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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

The rocky marriage between libertarians and conservatives

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

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

4.511.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2019

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hello, everybody! I'm Jane Coaston, senior politics reporter at Vox with a focus on conservatism. Today, I'm speaking with Conor Friedersdorf, a staff writer for the Atlantic, who has been navigating the fractious divides within the conservative movement since long before 2016. Friedersdorf is extremely hard to pin down. His intellectual hero is Friedrich Hayek and he believes the Supreme Court “ought to thwart the will of democratic and legislative majorities.” He’s also staunchly anti-war, an outspoken critic of police brutality, and has even occasionally praised Bernie Sanders. This is what makes Friedersdorf so interesting to talk to: He doesn't fall neatly along partisan lines. We discuss a lot here: the importance of police reform; the way the term “racism” is used and misused in American politics; the future of the GOP; and what it means to be politically homeless in Trump's America. References: "A question for conservatives: what if the left was right on race?" by Jane Coaston, Vox "What Ails the Right Isn’t (Just) Racism" by Conor Friedersdorf, the Atlantic Book recommendations: The Authoritarian Dynamic by Karen Stenner Kindly Inquisitors by Jonathan Rauch The Constitution of Liberty by Friedrich A. Hayek Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com News comes at you fast. Join us at the end of your day to understand it. Subscribe toToday, Explained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:31.0

Learn more at Slack.com slash productivity.

0:34.0

We're not going to have generally free market policies for long

0:38.0

if we don't put some breaks on the pace of change.

0:42.0

And so I think that this applies really uncomfortable for libertarians

0:47.0

across a whole range of issues.

0:59.0

Hello, and welcome to the Ezra Klein Show on the Vox Media Podcast Network.

1:04.0

I'm Jane and Kostin, Senior Politics Reporter with a Focus on Conservatism.

1:08.0

And something I've been really interested in lately is the relationship between libertarians and conservatives.

1:15.0

The Cold War brought libertarians and conservatives together and something called fusionism.

1:20.0

But in the Trump era, that fusion is starting to break apart.

1:25.0

And I'm also interested in what libertarians and libertarian leading conservatives will do

1:29.0

in a post-Trump GOP that seems less welcoming to libertarian viewpoints than ever before.

...

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