George Packer: Trump Was a Symptom

George Packer: Trump Was a Symptom

Americans were already losing touch with basic decency before Trump came along—and he exploited that indecency, distrust, and division to win power. In his new novel, George Packer spins a story of an imaginary country that just collapses, and how ordinary people have to learn to live together again. Fiction has a way of making the real world more clear. Plus, Charlie Kirk’s influence on our political climate before his death, JD’s phoniness and lust for power, Trump may be flailing but he’s still amassed immense power, and how AI moving us away from the written word threatens our democracy.

The Atlantic’s George Packer joins Tim Miller for the holiday weekend pod.

show notes

Other books by George:

Episoder(500)

Scott Galloway: Time to Send a Message to the CEOs

Scott Galloway: Time to Send a Message to the CEOs

In addition to protesting and voting, we have another option hiding in plain sight against this administration: our economic power. Scott says resistance should also include unsubscribing—from one or ...

13 Feb 50min

Adam Kinzinger: The People of Minneapolis Won

Adam Kinzinger: The People of Minneapolis Won

ICE failed in its operation in Minnesota because the people would not bend to their terror campaign. Minneapolis residents also maintained incredible discipline in their resistance and totally let Tru...

12 Feb 55min

Ben Wittes: A Defiant Ukraine

Ben Wittes: A Defiant Ukraine

Trump may keep telling Ukrainians their country is about to collapse, and Putin may keep bombing their power plants—leaving them miserably cold during one of the harshest winters in years— but Ukraini...

11 Feb 51min

Jane Coaston: The Epstein Revelations Keep Getting Worse

Jane Coaston: The Epstein Revelations Keep Getting Worse

Not only did Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick go to the Epstein island, a sultan from the UAE, who sent a “torture video” to Epstein, also attended Trump’s first inaugural. That would be the same cou...

10 Feb 53min

Bill Kristol: MAGA's Grievance Culture

Bill Kristol: MAGA's Grievance Culture

Trump of course hated Bad Bunny's halftime performance, but even he wasn't running the Turning Point alternative at Mar-a-Lago. And a couple of Olympic skiers expressing disapproval of ICE or calling ...

9 Feb 43min

David French: Our State of National Shame

David French: Our State of National Shame

Trump casually posted a racist video and the White House essentially told Americans to calm down. Convicted felons are being treated better than rounded-up immigrants in detention centers. And the eva...

6 Feb 1h 1min

Marty Baron: Behind the Washington Post’s Demise

Marty Baron: Behind the Washington Post’s Demise

The massive layoffs at Jeff Bezos's Washington Post involve more than just the financial situation at the paper. The Amazon founder's real priority is keeping Donald Trump happy so the money keeps flo...

5 Feb 45min

Robert Kagan and Marianne Williamson: Slipping Into Dictatorship

Robert Kagan and Marianne Williamson: Slipping Into Dictatorship

Donald Trump is going to do everything he can to hold onto his near monopoly on power after the midterms. Beyond his scheme to invoke the Insurrection Act through a riot he’s trying to will into being...

4 Feb 1h 8min

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