Welcome to Confronting Capitalism. I'm Jacobin contributing editor Kail Brooks, and I'm here, as always, with Vivek Chibber, a professor of sociology at NYU, and the Editor of Catalyst, a Journal of Theory and Strategy. How are you doing, Vivek?

I'm good, as usual, Kail. Thank you.

So today we're launching a new original feature of the show, where Vivek, as editor of Catalyst, will speak with one of his contributors from the most recent issue of the journal, which you can access online or via

print issues. Catalyst Journal provides essential insights and analysis on contemporary politics,

and the new issue covers much of the aftermath from the 2024 elections. For this episode, Vivek

is joined by Paul Heideman. Paul has written for Jacobin

and other left publications and published and edited several books and teaches high school in New York

City. Together, they'll be talking about how the business coalition behind the Republican Party

has shifted over time and how the Trump presidency could be self-liquidating. Enjoy.

Paul, hello, welcome to the show.

Hey, thanks for having me.

Paul Heideman has a book coming out in the late summer on the fracturing of the Republican Party

and the emergence of the Trump phenomenon.

And in the next catalyst, you have a very interesting article on Trump's takeover of the Republican

Party. And Paul, I thought today we could discuss your analysis of how Trump came to power

and the irony that the Republicans who have traditionally been the party of business

yielded a candidate who

most of the business community was and perhaps continues to be very unhappy with.

Let's get into it.

Well, here's the central question, and you hone in on it in your article as one of the axes,

one of the central points in the article, which is the irony that while the

Republicans have been historically the party of business, Trump was a candidate that initially,

...