Sam Rosenfeld (@sam_rosenfeld) joins us to talk about his new book, ‘The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era.’ The New Deal and when American politics lacked polarization. What are the problems of too much bipartisanship? The problem posed by the conservative/white supremacist southern Democrats. How patronage and historical legacies were more important than ideological and material concerns. The decline of party machines and emergence of an important national government. The asymmetry of polarization with Goldwater-type Republicans in the 1960s. The response of conservative/market-based Democrats to the GOP’s partisan success. The dangers and opportunities that emerge when polarization intensifies.

And for members, Saddam Hussain/Fred Armisen calls into the Majority Report on October 12, 2004