Podcasts about osita nwanevu

For this episode, I spoke with Prof. Manisha Sinha of the University of Connecticut, historian and author of the recent book The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920. We spoke about what a "new founding" of American democracy has looked like in the past, and what we might learn from that. Because we spoke for a good long while, I'm splitting it into two parts. Today is part 1.  In the coming weeks, I will share two interviews with author Osita Nwanevu, in which we separately discuss the two halves of the argument of his new book, "The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding." Before we discuss his argument that we need a new American founding, I prepared for that by speaking about the first time we had a "new founding," during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. Music is by Evan Schaeffer. 

This week, we have a special live episode for you. Wisdom of Crowds, in cooperation with Aspen's Philosophy and Society program, threw a holiday party in DC, celebrating the release of our friend Osita Nwanevu's new book, The Right of the People. Samuel Kimbriel sat down with Osita and the great Sam Goldman of the Hamilton School at the University of Florida, to kick off our celebration of America's 250th with a debate of whether the constitution was a bad idea.Osita argues that it is time for a new American founding. The clash between our democratic principles and our long term inequalities requires a gradual but fundamental reworking of the American constitutional order. Goldman dissents, arguing both that, for all its flaws, the American system is superior to any comparable existing democracy of comparable scale—and that any plausible step to dismantle it is likely to lead to ruin. Kimbriel tries to keep the peace.Abandon arguing with your family over the holidays and argue with us instead!Required Reading:* The Right of the People, by Osita Nwanevu (Penguin Random House). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

Extreme inequality and democratic decline aren't separate crises—they're the same crisis. This week, Osita Nwanevu joins Paul and Goldy to explain how America's constitutional design, corporate power, and decades of upward redistribution have eroded both political and economic freedom. He outlines what real democratic governance would mean inside government and at work, why the concentration of wealth threatens stability, and how a long-term movement for a more representative system could finally deliver the policies most Americans want. Osita Nwanevu is a journalist and political writer whose work focuses on democracy, governance, and the intersection of politics and power in America. His reporting and essays have appeared in The New Republic, The New Yorker, Slate, and The New York Times. He is the author of The Right of the People, a sweeping examination of why American democracy is faltering and what it would take to build a more just, inclusive, and genuinely democratic society. Further reading:  The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New  American Founding By the Workers, for the Workers: Building Economic Democracy https://www.ositanwanevu.com/ Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Substack: The Pitch

Happy Thanksgiving! If you're dreading your family's impending political feuds over turkey and dinner rolls, we're here to share an episode that just might help guide you. In August, Osita Nwanevu, a progressive and the author of “The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding,” joined Ross for a respectful debate about how we should be interrogating the democratic system the country is built on — without yelling or threats.5:21 - What's wrong with our democracy? 10:43 - Our undemocratic founding 18:36 - The case for more U.S. states and a new constitution25:27 - Where economic reform fits into this problem 30:54 - Does Trump represent the will of the people?38:50- What Trump's presidency says about democracy42:06 - The elusive Bernie Sanders moment 48:05 - The mystical element of our politics(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Contributing editor at The New Republic and author of new book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding Osita Nwanevu joins Briahna to discuss the state of U.S. democracy, the failures of the Democratic Party as a resistance party, avenues for genuine resistance (e.g. packing the court, nixing the filibuster, D.C. statehood) that the Democrats have so far failed to avail themselves of, and whether Zohran Mamdani's victory changes anything about Briahna's cynicism. Is the goal winning at any cost? Are there things more important than winning elections, like the way Mamdani changed public opinion on the right of Israel to exist as an apartheid state? Is the left making a mistake in over investing in electoral victories? Or are those who criticize the left for not actually wanting power right? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

First, a settlement was reached last year between the city of San Diego and a group of RV owners who live in their vehicles, but now the RV owners say the city is violating terms of the settlement. Then, the San Diego City Council votes to raise valet parking fees. And, an interview with journalist and author, Osita Nwanevu. Then, oyster castles in South County are protecting against erosion. Finally, a San Diego dog who will star in the next “Air Bud” film!

In advance of an upcoming interview about democracy with Osita Nwanevu, I revisited a 2020 interview with Lawrence Lessig about what the rule of law is, in order to be a better defender of and advocate for it. It's aged perfectly well for the general ideas. Some statements aged, not exactly poorly, but not well. I'd say they were maybe better described as "prophetic" in discussing the path not taken. Music by Evan Schaeffer

Osita Nwanevu is a contributing editor at The New Republic, a columnist at The Guardian, and the Democratic Institutions fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. He is a former staff writer at The New Republic, The New Yorker, and Slate, and his work has also appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Nation, Harper's Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, In These Times, Flaming Hydra, and Gawker. His new book is The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding. Osita discusses his new book about democracy's many flaws and the desperate need to amend the Constitution to correct the inequities in representation including those in the Supreme Court, Senate, and the electoral college. Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com Leave us a message: 845-307-7446 Twitter: @AndyOstroy Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff Design by Cricket Lengyel

WE'RE DOING A LIVE SHOW IN CHICAGO! SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26! 5 PM! GET TICKETS NOW: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chicago-climate-bash-tickets-1758346845749?aff=oddtdtcreator Congress just rolled back major climate provisions despite a majority of Americans looking for more government action on climate at all levels of government. Why is the approach to the climate crisis in the United States so often out of step with what the public wants? Maybe the biggest issue is the underlining flaws in our democracy. As writer Osita Nwanevu argues, we've seen myriad ways in which democracy has eroded in recent decades, but many of the fundamental issues start with the nation's founding. Nwanevu joins the show to make the case for real democracy, explain what that looks like, and argue for a new American founding that strengthens our ability to govern ourselves in both the public and private spheres.  The interview with Osita Nwanevu starts at the 17:32 mark. Osita Nwanevu is a contributing editor for The New Republic and a columnist for The Guardian, writing about American politics and culture. Read his new book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to our newsletter/podcast, The Climate Weekly, to help support this show. Your contributions will make the continuation of this show possible.  Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and more! Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Related Episodes: Adam McKay On 'Don't Look Up' Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse on Dark Money And Climate Politics  

