110: Reclaiming Patriotism with Steven Smith
The Lincoln Project
The Lincoln Project
4.6 • 9.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2022
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Host Reed Galen is joined by Steven Smith, Author and Professor of Political Science at Yale University, who’s latest book is Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. They discuss how patriotism, which was once a value that united Americans, has now become so politicized by both the right and the left, that it's threatening to rip apart our nation's social fabric. Plus, what does the short-term future look like for Americans? Be sure to pick up Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes at your favorite book retailer.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone. As we get deeper into 2022, it is time for all of us to do our part, to save |
| 0:06.3 | democracy and to show that America can and will stay on that arc of bending history towards justice. |
| 0:13.3 | I want you to go to join the union dot us and sign up to help our grassroots efforts. |
| 0:19.6 | You can decide how you want to help. You can decide where you want to help. |
| 0:23.2 | Fill out the survey. Tell us where it is you want to help. We'll put you in touch with the people |
| 0:27.7 | who can put you to work. Join the union dot us. Do your part. And now on with the show. |
| 0:42.4 | Welcome back to the Lincoln Project. I'm your host, Rhee Galen. Today, I'm joined by Steven Smith, |
| 0:48.8 | the Alfred Cowell's professor of political science at Yale University. His research is focused |
| 0:53.6 | on the history of political philosophy, with special attention to the problem of the ancients and |
| 0:57.9 | moderns, the relation of religion and politics, and theories of representative government. |
| 1:02.8 | Steve is the author of many books, including Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes, |
| 1:07.9 | which came out last year and is available at your local bookseller. Steven, welcome to the show. |
| 1:12.5 | Pleasure to be with you, Rhee. So, you know, you and I spoke a few weeks ago about your book, |
| 1:18.5 | in particular, Reclaiming Patriotism. It came out in January of 2021, but you finished writing it |
| 1:24.3 | well ahead of what we saw in the November election of 2020 in January 6th. So, do you feel like |
| 1:31.1 | anything you were writing was prescient or were you surprised, I guess, after having spent time |
| 1:36.5 | researching this book or maybe you're just your experience overall about what you saw in the wake |
| 1:41.5 | of 2020 or the violence that it devolved into on January 6th? Well, like most Americans, I was shocked |
| 1:48.4 | by it. I wasn't really prepared for it at all, but you were right. The book was written and conceived |
| 1:54.4 | long before the events leading up to the election. The book was conceived, I mean, long before the |
| 2:00.5 | Trump election, before 16, I wasn't writing it back then, but the themes in the book were themes |
| 2:06.2 | that I had been thinking about. And I would say the germ cell of the book actually went back a very |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Lincoln Project, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Lincoln Project and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.