This is a special, timely conversation about what's happening in Israel. We invited our friends who produce and host DIRTY MODERATE, Adam Epstein and Dawn Sorokin, to work through some of the real history of Israel and that region; some of our own family's history; numerous false and destructive narratives that need to be confronted; how we're muddling through everything that's unfolding; and much more.
 
Here is one charitable effort that our family is supporting:
http://spot.fund/EquipmentForIDFReserves
 
Be sure to visit Dirty Moderate's platforms here:
Twitter and instagram @dirtymoderate
TikTok @dirtymoderatenation
Substack www.dirtymoderate.com 
 
And as always, Corey can be found on all (or at least most) of the socials @coreysnathan including www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.(...and we're hitting publish just before sundown. So this is still kosher for Shabbas.)

Anytime Matt Lewis joins us, we have a grand ole' time! In this free flowing conversation, we make a pitch for how to solve the dumpster fire known as U.S. Congress: In light of the #Barbenheimer summer, Congress should consider the #FitzpatriHeimer fall. (cf. Co-heads of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ.) We also cover how to talk to some friends and family in one information bubble, and other friends and family in a whole other political news silo. We get into his latest book FILTHY RICH POLITICIANS and how it's a bipartisan problem. Matt shares how he prepares for interviews; how driving is a great time to write notes and even take a nap (...just kidding); we do some rank prognostication on the Speaker Sweepstakes; and we even talk some baseball!
 
Matt Lewis is a senior columnist at the Daily Beast and the author of Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections (and How It Can Reclaim Its Conservative Roots) and his new book Filthy Rich Politicians: The Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals and Ruling-Class Elites Cashing in on America. You might recognize Matt from his appearances on MSNBC's Morning Joe and prior to that as a CNN political contributor. Matt’s also provided political commentary on Real Time with Bill Maher, Face the Nation on CBS, the NewsHour on PBS, and ABC’s Nightline. Matt’s writing has appeared in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, GQ, the Washington Post, and Politico among others. Matt previously served as senior contributor for the Daily Caller and, before that, as a columnist for AOL’s Politics Daily. Matt is also the host of Matt Lewis and the News and is the co-host of The DMZ along with Bill Scher.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
 
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan
 
www.thedailybeast.com/author/matt-lewis
 
twitter.com/mattklewis
 
mattklewis.com/books-articles-media
 
mattklewis.com/matt-lewis-and-the-news

What is the distinction between civility vs. politeness? How do we do life together? Why do so many of us have a lust to dominate others? How do we navigate the vertical relationship between the people and our governing authorities? More importantly, how do we navigate our horizontal relationships among our neighbors? How can we have a debate without it devolving into a quarrel? We've been grappling with these questions since the oldest story in the world has been told and since the oldest book was written.
 
ALEXANDRA HUDSON is a writer, popular speaker, and the founder of Civic Renaissance, a publication and intellectual community dedicated to beauty, goodness and truth. She was named the 2020 Novak Journalism Fellow, and contributes to Fox News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, TIME Magazine, POLITICO, and Newsweek. She earned a master’s degree in public policy at the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar, and is an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy. She is also the creator of a series for The Teaching Company called Storytelling and The Human Condition. Her first book, The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves, is forthcoming from St. Martin’s press, which we cover at length on this episode.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
 
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan
 
alexandraohudson.com
 
www.civic-renaissance.com
 
alexandraohudson.com/book-preorder

Mike Madrid makes his triumphant return to TP&R! We explored why significant numbers of Latino voters are drifting away from the Democratic Party; what explains the drift toward authoritarian populism of much of the Republican Party; how Fox News and the conservative media ecosystem keep their audience so angry; whether there are any Republicans worth supporting; we had some disagreement on whether to keep the offramp open for those who want to depart the Trump Train; what Mike means when he says that every day we go forward is a day closer to the end of Trumpism; and that politics is downstream of culture. And here's a doozy: How many votes in the upcoming presidential election really matter? Out of 150 million votes, how many votes actually swing the election? And which ones?
 
Mike Madrid is a national political strategist, an expert in demographics and Latino politics. Mike’s academic work on Latino politics became the foundation for groundbreaking communications and outreach strategies in California, Texas, Florida and nationwide. Later, Mike was a co-founder of the Lincoln Project which played a significant part in defeating Donald Trump in 2020. Mike also lectures on race, class and partisanship at USC; he is the co-host of The Latino Vote podcast along with Chuck Rocha; and he is the author of the upcoming book (Spring of 2024), THE LATINO SOLUTION.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
 
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan
 
www.threads.net/@mykemadrid
 
twitter.com/madrid_mike
 
latinos.vote/

Such a joy to have Wajahat Ali back on TP&R! Even before we got to the formal intro, Waj had Corey laughing to the point of tears. And yes, that was a snort - a laugh-snort! (a lorf? a snaf?) But laughter was a good salve for the serious subjects we covered. We discussed how power doesn’t like to be confronted and grappled with whether change can happen without discomfort. We were candid about our own mental health and what tools we've each developed to nurture good mental health. There was also a nuanced point of disagreement regarding parents’ rights to curate what their children are reading. And then we explored some important questions: Can we persuade those who disagree with us? If so, how? Or is it all catharsis?
 
