"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." —Alexis de Tocqueville

When Alexis de Tocqueville traveled to a freshly-minted America, he found a people gathering and talking and deciding on things—they were building, and they were repairing. That's a 250-year-old spirit we're going to need to rediscover, so we're bringing together two young leaders of this very old idea—John Wood and Manu Meel. Of the people, by the people and for the people is how these two have been getting it done.

John Wood is the National Ambassador and Director of Public Engagement at Braver Angels, an effort we at The Village Square have been fans and supporters of since it was still a glimmer in its founder's eye. John is also a columnist at USA Today. Manu Meel is the founding CEO of BridgeUSA, an organization on campuses across America. He's also been named one of Forbes 30 under 30 in education. And (here's the bonus): they are dear friends.

Learn more about our guests and find the program online here.

This program is part of the series in partnership with Florida Humanities — "UNUM: Democracy Reignited," a multi-year digital offering exploring the past, present and future of the American idea — as it exists on paper, in the hearts of our people, and as it manifests (or sometimes fails to manifest) in our lives.

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The Village Square is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

UNUM: Democracy Reignited is made possible in partnership with Florida Humanities (Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities.)