How to Save a Country

The Unfinished Business of Saving Democracy Jun 29, 2023

Over the last two seasons, Felicia and Michael have talked with politicians, superstar activists, and renowned academics—from Senator Elizabeth Warren to economist Thomas Piketty.

In this final episode of How to Save a Country, they’re taking a look back, and hashing out debates they’ve had between themselves along the way: What’s the real difference between “progressive” and “liberal”? What big projects should the left set their sights on, and which are politically out of reach? And how well does “the middle out” work as a descriptor for post-neoliberalism?

And later, they play back some of the boldest ideas guests have discussed on the show, including expanding the House of Representatives (a pet cause of Michael’s).

“I hope that in the years to come, we can look back on this capsule of conversations that we’ve had over the last few seasons and see that we captured a moment in time. Right on the cusp of changing the economic paradigm, but before that paradigm was fully instantiated,” says Felicia.

“And I hope that we can see these conversations as a prelude maybe to a new way of organizing, organizing our economy, organizing our democracy, organizing and fighting for our vision of freedom.”

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Fascism Disguised as Freedom (with Jefferson Cowie) Jun 22, 2023

What do people mean when they talk about freedom? Throughout history, that question has often had dark answers, as Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Jefferson Cowie explains in this episode.

“Going all the way back to Athenian democracy is the freedom to enslave, the freedom to oppress, the freedom to dominate,” he tells Felicia and Michael.

In his book, Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power—which won the 2023 Pulitzer for History—Jefferson argues that this kind of freedom is deeply American, and explores the story of one place that exemplifies it: Barbour County, Alabama.

Jefferson takes Michael and Felicia on a journey through the county’s history, highlighting the treatment of the Muscogee Nation, political dynamics during the Reconstruction Era, and the political career of four-time Alabama governor and Barbour County native George Wallace.

And later, Jefferson, Felicia, and Michael discuss the present-day fight over freedom, and the role historians have in this moment of political instability.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Capital in the 2020s (with Thomas Piketty) Jun 15, 2023

Almost a decade ago, economist Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century changed the way many people understood capitalism and inequality.

In the years since, his research and ideas have helped jolt our politics out of autopilot and elevate solutions like a wealth tax into the mainstream.

This episode—recorded in Paris following a panel discussion Thomas and Felicia participated in with historian Gary Gerstle—is about what comes next.

“I think it's important that progressives . . . start thinking again not only about next week, but also about next decade and next century,” Thomas tells Felicia.

He talks about the possibility of a universal basic inheritance, the battle for progressive taxation, and what he sees as the key to prosperity: “much more investment in education, human capital, public infrastructure.”

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

The Deep[ly Necessary] State (with K. Sabeel Rahman) Jun 08, 2023

If you’ve never heard of OIRA, you aren’t alone. But while small, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is a mighty federal agency, with a vital role in reviewing and implementing executive branch regulations.

It’s also a popular target for some on the right. When conservatives target the administrative state and paint executive powers or civil service as overreaching, agencies like OIRA are what they’re disparaging.

What would the US look like without the administrative state? And what can progressives do to protect it? This week, Felicia and Michael ask those questions (and many more) of OIRA’s recent leader, K. Sabeel Rahman, who served in the agency from 2021 to early 2023.

Sabeel is the co-founder and co-chair of the Law and Political Economy Project, the former president of the think tank Demos, and the author of the books Democracy against Domination and Civic Power: Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis (co-authored by Hollie Russon Gilman).

As Sabeel tells Michael and Felicia, OIRA is indispensable in that rebuilding.

“Of course we want our government to be responsive and accountable to the public,” Sabeel says. “But I would actually argue that the way we do that is through the regulatory process, through having policymakers in government who are apolitical, neutral civil servants whose whole mission is to serve the public, not to serve any one party.”

And later, the trio discuss OIRA’s efforts to make government services more accessible and reflect on the too-close-for-comfort debt ceiling battle.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

In Pursuit of the Climate-Proof City (from the Politics of Everything) Jun 01, 2023

This week, we’re sharing an episode from our friends over at The Politics of Everything, a biweekly podcast from The New Republic that explores the intersection of culture, media, and politics through interviews with scholars and journalists.

