Episode

6/9 What Will Happen When American Populism, Nationalism, and Growing Socialism Collide? w/ John B. Judis

June 9, 2021

Sam and Emma host John B. Judis, Editor-at-Large at Talking Points Memo, to discuss his new book ‘The Politics of Our Time: Populism, Nationalism, Socialism,’ on the political movements in America so far in the 21st century and what conflicts and influences they might have on one another in the coming decades. They walk through the thin ideology of populism as creating a dichotomy between “the people” and “the elite,” how these definitions can (and do) diverge between the Left and Right with someone like Trump combining pro-domestic industry rhetoric with anti-union and anti-immigrant policy, and get into a debate around the questionable importance and morality of the Left recognizing nationalism, and whether that line gets drawn at the border, at citizenship status, or elsewhere. Next, they look into the rebirth of U.S. socialism under the Scandinavian model before Judis explores how socialism and populism have grown together in U.S. history, and gives us his takes on why the kids aren’t alright with capitalism. Sam and Emma round out the first half with discussions on how the internalized trauma from the U.S. healthcare system has contributed to vaccination hesitancy, and unpack Judis’ conflation of Left populism and pure Right-wing nationalism and whether his takes on the failures of Left-wing anti-nationalism were exaggerated or not.

And in the Fun Half: After reflecting further on the interview, Sam and Emma chat with born-again leftist Jason on his libertarian indoctrination, escaping the hate-spiral chokehold of the online alt-right, and how, particularly when it comes to issues such as the Great Gay Cake Debate, libertarian logic begins to crumble with any scrutiny. Then, Louie Gohmert chimes in with his thoughts on the effects of stars and space rocks on our Earthly environment as Emma ironically nails the status of Mercury retrograde, Jean from Springfield discusses the danger of falling into the nationalist trap of disguising culture war as class analysis, and Tom McDonald, fresh off his first trip to Sandals Jamaica (judging by the haircut at least), struggles with both rhyme and reason as he forces more culture war references into three and a half minutes than any angry Canadian could ever imagine. AOC finds the cracks in Manchin’s shield of bipartisanship and the staff gives out their book recommendations, plus, your calls and IMs!

Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com

Join the Majority Report Discord!
http://majoritydiscord.com/

Get all your MR merch at our store https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/

(Merch issues and concerns can be addressed here: majorityreportstore@mirrorimage.com)

The AM Quickie is now on YouTube

Subscribe to the AM Quickie at https://fans.fm/amquickie

Make the AMQ part of your Alexa Flash Briefing too!

You can now watch the livestream on Twitch

Check out today’s sponsors:

StoryWorth is an online service that helps every mother figure in your life share stories through thought-provoking questions about their memories and personal thoughts. After one year, StoryWorth will compile all your mom’s stories, including photos, into a beautiful keepsake book that’s shipped for free. Get started right away with no shipping required by going to StoryWorth.com/majority. You’ll get $10 off your first purchase!

Hunt a Killer reinvents the way we interact with murder mysteries. Right now, just for our listeners, you can go to huntakiller.com/majority and use promo code MAJORITY at check out for 20% off your first box.

Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/

Subscribe to AM Quickie writer Corey Pein’s podcast News from Nowhere, at https://www.patreon.com/newsfromnowhere

Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel!

Check out The Nomiki Show live at 3 pm ET on YouTube at patreon.com/thenomikishow

Check out Matt’s podcast, Literary Hangover, at Patreon.com/LiteraryHangover, or on iTunes.

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at twitch.tv/theantifada (streaming every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7pm ET!)

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

@SamSeder

@EmmaVigeland

@MattLech

@BF1nn

Past Episodes

It's Casual Friday! Emma speaks with Dave Weigel, politics writer at Semafor, author of the "Americana" newsletter, to discuss the biggest headlines of the week. Then, she speaks with comedian Francesca Fiorentini, host of the Bitchuation Room! First, Emma runs through updates on Israel’s ...
It's ESVN OT and Emma and Bradley are giving their picks for week 6 of NFL action! Follow Emma and Bradley on Twitter: @EmmaVigeland @BradKAlsop Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ EMMA AND BRADLEY'S PICKS OF THE WEEK: Emma (6-8-1): 49ers -3.5 vs. ...
Sam is live again from the Mass Torts Conference in Las Vegas! First, he runs through updates on Hurricane Milton’s devastating impact in Florida and the crisis capitalism that has followed, presidential polling, Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza, the US economy, Russian advances in ...