The Liberal Patriot with Ruy Teixeira

Why do elites in both political parties keep misreading the public? In today’s episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I speak with journalist Mike Pesca to unpack the surprising voter ID consensus, the “scalpel vs. chainsaw” problem in modern politics, media tribalism, Bari Weiss and CBS, and the Democrats’ struggle between moderation and resistance. Mike is an award-winning journalist and podcast host whose work spans public radio, print, and television. ​He is the creator and host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast in history; moderator of Not Even Mad, a political debate podcast; and host of Funny You Should Mention, a co-production with the Comedy Cellar, where he conducts in-depth interviews with stand-up comedians. Are we stuck in a permanent overreaction cycle in politics—or is there still room for reform? Please listen in to find out!A transcript of this podcast is available on our website at the top of the post page. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

On today’s episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I talk with Iowa state legislator and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek about why Donald Trump’s populism resonated with working-class voters—and why it ultimately failed to deliver. We examine faux populism, rural economic decline, tariffs, health care, and what genuine working-class politics would require beyond slogans and culture war performance.Turek is one of the first candidates endorsed by The Bench, a new organization dedicated to supporting Democrats like Josh who are trying to win competitive elections and flip seats in red areas by representing the values and policy desires of working-class voters and their families in a pragmatic manner.A transcript of this podcast is available at the top of the page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Is America the victim of its own economic success? In this episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I speak with Niskanen Center senior vice president Brink Lindsey about why material abundance in America no longer translates into national meaning, cohesion, or progress. We discuss capitalism’s limits, performative politics, declining birth rates, and what it would take to move from mass plenty to genuine flourishing. Brink is the author of a great new book published this month, The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing, and writes his own newsletter, also called The Permanent Problem, right here on Substack.A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page of our website (click the button at the top of the page). Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

On this week’s episode of The Liberal Patriot Podcast, I talk with geologist and energy expert Scott Tinker about why affordable, reliable energy is the foundation of human progress. We examine energy poverty, the limits of renewables, and why many climate policies collide with physics, economics, and lived reality—especially for the world’s poorest people.From 2000-2024, Tinker was Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and State Geologist of Texas. He is currently CEO of Tinker Energy Associates and executive producer and host of PBS Energy Switch, an energy and climate talk series appearing in over 100 million households nationwide.Please listen in on a fantastic discussion and subscribe to the TLP Podcast if you don’t already. A transcript is available on the website at the top of page. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

This week, I speak with my AEI colleague, Sally Satel, a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine, about the rapid ideological transformation inside American medicine. Satel explains how medical associations shifted from clinical excellence toward activist missions, how flawed research, such as the now-debunked study claiming that black infant mortality could be halved if more black doctors cared for black newborns, shaped public debate, and how public-health leaders undermined public trust during the Covid pandemic.Please listen in on a great discussion or read the transcript here on our website, available at the top of the page. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

What do voters actually want—and why do so many politicians keep getting it wrong? This week I talk with the great Simon Bazelon about the real data behind voter shifts, why popular narratives miss the mark, and what a winning path forward for Democrats really looks like.Simon is the lead author of a terrific new report, “Deciding to Win: Toward a Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic Party.” This report, released by our friends at Welcome, is a must read for anyone involved in Democratic politics:In order to take back Congress and the presidency, Democrats need to understand the political and strategic landscape we face. Deciding to Win aims to provide the most comprehensive account to date of why Democrats lost and what our party needs to do to win again. We draw on thousands of election results, hundreds of public polls and academic papers, dozens of case studies, and surveys of more than 500,000 voters we conducted since the 2024 election. Deciding to Win argues that since 2012, highly educated staffers, donors, advocacy groups, pundits, and elected officials have reshaped the Democratic Party’s agenda, decreasing our party’s focus on the economic issues that are the top concerns of the American people. These same forces have pushed our party to adopt unpopular positions on a number of issues that are important to voters, including immigration and public safety. To win again, Democrats need to listen more to voters and less to out-of-touch donors, detached party elites, and Democratic politicians who consistently underperform the top of the ticket. Please check out Simon’s report and listen in on the discussion!A transcript of this podcast is available on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Why did America stop building? My AEI colleague James Pethokoukis joins the podcast this week to explain how cultural pessimism, bad policy, and bipartisan fear of disruption stalled progress in strengthening America’s economy. From nukes to AI, we explore what went wrong—and how to fix it.Please listen in on the discussion and check out James’s excellent 2023 book, The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised.A transcript of this podcast is available on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

