Democrats Have Power Now. They Shouldn’t Waste It on Woke.
Shownotes
The Democrats are back in power with a new economic mandate. But is that how they will actually govern?
Our guest host Christine Rosen sits down with Catherine Liu, a left-wing cultural critic and the author of “Traumatized: The New Politics of Public Suffering.” Liu explains why Democratic elites are still invested in culture wars and are focusing on what she calls “trauma politics.”
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:00 Are Identity Politics Behind Us?
- 02:15 Defining "Trauma Scripts" vs. Identity Politics
- 05:04 The Conservative Critique of Therapy Culture
- 08:06 A.O.C.’s Instagram Live As Trauma Politics
- 11:48 How Oprah Turned Personal Trauma into a Brand
- 14:55 The Elites: The Professional Managerial Class
- 19:45 Virtue Signaling & Class Hypocrisy
- 23:10 How Culture Wars Affect The Working-Class
- 25:24 Abdul El-Sayed’s Campaign
- 26:44 Authenticity vs. Performance
- 27:24 Trump’s Working Class Cosplay
- 32:54 America’s Taboo: Talking About Class
- 33:25 A Marxist Critique
- 33:46 The Crisis of Meaning & Isolation
- 35:40 Why 50% of Americans Don't Vote
- 38:15 Rebuilding Third Spaces
- 43:23 The Political Theater Of Empathy
- 44:27 Can We Rebuild a Common Project?
Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
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