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Bridge Grades & the Fight Against Toxic Polarization

This week, Wilk is joined by Brad Porteus, founder of BridgeGrades.org, to discuss the pervasive issue of toxic political polarization and identity politics in America.

Brad shares his experience of returning to the U.S. after 14 years abroad, seeing a "stark" difference and feeling "mad" about the decay of the civic fabric. The conversation delves into the dangers of the outrage economy that profits from division, and how our perception of reality is being warped by algorithms.

Brad introduces BridgeGrades.org, a new data-driven system that evaluates every member of Congress on one key dimension:
Are they Bridgers—or Dividers?

This conversation digs into pluralism, loss of agency, legislative dysfunction, and how we can build a healthier civic culture by supporting leaders who collaborate instead of perform.

Topics Include:

• What returning to America after 14 years overseas revealed
• The boiling-frog effect of polarization
• Identity politics and the loss of shared humanity
• How algorithms distort our perceptions
• Legislative health and the importance of cross-party collaboration
• How Bridge Grades identifies genuine “Bridgers”
• Why pluralism—not uniformity—is the American superpower

Learn more in the full show notes for this episode at DerateTheHate.com.

The world is a better place if we are better people. That begins with each of us as individuals. Be kind to one another. Be grateful for all you’ve got. Make every day the day that you want it to be!

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*The views expressed by Wilk, his guest hosts &/or guests on the Derate The Hate podcast are their own and should not be attributed to any organization they may otherwise be affiliated with.