find a list of books, in no particular order, that have inspired, or even illuminated, something in me. See No Stranger by

Breathless in Aspen We started our adventure at the Aspen Ideas Festival, where I gave the most winded talk of my entire life. Our flight to Aspen had been diverted to Grand Junction and my two-hour-plus cab pulled up to the tent *two minutes* before the (truly amazing) organizers told me I’d need to be knocked from the lineup. I jumped onstage in clothes I’d worn on the plane, did my lightning talk on getting curious when it’s really hard feeling really lucky, then stuck aro