Cruelty: the point
07/09/21 • 61 min
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Matt is joined by Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer, author of the new book The Cruelty Is the Point. They discuss the racial politics of the Trump-era, how these tactics persist in the GOP today, and how the dynamics of the present moment have led us to relitigate Reconstruction-era problems that go against the fundamental understanding of American equity. They also have a few things to say in there about Die Hard and Indiana Jones.
Resources:
"The Cruelty Is the Point" by Adam Serwer (The Atlantic; Oct. 3, 2018)
The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America by Adam Serwer (Penguin Random House, June 2021)
"The Flight 93 Election" by Michael Anton (Claremont Review of Books; Sept. 5, 2016)
"The Great Awokening" by Matthew Yglesias (Vox; Apr. 1, 2019)
"The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic; June 2014)
Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior by Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird (Princeton' Oct. 2021)
Schoolbook Nation: Conflicts over American History Textbooks from the Civil War to the Present by Joseph Moreau (U. Michigan; 2004)
Guest:
Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer), staff writer, The Atlantic; author, The Cruelty Is the Point
Host:
Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com
Credits:
Erikk Geannikis, Producer
Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer
As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.
The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
About Vox
Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.
Follow Us: Vox.com
Facebook group: The Weeds
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Matt is joined by Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer, author of the new book The Cruelty Is the Point. They discuss the racial politics of the Trump-era, how these tactics persist in the GOP today, and how the dynamics of the present moment have led us to relitigate Reconstruction-era problems that go against the fundamental understanding of American equity. They also have a few things to say in there about Die Hard and Indiana Jones.
Resources:
"The Cruelty Is the Point" by Adam Serwer (The Atlantic; Oct. 3, 2018)
The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America by Adam Serwer (Penguin Random House, June 2021)
"The Flight 93 Election" by Michael Anton (Claremont Review of Books; Sept. 5, 2016)
"The Great Awokening" by Matthew Yglesias (Vox; Apr. 1, 2019)
"The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic; June 2014)
Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior by Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird (Princeton' Oct. 2021)
Schoolbook Nation: Conflicts over American History Textbooks from the Civil War to the Present by Joseph Moreau (U. Michigan; 2004)
Guest:
Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer), staff writer, The Atlantic; author, The Cruelty Is the Point
Host:
Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com
Credits:
Erikk Geannikis, Producer
Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer
As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.
The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
About Vox
Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.
Follow Us: Vox.com
Facebook group: The Weeds
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Previous Episode
Time Machine: No Child Left Behind
Vox's Libby Nelson joins Matt and Dara on the first episode of the Weeds Time Machine: a visit to the past to review some now-forgotten chapter in policy history. This week, it's No Child Left Behind. Our hosts discuss the bipartisan consensus that existed at the outset of this policy, how everyone eventually turned on it, and the legacy it still leaves behind in our school systems today.
Resources:
"The GOP's Plan to Take Education Policy Back to the Early 1990s" by Kevin Carey (Oct. 5, 2011; The New Republic)
"The scariest lesson of No Child Left Behind" by Libby Nelson (July 27, 2015; Vox)
Hosts:
Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com
Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica
Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson), Deputy Policy Editor, Vox
Credits:
Erikk Geannikis, Producer
Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer
As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.
The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
About Vox
Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.
Follow Us: Vox.com
Facebook group: The Weeds
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Next Episode
Time Machine: Volcker Shock
Vox's Dylan Matthews joins Matt and Dara for another step into Weeds Time Machine: a visit to the past to review some now-forgotten chapter in policy history. This week, it's a return to the late 1970s and a reexamination of "Volcker shock": an attempt by Fed Chairman Paul Volcker to cope with rising inflation, and the myriad consequences of his efforts. Our hosts discuss the oil crisis, stagflation, the curious relationship between central banking and fiscal policy, and give some much-needed reanalysis to this crucial and topsy-turvy time in American history.
We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes about five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: vox.com/survey
Resources:
Charts: Unemployment in the 1970s & Inflation in the 1970s
"America's Peacetime Inflation: The 1970s" by J. Bradford De Long in Reducing Inflation: Motivation and Strategy, eds. Christina D. Romer and David H. Romer (U. Chicago; 1997)
"Commentary" [on 1970s inflation] by Christina D. Romer (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review; 2005)
Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government by Paul Volcker (Public Affairs; 2018)
"Other People's Blood" by Tim Barker (n+1; 2019)
"Paul Volcker Was a Hero of the Ruling Class" by Doug Henwood (Jacobin; 2019)
The Economists' Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society by Binyamin Appelbaum (Little, Brown; 2019)
"What really drives inflation" [on "Regulation Q"] by Itamar Drechsler, Alexi Savov, Philipp Schnabl (Sept. 11, 2019)
"Paul Volcker's Complicated Latin American Legacy" by Tyler Cowen (Bloomberg; Dec. 10, 2019)
"The Rise of Finance" by Jonathan Levy (Public Books; Nov. 22, 2011)
Hosts:
Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com
Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica
Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), Senior Correspondent, Vox
Credits:
Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer
Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer
As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter.
The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production.
Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
About Vox
Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.
Follow Us: Vox.com
Facebook group: The Weeds
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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