logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2025
49m 36s

How The Democrats Lost Labor And Found C...

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PODCAST NETWORK
About this episode
The Democratic Party has become too focused on appeasing its billionaire donors and has failed to communicate its commitment to the working class, argues long-time political journalist David Sirota. The question moving forward, he says, is if the party can ever refocus its brand orthodoxy from prioritizing social and cultural issues to economic populism. Si ... Show More
Up next
Sep 10
Can Capitalism Serve the Common Good? - ft. Mariana Mazzucato
The drugs in your medicine cabinet were probably discovered on your dime, in a university lab, with NIH money. You don't hold the patent. You don't set the price. Same story with the touchscreen, the GPS and the voice assistant in your pocket.The public often helps fund breakthro ... Show More
57m 27s
Aug 27
The One Thing That Could Decide If AI Takes Your Job - Ft. Luis Garicano
AI is coming for your job; AI isn't coming for your job. Economist Luis Garicano thinks both camps are asking the wrong question. In Messy Jobs: The Work That AI Cannot Reach, Garicano and co-authors Jin Li and Yanhui Wu argue that all knowledge work varies along a dimension of “ ... Show More
1 h
Aug 13
Can Liberalism Survive This Kind of Capitalism? - ft. Daron Acemoglu
For most of the last century liberal democracies offered a simple deal: the economy grows and, if you work hard, you get a fair shot at the rewards. According to 2024 Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, that deal is broken. Acemoglu joins Bethany McLean and Luigi Zingal ... Show More
53m 31s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2025
Have the Democrats Decided to Win?
Something happened in 2016 that led Democrats to campaign on unpopular issues. Researcher Simon Bazelon digs into extensive polling data—and on-the-ground-results from tight races—to explain where elites steered us off course, how we can neutralize Trump’s advantages, and why vot ... Show More
1h 3m
Oct 2025
Can Economic Populism Save the Democratic Party?
<p>The “Democratic penalty” should scare the hell out of Democrats.</p><p>The Democratic Party brand has become toxic in certain parts of the country, especially with working- class voters. The Center for Working-Class Politics has actually measured this so-called “Democratic pen ... Show More
1h 3m
Nov 2024
Left Behind: Why Democrats Lost the Working Class
As Democrats try to understand their eroding support among working-class voters, we're joined by Sarah Smarsh, author of "Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class.” Together, we delve into the intersection of class and identity, discuss why the Democ ... Show More
58m 5s
Feb 2025
Where Are the Democrats?
<p>How is the Democratic Party navigating the dominance of President Trump — and reckoning with the reality that more and more voters have been souring on its message?</p><p>The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Shane Goldmacher, Reid J. Epstein and Annie Karni discuss the state ... Show More
32m 7s
May 2024
Ep 202: Ideological Shaping of the Possible Part I: Democrats and the Black Box Corporate Consulting Industry
<p>"David Plouffe's advice for 2020," Axios shared in 2019. "James Carville: 'Stupid wokeness' is a national problem for Democrats," CNN reported in 2021. "Robert Gibbs, former White House Press Secretary under President Obama, discusses the debt ceiling deal and the latest job n ... Show More
1 h
Nov 2024
Where do the Democrats go now?
Three weeks on from Donald Trump's historic comeback, the clamour for answers about where it all went wrong within the Democrat party is reaching a fever pitch. Kamala Harris has released a message to supporters urging them not to let anyone 'take their power' - but with her part ... Show More
34m 9s
Nov 2024
Unsolicited Advice: Can the Democratic Party move fast and fix things?
The Democratic Party lost big in the 2024 election cycle. What are the lessons party leaders should take from what happened? In this special Unsolicited Advice episode, Anne and Frances share their thoughts on how the Democratic Party failed to understand what voters needed most. ... Show More
30m 30s
Nov 2024
Swamp Notes: How can Democrats rebuild?
<p>The Democratic party is hardly monolithic. But if there’s one thing that’s kept it together over the past decade, it’s been a shared opposition to Donald Trump. Now that Trump is returning to the White House, how will the party try to win voters back? The FT’s deputy Washingto ... Show More
15m 48s
Nov 2024
Democrats Search For Answers
<p>Democrats, devastated by their sweeping losses in the election, are starting to sift through the wreckage of their defeat.</p><p>Political leaders from all corners of the Democratic coalition are pointing fingers, arguing over the party’s direction and wrestling with what it s ... Show More
25 m