In ways large and small, the changing climate affects how we live and, for a growing number of people, where we live. Many have already relocated because conditions have become too dangerous back home, whether due to sea level rise, wildfires, or drought. Others are moving preemptively, aiming to settle in a region with less perceived climate risk. On episode 65 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk to journalists Debra Kamin and Jake Bittle about the effect that small-scale climate migration is having on one “climate-proof” city—and the potential ramifications of widespread population relocation in the future.

This podcast is sponsored by Columbia University Press. To learn more, please visit cup.columbia.edu.

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How Feminist Economics Brought Us the Care Agenda (with Nancy Folbre) May 25, 2023

What is feminist economics? How is the field changing what we want from policy? And what is the value of unpaid labor in our economy? In this episode, renowned economist Nancy Folbre answers those questions, and traces the much-needed rise of the care agenda.

Nancy is director of the program on gender and care work at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She’s the editor of For Love and Mercy: Care Provision in the United States, and author of Greed, Lust, and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas, among other works.

As she tells Michael, feminist ideas once considered subversive are now common in the mainstream–and changing how policymakers think about the economy.

“I think we want to consider what the output of the care economy is, and the actual output is us. It's our capabilities,” says Nancy. “The care economy is about the production and the development and also the maintenance of human capabilities. This doesn't factor into GDP.”

And later, Michael and Felicia discuss how care can be a winning political message.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

An Academic Walks into a Diner (with Danielle Allen) May 18, 2023

One of the clearest ways to see how a political idea lands in the real world is to hit the campaign trail. These ideas go through the ultimate test in cafes and backyards, in conversations with people who want to share their own experiences. Last year, Harvard political philosophy professor Danielle Allen was able to experience this firsthand when she ran for governor of Massachusetts.

This week, Danielle—who is also the founder and president of the organization Partners in Democracy—speaks with Felicia and Michael about her 15-month campaign and what she learned about our political institutions.

“The thing that was amazing about that was how frank people were in sharing about their lives, challenges, frustrations, tragedies,” Danielle says. “And so what I came to understand was that this actually conveyed a deep faith and optimism in the power of our institutions to deliver for people.”

Michael and Felicia also talk to Danielle about the policies she advocated, what freedom for all actually looks like, and her most recent book, Justice by Means of Democracy.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Red Nation, Blue Nation (with Michael Podhorzer) May 11, 2023

Political pundits often discuss the differences between red and blue states in the US. But political strategist Michael Podhorzer argues that this framework drastically understates the true nature of the divisions in our country. We have always been more like two separate nations—tenuously united under the Constitution. These “red and blue nations,” as he calls them, are divided by geography, by political economy, and by different views toward religion and even toward democracy itself.

In this week’s episode, Podhorzer—former political director of the AFL-CIO—talks with Felicia and Michael Tomasky about the historical origins of this split, the ramifications for electoral strategy, and the role the Supreme Court has played in hardening these divisions.

“They don't actually hear cases anymore,” Podhorzer says. “They look for opportunities to legislate. And in fact, I think that's really the frame we need to think about the court now: It's the only functioning legislative body in the country.”

The trio also discusses the 2024 election, the Federalist Society, and the importance of unions.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

The Neoliberal Order Is Over. What Comes Next? (with Gary Gerstle) May 04, 2023

The majority of people who participate in or follow US politics focus on four- and six-year election cycles. But certain political and economic developments take place over much longer time scales, as our guest this episode knows well.

Historian Gary Gerstle, author of the recent book The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era, calls these longer stages in our political history “political orders”—a concept he created with Steve Fraser (co-editor of a previous book).

Political orders are a new way to conceptualize political time, Gary explains to Michael and Felicia. They are political movements that are able to popularize certain norms and ideas with the general public, and also sway opposing political parties to align with said norms and ideas.

