Will Saletan of THE BULWARK on The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism
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08/01/23 • 81 min
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Will Saletan returns to discuss his book, The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism. It's a fascinating, well-sourced study on the public record of Lindsey Graham since 2015 that helps us better understand what's happened to the Republican Party since the rise of Trump. When and why did many Republicans start capitulating to Donald Trump? We discussed how it's not just the rhetoric that changes; but the people themselves that change. As Will profoundly points out, "The more evil you are convinced the other party is, the more evil you will support on the theory that your guy is less evil than theirs." We also covered how Will does "after-action reports" as a journalist to see what he got wrong in his earlier writing in order to calibrate his current work; making better arguments overall, i.e. "What we're not gonna do is punch the referees;" and we went head first into political prognostications about 2024.
Will Saletan wrote for Slate for 25 years, having written over 2700 pieces for the daily online magazine. He’s also the author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War. Will joined The Bulwark in early 2022. The Bulwark is an important media outlet which provides political analysis and reporting free from the constraints of partisan loyalties or tribal prejudices. And Will Saletan is now the author of the aforementioned The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism.
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
www.thebulwark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/The-Corruption-of-Lindsey-Graham.pdf
Will Saletan returns to discuss his book, The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism. It's a fascinating, well-sourced study on the public record of Lindsey Graham since 2015 that helps us better understand what's happened to the Republican Party since the rise of Trump. When and why did many Republicans start capitulating to Donald Trump? We discussed how it's not just the rhetoric that changes; but the people themselves that change. As Will profoundly points out, "The more evil you are convinced the other party is, the more evil you will support on the theory that your guy is less evil than theirs." We also covered how Will does "after-action reports" as a journalist to see what he got wrong in his earlier writing in order to calibrate his current work; making better arguments overall, i.e. "What we're not gonna do is punch the referees;" and we went head first into political prognostications about 2024.
Will Saletan wrote for Slate for 25 years, having written over 2700 pieces for the daily online magazine. He’s also the author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War. Will joined The Bulwark in early 2022. The Bulwark is an important media outlet which provides political analysis and reporting free from the constraints of partisan loyalties or tribal prejudices. And Will Saletan is now the author of the aforementioned The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism.
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
www.thebulwark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/The-Corruption-of-Lindsey-Graham.pdf
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Dr. Russell Moore, Editor in Chief of Christianity Today - Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America
It was a pleasure to be joined by the Editor in Chief of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Dr. Russell Moore, to discuss his new book LOSING OUR RELIGION. So, of course, we started with the very controversial topic of whether dogs go to heaven! But it was actually a nice way to break the ice before getting into the serious subject of depression. We talked about so much including: How professing Christians dismiss the words of Jesus as being "not for our time"; becoming disillusioned, as in losing some illusions that we previously held; the problem of "protecting the ministry," truth be damned; old coalitions blowing up and surprising new coalitions forming; and much, much more.
Dr. Russell Moore is Editor in Chief of Christianity Today and is the author of Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America. Dr. Moore served previously as President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and, before that, as the chief academic officer and dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also taught theology and ethics. Moore was a Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and currently serves on the board of Becket Law which exists to defend the free exercise of all faiths, from Anglican to Zoroastrian. He also hosts the weekly podcast The Russell Moore Show and is co-host of Christianity Today’s weekly news and analysis podcast, The Bulletin. And certainly not least among his roles is husband to Maria, dad of five sons and Bible teacher at their congregation, Immanuel Church.
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709965/losing-our-religion-by-russell-moore/
Next Episode
Will Hurd, A Pragmatic Republican Makes His Case. This is a BONUS EPISODE of Let’s Find Common Ground.
This is a special presentation of Let’s Find Common Ground from our friends at Common Ground Committee. CGC’s mission is to bring healing to the national challenges of polarization and incivility, inspiring and motivating the public to find common ground. They do this by demonstrating how influential people of opposing views can find agreement without compromising core values. Here are the show notes from this episode of Let’s Find Common Ground:
"Moderate Republican Will Hurd insists that across the country 'there is more that unites us than divides us.' The former GOP Congressman threw his hat into the ring in June with a video announcement that he's running for President of the United States. Our latest episode of 'Let's Find Common Ground' re-visits our interview with Will Hurd, recorded one year ago.
"Hurd stresses the need for both pragmatism and nuance when tackling guns, immigration, and other hot-button issues. But don't call him a squishy moderate. 'In the media in Washington DC...moderate means middle of the road,' he says. 'But in reality, moderates are the ones that do the hard work and get things done because they’re the ones that are having to take a philosophy to people that may not identify with it.'
"Will Hurd served as a CIA agent overseas and conducted briefings for members of Congress. This experience inspired him to run for Texas 23rd Congressional district, which he won in 2014. Congress. He was elected three times in a swing district where Democrats often win. Hurd says in our podcast interview that he succeeded by engaging with voters from both sides, not just voters who shared all his beliefs."
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
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