Ep 99: Manu Meel | Battling political apathy through building conversational bridges

Rethinking Communication

The polarized nature of American politics, the zero-sum nature of seemingly every issue, the ways our leaders act and create policy not because they stand for something, but because they want to oppose the other side … it’s all just … exhausting.

Many Americans are in what's called "the exhausted majority," and this exhaustion can quickly turn to political apathy if the power of a collective voice is not realized.

My guest this week is Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA, a youth-led nonprofit that creates spaces on high school and college campuses for open discussion between students about political issues. Manu and some friends started what would eventually become BridgeUSA when he was a student at UC Berkeley, and the movement has grown to span the country on more than 50 college campuses.

As you’ll hear, Manu’s journey as the son of Indian immigrants could have easily taken a turn towards political apathy, but he made the conscious decision to go in a different direction. That’s because Manu believes that humans like talking to each other in constructive spaces, and if that’s true, then he wants the exhausted majority to know that we are "never out of the fight."

Learn more about BridgeUSA's work at https://www.bridgeusa.org/, and connect with Manu on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ManuMeel_.