This week, Gary takes Felicia and Michael on a historical journey spanning nearly a century to discuss domestic and international factors that led to the ascension and demise of the New Deal and neoliberal orders.

They also discuss the present, including different possibilities for the next political order. One possibility, Gary explains, is a revived progressive political order—one that “harks back to successful elements of the New Deal while also guiding us in new directions, with the ability to take into consideration those issues that the New Deal either ignored or repressed.”

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

How Culture Warriors Seized the Right (with Julie Kohler) Apr 27, 2023

Once the foot soldiers of the right-wing movement, social conservatives are increasingly setting the agenda, arguing for a state that takes an active role in shaping and preserving traditional institutions like the nuclear family. However, this vision of family offered by social conservatives is inextricably linked with a disturbingly retrograde view of gender, sexuality, reproductive rights, and American history.

This week, Michael and Felicia talk to Julie Kohler—writer and host of the podcast White Picket Fence, which is about the fractured politics of white women. Julie’s writing on politics, feminism, and gender and family under neoliberalism has appeared in outlets like CNN, the Washington Post, Fortune, the Daily Beast, and Democracy, A Journal of Ideas.

Julie, Michael, and Felicia discuss the role social conservatives played in American politics in the past, and the increasing power this coalition wields in politics today.

“At the most extreme, if you really endorse this notion that the state should be playing a role in establishing moral culture, what you can end up with is a comfort with, if not open embrace of, illiberal authoritarianism,” Julie says.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

We Can Defeat Zero-Sum Politics (with Heather McGhee) Apr 20, 2023

In front of a live audience at the Hewlett Foundation’s New Common Sense Conference in March, Felicia and Michael talk to New York Times bestselling author Heather McGhee about her book The Sum of Us and how racism impacts the implementation and perception of public goods and services. Her research for the book, and for the audio documentary podcast that followed, took her across America and gave her unique insight into how racial resentment can be an obstacle to a better world—and how to overcome it.

Heather argues that the “zero-sum mindset” has altered many white people’s support for public infrastructure because they falsely believe progress for people of color must come at their expense. To combat zero-sum politics, she says, we need to work across our differences to achieve a common good. Heather calls the material improvements that come from this the “solidarity dividend.”

“There are gains, real gains, that we can unlock—cleaner air and water, higher wages, better funded schools—but through the power of cross-racial solidarity,” she explains.

Heather, Michael, and Felicia also talk about how powerful stories shape our beliefs and politics; how housing, inequality, and racial segregation are linked; and how neoliberalism undercut the aspirations of the civil rights movement.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

What Drives Our Political Behavior (with Dr. Lilliana Mason) Apr 13, 2023

To understand the challenges of this moment, we need to be clear-eyed about the emotional dynamics of partisanship and the dangerous tendencies they’ve fostered—people who care more about their group winning than the greater good, or about policies that would help us all.

Today’s guest is the perfect person to explain this phenomenon.

Dr. Lilliana Mason is an expert in political psychology and group psychology, and the co-author of Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, Its Causes, and the Consequences for Democracy.

As she’s observed in her research, many of our political behaviors aren't rational or even individual. And that’s because our political identities have become mega-identities. They don’t just represent how we think government should work or what our policy preferences are; these identities now encompass where we go to church, where we went to school, our values, and our prejudices.

“Before the social sorting occurred, the status of our party was the only thing at risk in every election,” Dr. Mason says. “But now that we have all of these other important identities linked to the status of our party, every election feels like it's also about the status of our religious group and our racial group, and our culture and where we live, and who we grew up with.”

And later, Dr. Mason talks with Felicia and Michael about the threat of white supremacist and anti-democratic blocs, the importance of union participation as a tool for progress, and the need for truth-telling with compassion.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

The Art of Progressive Persuasion (with Maurice Mitchell) Apr 06, 2023

Whether you’re a canvasser knocking on doors or a member of Congress building coalitions on the House floor, persuasion is a fundamental part of politics. In recent years, deepening polarization has led to a renewed focus on voter turnout, but Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, argues that persuasion needs to be a bigger part of progressive strategy. Fresh off a tour on this topic with Anand Giridharadas, author of The Persuaders, Maurice stopped by How to Save a Country to talk to Felicia and Michael about how progressives can better engage with those outside their politics—or outside politics altogether.

