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The Grateful Dead Conservative (w/ Sophie Haigney)

Another fun summer-y episode for you, our beloved subscribers: This time, we talked to writer, Paris Review editor, and Grateful Dead super-fan Sophie Haigney about a topic we've long pondered: the phenomenon of the "Grateful Dead conservative."

Why is it that right-wing figures including Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter, and Paul Ryan count the Grateful Dead among their favorite bands? Isn't there something odd about these social conservative luminaries loving the Dead, such avatars of 1960s psychedelia, libertinism, and hippie counterculture? Or else, have we misunderstood something essential about the band — their Americana roots, their individualist ethos, their reverence for transcendent experiences — which makes them particularly suitable to conservative sensibilities?

And also why do we all love them so much — this band that tests our patience, produces largely forgettable studio records, and often sounds, in concert, as if they're playing their own songs for the first time? The mind reels...

Strap in for a long, strange, improvisational trip to the heart of these bewildering matters.

Further Reading:

Sophie Haigney, "Those of Us Who Love the Dead," Gawker, Dec 3, 2021.

— "The Final Dead Shows: Part One," The Paris Review, Jul 17, 2023.

— "The Final Dead Shows: Part Two," The Paris Review, July 18, 2023.

— "The Final Dead Shows: Part Three," The Paris Review, Jul 19, 2023.

Ann Coulter, "I’m A Grateful Dead Fan For Life," Billboard, Jun 24, 2016.

Noah Eckstein, "'Wave That Flag': Meet the Deadheads Who Stump for Trump," Variety, Nov 2, 2020.

Zachary D. Carter and Arthur Delaney, "Why Do Conservatives Love The Grateful Dead? We Ask Tucker Carlson," Huffington Post, Jul 15, 2015.

Dean Budnick, "Behind The Scene: Jake Sherman on Phish, the Grateful Dead and Covering 535 Class Presidents at Punchbowl News," Relix, May 12, 2021.

Martin Longman, "Why Do Republicans Love the Grateful Dead?" Washington Monthly, July 3, 2015

Nick Paumgarten, "Dead Head," The New Yorker, Nov 18, 2012.

Hunter Schwartz, "Grateful Dead fans: Surprisingly Republican," Washington Post, Jul 1, 2015.

Marc Tracy, "Saying Goodbye to the Dead. (Again.)" NYTimes, Jul 14, 2023.

Andy Kroll, "Jon Huntsman: We Need a 'Grateful Dead Tour' to Save America," Mother Jones, Jan 8, 2012.