Since the start of the Trump Era over a decade ago, few words have been deployed as often as "democracy": how it's become imperiled, who threatens it, and what to do to defend it. In The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, Osita Nwanevu sets out to understand the true meaning of democracy and defend it from its critics, not just on the right but those liberals who doubt the capacity of ordinary voters to determine their country's fate in a complex world. From there, he levels a critique of the Constitution for its myriad democratic deficits, then details what refounding the United States to be genuinely democratic—politically and economically—would require of us.Listen again: "The Wolfe in the White Suit" (w/ Osita Nwanevu), July 5, 2024Sources:Osita Nwanevu, The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding (2025)— "Conservatism's Baton Twirler," New York Review of Books, Sept 25, 2025. Sheldon Wolin, Fugitive Democracy: And Other Essays (2016)Michael J. Klarman, The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution (2016)Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought (1998)Walter Lippman, Public Opinion (1922)Publius, Federalist 49 (February 1788)Matthew Sitman, "Will Be Wild," Dissent, April 18, 2023...and don't forget to subscribe on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

America has always had a sadistic streak. From the very beginning, this so-called land of liberty was built on slavery and genocide. Yes, the Founding Fathers were less “philosopher kings” and more “sweaty men in wigs who owned human beings and thought democracy was something best kept away from women, the poor, and anyone who wasn't them.” Fast-forward 250 years, and the far-right is still running the same playbook: cruelty as ideology. Immigrants? Cage them. LGBTQ+ kids? Target them. Women? Control them. The planet? Burn it. What Republicans call “policy” is really just sadism with a tax cut. Our Constitution was carefully crafted by white elites terrified of ordinary people voting. Thanks to the Electoral College and the Senate, minority rule is baked into the system. In fact, the last two Republican presidents to win the White House actually lost the popular vote. Democracy? More like demo-crazy. Joining us this week to build a real democracy from the ashes of Trump's MAGA dumpster fire is Osita Nwanevu, a contributing editor for The New Republic, a columnist for The Guardian, and the author of the new book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding.  If America truly wants to live up to its mythology, it needs to finally make good on the promise of liberty and justice—for all. EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: September 29 4pm ET – Join the Gaslit Nation Book Club for a discussion of Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People by Sarah Bradford.  Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other, available on Patreon.  Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other, available on Patreon.  Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, available on Patreon.  Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, available on Patreon.  Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, available on Patreon.  Have you taken Gaslit Nation's HyperNormalization Survey Yet? Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community  

Not just in the United States, but around the world, authoritarianism is rising and people's faith in the concept of “democracy” is collapsing. “In the absence of clarity from its defenders and amid the failures of our putatively democratic institutions,” Osita Nwanevu writes in his new book, The Right of the People, “democracy has become a specious and suspicious platitude, equally useful to marketers and would-be dictators—a hollow idea for a hollow, unserious time.” How did we get here? And what will it take to revive working people's faith in democracy, not just as a philosophical ideal, but as a real, practiced force that will improve their lives? In this podcast, recorded at Red Emma's Cooperative Bookstore and Cafe in Baltimore on August 12, 2025, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez and Chris Lehmann, DC Bureau Chief for The Nation, speak with Nwanevu about his new book and the fight to reclaim democracy in an age of rising authoritarianism. Guest: Osita Nwanevu is a contributing editor at The New Republic, a columnist at The Guardian, and the Democratic Institutions fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. He is a former staff writer at The New Republic, The New Yorker, and Slate, and his work has also appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Nation, Harper's Magazine, Columbia Journalism Review, In These Times, and Gawker. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.Additional resources: Osita Nwanevu, Random House, The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American FoundingOsita Nwanevu, The Nation, “To make democracy work, give more of it to workers”Credits: Studio Production: Maximillian AlvarezAudio Post-Production: David HebdenHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

As American democracy collapses in slow motion to a tin-pot tyrant, journalist and author Osita Nwanevu joins Anthony Davis to explain how ‘we the people' can save the country from oligarchs - and how grass roots organizing is already demonstrating success for Democratic candidates - only on The Weekend Show. Support Our Sponsors: Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar per month trial at https://shopify.com/weekend Quince: Quince: Go to https://Quince.com/weekend for free shipping on your order and 365 -day returns. Join this channel for exclusive access and bonus content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkbwLFZhawBqK2b9gW08z3g/join Five Minute News is an Evergreen Podcast, covering politics, inequality, health and climate - delivering independent, unbiased and essential news for the US and across the world. Visit us online at http://www.fiveminute.news Follow us on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/fiveminutenews.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram http://instagram.com/fiveminnews Support us on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/fiveminutenews You can subscribe to Five Minute News with your preferred podcast app, ask your smart speaker, or enable Five Minute News as your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing skill. Please subscribe HERE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkbwLFZhawBqK2b9gW08z3g?sub_confirmation=1 CONTENT DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed on this channel are those of the guests and authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Anthony Davis or Five Minute News LLC. Any content provided by our hosts, guests or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything, in line with the First Amendment right to free and protected speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have writer and friend of the pod Osita Nwanevu on to talk about his new book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding. He goes back to political brass tacks--what democracy actually is, why it's important, why we don't have it, and why we should work to achieve the goals set forth in the Declaration of Independence for the first time.

Osita Nwanevu, author of The Right of the People, examines the flaws of US democracy — and some cures. Derek Guy outlines the evolution of upper-class men's dress over the decades. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Trump Patrols the Streets of the Nation's Capital as He Wages War on the Truth | A Case For a Real Democracy in the U.S.A. backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Behind the News, 8/21/25 - guests: Osita Nwanevu on democracy, Derek Guy on upper-class menswear - Doug Henwood

Osita Nwanevu, author of The Right of the People, on the flaws of American democracy—and some cures • Derek Guy on the evolution of upper-class men's dress over the decades The post The flaws of American democracy, the evolution of upper-class men's dress appeared first on KPFA.

Join Jim and Greg for the Monday edition of the 3 Martini Lunch as they have fun with some campaign news out of Pennsylvania and then serve up three major political martinis: President Trump's efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, MSNBC rebranding to MS NOW, and a left-wing columnist calling to scrap the Constitution so progressives can enact more of their agenda.Before the martinis, they react to Republican Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity announcing her run for governor in 2026. The name may be spelled differently, but Jim Geraghty is hilariously bracing to hear his name a lot over the coming year.In the first martini, Jim breaks down the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, weighing both the positive and negative results. They also examine what today's Washington meeting between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European leaders could mean for future peace negotiations.Next, they react to MSNBC rebranding to MS NOW. Jim suspects NBC News will be glad to no longer be synonymous with the rage fest on the cable channel once this process is complete. Greg and Jim are both severely underwhelmed by the new name.Finally, they shake their heads as New York Times columnist Ross Douthat interviews Osita Nwanevu, a columnist for The New Republic, who basically wants to scrap the Constitution and start over because we're not enough of a democracy. The guest is especially infuriated over the existence of the U.S. Senate and the Electoral College and wants to pack the U.S. Supreme Court and add a several new states...you know...to save democracy.Please visit our great sponsors:Keep your skin looking and acting younger for longer. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code 3ML at https://www.oneskin.co/Support your health with Dose Daily.  Save 25% on your first month when you subscribe at https://DoseDaily.co/3ML or enter code 3ML at checkout. Stop putting off those doctors' appointments and go to https://zocdoc.com/3ML to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. 