Maurice has been organizing for racial, social, and economic justice for decades, and played a pivotal role in organizing the first Movement for Black Lives conference in 2015. Now, he’s helping to make the Working Families Party a political home for a progressive and multiracial working-class movement.

“We’re trying to organize people to counterbalance the influence of organized capital,” he tells Felicia and Michael.

Maurice offers insights on how to engage with someone who fundamentally disagrees with you, and compares persuasion strategies between the right and the left. He discusses how progressive organizations can focus on the most important battles, by expanding on his essay that shook the progressive movement last fall: “Building Resilient Organizations.”

Finally, he argues that progressives need to adopt a more active role: “It’s helpful that we have ideas that work, but we need to persuade others that our ideas are their ideas.”

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Season 2 Trailer Mar 30, 2023

In season 1 of How to Save a Country, hosts Felicia Wong (Roosevelt Institute) and Michael Tomasky (The New Republic) spoke to progressive luminaries about democracy-saving ideas at the intersection of economics, law, and politics.

Today, thanks to some surprising legislative successes, some of those big ideas are a lot more real. In Season 2, Felicia and Michael ask: what happens when ideas hit the real world? Where are they working? How can we do better? What ideas might work tomorrow?

New episodes beginning April 6. Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX.

BONUS: Who Really Ended the Cold War? (with Brad DeLong) Feb 16, 2023

In our last bonus episode before the launch of season 2, we bring you an unaired clip from a previous episode with economic historian Brad DeLong.

Felicia, Michael, and Brad discuss a point from Brad’s book, Slouching Towards Utopia, about whether neoliberalism persisted as long as it did because of the perception that it won the Cold War for the US. They also discuss the tension between domestic and international economics, particularly in relation to the Inflation Reduction Act, and what listeners can look forward to in season 2 of How to Save a Country.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

BONUS: Sen. Elizabeth Warren on crypto’s cold, dark winter Jan 19, 2023

Crypto has dominated headlines lately—and none of them have been good, to say the least.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is facing fraud charges. Another lending platform, Celsius, went bankrupt. The value of Bitcoin has fallen by half, with other digital coins tumbling along behind it.

Amid this crypto winter, we’re revisiting the case for regulation in the crypto markets with this previously unaired clip from our fall conversation with Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

BONUS: The future of the House with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Jan 05, 2023

To kick off a new year and a new congressional term, we’re bringing you a previously unaired clip from our conversation with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, now minority leader in the House.

Leader Jeffries gives his take on divisions within the Democratic Party and its wide spectrum of beliefs. “We’re noisy,” he says, but we “get something over the finish line.” But first, Michael and Felicia discuss the Republican struggle to elect a House speaker, and talk about the long-term implications of that party’s apparent inability to get the basics of governing done. Spoiler alert: It isn’t likely to be pretty.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

BONUS: Talking democracy and oligarchy with Dorian Warren Dec 22, 2022

For our first bonus episode, we’re bringing you a never-before-heard clip from our conversation with labor scholar Dorian Warren.

Dorian talks through the sometimes strangely compatible relationship between inequality and democracy. We want to hear your thoughts on this episode! Tweet @FeliciaWongRI and @mtomasky to let them know what you think.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

That '70s Show (from The Politics of Everything) Dec 15, 2022

This week, we’re sharing an episode from our friends over at The Politics of Everything, a biweekly podcast from The New Republic that explores the intersection of culture, media, and politics through interviews with scholars and journalists.

Are we headed back to the 1970s? Politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum insist we are. They also make clear that nothing could be worse. Why is the decade so feared? What kinds of policy do the grim warnings justify? On episode 56 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene speak with the writer Aaron Timms about “nostophobia,” a term he coined to describe a condition that is something like the opposite of nostalgia, and “’70s syndrome,” the variant currently gripping our collective imagination. It’s hard to see how we fix the problems of today with the same failed policy solutions of the 1970s—but that isn’t stopping anyone from trying.

