The Long Game

Andrew Sullivan was editor of The New Republic from 1991 to 1996, and has been a pioneer in more than one sense. He was one of the first writers to start blogging, launching The Daily Dish in 2000 and becoming one of the most widely read and influential bloggers in the country. And of course, Sullivan wrote the first major article in an American magazine — in 1989 in the New Republic — advocating for gay marriage, and was one of the most important figures to make the case — controversial at the time among both mainstream culture and in the gay community — for marriage equality. But he has also angered some in the gay community by arguing against hate crime laws, defending the right of religious conservatives to express their belief that homosexuality is a sin, and by saying things like, "the gay rights movement needs to just pack up and go home. I think we're done," as he did in this conversation. Sullivan wrote for New York Magazine last month about the loss of faith in our politics system, a problem that continues to grow. And we talk about that and touch on what's going on right now in Wisconsin, where the Republican Party is retrofitting the results of the fall elections by passing laws to take power away from Democrats set to take the governor's and attorney general's positions in January. But Sullivan also feels that free speech, and his ability to provoke and debate and speak his mind, is under attack from identity politics. We start out talking about Sullivan's most recent New York column, where he talked about the ways that the collapse of Christianity in America has created a religious right that is folded into a cult of personality around President Trump, and a social justice left that seeks to imbue politics with the same sort of higher meaning that religion has traditionally provided. "Both cults really do minimize the importance of the individual in favor of either the oppressed group or the leader," he wrote. Outro music: "Cherub Rock," by The Smashing Pumpkins Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last Tuesday, a group started by Stacey Abrams filed a 66-page lawsuit in federal court that listed all the ways in which the Democratic candidate for governor and her allies say Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is now governor-elect, intentionally created "an obstacle course" for voters of color. For this episode, I spoke with Lauren Groh-Wargo, who was Abrams' campaign manager during the election and is now the CEO of Fair Fight Georgia, the group that brought the lawsuit. Here's a link the lawsuit. You can watch Abrams' interview with Jake Tapper here. Outro music: "Don't Forget" by Jeff Tweedy Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There's plenty more to do about political parties, and I'll dip into that topic from time to time. But it's a good time to move into other topics as well. I've done a little of that already. Going forward, however, the podcast will shift a bit from a primary focus on political parties to a focus on short-termism vs long-term thinking. And I'll be looking at a number of different institutions: Congress, business, the media, the vote, the courts, and others. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On Tuesday voters will go to the polls to choose candidates for Congress, for statewide office, and in local elections. Here's a look back at the biggest moments that shaped the last 22 months since Donald Trump was elected President. January 21, 2017 - The Women's March February 17, 2017 - "The Enemy of the People" March 4, 2017 - Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower April 7, 2017 - Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court // April 15, 2017 - Riots in Berkeley May 9, 2017 - Trump fires Comey June 14, 2017 - A shooting at the Congressional baseball practice July 28, 2017 - McCain votes against Obamacare repeal August 11-12, 2017 - Charlottesville September 5, 2017 - Trump ends DACA October 1, 2017 - The Las Vegas Massacre November 7, 2017 - Trump visits South Korea & Democrats sweep Virginia elections December 12, 2017 - Roy Moore loses in Alabama // December 22, 2017 - Trump signs tax cut January 5, 2018 - Fire and Fury February 14, 2018 - Parkland March 13, 2018 - Conor Lamb wins April 9, 2018 - FBI raids Michael Cohen's office May 7, 2018 - Sessions announces family separation policy June 26, 2018 - Ocasio-Cortez wins in New York July 16, 2018 - The Helsinki Summit August 21, 2018 - Manafort & Cohen guilty September 27, 2018 - The Kavanaugh Hearing October 26, 2018 - Pipe bombs and caravans Outro Music - "You're Not Alone" by Mavis Staples Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We often refer to American politics now as a circus. But it's a carnival ride that best illustrates the gravitational forces that created the mess we've made of our politics. Everything now is centrifugal — pushing us away from one another and away from the center — with almost zero countervailing force. In this episode I talk about: Our loss of imagination for how to overcome challenges through working with others, and how our ideas about influence are too narrow. How this lack