Exploring the Appeal of Cultural Phenomena in Politics

After the re-election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States last night, I check in with Layman Pascal to get his take on the political landscape. What can we learn from what's going on? How can we be more open across differences instead of closed and blaming? In fact, how much internal energy should we expend on such matters at all? And what should we expect about the future of the public sphere that might help us better orient to what matters most?

0:00 Introduction

3:27 Surface vs. Structure

10:08 What Can We Learn from the Trump Moment?

14:11 Placing Blame

20:44 Valuing Nonrational Collective Intelligence

26:46 Failures of the Democratic Left

33:26 It Matters, and It Doesn't

39:53 What Does a Progressive Revolution Look Like?

48:47 Towards a Metamodern Politics of Spectacle

1:00:41 A Future of Astonishments

1:13:33 The Coming Carnival of the Public Sphere

1:17:52 Approaches to Media Consumption

1:22:26 Finding Equanimity anf Value in Disruption

1:25:35 Conclusion