Watercolor titled Building Bridges: people of different ages meet in the middle of a wooden footbridge over an Ozark creek and shake hands, while a heron, a deer, rabbits and two dogs enjoy the banks
Patricia Mikkelson

Building Bridges: What the Alliance Can Learn from Braver Angels

Watercolor titled Building Bridges: people of different ages meet in the middle of a wooden footbridge over an Ozark creek and shake hands, while a heron, a deer, rabbits and two dogs enjoy the banks
People walk onto the bridge from opposite banks and meet in the middle. Nobody had to give up their side of the creek to get there. They just had to be willing to walk toward each other.

People who love animals and the earth come from every side of our political divides and from many different spiritual paths. If we want to work together, we need to learn how to talk with each other across those differences, with compassion and real curiosity.

In this new article, I share what I learned about Braver Angels, Essential Partners and Living Room Conversations, a hopeful story of an animal advocate and a chicken farmer who became friends, and how we can build bridges with people who eat meat: strongly encouraging vegan meals and refreshments, without making demands.

Read the full article on the Animal Earth Alliance blog

I wrote this together with Claude, an AI from Anthropic. I brought my ideas, experiences and research, including Braver Angels, and asked a lot of good questions. Claude helped write it and expand the research.

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