Breaking the Impasse of Entrenched Partisan Politics

02/05/19 • 52 min

Mind of State

Previous Episode

The Symbolic Power of Trump's Wall

When is a wall not just a wall? When it’s Donald Trump’s Wall. Dr. Thomas Singer, a Jungian psychoanalyst, argues that the Wall needs to be recognized for the symbol it has become in the minds of Trump’s most ardent supporters and harshest critics. Reason, facts, and well-argued positions don’t matter when they come up against the powerful, visceral emotions of a symbol. Tom reminds us that symbols motivate, provoke, and drive us. That’s what Trump has effectively done with his wall. Tom believes that the power of symbols is what lurked behind the longest government shutdown in US history and thus deserves our attention.

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Next Episode

Why Everyone Hates the Jews

Recently, the US has seen a disturbing uptick in hate crimes, especially those directed against Jewish people and institutions. From neo-Nazis in Charlottesville to the tragic mass murder at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, anti-Semitism seems to have found a deadly new voice in America. What drives anti-Semitism today, and how is it different from other kinds of prejudice and hate? Drs. Susan Fiske (Princeton) and Peter Glick (Lawrence U.) join us to talk about how their Stereotype Content Model helps explain the rise of modern anti-Semitism in America and what events like the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide share in common.

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