 Democrats keep losing the narrative, and it's costing them real political ground. I talk with writer Osita Nwanevu about why the party struggles to connect, what it would take to inspire voters, and how they could win people back by standing for something.Find Osita here: https://x.com/ositanwanevu  | https://bsky.app/profile/ositanwanevu.com  | ositanwanevu.com Support my work and find all my links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist

For Democrats, President Trump's victories have revealed the antidemocratic flaws at the core of our government. But could it be an opening for a constitutional revolution as the party searches for its next leader?This week, Ross explores what that revolution would entail with Osita Nwanevu, the author of the book, “The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding.”3:46 - What's wrong with our democracy? 9:07 - Our undemocratic founding 17:00 - The case for more U.S. states and a new constitution23:52 - Where economic reform fits into this problem 29:26 - Does Trump represent the will of the people?37:17 - What Trump's presidency says about democracy40:30 - The elusive Bernie Sanders moment 46:29 - The mystical element of our politicsThoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com.A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail Us: realignmentpod@gmail.comOsita Nwanevu, author of The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Osita discuss a "re-founding" of America at the level of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, why the current political system has left many Americans disillusioned with pro-democracy promises and rhetoric, the failure to leverage the 2008 Financial Crisis and 2020 COVID epidemic to force systemic change, and his case for radical reforms to the legislative branch, elections, the workplace, and Supreme Court.

The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson examines the idea of America giving Alaska to Russia and other political madness. Osita Nwanevu details his new book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should we be defending American democracy if it never really existed? That's the controversial thesis at the heart of Osita Nwanevu's new book, The Right of the People. What America needs, the Baltimore-based Nigerian-born Nwanevu argues, is a radical reinvention of its political system. Nwanevu dismantles liberal pieties about traditional American institutions, arguing that the founders deliberately created an anti-democratic republic designed to prevent majority rule. While conservatives celebrate this fact, progressives remain trapped defending a dysfunctional system that structurally disadvantages them. From the anti-majoritarian Electoral College to the archaic Senate's rural bias, America's "democratic" institutions consistently thwart popular will. To realize real 21st century democracy, he argues, requires extending direct democratic power into both the workplace and the economy. When Amazon workers can vote on American foreign policy but have zero say in their company's decisions, something is fundamentally broken. His radical solution? A new American founding that finally delivers on democracy's promise and guarantees real rights to the real American people. 1. America Was Designed to Be Anti-Democratic The founders intentionally created a constitutional republic to prevent majority rule, not enable it. Unlike progressives who argue the founders secretly wanted democracy, Nwanevu agrees with conservatives that the system was designed to thwart popular will—he just thinks that's a problem to fix, not celebrate.2. Democrats Are Defending a System That Hates Them While Republicans benefit from anti-majoritarian institutions like the Electoral College and Senate, Democrats inexplicably defend these same structures that make it nearly impossible for them to govern effectively. It's political masochism disguised as constitutional reverence.3. Democracy Must Extend Beyond Politics Into Economics True democracy means workers having a say in workplace decisions, not just voting for politicians. When Amazon employees can vote on foreign policy but have zero input on company decisions that directly affect their lives, the system is fundamentally broken.4. The Left Needs Bolder Vision, Not Institutional Defense Trump wins because he promises to disrupt a system people distrust, while Democrats offer tepid defenses of broken institutions. The left must offer transformative change, not restoration of "norms" that never served ordinary people.5. Extreme Wealth Inequality Kills Democracy When the world's richest man can donate $260 million and essentially buy a government position to fire thousands of federal workers, democracy becomes impossible. No political system can survive trillionaires—it's nothing more than an oligarchy with a voting theater.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

It's Casual Freebie Friday on the Majority Report, in fact so casual that Matt and Emma aren't even here today. On today's show: In reaction growing economic anxiety and the looming stagnation Trump taps on his friend from the Heritage Foundation, Scott Moore to print off some big, beautiful charts showing numbers "no one has ever seen". Turns out there is nothing to worry about. The old numbers wrong and these new numbers are right. Phew. Osita Nwanevu joins the show for a great conversation about Democracy and his case for a new American founding. You can preorder Osita's book The Right of the People now and it will hit the shelves next Tuesday. We are then joined by Marc Maron who discusses the winding down of his WTF podcast, the state of comedy and his new special "Panicked" out now on HBO. Stephen Miller is trying to distract from Texas GOP remapping by spreading lies about the census. Harry "Emden" Enten has some positive news for Democrat polling although it could be a lot better if Dems would any kind of vision for the country. Benjamin Netanyahu is interviewed on Fox where explicitly states that Israel intends to take full control of Gaza but don't worry, he promises to give it back. Nancy Mace is asked a simple question to which she answers with accusations of misogyny towards the female reporter. Charlie Kirk displays some real misogyny as he describes America as a toxic-feminist state and claims Trump to be a beacon of masculinity. Cue YMCA. All that and more plus your IMs.     The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors NUTRAFOL: Get $10 off your first month's subscription + free shipping at Nutrafol.com when you use promo code TMR10 TUSHY: Get 10% off TUSHY with the code TMR at https://hellotushy.com/TMR SUNSET LAKE: Head on over to Sunset LakeCBD.com and remember to use code BIRTHDAY for 25% off sitewide. This sale ends at midnight on August 17th. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder – https://majorityreportradio.com  

Osita Nwanevu stops by to discuss his new book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding. Osita leads us through his case that American “democracy” as it currently stands isn't that democratic at all. We discuss the real intentions of the founders, the actual American revolution of the Civil War, and the stalled re-founding of reconstruction. We also look at the potential for economic democracy, the political reforms needed to re-found the country, the problem of the judiciary, and the challenges of a new media environment to democratizing movements. Yes, today the wacky morning DJ actually does say democracy's a joke. Pick up Osita's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704686/the-right-of-the-people-by-osita-nwanevu/ AND, we've secured ONE MORE WEEK to get your pre-order in for YEAR ZERO: A Chapo Trap House Comic Anthology at badegg.co/products/year-zero-1

