# Braver Angels Convention: A Pledge Renewed. Mark Metzger Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/how-do-we-fix-it-667/braver-angels-convention-a-pledge-renewed-mark-metzger Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/how-do-we-fix-it-667/braver-angels-convention-a-pledge-renewed-mark-metzger.md Podcast: [How Do We Fix It?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/how-do-we-fix-it-667) Published: 2026-05-22T10:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/howdowefixit/episodes/braver-angels-convention-a-pledge-renewed-mark-metzger Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/howdowefixit/e/6a0f6c1380978431dabb85fd/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/how-do-we-fix-it-667/episodes/braver-angels-convention-a-pledge-renewed-mark-metzger Duration seconds: 1183 ## Resource One week before America celebrates its 250th birthday,  Braver Angels  will hold its  annual convention  in Philadelphia, the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. More than one thousand citizen delegates— Blues, Reds, and Independents— will be in the same place together over four days, June 25-28. They will honor the final words of the Declaration's authors: “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” In Philadelphia “we will figure out how to renew that pledge to strengthen our civic bonds together,” says podcast guest, Convention Director Mark Metzger. “The theme is 1776-2026, a pledge renewed. We’re looking at what that pledge meant… at the start of the new nation, and what it means to us today.” America’s 250th anniversary focuses national attention on who we are as a nation, and who we hope to become. The Braver Angels Convention will play an active and engaging role in this national endeavor. The Declaration was not only a statement of independence from Great Britain, it was also a declaration of dependence on one another.  Debates will be held, speeches made, workshops organized, music played, and films shown at this convention. This episode also discusses the meaning and goals of courageous citizenship. “True interdependence insists that rural conservatives and urban progressives, religious and secular citizens, activists and traditionalists do not have to agree in order to remain bound together,” says Jeff Thiemann of the Braver Angels Leadership Team. “It affirms that every group brings dignity and distinct experiences, and that our shared future depends on facing common challenges together.” Mark Metzger joined Braver Angels in 2022. In 2023, he oversaw operations an… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/how-do-we-fix-it-667/episodes/braver-angels-convention-a-pledge-renewed-mark-metzger/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/how-do-we-fix-it-667/braver-angels-convention-a-pledge-renewed-mark-metzger.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.