Why we're polarized (Ezra Klein)

Rationally Speaking Podcast

New York City Skeptics

Society & Culture, Skepticism, Science, Philosophy

4.6 • 787 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2021

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ezra Klein explains how Republican and Democrats in the US became so different from each other, ideologically and demographically, and why that trend + our institutions = political gridlock. Questions covered include: Is polarization necessarily bad? Has the left polarized more than the right? And what should we make of polls that seem to show Republicans and Democrats used to agree on immigration policy?

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Rationally Speaking is sponsored by Give Directly. Give Directly is a nonprofit that sends
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0:40.1	Just go to give directly.org slash rationally speaking. Welcome to Rationally Speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense.
1:06.4	I'm your host, Julia Galef, and my guest for this episode is Ezra Klein.
1:11.4	He's the co-founder of Vox, a columnist for the New York Times, and the host of the
1:15.7	Ezra Klein Show, and the author of most recently Why We're Polarized, a fascinating and
1:22.3	ambitious book explaining how the Republican and Democrat parties in the U.S. became so different from each other,
1:28.9	ideologically and demographically, and the effect that that has had on our political institutions.
1:35.4	That's what our conversation is about today. Here is Ezra Klein.
1:39.7	Ezra, great to have you on rationally speaking. It's long overdue.
1:43.1	I'm thrilled to be here. Finally got the golden invite.
1:47.2	Well, I'm excited to talk to you about why we're polarized, which, as I mentioned, I really enjoyed.
1:52.5	I thought it was such an interesting model of what's been happening and well-researched and
1:58.2	well-written and all that good stuff. So let's start by having you
2:02.1	clarify what you mean by polarization, because I think it's probably somewhat different from
2:07.1	what a lot of people take that word to mean. Well, first, thank you. It really means a lot to me
2:12.4	enjoyed the book, so I'm thrilled to hear that. When you write a book called Why We're Polarized, you get always the question, you know,
	...

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