of creativity is fueling the dysfunctional politics we see playing out. The twin hammer blows that have weakened political parties in America, which used to balance our healthy push toward individualism. Reforms to party primaries were intended to democratize our elections, but have made them less democratic. The current system holds the majority of Americans in the "exhausted middle" hostage to the minority of Americans on the extremes of left and right. A push for greater voting rights could be combined with changes to our primaries. The sound clip of an amusement ride with voice at the beginning is from a wonderfully strange short film I found called "The Centrifuge Brain Project | A Short Film by Till Nowak." The song used in the interludes, and at the end, is "Red Hook (Live at the Jazz Standard New York, 2017)" by Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan & Joey Baron from the 2018 album, Bay of Rainbows. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you want to read a book about Trump and discuss it with someone who sees the president differently than you, this is the book to buy. "Mr. Trump's Wild Ride: The Thrills, Chills, Screams, and Occasional Blackouts of An Extraordinary Presidency," by CBS News' Major Garrett. He's the chief White House correspondent and host of "The Takeout" podcast. "I don't try to tell people to .. set aside their emotional reaction, pro or con, to this administration. What I do try to provide is a resource that tells you the most important things from my perspective, that happened, why they happened, and of those things, what are likely to be with the country for many years to come, whatever the duration of the Trump presidency is." It's a book that is often critical of Trump but in a way that might be heard by Trump supporters. And it's a book that confronts Trump critics with the reality that the president has had some accomplishments, as much as they often don't want to admit it. Garrett often finds that Trump's accomplishments are far less than what the president has said, or will have negative impacts that his supporters are not aware of. But he doesn't shy away from thinking about the Trump presidency as consequential. 1:00 — Why Major wanted to represent the voices and perspective of Trump voters in his analysis 5:10 — Why he wrote some passages from the point of view of Trump supporters or advisers, and other passages with a more critical voice. 6:54 — Why Major wanted most of his sources to be named in the book. There is one anonymous quote in the book. 9:07 — How covering the Trump presidency has been like experiencing a form of trauma. 13:07 — Major on how there are certain things we must "appreciate" about this administration in that they are facts. That doesn't mean one must like them, but they should be recognized. 18:11 — What did Trump voters hear when Trump talked about "the wall"? 21:18 — Why Major thinks it's a mistake to liberally use the "racist" label. 26:30 — How American politics is more about image than fact, and has been for some time, and what electing our first "fully-formed celebrity" says about America. 28:54 — Major talks about hearing that Bob Woodward's book would be released one week before his, and what he thinks his book does that Woodward's does not. 31:56 — Major talks about his chapter on Trump's relationship with Saudi Arabia and his interview with Jared Kushner about his relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and how all of this has impacted the U.S. government's response to the apparent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 44:37 — Major on his chapter about regulation, and how Trump's own budget office has found that regulations provide order for markets and often bring positive economic impact that outweighs the economic cost of the regulation by between 3 to 8 times as much. 47:45 — How the GOP tax bill is likely a temporary sugar high for the economy that is contributing to unsustainable debt levels. 52:57 — How dysfunction in Congress has hurt the U.S. military 55:23 — Trump has not shown a leadership instinct to bring Americans together and lead them toward a common goal Lightning round 58:30 — Major on the Mueller probe 59:06 — What happens if Democrats take the House in the midterm elections on Nov. 6? 1:00 — Major on Trump's physical constitution, what makes him tick, and how he loves to use his "crazy" against opponents 1:01 — Major on whether Jeff Flake will run for president in 2020 as a challenger from the... Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The race for governor in Georgia is intense. You could script a full Netlix mini-series around the two main characters and the history between them. But when Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the Republican candidate, denounced critics this week who say he's suppressing the black vote, he resurrected an old term that carries a lot of baggage from the deep South's dark segregationist and Jim Crow era. Outside agitators. That's what Kemp called his detractors. Here, I explore the history of that term, and of the events that brought this election to this point. You can read my article on the topic at this link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/outside-agitators-phrase-civil-rights-era-resurfaces-georgia-governors-race-185322290.html Outro music: "Atliens," by Outkast Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"You can risk going too far. You can risk saying everyone has a right and should see every single piece of everything, no matter how incredulous, how ridiculous, how over the top, how upsetting … So we're going to take you into 4Chan and show you all the most racist terrible memes and all that stuff. There's an idea now … that there are ways we can responsibly do a little more of that gatekeeping." That's BuzzFeed's Charlie Warzel talking about some of his lessons learned in his years of doing journalism coverage of conspiracy theories, attention hacking, bots, and attempts by bad actors to manipulate the public. We talk "data voids" and "grief tourism," among other things. Here's a guide to the discussion: 6:30 — Why Charlie lives in Montana — "I really think we're going to see a lot more journalists doing this." 11 —Charlie's entry into journalism as an intern on "Meet the Press" 15:35 - "The first time I ever thought critically about Facebook …" 19 - "Is it a universal good that we're all connected this much? … I haven't been able to stop thinking about it in that way." 21:27 - Why Danah Boyd refused to use Alex Jones' name in her ONA talk. 23 - What is a "data void" and how do bad actors exploit them? "You're getting information that might not have any context and might lead you down a rabbit hole." 29:22 - How the term "incel" has been one way that online radicals have manipulated media organizations and journalists. 31:35 - "It is a really tricky concept for a lot of journalists to think that they own the story." 33:15 - "It was this idea that we can't be gatekeepers. We need to be guides." "You can risk going too far. You can risk saying everyone has a right and should see every single piece of everything, no matter how incredulous, how ridiculous, how over the top, how upsetting … So we're going to take you into 4Chan and show you all the most racist terrible memes and all that stuff. There's an idea now … that there are ways we can responsibly do a little more of that gatekeeping." 38 - How some people spread conspiracy theories to undermine the media and mock the media's "grief tourism" 42 - Why it's a problem for the media that most people don't know journalists, because local media has collapsed. 46:30 - How BuzzFeed has tried to balance being a guide and a gatekeeper, and how publishing the Steele dossier fit into that. 50:30 - Two principles for a news organization deciding whether to publish something or not 51:30 - Charlie's questions about covering all of Trump's tweets as breaking news 55 - Charlie's star turn in the Netflix/BuzzFeed documentary series on tech addiction Outro Music: "Long Time Ago" by The Jayhawks Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

10 years ago, the American economy was on the edge of Freefall. A divided government overcame partisan differences to work together, in an election year. We talked to former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and many others, to get their take on whether our political system now is ready for the next crisis. Click here to read the piece by Andrew Romano and I on why we may not be prepared to respond to the next big crisis, and why. Outro music: "...There" by Andy Mineo Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sen. John McCain passed away one month ago at the age of 81. He was an American hero. In 2013, I interviewed him in his Senate office to talk about his place in history. I wrote a profile for The Huffington Post, which you can read here. But now I'm releasing the audio of the interview for the first time. Here is a link to McCain's speech on July 25, 2017, in which he told his fellow senators this: "Our system doesn't depend on our nobility. It accounts for our imperfections, and gives an order to our individual strivings that has helped make ours the most powerful and prosperous society on earth. It is our responsibility to preserve that, even when it requires us to do something less satisfying than 'winning.' Even when we must give a little to get a little. Even when our efforts manage just three yards and a cloud of dust, while critics on both sides denounce us for timidity, for our failure to 'triumph.' "I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better serve the people who elected us. Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. To hell with them. They don't want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood. "What greater cause could we hope to serve than helping keep America the strong, aspiring, inspirational beacon of liberty and defender of the dignity of all human beings and their right to freedom and equal justice? That is the cause that binds us and is so much more powerful and worthy than the small differences that divide us." Closing song: "Mama's Room," by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, from the soundtrack to "Hell or High Water" Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.