This week, I’m thrilled to welcome Massachusetts Fourth District Representative Jake Auchincloss to the podcast. Congressman Auchincloss is serving his third term in office and currently works on the House Committee on Energy & Commerce with a particular focus on issues including healthcare, clean energy, gun violence, and a strong middle class. From his bio:Jake was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a surgeon and a scientist. They showed him the value of curiosity and hard work. From the moment he could read, Jake loved American history.After graduating from Harvard College, Jake joined the Marines. He commanded infantry in Afghanistan and special operations in Panama.Upon returning home, Jake continued his service as a three-term city councilor in Newton. While working at City Hall on nights and weekends, Jake built a career in business, running product development at both a Fortune 100 insurance company and a cybersecurity startup. He has degrees in economics and finance from Harvard University and MIT Sloan.Today, Jake lives in Newton with his wife, Michelle, and their children, Teddy, Grace, and Audrey (along with their Labrador Retriever, Donut).After a decade defined by division and distrust in politics, Congressman Auchincloss believes America is ready to rebuild the country and civic life. We talk about post-Trump politics, restoring confidence in democracy, and what it takes to create a pragmatic, forward-looking center in American life.Please listen in on or watch a wonderful discussion! A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

I’m pleased to have Hoover Institution research fellow Dan Wang on the podcast this week to discuss one of my favorite books of the year, Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future. Dan walks us through how China became an “engineering state” while the U.S. turned into a “lawyerly society,” and what this shift means for the future of democracy, progress, and national development.Please listen in on a wonderful discussion and check out Dan’s informative new book! A transcript of this podcast is available on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

I’m thrilled to welcome Thomas Chatterton Williams to the podcast this week. Williams is a colleague of mine at AEI, a staff writer at The Atlantic, and the author of the provocative new book, Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse, which examines how the year 2020 broke American politics:Taking aim at the ideology of critical race theory, the rise of an oppressive social media, the fall from Obama to Trump, and the twinned crises of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd, Williams documents the extent to which this transition has altered media, artistic creativity, education, employment, policing, and, most profoundly, the ambient language and culture we use to make sense of our lives.Williams also decries how liberalism—the very foundation of an open and vibrant society—is in existential crisis, under assault from both the right and the left, especially in our predominantly networked, Internet-driven monoculture.Please listen in and check out Williams’s new book!A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

I’m pleased to welcome Ted Nordhaus to the podcast this week. Ted’s work at The Breakthrough Institute offers an intriguing and important way to think about the intersection of energy policy, society, and politics. Ted explains why he abandoned climate catastrophism, how the “Green Vortex” collapsed, and why Democrats need to unlearn old dogmas if they want to survive as a governing party.Please listen in and check out Ted and his colleagues’ writings at The Ecomodernist on Substack. A transcript of this discussion is available on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Today, I’m pleased to welcome journalist Emily Jashinsky, the D.C. Correspondent at UnHerd, to discuss the rise of the “New Right,” the split between old-guard conservatives and MAGA-aligned populists, and why Democrats should not underestimate J.D. Vance.Populism isn’t just a passing phase—it’s reshaping both the Republican Party and American politics for the long haul.Listen in and please subscribe to the TLP Podcast if you haven’t already!A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our site. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Today, I’m pleased to welcome Yascha Mounk to the TLP Podcast. Yascha is an Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and is the author of the excellent 2023 book, The Identity Trap, featured on TLP when it was first published. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the always interesting Persuasion newsletter and writes regularly on his own personal self-titled Substack as well.Join us for a nuanced discussion about unresolved populism in Western societies, the contradictions of modern free speech politics, and why liberal democracy risks erosion without the emergence of bolder, more heterodox leaders.A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Today, I’m pleased to welcome Christine Emba to The Liberal Patriot Podcast. Christine is a colleague of mine at the American Enterprise Institute and is a columnist and former editorial board member at The Washington Post. She is the author of the great 2022 book, "Rethinking Sex: A Provocation."We discuss the issues surrounding modern sex and dating, the reasons behind young men's shift to the right, the lack of progress in feminism, and the implications of Gen Z's cultural confusion for the future.Listen in on the fascinating discussion, and please subscribe to the TLP Podcast!A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page of our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