Frustrated with our political dysfunction, wearied by the thinness of contemporary political discourse, and troubled by the rise of anti-democratic attitudes across the political spectrum, journalist Osita Nwanevu has spent the Trump era examining the very meaning of democracy in search of answers to questions many have asked in the wake of the 2024 election: Are our institutions fundamentally broken? How can a country so divided govern itself? Does democracy even work as well as we believe?The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding (Random House, 2025) offers us challenging answers: while democracy remains vital, American democracy is an illusion we must make real by transforming not only our political institutions but the American economy. In a text that spans democratic theory, the American Founding, our aging political system, and the dizzying inequalities of our new Gilded Age, Nwanevu makes a visionary case for a political and economic agenda to fulfill the promise of American democracy and revive faith in the American project.“Nearly two hundred fifty years ago, the men who founded America made a fundamental break not just from their old country but from the past—casting off an order that had subjugated them with worn and weak ideas for the promise of true self-governance and greater prosperity in a new republic,” Nwanevu writes. “With exactly their sense of purpose and even higher, more righteous ambitions for America than they themselves had, we should do the same now⁠—work as hard as we can in the decades ahead to ‘institute new Government' for the benefit of all and not just the few.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Frustrated with our political dysfunction, wearied by the thinness of contemporary political discourse, and troubled by the rise of anti-democratic attitudes across the political spectrum, journalist Osita Nwanevu has spent the Trump era examining the very meaning of democracy in search of answers to questions many have asked in the wake of the 2024 election: Are our institutions fundamentally broken? How can a country so divided govern itself? Does democracy even work as well as we believe?The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding (Random House, 2025) offers us challenging answers: while democracy remains vital, American democracy is an illusion we must make real by transforming not only our political institutions but the American economy. In a text that spans democratic theory, the American Founding, our aging political system, and the dizzying inequalities of our new Gilded Age, Nwanevu makes a visionary case for a political and economic agenda to fulfill the promise of American democracy and revive faith in the American project.“Nearly two hundred fifty years ago, the men who founded America made a fundamental break not just from their old country but from the past—casting off an order that had subjugated them with worn and weak ideas for the promise of true self-governance and greater prosperity in a new republic,” Nwanevu writes. “With exactly their sense of purpose and even higher, more righteous ambitions for America than they themselves had, we should do the same now⁠—work as hard as we can in the decades ahead to ‘institute new Government' for the benefit of all and not just the few.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Frustrated with our political dysfunction, wearied by the thinness of contemporary political discourse, and troubled by the rise of anti-democratic attitudes across the political spectrum, journalist Osita Nwanevu has spent the Trump era examining the very meaning of democracy in search of answers to questions many have asked in the wake of the 2024 election: Are our institutions fundamentally broken? How can a country so divided govern itself? Does democracy even work as well as we believe?The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding (Random House, 2025) offers us challenging answers: while democracy remains vital, American democracy is an illusion we must make real by transforming not only our political institutions but the American economy. In a text that spans democratic theory, the American Founding, our aging political system, and the dizzying inequalities of our new Gilded Age, Nwanevu makes a visionary case for a political and economic agenda to fulfill the promise of American democracy and revive faith in the American project.“Nearly two hundred fifty years ago, the men who founded America made a fundamental break not just from their old country but from the past—casting off an order that had subjugated them with worn and weak ideas for the promise of true self-governance and greater prosperity in a new republic,” Nwanevu writes. “With exactly their sense of purpose and even higher, more righteous ambitions for America than they themselves had, we should do the same now⁠—work as hard as we can in the decades ahead to ‘institute new Government' for the benefit of all and not just the few.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

Frustrated with our political dysfunction, wearied by the thinness of contemporary political discourse, and troubled by the rise of anti-democratic attitudes across the political spectrum, journalist Osita Nwanevu has spent the Trump era examining the very meaning of democracy in search of answers to questions many have asked in the wake of the 2024 election: Are our institutions fundamentally broken? How can a country so divided govern itself? Does democracy even work as well as we believe?The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding (Random House, 2025) offers us challenging answers: while democracy remains vital, American democracy is an illusion we must make real by transforming not only our political institutions but the American economy. In a text that spans democratic theory, the American Founding, our aging political system, and the dizzying inequalities of our new Gilded Age, Nwanevu makes a visionary case for a political and economic agenda to fulfill the promise of American democracy and revive faith in the American project.“Nearly two hundred fifty years ago, the men who founded America made a fundamental break not just from their old country but from the past—casting off an order that had subjugated them with worn and weak ideas for the promise of true self-governance and greater prosperity in a new republic,” Nwanevu writes. “With exactly their sense of purpose and even higher, more righteous ambitions for America than they themselves had, we should do the same now⁠—work as hard as we can in the decades ahead to ‘institute new Government' for the benefit of all and not just the few.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveFriend of Wisdom of Crowds and frequent podcast guest Samuel Moyn is a professor of law and history at Yale University, and author of several books, including Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War (2021, Macmillan) and Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times (2023). He is also the author of a recent article saying that no, sorry, the courts cannot save American democracy.If you've been following our podcast lately, you'll know that Shadi and Damir think differently. Both are preoccupied with the question of whether we're in a constitutional crisis. And both have argued that it's the Judiciary branch which can stop Trump from becoming a tyrant. We are in a state of “brinksmanship with the Courts,” as Damir puts it. Moyn, however, warns that “Judicial processes can launder radical political change,” like the ones Trump is trying to make. The Supreme Court might cede a lot of ground to the Executive before we get a big decisive case that checks Trump. In fact, we might never even get such a case. The real test for democracy, Moyn argues, will come at the ballot box: “Do we have elections that stay competitive where the loser accepts his loss?” A lot will depend on whether Democrats can figure out how to make a popular platform. A lot, too, will depend on Republicans, and whether at least some of them will part ways with Trump. Shadi asks Moyn for some historical perspective. Is this the biggest crisis in US history? Probably not, but what can we learn from historical perspective? What is the baseline against which we should judge ourselves today? Moyn argues that “The only use of the past is to make a better future. … Let's try to understand why things broke before.”In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Moyn and our hosts discuss recent White House legal challenges against birthright citizenship; anti-Trump lawfare; why Moyn believes that “what the law is is decided in the present political struggle”; why a parliamentary system is usually more democratic than a presidential one; whether the US is culturally attached to a strong executive branch; and much more.Required Reading and Listening:* Samuel Moyn and Ryan D. Doerfler, “Don't count on the courts to save democracy” (Washington Post).* Samuel Moyn and Ryan D. Doerfler, “We Are Already Defying the Supreme Court” (Dissent). * Our last podcast episode with Samuel Moyn: “Did the Supreme Court Just Subvert Our System of Government?” (WoC). * Live taping: “Samuel Moyn and Osita Nwanevu on Voters vs Judges” (WoC). * Podcast episode, “Is Democracy Ending?” (WoC).* Juan J. Linz, “The Perils of Presidentialism” (Journal of Democracy).* CrowdSource about the Mahmoud Khalil case (WoC).* Santiago Ramos, “From the Harper's Letter to the Khalil Case” (WoC).* “Judge warns of consequences if Trump administration violated deportation order” (Reuters).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Free preview video:

