The Realignment: Introducing the Realignment Part II - AKA the "We Get It" Edition
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Welcome Back to The Realignment
Today’s edition, and tomorrow’s quick episode, are part of my effort to properly frame The Realignment in the lead up to the 2024 election.
At a broad level, I increasingly find myself saying: “OK, we get it!” when listening to myself or another host/guest state some 2018 vintage wisdom about populism’s effect on American politics. Below are my efforts to differentiate what led me and the show to this point, and what gap I’d like to fill after.
I also answer some common questions about the show’s structure and the various products we put out, like the Supercast and this Substack.
New era
The first era of The Realignment was rooted in three events that defined 2015 and 2016: the Brexit vote, the rise of Democratic Socialism via the Bernie Sanders campaign, and of course Donald Trump’s surprise victory over Hillary Clinton.
From that period came an intense focus on the following issues and questions:
How globalization went wrong, leaving whole parts of the country behind
Why the seemingly placid Obama years led to a half decade defined by populist rage
The collapse of the post-World War II foreign policy consensus
Buyer’s remorse after two decades of post-9/11 “forever wars” popularly perceived as failures
Whether the United States was/is in a second Cold War with China
Why Donald Trump’s Republican Party over-performed with working-class voters of color
The roots of the urban vs. rural divide
Why did elite 2000s era assumptions about the rise of China not play out?
The realignment of moderate suburban voters against the Republican Party
The degree to which America’s changing demographics advantaged one political side over the other or made certain policy outcomes inevitable
The late-stage 2010s tech industry’s increasingly hostile relationship with both the left and the right
And more…
As I plan out the next era of the show, it is clear that all of the above, while initially groundbreaking/potentially edgy in the time before COVID, are broadly accepted, even in the parts of the Acela Corridor most incentivized to deny them.
The Biden administration could have abandoned President Trump’s trade war with China. There is a world where: “Make America 2013 again” became the rallying cry of the center left. Instead, Biden launched a potentially fatal assault on the Chinese semiconductor industry. And it would have been easy to leave a potential TikTok forced-sale/ban back in 2020, especially given the app’s popularity with the young voters Biden needs to turn out in 2024.
The above is not necessarily an endorsement of every action the Biden administration has taken. It is simply the recognition that the underlying assumptions undergirding Washington, DC have shifted. A *ahem* realignment if you will.
The question then, is that if most everyone agrees, or at least takes seriously these realignment era assumptions, what actually should be done? That is the question that Part II of the show is focused on answering. More to come in this space.
All that said, below you’ll find some of my favorite of the first 350+ episodes the show published.
If you’re new and looking to catch up, or are looking to rehash key take-aways over the past few years, this will be right up your alley.
301 | Rana Foroohar: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World
295 | Chris Miller: The Chip War and the Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
265 | Peter Leyden: Is California the Future of American Politics?
261 | Katherine Boyle: Getting Serious About American Dynamism
260 | Marc Andreessen on Everything: The Need to Build, Web3's Value, Political Realignments, Collapsing Trust, U.S. History, and More...
255 | Peter Zeihan: The End of the World Is Just the Beginning
237 | Matthew Continetti: What's the Future of the Right in a Realigning America?
167 | Evan Osnos: The Making of America’s Fury and China’s Ambition
153 | Amy Chua: How Tribalism Set the World on Fire After 9/11
140 | Antonio García Martínez: America’s Thirty Years’ War
139 | George Packer: How America Fractured and the Way Forward
115 | Frank DiStefano: The Next Realignment and Why America’s Parties Are Crumbling + Extended Q&A
92 | Michael Lind, The Failure of Populism and the Class War After Trump + Extended Q&A
Relatedly, some listeners/readers asked for a straightforward summary of how we exactly fund the show’s work.
How we monetize The Realignment
Supercast
Every two weeks, Saagar and I release question & answer episodes for Supercast subscribers. We also offer a free, un-paywalled discussion for listeners who may be on the fence about subscribing.
We’re recording this upcoming Friday’s Supercast episode tomorrow, so if you’re a subscriber and haven’t submitted any questions yet, do so here.
The Supercast is one of the main ways that we fund and produce the show. It’s great to receive the support of Lincoln Network and the Hewlett Foundation, but the only way to maintain editorial independence is the knowledge that we can go our own way if necessary.
The Hewlett Foundation
Two years ago, The Realignment received a generous grant from the Hewlett Foundation’s Economy and Society program. The grant helps us produce the show without the need to get clicks. Niche podcasts are important, but they’re difficult to fund via traditional advertising.
Substack
A question I often get is: why launch a paid Substack when there is already a subscription Supercast?
The Supercast is Saagar and my joint project. Not only do we release the exclusive content together, but we also co-own the LLC that owns the podcast.
I launched the paid version of this newsletter because I wanted a venue for my work independent of Saagar. A space where I can build out my own ideas. Plus, for tax liability purposes, I don’t want to involve Saagar.
This Substack sends out a subscriber-only post every two weeks on Fridays, typically alternating with the Supercast. I have attached a paywalled/subscriber section in this newsletter since I did not send out a paid version this previous Friday.
As mentioned previously, Supercast subscribers who have generously paid for the $500 lifetime membership are automatically given access to the paid newsletter as well.
Today’s subscriber-only post examines why establishment Republicans seeking to win working-class votes haven’t gone all the way and adopted the sort of broad policy agenda one would find in American Affairs or American Compass.