Good Policy, Good Politics (with Sen. Elizabeth Warren) Dec 08, 2022

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is known as the plan-wielding policy wonk of the progressive movement. But underlying those plans is a simple idea: We are the government.

“Government is the vehicle for letting us do together what none of us can do alone,” Sen. Warren tells Felicia and Michael. “We all contribute and it expands opportunity for all of us, and I feel like that's what's really been missing as we've become a post–New Deal nation.”

In this episode, Sen. Warren discusses how we can recapture that all-for-one ethos and build a stronger country: by investing in people and recognizing that democracy and freedom are inextricable.

Naturally, there’s plenty of policy to discuss as well. Sen. Warren talks with Felicia and Michael about the big wins of the last two years—from the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act to student debt cancellation—and how they shaped the midterms.

“Good policy is good politics. When you do things that people want and care about and that touch their lives, that's both.”

And later, Sen. Warren explains how her “personnel is policy” philosophy is reflected in antitrust and why abortion is a kitchen-table issue.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

A Tale of Two Recoveries: What’s Changed since the Great Recession Dec 01, 2022

Fun fact: The US economy’s rebound from the COVID recession has been five times faster than its recovery after the Great Recession.

You read that right. And to explain why that is—and how workers have benefited—we’ve got two people who’ve had front-row seats in the Obama and Biden administrations.

Joelle Gamble is the current chief economist at the US Department of Labor; Heidi Shierholz (now the president of the Economic Policy Institute) was its chief economist between 2014 and 2017.

Together, they talk with Felicia and Michael about how the shifts in economic policy thinking over the last decade helped produce today’s record-breaking recovery.

“The economy is not like the freaking weather, right? Like it really is a policy choice,” Heidi says. “The difference in the speed of the recovery really, really underscores just how unbelievably important fiscal policy is, like Keynesian stimulus, to generating a strong recovery.”

Joelle and Heidi discuss how to measure a recovery, why this inflation moment is a corporate profit story, and how to shift people’s view of the government’s role—by “doing things that help people and doing them well,” Joelle says.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Why Neoliberalism Is Finally on the Way Out (with Brad DeLong) Nov 17, 2022

Brad DeLong knows a thing or two about the US economy. As one of the world’s leading macroeconomists, a former Treasury Department deputy assistant secretary, and author of the new book Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century, Brad is an expert on both the history and theory of neoliberalism.

And he’s as surprised as anyone that it came to power so completely, and that it’s lasted this long.

“In my heart of hearts, I still cannot believe that the New Deal order collapsed as rapidly as it did in the 1970s,” Brad says.

In this episode, Brad and hosts Felicia Wong and Michael Tomasky dig into what came next, and Michael comes out of host mode to talk about his book The Middle Out: The Rise of Progressive Economics and a Return to Shared Prosperity—which incidentally released on the same day as Brad’s.

Together, they discuss what neoliberalism is (always a matter of debate), when and how it became the dominant way of thinking about the economy, and why it’s finally on the way out. Maybe.

Brad also talks to Michael and Felicia about the ways in which he says his generation failed, and what the next generation must do to meet the new challenges of the 21st century, from the climate crisis to wealth inequality.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Making Meaning from the Midterms Nov 10, 2022

The morning after Election Day, Michael and Felicia look at how progressive ideas—particularly economic ideas—fared throughout the country. They discuss why we might be in a new era of midterms, what the media got wrong about election narratives, what political ads can tell us about economic policy, and whether elected officials can connect the dots between rhetoric and reality.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

How the Green New Deal Changed the Conversation (with Rhiana Gunn-Wright) Nov 03, 2022

Few have done more to change the climate paradigm than Rhiana Gunn-Wright.

As an architect of the Green New Deal, Rhiana was instrumental in expanding the limits of climate policy, and telling a story far larger—and more inspiring—than curbing carbon emissions by taxing them.