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveLast week's episode dealt with the state of the American Right post-election. Today we ask: Where is the American Left going? How will it respond to Trump? “There is a palpable sense of passivity on the Left,” says Damir Marusic. “What I've seen is resignation or weird, detached analysis,” says Samuel Kimbriel. Is there more going on than we see? We invited WoC contributor Osita Nwanevu, writer for the New Republic and author of an upcoming book about American democracy, to tell us more.Osita begins by distinguishing between the Democratic Party and the movement Left. While the Democrats are a loose coalition in broad disarray, the Left simply stands for “a grand reform of political economy to empower workers.” The Left, Osita argues, was not surprised that Trump won. The problem lies it how it can create a platform that will appeal to American voters. There is too much despair. Too many on the Left, Osita argues, have been left in a state of “political hopelessness” after the election, wondering what to do in a country where most people voted for Donald Trump. But such an attitude is “antithetical to democratic thought and what we need to do for practical politics.”Damir and Osita go on to engage the question of whether a Left that stands for universal human values, rather than in-group, national concerns, is able to win. Osita argues that there is not necessary contradiction between a universal value and a local interest. When it comes to climate change, for example, the Left isn't asking voters to care about “the Maldives,” but about “fires in LA and storms in Florida.” Damir is not so sure. The conversation touches on symbolic politics versus real politics, whether protest movements can actually transform society, whether Trump is the true revolutionary force in American politics, and whether the Left actually has intellectual leaders and a utopian vision today. In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Sam argues that the Left needs an idea of transcendence, Osita talks about transcendence without god, and Damir pushes both on whether personal philosophical convictions actually have any bearing on real-life politics.Required Reading:* Osita's website.* Sam on why the Left needs ideas (WoC).* Damir's post-election reaction (WoC). * Osita on BLM (Pairagraph).* Osita's debate with Oliver Traldi about democracy and ideology (WoC).* Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution (Amazon).* “Nancy Pelosi Insists the Election was Not a Rebuke of the Democrats” (New York Times).* On the Gushers BLM post mentioned by Osita (New York Times).* “Costco Teamsters vote to authorize US-wide strike, union says” (Reuters).* “Costco shareholders just destroyed an anti-DEI push” (CNN).* History of hospitals (Britannica).* Scott Alexander, “Everyone's A Based Post-Christian Vitalist Until The Grooming Gangs Show Up” (Astral Codex Ten).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

Happy Friday! Sam and Emma speak with Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at the New Republic, columnist at The Guardian, and author of the upcoming book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding.  First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Trump's felon status, California's wildfire crisis, the growing global climate crisis, Meta's new speech regulations, Gaza's still-growing death toll and the likely extent of its undercount, the House's bill to sanction the ICC, the Senate's bill to deport unconvicted migrants, the death of Anita Bryant, the death of the Chevron Doctrine, and TikTok's case at the Supreme Court, before diving a little deeper into the unparalleled dangers of climate change as seen in the wildfires rampaging around LA. Osita Nwanevu then joins, jumping right into the late developments of Trump's myriad legal woes over this last year, and the overwhelming feeling that our next president will be completely unaccountable while feeling completely untouchable, also touching on the genuine recognition of Trump as a problematic felon by the public, and why that simply didn't matter when it came to their open-faced rejection of the Democratic Party's institutionalist centrism. Expanding on this latter element, Nwanevu, Sam, and Emma walk through the Democrats' inability to act as a capable opposition party, never presenting any semblance of an alternative when it comes to rhetoric and policy around the GOP's key issues (immigration) or their own (healthcare), and often preferring to jump on board with the right in the hopes that it will legitimize their role in politics. Dissecting even deeper, Osita explores the dearth of any party identity around vague institutionalist careerism, failing to manifest any changes to their image in the decade since Trump's threat arose, and often refusing to fund any wings of the party that challenge its floundering status quo, before shifting to the importance of the world of labor in pushing for that alternative image of progressivism, with unions – the core of labor – providing political education, communication, and socialization for their workers, with the institutional power to push political parties around. Wrapping up, Nwanevu explores the importance of revitalizing spaces for building and exerting worker power, be they unions or other forms of democratized workplace, and how we can help make that happen. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma watch Fox's “The Five” channel what funerals are really about (shaming Hillary Clinton), touch on the death of Anita Bryant, and talk with Steve from KC about his experience working with One America News. Molly from Brooklyn extends an invite to WikiCon, Kelcie from Austin unpacks conservatism's hypocrisies, and Mel Gibson – noted bigot, freak, and conspiracy theorist – tells Joe Rogan about his cure for cancer. Smokey the Bear from Texas tackles the vulture capitalism around the California Wildfires, and Bill Maher accidentally admits that Trans rights are Civil Rights, plus, your calls and IMs! Find all of Osita's work here: https://www.ositanwanevu.com/ Check out Osita's upcoming book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704686/the-right-of-the-people-by-osita-nwanevu/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase! 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Republicans have been good at telling a story about the economy and how people should feel about it, and Democrats haven't responded in a sufficiently compelling way. Meanwhile, plucking Pete Hegseth off the Fox & Friends couch to run one of the biggest organizations in the world is a sign of how dumb the next administration will be.  Osita Nwanevu joins Tim Miller. show notes Osita's forthcoming book

