It's September 15, 1987.

Americans were gathered around their television sets watching what many would later call the beginning of the end of civilized political discourse in America.

Senator Biden, quote, the committee will come to order, the nomination of Judge Robert Bork, end quote.

But this isn't really the beginning.

This is just when we started paying attention.

Welcome to the American History podcast.

Hosted by Sean Morswick. Hello and welcome back. I'm Sean, and this is Season 5, The Great Enravelling,

a journey through the decades-long collapse of American political civility, institutional trust,

and the radical center that once held this country together.

Now, we're told constantly that Donald Trump broke American politics,

that 2016 was the year civility died. That social media

poisoned our discourse and turned neighbors into enemies. The story goes like this. Once upon a time,

politicians disagreed respectfully, compromised regularly, and put country before party. Then Trump came along and ruined everything.

This is a fairy tale. The truth is messier, more uncomfortable, and ultimately more important.

American political discourse has been vicious, personal, and tribal for decades. Our institutions

have been losing credibility since long before anyone tweeted.

And the mythical center that supposedly held everything together?

What was already bleeding out by the time most millennials were born?

Now over the next 10 episodes, we're going to trace the real story of how we got here.

Not the comforting myth of sudden collapse, but the uncomfortable reality of slow-motion

institutional suicide.

We'll examine how both parties have systematically destroyed faith in elections, normalized

...