The Green New Deal’s vision: affirmative investment in green industries, decarbonization as an engine of economic growth, and racial equity and job creation at the center of the national project.

“They wanted a World War II style economic mobilization that would cut emissions in 10 years, create millions of jobs, and…reduce the racial wealth gap. And so my job was basically to figure out how you could do that,” Rhiana tells Felicia and Michael.

Now director of climate policy at the Roosevelt Institute, Rhiana sees the legacy of that vision in today’s politics. Environmental justice is now an essential part of the narrative; and industrial policy, which she has championed for years, is becoming mainstream.

“Back in 2019 when I was doing all these interviews, not a day went by where people didn't ask me, ‘Well, why should equity be part of this? Why should racial justice be part of discussions about climate or decarbonization?’” Rhiana recalls. “And now you can't actually have a conversation about climate without mentioning equity and justice and environmental justice.”

Rhiana also talks with Felicia and Michael about why she thinks the Inflation Reduction Act is a mixed bag, why industrial policy must include transforming our approach to child care and elder care, and how to change people's understanding of where wealth comes from by telling a story of public investment and inclusion.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

House Leadership: The Next Generation (with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries) Oct 27, 2022

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is a rising star in the Democratic Party and the likely front-runner to be the next House leader. He’s also quite the policy wonk, as Felicia and Michael learn in this episode.

What drives the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and what’s his vision for the next generation of leadership?

Rep. Jeffries, who grew up in a union family in Crown Heights, traces his political journey back to the 1992 Rodney King trial. “There was a shock at the injustice of an acquittal. And I remember saying to myself that…[I want] to fight for the principles of equal protection under the law, liberty, and justice for all in the purest possible way.”

Three decades later—on the heels of what he calls “one of the most productive legislative sessions in the history of the country”—Rep. Jeffries discusses what implementation of clean energy investments will require, why solving the affordable housing crisis is one of his top priorities, and how progressives can better communicate their accomplishments and goals.

“We're going to have to do a better job moving forward, of recognizing that there's a distinction between governing and messaging,” he says. “You govern in fine print. You message, you persuade, you communicate in headlines.”

Rep. Jeffries also talks about the historic role of the Congressional Black Caucus, and what being middle-class actually means in today's economy.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

An Immigration Plan for the Climate Change Era (with Deepak Bhargava) Oct 20, 2022

Deepak Bhargava has a big idea: America should live up to the best parts of our national identity and become the most welcoming country on Earth for immigrants and refugees. His Statue of Liberty Plan proposes a target of welcoming 75 million people over the course of the next decade. To do that, and counter broader authoritarian appeals, we need a new narrative rooted in progressive values.

Deepak is a CUNY distinguished lecturer in Urban Studies, a Roosevelt senior fellow, and former President and Executive Director of Center for Community Change, and his ideas come at a crucial moment. In the coming years, an existing trend will accelerate: The people who contributed the least to the climate crisis will bear the worst of its effects. According to the World Bank, there will be 143 million climate migrants from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia by 2050. Given the scope of our country’s historic contributions to the climate crisis, this presents an urgent question: As Deepak asks, “If you burned your neighbor's house down and they came to your door, knocking, asking for refuge, what's your responsibility?”

Deepak, Michael, and Felicia discuss the moral imperatives behind a progressive vision for immigration and what kind of civil society movement would be necessary to see it through.

Deepak also talks about his vision and strategy for the broader progressive movement: Returning to the fundamentals of organizing. Listening seriously to what people want and need. And telling a good story that makes sense. “There are millions and millions of people in this country who would participate in its renewal, who would participate in this fight if they are asked,” he says. “We can win this.”

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

The Supreme Court Is Back in Session. What's the Progressive Plan? Oct 13, 2022

Last term, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority showed that it was unafraid of flexing its muscle when it voted to overturn Roe v. Wade—a landmark ruling that had been in place for nearly half a century. Now that the Supreme Court has begun a new term, how can progressives prepare for a conservative majority that’s highly skeptical of government power?