It's been a strange election—Trump being shot at on stage; Biden dropping out—but also a very familiar one, with the same issues, same rhetoric, and same deadlocked, dysfunctional Congress waiting on the other side. How long will the political Groundhog Day last—and what will it take to break this cycle? Guests: Jamelle Bouie, New York Times opinion columnist. Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at the New Republic and columnist at The Guardian. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a strange election—Trump being shot at on stage; Biden dropping out—but also a very familiar one, with the same issues, same rhetoric, and same deadlocked, dysfunctional Congress waiting on the other side. How long will the political Groundhog Day last—and what will it take to break this cycle? Guests: Jamelle Bouie, New York Times opinion columnist. Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at the New Republic and columnist at The Guardian. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a strange election—Trump being shot at on stage; Biden dropping out—but also a very familiar one, with the same issues, same rhetoric, and same deadlocked, dysfunctional Congress waiting on the other side. How long will the political Groundhog Day last—and what will it take to break this cycle? Guests: Jamelle Bouie, New York Times opinion columnist. Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at the New Republic and columnist at The Guardian. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 21 in Washington, DC, Wisdom of Crowds hosted a special live taping of the podcast. WoC editor-at-large Samuel Kimbriel joined WoC contributor and New Republic journalist Osita Nwanevu, along with Georgetown political theory professor Joshua Mitchell, to discuss “Happiness and Misery in America” on the eve of the general elections. Joshua spoke from a more communitarian and conservative point of view, citing the drawbacks that come with the growth of the state: “When you have a regime founded on small government and mediating institutions, you have to develop personal and collective competence. … Early on, happiness is linked to competence and to doing. But as the state has grown larger, and more and more the functions of living have been left up to the state, we've become more isolated and we come to think of happiness more as feeling and self-expression.” Osita spoke from a left-liberal perspective. It might be less the case that we are unhappy, he argued, than that we think we ought to be unhappy, given the way life is structured today. “We think that Americans should be less happy than they are. If you think that Americans should be less happy, because they use smart phones a lot, then you should own that. … Liberals always are in the business of saying less than they actually mean. The pursuit of happiness is not just material well-being … happiness for the Founders … also meant moral and spiritual well-being.”This was a robust and rich clash of perspectives that generated much more light than heat. Osita cautioned against romanticizing the old America of traditional communities, arguing that the “freedom to seek what the good life is, without having it given to you by father or pastor, is an important part of what American civilization is.” Joshua agreed that sometimes the state has to intervene in local communities for the sake of justice — for example, to desegregate the schools in Little Rock — but he also cautioned that we will never be fully satisfied without some “concreteness of embodied relations with others. … We [Americans] are all cowboys … the rest of the world can't believe the level of unboundedness we live with.”Free for all subscribers, this is a valuable and — crucially during this moment — civil conversation that will be interesting to anyone who cares about the soul of America. Give it a listen. Required Reading:* Joshua Mitchell (Georgetown faculty webpage). * Osita Nwanevu (personal website). * Surgeon General's Advisory on Loneliness Epidemic (Department of Health and Human Services). * Declaration of Independence (National Archives). * Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (Amazon). * Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation by Samuel Kimbriel (Amazon).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

The DNC highlighted just how much the Democratic Party is in a state of transition. With Harris picking Walz as her running mate and their shared focus on the middle class, combined with the convention putting AOC front and center as a rising star, it seems like the party could finally be shifting further to the left. But at the same time, key progressive issues like a ceasefire in Gaza or addressing climate change were noticeably absent. This week, Adam sits down with Osita Nwanevu, columnist for The Guardian and contributing editor for The New Republic, to discuss what the left might look like as it emerges from this election cycle. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconoverSEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/SUBSCRIBE to and RATE Factually! on:» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/factually-with-adam-conover/id1463460577» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0fK8WJw4ffMc2NWydBlDyJAbout Headgum: Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com.» SUBSCRIBE to Headgum: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeadGum?sub_confirmation=1» FOLLOW us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/headgum» FOLLOW us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/headgum/» FOLLOW us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headgum» Advertise on Factually! via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We took the holiday week off,  so we're sharing an episode from behind the paywall. Coming soon: new episodes on The Biden Problem, SCOTUS, and Israeli illiberalism as an inspiration for the global right. ***In this episode, from January 2024, writer Osita Nwanevu joins for a rip-roaring conversation about legendary prose stylist, "new journalist," and novelist Tom Wolfe. Reviewing a new documentary about Wolfe ("Radical Wolfe" on Netflix), Osita writes, "Behind the ellipses and exclamation points and between the lines of his prose, a lively though often lazy conservative mind was at work, making sense of the half-century that birthed our garish and dismal present, Trump and all."Answered herein: is Tom Wolfe a good writer? What kind of conservative is he? How does his approach compare to other "new journalists" like Joan Didion and Garry Wills? And what's the deal with the white suit?Further Reading:Osita Nwanevu, "The Electric Kool-Aid Conservative," The New Republic, Jan 5, 2023Tom Wolfe, "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby," Esquire, Nov 1963.— "The Birth of ‘The New Journalism'; Eyewitness Report," New York Magazine, Feb 1972.— "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's," New York Magazine, June 1972— The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987)— A Man in Full (1998)— The Kingdom of Speech (2016)Peter Augustine Lawler, "What is Southern Stoicism? An Interview with Professor Peter Lawler,"  Daily Stoic, March 2017...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to all of our extensive catalogue of bonus episodes!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveLast December, the highest court in the State of Colorado ruled that Donald Trump's involvement with January 6 disqualified him from holding the office of president. On May 4, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to overturn this decision, clearing the way for Trump to appear on the ballot in all fifty states. Naturally, at Wisdom of Crowds these events got us thinking about the big questions. When it comes to eligibility for office, who should have the final say — the Supreme Court, or the voters? What is more important for a democracy: Elections or rights? And where do rights come from, anyway?At the moment, these questions are mostly being discussed on the Left side of the aisle, so we invited two prominent left-wing writers to argue about them in a live show. Osita Nwanevu is a journalist for The New Republic, currently writing a book about American democracy. Samuel Moyn is a law professor at Yale University, whose latest book is titled, Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times. For paid subscribers, the bonus content includes a raucous Q & A session with our live audience. Enjoy a highly informed discussion about the most important political questions of our time, find out why Damir considers both Osita and Sam to be “revolutionaries,” and think about which branch of the US government really deserves to be called “a Council of Elders.”Required Reading:* The Colorado ruling.* The Supreme Court decision.* “Resisting the Juristocracy” by Samuel Moyn (Boston Review).* “The Constitution is the Crisis,” by Osita Nwanevu (The New Republic).

The writers cast a wide net today as Charlotte goes meg gaga for M.T. Anderson's Feed and Jo (15:00) expounds on the many pleasures of Iris Yamashita's Village in the Dark. The hosts also touch upon Sally Hepworth, J.M. Barrie, Telluria, their beloved Lanark by Alasdair Gray, and the entirety of French literature. The brilliant Osita Nwanevu (29:10) brings some dignity to the proceedings as he shares his experience of reading Walt Whitman's strange and beguiling Democratic Vistas.Osita Nwanevu is a contributing editor at The New Republic and a columnist at The Guardian. He was previously a staff writer at The New Republic, The New Yorker, and Slate and his work has also appeared in The New York Times, the New York Review of Books, Harper's Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Gawker, In These Times, and the Chicago Reader. He is the former editor in chief of the South Side Weekly, a Chicago alternative newspaper.Send questions, requests, recommendations, and your own thoughts about any of the books discussed today to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Charlotte is on Instagram and Twitter as @Charoshane. She has a newsletter called Meant For You, with additional writing at charoshane.comJo co-edits The Stopgap and their writing lives at jolivingstone.com.Learn more about our producer Alex at https://www.alexsugiura.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contributing editor for the New Republic and columnist for The Guardian Osita Nwanevu returns to the show. We look at a new New Yorker piece on Joe Biden's last campaign, and the president's defiant refusal to change gears, adjust policies, or really do anything to address rather dismal polling ahead of the election. Then, switching to the republicans, we look at the increasingly weird and anti-social tact of American conservatism and ask: can the modern right be assimilated into American culture? Find Osita's newsletter here: https://www.ositanwanevu.com/ And check out the Flaming Hydra collective (featuring a lot of great writers & friends of the show) here: https://flaminghydra.com/

It's Casual Friday! Sam and Emma speak with Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at the New Republic, to discuss his most recent piece on free speech and to round up the week in news. Also, David Feldman joins us! First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the US-UK strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, Israel's defense at the Hague, Donald Trump's defense in NYC, Bernie's new foreign policy resolution, the child tax credit, the mutiny against Mike Johnson, and DeSantis' DeMoralization, also touching on the right's idiotic attempt to pin the Boeing crashes on DEI and wokeness. Osita Nwanevu then joins, looking at the US and UK's recent bombing of Yemen as another theater in Israel's ever-expanding war on Gaza, also walking through the justifiable political maneuver the Houthis were engaging in, and Biden's ongoing attempt to undermine his presentation as the stabilizing, empathetic Presidential candidate heading into 2024's election. Next, they parse through some of South Africa's early arguments against Israel at the International Court of Justice, with a particular focus on the rhetoric coming out of the Israeli government and military, before wrapping up with an assessment of the US and Biden Administration's dwindling credibility. David Feldman then joins for some good-natured ribbing, an in-depth analysis of Iowan politics, and an identity crisis, as he pitches his new podcast alongside religious conversion therapy. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma look at some of the early arguments at the ICJ, watch Donald Trump use Biden's wars to pitch himself as the sane candidate, and Greg Abbott laments his inability to shoot migrants. Laura Ingraham presents her obtuse angle on Biden's border deal, Matt Walsh isn't gay, Aaron from LA highlights some labor action coming out of CA, and Marion from Memphis discusses the value of child labor, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Osita's work here: https://newrepublic.com/authors/osita-nwanevu Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Nutrafol: Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/men and enter the promo code TMR. Find out why over 4,000 healthcare professionals recommend Nutrafol for healthier hair. Rhone: The Commuter Collection can get you through any work day and straight into whatever comes next. Head to https://rhone.com/MAJORITYREPORT and use promo code MAJORITYREPORT to save 20% off your entire order. Sunset Lake CBD: Sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/  

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this premium episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemyWriter Osita Nwanevu joins for a rip-roaring conversation about legendary prose stylist, "new journalist," and novelist Tom Wolfe. Reviewing a new documentary about Wolfe ("Radical Wolfe" on Netflix), Osita writes, "Behind the ellipses and exclamation points and between the lines of his prose, a lively though often lazy conservative mind was at work, making sense of the half-century that birthed our garish and dismal present, Trump and all."Answered herein: is Tom Wolfe a good writer? What kind of conservative is he? How does his approach compare to other "new journalists" like Joan Didion and Garry Wills? And what's the deal with the white suit?Further Reading:Osita Nwanevu, "The Electric Kool-Aid Conservative," The New Republic, Jan 5, 2023Tom Wolfe, "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby," Esquire, Nov 1963.— "The Birth of ‘The New Journalism'; Eyewitness Report," New York Magazine, Feb 1972.— "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's," New York Magazine, June 1972— The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987)— A Man in Full (1998)— The Kingdom of Speech (2016)Peter Augustine Lawler, "What is Southern Stoicism? An Interview with Professor Peter Lawler,"  Daily Stoic, March 2017

