As elections loom, resist the calls to throw away your moral compass.
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With so many pundits calling for meeting Republicans and independent voters where they're at before the midterms, this week's "Next Comes What" considers what that means. Andrea Pitzer discusses how the days in which fringe candidates could be dismissed as irrelevant are long gone. The fringe extremists are running the country now. Andrea looks at the ways that Trump and his advisers are vile actors committing heinous acts, and notes that it's impossible to compromise on the very issue of every person's right to exist without being terrorized by the government and their neighbors. There's no way to compromise on these issues without doing harm to vulnerable people and our political system itself.
Walking listeners through a different approach, she suggests finding a political stance based on values, and then trying to bring other people toward that by addressing needs that they themselves can understand—and emphasizing the policies they, too, will benefit from. The good news, Andrea suggests, is that Trump's agenda is deeply unpopular, and becoming more so. The challenge before us is to offer a better vision of what government, and we ourselves, can be.
00:00 - Midterm Elections and the Threats to Democracy
02:15 - Natalie Harp and Donald Trump's Inner Circle
05:40 - The Rise of Extremist Rhetoric in US Politics
08:20 - Misinformation, Bad Advisors, and Political Control
12:10 - Anti-DEI Backlash and Structural Discrimination
15:35 - Global Impacts: USAID Cuts and Foreign Military Actions
19:50 - The Evolution of the War on Terror and Extrajudicial Power
24:15 - Historical Compromises and the Erosion of Democratic Values
27:30 - The Risks of Unchecked AI and Corporate Influence
30:10 - Why Moral Politics Matter: Staying Grounded Against Extremism