Yale Law professor Amy Kapczynski has unique insight into what the Supreme Court could do this term, and what it means for the current and future state of our democracy. Amy, a former AIDS activist, is faculty co-director of Yale’s Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project, which seeks to explain how the law shapes our economy, and what that means for our ability to solve urgent social problems.

“It’s going to be very hard to do,” she tells Felicia and Michael, “to tackle changes that are existential for the United States, like climate change, without addressing the actual persons and the majority on this court.”

Amy, who has clerked at the Supreme Court for Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen Breyer, discusses the future of the court and its expected voting record, legal originalism’s impact on modern justices, and why progressives need to move from a defensive position to a positive vision if they want to protect the Constitution and democracy’s commitment to equality, racial justice, and reproductive freedom.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Why Labor Unions Are Back, and How They Can Save Democracy (with Dorian Warren) Oct 06, 2022

In the mid-1950s, nearly 3 in 10 employed workers belonged to a union. Now that figure is down to about 10 percent—or just 6 percent in the private sector alone.

But labor organizing and pro-worker policymaking are on the rise. At more than 200 Starbucks outlets, an Amazon warehouse, and even an Apple store, workers are banding together to ask for higher wages, better benefits, and more control over their schedules and workplace conditions.

Dorian Warren has been a leader in those efforts. Dorian is a labor scholar and organizer, and the co-president of Community Change, a national organization that builds the power of low-income people—especially low-income people of color.

“This is actually an exciting time for the labor movement,” he tells Felicia and Michael. “There is something really going on across the spectrum in terms of one's class background, racial and gender background.”

Dorian talks about the diversity of those pushing for unionization in modern America, the importance of federal leadership when it comes to labor rights, and what’s really at stake: “No labor movement means no strong democracy. No labor movement means no middle class.”

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Our Democracy Is in Trouble, But We’ve Been Here Before (with Heather Cox Richardson) Sep 29, 2022

Heather Cox Richardson's wildly popular Substack newsletter, Letters from an American, achieves what historical studies do at their best: shed light on the politics of the moment by telling parallel stories from the past. As often as the word "unprecedented" comes up in modern political discussions, the comparisons it conjures are usually limited to living memory—which historians know to look beyond.

The newsletter is drawn from Richardson's work as a professor of 19th century American history at Boston College. She's also the author of six books including, most recently, To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.

In this conversation, Richardson talks with Michael and Felicia about today’s polarization, the last time antidemocratic forces threatened to take hold of Congress, and the origins of the American public's susceptibility to conspiracy theories.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Why the Biden Economy Is Better Than You Think (with Brian Deese) Sep 22, 2022

Fresh off a legislative winning streak, the Biden administration is having a moment right now. But those unprecedented investments in driving clean energy innovation and rebuilding supply chains are poised to reshape the American economy for the next decade and beyond.

Brian Deese, Director of the National Economic Council, had a lot to do with that.

Brian joins the podcast to talk about the uniting principle behind the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act: "competent, effective government focused on investing in the United States, building in the United States, building capacity that's going to connect to people's lives.”

But first, co-hosts Felicia Wong and Michael Tomasky discuss their mission for the podcast's first season: challenging neoliberalism's prescription for small government, trickle-down tax cuts, and an unquestioning faith in markets—and offering an alternative vision for an economy and democracy that work for all of us.

Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX. Generous funding for this podcast was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Omidyar Network. Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of its funders.

You can find transcripts and related resources for every episode at howtosaveacountry.org.

Welcome to How to Save a Country Sep 15, 2022

On "How to Save a Country," hosts Felicia Wong (Roosevelt Institute) and Michael Tomasky (The New Republic) introduce you to the people and ideas moving America forward in uncertain times.

With their insights and ideas, they'll connect the dots across economics, law, and politics to show there is a way forward for our democracy — even if it doesn't feel that way.
New episodes every Thursday. Presented by the Roosevelt Institute, The New Republic, and PRX.

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