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How to Save a Country

Roosevelt Institute

On "How to Save a Country," hosts Felicia Wong (Roosevelt Institute) and Michael Tomasky (The New Republic) introduce you to the people and ideas moving America forward in uncertain times. How did we get to this inflection point for our democracy and economy, and how do we move ahead? How do we protect democracy from its attackers? How do we change the fundamentals of our economy so jobs pay more and wealth is shared? How do we forge a path to a high-care, low-carbon future?

“How to Save a Country” answers these questions by connecting dots across economics, law, and politics—and shows that there is a way forward for our democracy.

New episodes every Thursday. Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Roosevelt Institute 2022

On "How to Save a Country," hosts Felicia Wong (Roosevelt Institute) and Michael Tomasky (The New Republic) introduce you to the people and ideas moving America forward in uncertain times. How did we get to this inflection point for our democracy and economy, and how do we move ahead? How do we protect democracy from its attackers? How do we change the fundamentals of our economy so jobs pay more and wealth is shared? How do we forge a path to a high-care, low-carbon future?

“How to Save a Country” answers these questions by connecting dots across economics, law, and politics—and shows that there is a way forward for our democracy.

New episodes every Thursday. Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Roosevelt Institute 2022
17hr 37min
Thumbnail for "How Culture Warriors Seized the Right (with Julie Kohler)".
Why shifting power dynamics in the right-wing movement put democracy at risk
Thumbnail for "The Unfinished Business of Saving Democracy".
And a look back at our favorite moments
Thumbnail for "Fascism Disguised as Freedom (with Jefferson Cowie) ".
How can progressives reclaim the concept of freedom?
Thumbnail for "Capital in the 2020s (with Thomas Piketty)".
The inequality expert on the policies we need now
Thumbnail for "The Deep[ly Necessary] State (with K. Sabeel Rahman)".
Why a little-known federal agency is crucial for our democracy
Thumbnail for "In Pursuit of the Climate-Proof City (from the Politics of Everything) ".
Does the climate-proof city exist?
Thumbnail for "How Feminist Economics Brought Us the Care Agenda (with Nancy Folbre) ".
What happens when we value unpaid labor?
Thumbnail for "An Academic Walks into a Diner (with Danielle Allen)".
What a political philosophy professor learned on the campaign trail
Thumbnail for "Red Nation, Blue Nation (with Michael Podhorzer) ".
How can progressive strategies address our country’s deep divisions?
Thumbnail for "The Neoliberal Order Is Over. What Comes Next? (with Gary Gerstle)".
What the next political order will look like
Thumbnail for "We Can Defeat Zero-Sum Politics (with Heather McGhee)".
How cross-racial solidarity can create a better America for all
Thumbnail for "What Drives Our Political Behavior (with Dr. Lilliana Mason) ".
How group psychology is making partisanship worse
Thumbnail for "The Art of Progressive Persuasion (with Maurice Mitchell)".
How progressives can change minds in a polarized era
Thumbnail for "Season 2 Trailer ".
Returning April 6: Season 2 of How to Save a Country
Thumbnail for "BONUS: Who Really Ended the Cold War? (with Brad DeLong) ".
Did the end of the Cold War extend neoliberalism’s shelf life?
Thumbnail for "BONUS: Sen. Elizabeth Warren on crypto’s cold, dark winter  ".
Will recent turmoil in the crypto markets lead to more oversight?
Thumbnail for "BONUS: The future of the House with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries  ".
And what are we supposed to think about the Kevin McCarthy thing, anyway?
Thumbnail for "BONUS: Talking democracy and oligarchy with Dorian Warren ".
Are democracy and inequality actually compatible?
Thumbnail for "That '70s Show (from The Politics of Everything) ".
What's so scary about the 1970s?
Thumbnail for "Good Policy, Good Politics (with Sen. Elizabeth Warren) ".
How government can deliver—and why it must.
Thumbnail for "A Tale of Two Recoveries: What’s Changed since the Great Recession".
Two Labor Department chief economists explain what’s different about today’s economic recovery.
Thumbnail for "Why Neoliberalism Is Finally on the Way Out (with Brad DeLong)".
An economist’s apology for his generation
Thumbnail for "Making Meaning from the Midterms".
Michael and Felicia discuss the policies that underlie the politics of the midterms.
Thumbnail for "How the Green New Deal Changed the Conversation (with Rhiana Gunn-Wright)".
What Rhiana Gunn-Wright wants to build next.
Thumbnail for " House Leadership: The Next Generation (with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries)".
Priorities of the next generation of House leadership
Thumbnail for "An Immigration Plan for the Climate Change Era (with Deepak Bhargava)".
We need a new narrative for immigration.
Thumbnail for "The Supreme Court Is Back in Session. What's the Progressive Plan?".
Plus, how law shapes our economy, and how we can create a more equitable marketplace.
Thumbnail for "Why Labor Unions Are Back, and How They Can Save Democracy (with Dorian Warren)".
Workers are organizing in powerful and creative ways; is this the beginning of a 21st-century labor renaissance?
Thumbnail for "Our Democracy Is in Trouble, But We’ve Been Here Before (with Heather Cox Richardson)".
Make no mistake, America's experiment in popular sovereignty is in jeopardy—here's how this moment compares to past crises.
Thumbnail for "Why the Biden Economy Is Better Than You Think (with Brian Deese)".
Every week is infrastructure week now (no, really).
Thumbnail for "Welcome to How to Save a Country".
The big ideas behind a new vision for America

How Culture Warriors Seized the Right (with Julie Kohler)

Thumbnail for "How Culture Warriors Seized the Right (with Julie Kohler)".
April 27, 202349min 51sec

Once the foot soldiers of the right-wing movement, social conservatives are increasingly setting the agenda, arguing for a state that takes an active role in shaping and preserving traditional institutions like the nuclear family. However, this vision of family offered by social conservatives is inextricably linked with a disturbingly retrograde view of gender, sexuality, reproductive rights, and American history.

This week, Michael and Felicia talk to Julie Kohler—writer and host of the podcast White Picket Fence, which is about the fractured politics of white women. Julie’s writing on politics, feminism, and gender and family under neoliberalism has appeared in outlets like CNN, the Washington Post, Fortune, the Daily Beast, and Democracy, A Journal of Ideas.

Julie, Michael, and Felicia discuss the role social conservatives played in American politics in the past, and the increasing power this coalition wields in politics today.

“At the most extreme, if you really endorse this notion that the state should be playing a role in establishing moral culture, what you can end up with is a comfort with, if not open embrace of, illiberal authoritarianism,” Julie says.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Thumbnail for "How Culture Warriors Seized the Right (with Julie Kohler)".
How Culture Warriors Seized the Right (with Julie Kohler)
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