Marianne Williamson Would Like to Clarify
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 2 September 2019
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Marianne Williamson, the self-help author associated with the New Age movement, has never held political office. But the race for the Presidency, she thinks, is less a battle of politics than a battle of souls. In her appearance in the July Democratic debates, she said that President Donald Trump is bringing up a “dark psychic force.” “The worst aspects of human character have been harnessed for political purposes,” she tells David Remnick. Williamson sees herself as a kind of spiritual counter to Trump, reshaping our moral trajectory. And she does have policies, which include repealing the 2017 tax cut and an ambitious plan for slavery reparations, and also tapping some surprising people for her Cabinet. Campaigning on her credentials hasn’t been easy: she’s had to debunk some myths and clarify some statements. She is not an anti-vaxxer, she insists—she apologizes for her earlier remarks on the subject—or a medical skeptic. “I’m Jewish,” she says, “I go to the doctor.” She does not, she says, even have a crystal in her home. “I know this sounds naïve,” she complains, but “I didn’t think the left was so mean. I didn’t think the left lied like this.”
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi there, I'm Lale Arikoglu, and this podcast is brought to you by Wilderness, a conservation-driven |
| 0:06.4 | hospitality company that offers intimate world life encounters in extraordinary remote landscapes. |
| 0:12.5 | Last year, I embarked on two separate solo adventures with Wilderness, one to Botswana and the other |
| 0:18.2 | to Namibia, where the expert guides delivered a truly once-in-a-lifetime |
| 0:23.6 | experience. I promise you, whatever you watch and see before you go won't prepare you for the thrill |
| 0:29.4 | of a wilderness adventure. eBay, it's a place to fall in love with new pre-loved vintage and rare |
| 0:36.6 | fashion over and over again. |
| 0:39.0 | Your favorite designers, expertly authenticated. |
| 0:42.5 | Yeah, eBay. |
| 0:44.0 | Things people love. |
| 0:48.5 | I'm Dorothy Wickendon. |
| 0:50.4 | On today's Politics and More podcast, David Remnick talks with Marianne Williamson. The author of books on |
| 0:56.8 | spirituality and self-help, Williamson is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination. |
| 1:06.0 | Marianne Williamson, who's running for the presidential nomination, has never held national office. |
| 1:11.7 | She's never held any political office, but she's certainly a public figure, and like our current |
| 1:16.6 | president, she's been a best-selling author for decades. Her books on self-help topics include |
| 1:22.8 | a woman's worth and healing the soul of America. She's a close friend of Oprah's, and she frames her |
| 1:29.6 | critique of Donald Trump, not in political terms, not in policy terms, but in spiritual terms. |
| 1:36.5 | This man has reached into the psyche of the American people, and he has harnessed fear for |
| 1:40.9 | political purposes. So, Mr. President, if you're listening, I want you to hear me, please. You have harnessed fear for political purposes. So, Mr. President, if you're listening, I want you to hear me, |
| 1:46.0 | please. You have harnessed fear for political purposes, and only love can cast that out. So I, sir, |
| 1:52.0 | I have a feeling you know what you're doing. I'm going to harness love for political purposes. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.