Thursday, August 31st, 2023

Kurt Andersen is a prolific writer and author of Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History. We discuss the conservative playbook to move our society culturally, economically, and politically to the right, and why continuous civic engagement and investment in Americans can restore basic fairness.

Influential conservatives capitalized on a wave of cultural nostalgia after the turbulent 1960s to turn the American economy into a version of extreme capitalism. Together with neoliberalism from the left, the New Deal was replaced by the raw deal. The US government has provided funding for many of the greatest inventions of the last century, like in pharmaceuticals and in technology. If the government acted like a private investor, it would have more funds to invest in communities and also to support more innovation.