Wajahat Ali is a writer originally from the Bay Area. Waj has been an attorney; a New York Times op-ed writer; a CNN commentator; co-host of Al Jazeera America’s The Stream; lead researcher and author for the Center for American Progress’s report Fear Inc., Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America. He’s currently a columnist for the Daily Beast and is the author of the excellent, funny, at times heart-wrenching book that came out in 2022 titled Go Back to Where You Came From: And, Other Helpful Recommendations on Becoming American. Waj is the co-host of democracy-ish. And rumor has it, he is an aspiring gold-medalist in the Lego Olympics.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
 
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan
 
www.wajali.com
 
www.thedailybeast.com/author/wajahat-ali
 
www.dcpofficial.com/democracy-ish

Is a hotdog a sandwich? And why is that an important question? (Just trust me: It is!) Yascha Mounk of Johns Hopkins University joined us for this conversation to discuss his latest book THE IDENTITY TRAP: A STORY OF IDEAS AND POWER IN OUR TIME. What is meant by the term “identity synthesis?” In recent years, terms like “identity politics,” “cancel culture” and being “woke” have been used to refer to the topics that are dealt with in the book. So with the urgency of fighting the dangers of right-wing authoritarianism, why address the identity trap? What advice is there for arguing and organizing against the identity trap? And is there reason to be optimistic?
 
YASCHA MOUNK is Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, Founder of Persuasion, an online magazine devoted to defending the values of free societies; he’s a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, he is the host of the Good Fight podcast, and the author, most recently, of The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
 
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan
 
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/712961/the-identity-trap-by-yascha-mounk
 
www.persuasion.community
 
www.persuasion.community/podcast
 
“(S)ix pieces of advice for arguing and organizing against the identity trap..." 
Claim the Moral High Ground
Don’t Vilify Those Who Disagree
Remember That Today’s Adversaries Can Become Tomorrow’s Allies
Appeal to the Reasonable Majority
Make Common Cause with Other Opponents of the Identity Synthesis
…But Don’t Become a Reactionary

“Is America a divinely ordained promised land for European Christians, or is America a pluralistic democracy where all stand on equal footing before the law?” Dr. Robert P. Jones, president and founder of PRRI, grapples with this central question in his new book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future. As Dr. Jones says, “At its heart, this book sets out to expose the deep, hidden roots of America’s current identity crisis.” This landmark work examines the genocide and removal of Native Americans and White racial violence against African Americans that occurred in three distinct regions of our country: Tulsa, OK; the Mississippi Delta; and Duluth, MN. Tragically, these accounts are not unique to these areas. Similar atrocities have occurred in virtually all 50 states. And yet, this is a story of hope. The heart of the project is that “Authentic healing flows from, and true repentance is built on, the twin pillars of truth-telling and repair.”
 
Dr. Robert P. Jones is the president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). Dr. Jones is also the author of the forthcoming book, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future as well as the award-winning books White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity and The End of White Christian America. Robby writes regularly on politics, culture, and religion for The Atlantic, TIME, Religion News Service, and other outlets. And you might recognize him from his appearances on CNN, MSNBC and NPR. He also writes weekly at robertpjones on substack, a newsletter for those dedicated to the work of truth-telling, repair, and healing from the legacy of white supremacy in American Christianity. Dr. Jones holds a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University, an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and an undergrad degree in computing science and mathematics from Mississippi College.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
 
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan
 
www.prri.org
 
www.amazon.com/Hidden-Roots-White-Supremacy-American/dp/166800951X/
 
robertpjones.substack.com
 
And please support our friends at BEST OF THE LEFT - www.bestoftheleft.com

Mariana Alfaro, reporter on the breaking political news team at The Washington Post, has insights about the changing landscape of journalism; how to do excellent reporting, especially given some of the hostile environments contributors to the Fourth Estate are subjected to; appreciating the role of good journalism in a healthy democracy; how to collaborate with other top notch writers on the larger, breaking stories in American politics; yes, we break down some of those current events such as the numerous criminal cases facing ex-President Donald Trump; and why... MUSTARD SKITTLES??? For crying out loud, WHY?!?! 
 
Mariana Alfaro is a politics reporter at The Washington Post covering breaking news and was one of two reporters behind Post Politics Now, The Post’s live, breaking politics news feed.  She joined The Post in 2019 as a researcher for the Daily 202, the newspaper's flagship politics newsletter. Before that, Mariana worked as an intern for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Insider and The Texas Tribune. A native of San Salvador, Mariana graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
 
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan
 
www.washingtonpost.com/people/mariana-alfaro
 
twitter.com/marianaa_alfaro