After a very long summer break, “Is This Democracy” is back! We start with a reflection on the terrorist attack on Israel and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war, how it's being discussed in the U.S., and the moral, political, and intellectual obligations that shape our own perspective.   We then tackle the latest round of Speaker drama: It took Kevin McCarthy 15 tries to get elected – and just 269 days later, he is out. Can we learn anything new from this Republican chaos? Maybe not – but it is a crucial reminder of what defines and animates today's GOP. We talk about the dogma of rightwing politics that regards Democrats as not just a political opponent, but a fundamentally illegitimate, “Un-American” enemy that must not be allowed to govern; about the underlying dynamic that explains why moments of chaos almost inevitably result in a further radicalization of the Republican Party; about the GOP's structural weakness, that makes it so hard to discipline individual members like Matt Gaetz; and about the politics and ideology of Steve Scalise who, at the time of recording yesterday, looked like he might become the next Speaker, and what he meant when he described himself as “David Duke without the baggage.” He has now withdrawn - more chaos. Finally, we talk about recurring themes that shape mainstream media coverage of these events in predictably misleading fashion: There is the idea that only Democrats have agency – and therefore are ultimately to be blamed for the chaos; and the pervasive trope of government “dysfunction” that entirely obscures the actual issue, but allows the media to take a “neutral” position from which it can blame “both sides.”     Show notes – articles that have particularly shaped this week's discussion (not necessarily endorsements, mind you!):   Gideon Levi, Israel can't imprison 2 million Gazans without paying a cruel price, Haaretz, October 9, 2023 https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-10-09/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-cant-imprison-2-million-gazans-without-paying-a-cruel-price/0000018b-1476-d465-abbb-14f6262a0000   The Hamas Attacks and Israeli Response: An Explainer, Jewish Currents, October 10, 2023 https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hamas-attacks-and-israeli-response-an-explainer   Emily Tamkin, What Does It Mean to Stand with Israel?, Slate, October 10, 2023 https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/10/israel-hamas-war-palestine-stand-with-israel-netanyahu.html   Eric Levitz, A Left That Refuses to Condemn Mass Murder Is Doomed, New York Magazine, October 11, 2023 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/a-left-that-refuses-to-condemn-mass-murder-is-doomed.html   Steven Erlanger, As War Rages, Netanyahu Battles for Reputation and Legacy, New York Times, October 10, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/world/europe/netanyahu-israel-gaza-war.html   Ronald Brownstein, The Only Sin that Republicans Can't Forgive, The Atlantic, October 3, 2023 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/10/the-only-sin-that-republicans-cant-forgive/675534/n     Moira Donegan, McCarthy ouster shows Republicans don't want to govern - and they don't want anyone else to either, The Guardian, October 4, 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/04/republicans-freedom-caucus-kevin-maccarthy   Osita Nwanevu, The McCarthy debacle barely scrapes the surface of how dysfunctional Congress is, The Guardian, October 6, 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/06/kevin-mccarthy-congress-corruption-ageing   What is Broken in American Politics Is the Republican Party, Politico, October 6, 2023 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/06/republican-leaders-mccarthy-expert-roundup-00120170 Follow The Show⁠ ⁠Follow Thomas⁠ ⁠Follow Lily⁠ This episode was produced by ⁠Connor Lynch

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.americanprestigepod.comDanny and Derek welcome to the pod Osita Nwanevu, columnist at The Guardian and contributing editor at The New Republic, to discuss the role of the media in politics. They discuss the disconnect between public opinion and policy, whether independent leftist media has a meaningful impact, the fetishization of manufacturing consent, how power in modern, A…

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast  Following Briahna's super viral interview with Bethany Mandel on Rising, America once again debated the meaning of "woke" and why it matters. This week on Bad Faith, Brie welcomes back Freddie deBoer, author of the recent Substack essay "Of Course You Know What 'Woke' Means," along with New Republic contributor Osita Nwanevu to dig in to the #discourse. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube to access our full video library. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram.   Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands)

It's Casual Friday! Sam hosts Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at the New Republic and columnist at The Guardian, to round up the week in news. Then, Sam's joined in-studio by comedian H. Jon Benjamin to discuss his new Jazz Daredevil Whisky Highball! First, Sam runs through updates on the Respect for Marriage Act, Alito's role in Supreme Court leaks, and more, before parsing through Sinema's incredibly unsurprising choice to leave the Democratic party. Osita Nwanevu then joins as he dives right into analyzing whether there will be a material impact on Sinema going independent, before diving into lingering stories from the midterms, including Maricopa county, grappling with a Warnock win alongside an Abrams loss, Trump's role in the GOP's losses, and why the Right really should blame their obsession with culture wars. Next, they walk through whether the Right will see a shift back towards an anti-immigrant culture war, what the Democrats (with a majority in the Senate) can do about immigration policy, and why the American public became more liberal on the topic throughout the Trump presidency. Wrapping up, Osita and Sam tackle the state of the Democratic electorate, parse through the future of the Democratic party under their new leadership, and explore why DeSantis isn't much of an actual departure from what the public dislikes about Trump. Then Sam is joined by alleged comedian and actor H. Jon Benjamin to discuss his educational background and new canned concoction the Jazz Daredevil Whisky Highball! And in the Fun Half: Sam dives deep into the recent hearing around the 2014 Hobby Lobby leak, parsing through the astonishing news that the various influential far-right political lobbying institutions do indeed influence far-right Supreme Court justices, and whether there will be any repercussions for the multiple Justices involved behind the scenes. He and the crew also tackle Bari Weiss' Twitter Files pt. 2 as she and the rest of the online right forgo reading comprehension in favor of their reactionary impulses, and discuss Rep. Vicky Hartzler's harrowing experience grappling with Gay people having rights, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Osita's work here: https://ositanwanevu.ghost.io/ Check out the Jazz Daredevil Whisky Highball: https://thejazzdaredevil.com/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Great company, great product and fans of the show! Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. Aura: Protect yourself from America's fastest-growing crime. Try Aura for 14 days for free: https://aura.com/majority Henson Shaving: Go to https://hensonshaving.com/majority  and use code MAJORITY for a free 100-pack of blades! HoldOn Bags: HoldOn plant-based compostable kitchen/trash bags: Get 20% OFF with code MAJORITY at https://holdonbags.com/majority Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning 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/ Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

"Clinton Says He's Not Leaning Left but Taking a New 'Third Way,'" reported The New York Times in 1992. "It's not left. It's not right. It's forward!" proclaimed former presidential candidate Andrew Yang during a 2019 Democratic debate. "Neither left nor right," reads the slogan of far-right French political party Front National. Every few years we hear about a new, trailblazing political vision that transcends traditional party lines, leaning not to the right or the left, but straight ahead. No longer, we're told, must we conform to antiquated political notions of "liberal" or "conservative," nor must we continue to tolerate the corrupt duopoly. Instead, we can embrace a forward-thinking alternative; a third way; a modern, pragmatic and new political paradigm. But for all the talk of moving "beyond left and right," there sure is a lot of right-wing sentiment. Rhetoric like this almost exclusively comes from neo-fascists, libertarians, and centrists – Glenn Beck, Bill Clinton, Andrew Yang, and the like – and virtually never from figures on the Left. Why is that? What political purpose does the false notion of transcending right and left serve? And why does this hackneyed concept continue to surface and resonate? On this episode, we examine the vacuous nature of claiming to reject political categories of "right" and "left." We analyze how this rhetoric disguises garden-variety right-wing austerity politics as a novel, barrier-breaking political vision, as well as how it taps into real frustrations with political systems, but obscures and absolves the causes of these frustrations through sleazy, sales-pitch style tactics. Our guest is writer Osita Nwanevu.