The most important idea for understanding American politics in 2018

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2018

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

America is changing. A majority of infants are, for the first time in US history, nonwhite — and the rest of the population is expected to follow suit in the coming decades. The number of religiously affiliated Americans is at a record low, and the share of foreign-born residents is at a historically high level. What happens to a country amid this kind of demographic change and strain? What does it do to our politics, to our identities, to our worldview? I’ve come to believe that you can’t understand politics in America right now without understanding these changes and how they act on us psychologically. And to understand these changes, you need to talk to Yale psychologist Jennifer Richeson, who has done pioneering work on the way perceptions of demographic threat and change affect people’s political opinions, voting behavior, and ideas about themselves. I believe this is one of the most important conversations I’ve had on this podcast for understanding America today — and I also know it’s just the start of trying to understand these questions. Enjoy. Recommended books: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson (who was also on EKS) Change They Can't Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America by Christopher S. Parker and Matt A. Barreto The Space Between Us: Social Geography and Politics by Ryan Enos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	our desire to believe that America is just and fair and has made so much progress since,
0:05.1	you know, pick a tragedy, any tragedy, right? That we're just so committed to that story
0:10.2	that we just will not allow ourselves to see the truth until it happens in a way that cannot be
0:16.5	avoided and is usually really bloody and nasty. And even then, we move on after a couple days.
0:30.4	Hello, welcome to As Our Clanchon, the Box Media podcast network. Let's begin with some exciting
0:38.2	housekeeping, which I know are not two words that normally go together. Vox with the support of
0:43.5	the Rockefeller Foundation is launching a vertical section, I guess to be more normal about it,
0:49.0	that will cover the world through the lens of effective altruism. If that doesn't mean a lot to you,
0:54.6	then let me say it this way. We're launching a section dedicated to the question of how can we,
1:00.9	humans, reduce the most suffering for the most beings at the least cost based on the best evidence?
1:07.1	We're going to be covering things like extinction level risks and poverty or
1:10.7	education and human development and climate change and animal suffering. These are the big,
1:15.0	big issues. I don't think I've been as excited about anything in a very long time. I've been very,
1:20.5	very, very eager to see this happen. And we're hiring for it. We're looking for staff writers for
1:25.6	an engagement manager. If that sounds like you, if you have experience writing about these issues or
1:30.8	building community around them, please apply. Go to VoxMedia.com, click on the Careers tab. Again,
1:36.1	it is VoxMedia.com and click on the Careers tab. Okay, the podcast, the reason you are here.
1:43.9	I am really excited about the show and usually excited about the show. It's a conversation
1:49.5	on the topic that I am most obsessed with right now. The one that I think explains almost
1:53.9	everything else going on in American politics. And so I want to set the table a little bit.
1:58.3	We are on the verge of some very big turning points in this country. According to demographers,
2:04.2	more infants are now non-white than white. America is on track to become a majority minority
	...

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