Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

81 | Ezra Klein on Politics, Polarization, and Identity

Jan 27, 2020

Ezra Klein, editor-at-large and founder of Vox, dives into the heart of political polarization in America. He sheds light on how historical shifts have led to rigid party identities and increased distrust among voters. The conversation explores the decline of persuadable voters and the implications of social media on political discourse. Klein discusses the evolving dynamics of party primaries and the need for structural changes to improve engagement. With insights from his book, he challenges listeners to reflect on their political identities and encourage dialogue across divides.

01:21:43

Episode guests

\"Ezra Klein\"

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Party Polarization

00:48

The Effects of Polarization on Policy

02:50

The Rise of Partisan Lean in the South

02:14

Intro

4min

From Blogging to Polarization: A Journey

11min

Understanding Political Behavior Through Systems and Polarization

5min

Understanding Political Polarization

11min

The Shifting Landscape of American Political Identity

3min

Navigating Voter Polarization

25min

The Dynamics of Political Primaries and Partisanship

4min

Navigating Political Polarization and Democracy

19min

People have always disagreed about politics, passionately and sometimes even violently. But in certain historical moments these disagreements were distributed without strong correlations, so that any one political party would contain a variety of views. In a representative democracy, that kind of distribution makes it easier to accomplish things. In contrast, today we see strong political polarization: members of any one party tend to line up with each other on a range of issues, and correspondingly view the other party with deep distrust. Political commentator Ezra Klein has seen this shift in action, and has studied it carefully in his new book Why We’re Polarized. We talk about the extent to which the apparent polarization is real, how we can trace its causes, and whether there’s anything we can do about it.

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Ezra Klein received a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently the editor-at-large and founder of Vox. As a writer and editor his work has appeared in/on The Washington Post, MSNBC, Bloomberg, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker. Among his awards are Blogger of the Year (The Week), 50 Most Powerful People in Washington DC (GQ), Best Online Commentary (Online News Association), and the Carey McWilliams Award (American Political Science Association).