Last fall, I had the extraordinary opportunity to travel to Delhi, India, to give a talk to young Indian liberals. The topic was the connection between Buddhist philosophy and liberalism. If you’re a regular reader of my work, or listen to my podcast, you’ll know this connection has been central to my work for some time. I believe that Buddhist ideas give us important tools for understanding not just why we ought to be liberals, but why liberalism is the best political system for make the world better.

This bonus episode of ReImagining Liberty is the audio of that talk. You can also read a transcript of it if you prefer.

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If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

The rise of Trump is, in many ways, a story about status. Plenty of Americans feel like their relative status has fallen in recent decades, and they believe Trump, both as an embodiment of their identity and values and as a wielder of vast power, can give them that status back.

That's the argument my guest made in a recent essay at the Bulwark called "Trump’s Secret Weapon Has Always Been Status Anxiety." Alan Elrod is President & CEO of the Pulaski Institution and columnist at Arc Digital.

We explore how status is perceived, the role of attention in shaping political narratives, and the generational shifts in attitudes towards status and authenticity. We discuss the exhaustion of political engagement, the importance of civic connection, and the challenges posed by online interactions in fostering a civil society. Ultimately, this is a conversation highlighting the need for community engagement and the restoration of social capital in addressing the current political climate.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

In this conversation, Aaron Ross Powell and Anthony L. Fisher (Senior Editor at MSNBC Daily) discuss the political landscape following Trump's second inauguration, focusing on the rapid changes in governance, the Democratic response, and the fractured media environment. They explore the implications of these dynamics on public opinion and the importance of engaging in new media spaces, particularly podcasts, to effectively communicate liberal values and counteract authoritarian tendencies.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

We've talked a lot about gender on this show, in the context of transgender rights, the way declining relative status drives men to the political right, and the broader role gender plays in the political environment. The results of the presidential election in November proved just how central gender is to story of rising illiberalism, with men shifting right while women shifted left.

To discuss how we should read this shift, and dig into what's causing it, I've brought back Samantha Hancox-Li, who I last had on the show in September to talk about the distinction between progressivism and liberalism. Samantha's a writer, game designer, and associate editor at Liberal Currents, where she recently published an excellent essays called "The Crisis of Gender Relations."

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty, I encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

For this first episode to be recorded after the results of the presidential election, I've brought on my friend and former colleague ⁠Walter Olson⁠. Walter is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a staunch defender of democracy and liberal institutions, and an expert in the processes and law of American elections.We talk about why the election went the way it went, avenues for electoral reform, and what lessons liberals should take from the results, given that we now need to commit ourselves, over the next four years, to a rigorous defense of liberalism.If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty, I encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠.Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

Today's episode was recorded a few weeks before the results of the November presidential election, and before an unrelated change I've made to this podcast. So before we jump into my conversation with Matthew McManus, I wanted to take a moment to give some context and talk about ReImagining Liberty going forward.

First, for all of its life, ReImagining Liberty has been a listener supported show, and the way listeners supported it was to become paying members and get early access to new episodes. Starting today, I'm no longer doing that. Every episode of ReImagining Liberty will come out when it's ready, and I've turned off paid memberships. I did this primarily because I had an increasingly difficult time being consistent with the show's release schedule, and I didn't want people paying to get early access to episodes that weren't coming out on time. If you're listening to the show right now, nothing changes for you. You'll continue to get episodes right here--just now at the same time as every else.

That said, if you do want to support ReImagining Liberty, there are three ways you can do it. First, leave a review on Apple Podcasts. This helps Apple to show the podcast to more people, and encourages people who find it to subscribe. Second, tell your friends. If you like an episode, forward it along to someone. If you like the show, tell people about it. Third, I have a free newsletter at www.aaronrosspowell.com. Sign up for that to get my new writing. Any or all of those three is a huge help and does a ton for the show.

Okay, now on to today's episode.

The election results very much have liberalism on the defensive. The Trump years are likely to be quite dark, the darkest most of us have seen in our lifetimes. There's a lot liberals can do to fight back, and we'll explore that in future episodes.

One area we need to pay a lot of attention to is why the arguments we make--and by "we" I mean what we might label "market liberals"--fail to persuade everyone they need to persuade.

Today's episode is very much about that. It's about a position that overlaps with a lot of liberal principles, but also rejects a lot of the free market positions I and other market liberals take.

My guest is my friend Matthew McManus, a ReImagining Liberty regular. He's a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Michigan. In his new book,

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

Unless you're an early access supporter of the show, this is the last episode you'll hear before the presidential election, which will profoundly shape the state, or looming absence, of American democracy.

The critical importance of the choice between Harris and Trump has much of the country thinking about getting more people involved in politics—and the question of political participation, and particularly how much of it is reasonable, is what my guest spends a great deal of his time thinking about.

Kevin J. Elliott is a political scientist and Lecturer in Ethics, Politics, & Economics at Yale University. He's the author of Democracy for Busy People, and I've brought him back on the show to discuss the barriers to democratic participation, the "Paradox of Empowerment," and what it would look like to get more Americans interested in the political process.

Want to listen to new episodes of ReImagining Liberty two weeks early? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a supporter⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get early access and other perks.

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Landry Ayres⁠⁠⁠⁠. Podcast art by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.

An important theme of this show is the role of rhetoric in politics. It's not just the arguments we make that matter, but when we choose to make them, and how we talk about political issues. And we can learn a lot about the people who disagree with us not just by parsing their arguments, but by paying attention to when and how they make them.

This is critically important in a political environment as charged, fraught, and arguably on-the-brink as ours in the days before a presidential election. And the fact is, with the acute threat from the right to the very foundations of our liberal, open, and democratic society, much of our journalism has fallen into a particularly worrying rhetoric, one that downplays these threats, while stirring up resentment towards vulnerable groups.

I can't think of anyone better to talk with about these issues central to our political life than Parker Molloy. She's a Chicago-based writer and author of the indispensable The Present Age, a newsletter about communication in a hyperconnected world.

Want to listen to new episodes of ReImagining Liberty two weeks early? ⁠⁠⁠Become a supporter⁠⁠⁠ and get early access and other perks.

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠Landry Ayres⁠⁠⁠. Podcast art by ⁠⁠⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠⁠⁠. Music by ⁠⁠⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠⁠⁠.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty and want to support the show, you can learn more here.

I also encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠⁠.

Produced by ⁠Landry Ayres⁠. Podcast art by ⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠. Music by ⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠.