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Bad Faith

Episode 240 - We Need To Talk About Kevin (w/ Thomas Frank)

Bad Faith

Bad Faith

News, Comedy, Politics

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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Whenever something crazy is going down in Congress, Thomas Frank is here to talk about it. We chatted while the Capitol was stormed on 1/6, and now the historian, writer, and populism expert returns to Bad Faith as the House Republicans struggle to meet the 218-vote threshold to elect a Speaker. Inside: discussions about the parallels between this historical moment and the ones Frank has written about, the wisdom of Force The Vote, and whether Briahna is right to be jealous of the rogue Republicans in this moment.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

What we're trying to get at here is, is it a good strategy?

0:03.0

And looking at the Republicans, we're all, you know, sitting around laughing at Kevin McCarthy's desk and, you know, whatever else.

0:09.2

But we can see, objectively, over the long term, yes, this is a successful strategy.

0:15.5

This is what wins in modern day politics.

0:18.1

This country hates authority.

0:20.9

Yeah.

0:21.3

This country hates elites.

0:23.0

It does.

0:24.1

And if you posture as the party that is top down control by a bunch of white billionaires and white-collar guys from, with PhDs from whatever,

0:32.7

that shouldn't be a surprise if people don't love you for that.

1:02.1

It is an incredible pleasure, as always, to be joined by Thomas Frank, author of Listen Liberal and the People Know.

1:09.2

And most recently of this great op-ed in the New York Times called The Deadly Lack of Imagination and the Democratic Party.

1:16.6

Welcome back, Thomas.

1:17.8

Rihanna, great to see you again.

1:19.8

Look, it's this funny thing that keeps happening when, that whenever you're on the show, it's been something kind of cataclysmic is going on on the hill.

1:29.0

A couple of shows ago, a couple of appearances ago on Bad Faith was 1-6 and you were here.

1:34.9

We were kind of on the workshop and threw what was happening as we're watching the Twitter scroll by of smoking capitals.

1:44.0

And yeah, I sometimes wonder if I dreamed that, but we really watched that as it was happening.

1:50.2

As it was happening.

1:51.2

As it was taking place.

1:52.5

And you and I are both here in Washington, too, right?

1:55.2

Yep.

...

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