Leading NY Times writer Frank Bruni discusses American culture's descent into tribalism, grievance politics, and lack of compromise. Social media exacerbates disconnection. Calls for non-partisan primaries and moderation. Emphasizes the need for common ground and recognition of the common good in society.
01:02:29
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Nuance Has Been Replaced By Tribal Filters
Americans have banished nuance and now filter everything through tribal loyalties.
That eliminates compromise and makes government dysfunction and social hostility more likely.
insights INSIGHT
Pessimism Turns Gains Into Zero-Sum Threats
Pessimism turns gains for others into a zero-sum threat rather than shared progress.
That mindset fosters competition instead of collaboration across society and politics.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Brittany Griner As A Cautionary Example
Bruni uses the Brittany Griner case to show how predetermined narratives are imposed on events.
He warns that overusing claims of racism, sexism, or homophobia cheapens those real problems.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Leading New York Times writer and best-selling author Frank Bruni joined us for an in-depth discussion of his most recent book The Age of Grievance which focuses on American culture's fall into pessimism and the binary world of choosing sides, tribalism, and the pressing need for compromise and common ground. It is somewhat global (as with Brexit) but largely an American phenomenon of a scale never imagined and at the center, says Bruni, is ugly politics. Though more consequential and perilous from the right than from the left, there are grievance merchants and grievance entrepreneurs on both sides and Bruni went into an example on the left side of the political spectrum of the use of identity politics with Brittany Greiner and on the right with the power of Donald Trump. Though originally all about social connection, social media makes all of it worse and creates disconnection. Bruni, a Duke journalism professor, also emphasized the role of the media in exacerbating the pervasive sense of grievance and he spoke of geographic sorting after the Dobbs abortion decision being like social media. He spoke, too, of the power of consumers and the need for more open and non-partisan primaries, ranked-choice voting, and overall moderation and major change in both political and civil culture, including a deeper recognition of the common good and how our welfare is bound together as citizens. We concluded with talk about whether he missed being a restaurant or movie critic, his feelings about being a gay professor, Seinfeld's appearance at Duke, and the extent of emphasis in academia on trigger warnings. A fascinating discussion with one of the nation's leading and most respected thinkers.
Grey Matter with Michael Krasny