What Braver Angels Learns From Gen Z: Natalie Laroche and Genevieve Raushenbush
Fri Jan 30 2026
If we’re going to get out of the political mess that we’re in right now, we will need a lot of help from Gen Z. Young people inherited our broken civic space, and they’re ones who will be the courageous citizens who reimagine it.
In this episode we learn from two former Braver Angels debate interns, Natalie LaRoche and Genevieve Raushenbush, about the skills, energy, and passion students and young people bring to the movement to depolarize politics. We also hear from them about they have learned at Braver Angels.
Natalie LaRoche is the program manager for the Debate Team. Natalie was an intern in late 2021 and joined the Braver Angels staff a year later. She holds a BA in Government at Smith College.
Genevieve Raushenbush was a recent intern at Braver Angels. Now she works at Sway, a start up focused on mobilizing citizen-led voting groups. Genevieve holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and in 2025 was a legislate intern on the Hill. Both women are in their mid-twenties.
“Young people are disengaging from political chaos,” says Natalie. But they’re also “really passionate about engaging in bridging movement exercises, whether with Braver Angels or partnership organizations like Bridge USA on campuses or Heterodox Academy. There are so many organizations in this space that really do engage young people.”
Both Natalie and Genevieve share creative ideas about how young people can help Braver Angels up its game with new forms of digital outreach. We share two examples of short videos they created. Genevieve told us what she’s learning about reaching out and organizing voters in her work with Sway,
“How Do We Fix It?” reports on the people, projects, and ideas of Braver Angels, the national movement working across tribal and partisan divides to heel our country and make a better world. Find more of our episodes about Braver Angels at our website. Subscribe to our latest episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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If we’re going to get out of the political mess that we’re in right now, we will need a lot of help from Gen Z. Young people inherited our broken civic space, and they’re ones who will be the courageous citizens who reimagine it. In this episode we learn from two former Braver Angels debate interns, Natalie LaRoche and Genevieve Raushenbush, about the skills, energy, and passion students and young people bring to the movement to depolarize politics. We also hear from them about they have learned at Braver Angels. Natalie LaRoche is the program manager for the Debate Team. Natalie was an intern in late 2021 and joined the Braver Angels staff a year later. She holds a BA in Government at Smith College. Genevieve Raushenbush was a recent intern at Braver Angels. Now she works at Sway, a start up focused on mobilizing citizen-led voting groups. Genevieve holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and in 2025 was a legislate intern on the Hill. Both women are in their mid-twenties. “Young people are disengaging from political chaos,” says Natalie. But they’re also “really passionate about engaging in bridging movement exercises, whether with Braver Angels or partnership organizations like Bridge USA on campuses or Heterodox Academy. There are so many organizations in this space that really do engage young people.” Both Natalie and Genevieve share creative ideas about how young people can help Braver Angels up its game with new forms of digital outreach. We share two examples of short videos they created. Genevieve told us what she’s learning about reaching out and organizing voters in her work with Sway, “How Do We Fix It?” reports on the people, projects, and ideas of Braver Angels, the national movement working across tribal and partisan divides to heel our country and make a better world. Find more of our episodes about Braver Angels at our website. Subscribe to our latest episodes wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.