The Daily Beast Podcast15 Nov 2020

Masha Gessen: The Problem Is Not Russian Interference. It’s That We Let It In.

President Donald Trump may be following Vladimir Putin’s Autocratic playbook closer than we all realize—and the Russian interference was just the tip of the iceberg. In this bonus members-only episode of The New Abnormal, the New Yorker staff writer and Surviving Autocracy author Masha Gessen joins co-host Molly Jong-Fast to talk about this phenomenon. They explain that leaders like Trump and Putin put a system in place to hold power, and if you’re wondering how a man like Trump could do something so seemingly elaborate, it makes sense. “The destruction they wreak is all the more effective because of the incompetence,” Gessen explains. “They thrive on instability. The more anxious people are the less likely they are to opt for change ” Biden, they say, will have to dismantle this system (though they wish the president-elect would ditch the “Build Back Better” campaign). Why? For the same reason they dislike when people solely focus on Russian interference. “We've been very stupid to focus on it as much as we have,” Gessen explains. “The problem is not Russian interference, the problem is we sank so low to where Russian interference sank in.” Plus! Hear why they compare Trump to a ‘witch afraid of water’ when it comes to lawmakers of color like AOC and the late John Lewis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(1197)

Why Trump's Top Legal Goon Can Never Lead DOJ

Andrew Weissmann joins Joanna Coles to explain why politicians can lie to the public with virtually no legal consequences, why Donald Trump's false claims about the 2020 election continue to shape Ame...

13 Jul 55min

Why Trump Is Raging at Enemy Who Keeps Beating Him

Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles break down a moment when Donald Trump appears trapped on multiple fronts, from an Iran conflict that refuses to bend to his demands to mounting questions about his polit...

12 Jul 57min

Trump Rocked By New McConnell Health Bombshell

Joanna Coles and Daily Beast executive editor Hugh Dougherty examine the mystery surrounding Mitch McConnell's sudden disappearance from public view after reports of a medical emergency, and why the u...

11 Jul 1h 2min

Why Trump's Thirst for Attention Will Unravel Him

Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles reveal what they argue is Donald Trump's true guiding principle: not policy, power, or ideology, but an unrelenting pursuit of attention. From Trump's NATO performance a...

10 Jul 1h 1min

I Know How Trump Goons Secretly Pull MAGA Strings

Ashley St. Clair, a former MAGA influencer, speaks to Joanna Coles about her extraordinary journey from rising conservative star to outspoken critic of the movement that made her famous. She reveals h...

9 Jul 59min

The Reason Why Trump Keeps Getting Worse: Wolff

Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles break down the latest clues to what's really driving Donald Trump, from his attempts to influence FIFA and his obsession with being at the center of every spectacle to t...

8 Jul 1h 5min

This Is What Trump's Crazed Posts Are Really About

David Rothkopf speaks with Joanna Coles as Donald Trump heads into a high-stakes NATO summit under a cloud of controversy, after personally intervening in an international soccer dispute that critics ...

7 Jul 1h 12min

Why Trump’s Stupidity and Grift Is Dooming Him

In this special episode of the Daily Beast Podcast, Joanna Coles shares some of her favorite recent conversations: from Jennifer Welch’s unfiltered breakdown of the personalities driving the Trump adm...

6 Jul 1h 11min