Polarization and the Future of Democracy

The Washington Roundtable discusses the 2024 election with the historian Michael Beschloss, before a live audience at The New Yorker Festival, on October 26th. He calls this election a “turning point” as monumental as the election of 1860—on the eve of the Civil War—and that of 1940, when the U.S. was deciding whether to adopt or fight Fascism. “I think Donald Trump meets most of the parts of the definition of the word fascist,” Beschloss says. “You go through all of American history, and you cannot find another major party nominee who has promised to be dictator for a day, which we all know will not be only for a day.” But, if Trump does return to the White House, he adds, there is still hope that the rule of law, public protest, and the presence of state capitals free of federal domination will allow the U.S. to resist autocracy.

This week’s reading:

• “Garbage Time at the 2024 Finish Line,” by Susan B. Glasser
• “Safeguarding the Pennsylvania Election,” by Eliza Griswold
• “The Fight Over Truth in a Blue-Collar Pennsylvania County,” by Clare Malone
• “Standing Up to Trump,” by David Remnick
• “The Trump Show Comes to Madison Square Garden,” by Andrew Marantz
• “The Obamas Campaign for Kamala Harris,” by Emily Witt
• “Trump’s Health, and Ours,” by Dhruv Khullar

To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send in feedback on this episode, write to themail@newyorker.com with “The Political Scene” in the subject line.