Heather Cox Richardson on How To Preserve Democracy

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In her daily politics newsletter, “Letters from an American,” Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson offers her two million readers a historical perspective on the news along with a dose of common sense. She launched the newsletter during the 2019 impeachment crisis, and the strains on American democracy, laid bare by the January 6 insurrection, have been a constant theme of her work. In Richardson’s new book, “Democracy Awakening” she argues that today’s Republican politics have their roots in history, going back to the New Deal. We talk to her about her book and why everyone should be a student of history. Guests: Heather Cox Richardson, author, "Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America." Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and an expert on American political and economic history. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning "How the South Won the Civil War." Her widely read newsletter, Letters from an American, synthesizes history and modern political issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:49.4	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:51.7	So, American democracy?
0:56.0	If you live in Northern California, chances are that you're pretty worried about our country. Persistent racial divisions, wild inequality, a Balkanized media ecosystem,
1:01.0	and fundamental differences in how people view the rights of individuals,
1:05.0	have resulted in a polarized country.
1:07.0	Today we're joined by historian Heather Cox Richardson, Boston College Professor,
1:12.1	and perhaps the most effective historical communicator helping to explain our current moment.
1:17.5	She'll tell us about her new book, Democracy Awakening Notes on the State of America,
1:21.9	and what it tells us about how to fight back against rising authoritarianism.
	...

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