Wake us up when Trump goes to jail, with Vinson Cunningham

Hello from three far-flung cities! 

This week, we’re joined by our pal Vinson Cunningham, staff writer and theatre critic for The New Yorker. 

After briefly interrogating Jay’s recent pivot to dad-hiker fashion (pic for subscribers only), we hear Vinson’s take on the Trump mugshot. [4:05] The image gets us talking about aesthetic self-perception, the celebrity accused in popular culture, and the lack of a good analysis of Trump’s true appeal. [41:45] Next, we discuss last week’s G.O.P. primary debate, which causes Jay to confront what fascinates him about Vivek Ramaswamy, Tammy to question her EMILYs List impulses, and Vinson to call b******t on right-wing claims of populism. 

In this episode, we ask: 

How does the Trump mugshot, a visual anomaly in the history of presidential imagery, reflect on our political system? What’s the value of similar pix in countries where former leaders are regularly imprisoned? 

Is there any ceiling on this Trump thing? 

Why didn’t the G.O.P. primary debate feature more culture-war talk? 

For more, see: 

* Vinson’s recent piece about the Trump mugshot, plus older ruminations on presidential imagery: 

* From 2017: Pete Souza and the Politics of Looking at Barack Obama

* From 2018: The Politics of Race and the Photo That Might Have Derailed Obama

* Jay’s recent articles about integration in Shaker Heights, Ohio and Vivek Ramaswamy’s debate performance 

* A Q&A by Isaac Chotiner (apols for the New Yorker plugs) about the constitutional case for barring Trump from the presidency

* Previous TTSG episodes featuring Vinson: 

* “Tár,” a film for the chattering class (February 2023) 

* "Mare of Easttown" special impromptu episode! (May 2021)  

* Vinson Cunningham on the NBA, Yang, and IRL theatre (May 2021) 

And pre-order Vinson’s forthcoming novel! 

* Out of respect for our many repeat guests, we note that this episode marks Vinson’s fourth TTSG appearance, which ties him with Hua Hsu and Jenny Wang Medina. 

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