This week I’m joined by economist Ian Fletcher to discuss how decades of economic missteps have left the U.S. dangerously dependent on imports and vulnerable to competitors like China. Fletcher is the co-author with Marc Fasteau of an important book entitled Industrial Policy for the United States: Winning the Competition for Good Jobs and High-Value Industries. Fletcher breaks down why free trade hasn’t delivered on its promises, how tariffs alone can’t save us, and why America urgently needs a real, comprehensive industrial policy.Listen in on a great discussion!A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

On today’s podcast, I’m pleased to talk with TLP’s newest contributor, Justin Vassallo. As you’ve seen from his recent columns, Justin’s writing focuses mainly on political development, working-class economics, industrial policy, party systems, and related areas. Justin also writes regularly for Compact, an excellent heterodox journal that everyone should read and subscribe to, as well for UnHerd, American Affairs, New Statesman, and other outlets.We examine why Democrats keep failing the working class, how trade policies left rural America behind, and what “Blue Labour” can teach the left about reconnecting with voters.Check it out and please welcome Justin to the TLP family!A transcript of this podcast is available at the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Today I’m joined by Zaid Jilani, a fellow at New America, proprietor of the excellent Substack newsletter, The American Saga, and one of our sharpest observers of contemporary politics and culture. Zaid and I discuss the puzzle of Democrats’ obsessive use of twenty-dollar words like “oligarchy” and their stout refusal to speak language that normal Americans understand.We then delve into the uselessness of most current Democratic Party strategy including the contributions of she-who-won’t-go-away, Kamala Harris. Zaid lays out the unfortunate dynamic between the parties that contributes to a politics of extremes and leaves the broad center perpetually dissatisfied. We consider prospects for change and which candidates, if any, from both parties might finally break the deadlock.Join us for a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion!A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Today I’m joined by Michael Lind, co-founder of New America and the author of Hell to Pay: How the Suppression of Wages is Destroying America. Michael walks us through the last couple decades of globalization, including how both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump came to denounce the TPP. He then argues that Trump 2.0 has done some good things with tariffs—including partial decoupling from China—but much of the administration’s actions have been too haphazard. We also dive into the delicate balancing act of the “new” and “old” right. Where do they intersect? What do Reaganites think of DOGE? Switching gears, what about the good and bad of Biden’s industrial policy? Can Democrats move past “Trump bad” and define a policy vision for the country? Join us for a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion.A transcript of this episode is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

This week I welcome Henry Olsen back to the podcast. Henry is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center—and has the distinction of being our first repeat guest on the show. We start our conversation on the continent. How has populism, both left and right, fared in Europe in the 21st century? Will the AfD continue its rise in German politics? What about Marine Le Pen and French populism? After a pitstop in Britain for a discussion of the latest challenges facing the Labour Party, we head stateside. Though he started with the wind at his back, is Trump going too far too fast? Are his unpopular actions going to break apart the populist energy in the United States? Who are the early frontrunners for the Democratic nomination in 2028? Join us for a great conversation on all things politics and populism.A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe

Today I have the privilege of welcoming Marc Dunkelman to the podcast. Marc is a research fellow in International and Public Affairs at Brown University and the author of a new book, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring it Back. We begin by discussing a key premise of his book: progressivism is, and always has been, split between a Hamiltonian impulse to push power up and a Jeffersonian impulse to push power down. Marc describes how the later impulse took over left-wing movements by the late 60s and has produced a government that seems startlingly ineffective. How did the "establishment" become so hated? How can our government prove that it is a capable institution? Will Trump’s failures give Democrats an easy out and stop a needed course correction? Tune in for a great conversation on all that and more.A transcript of this podcast is available on the post page on our website. Get full access to The Liberal Patriot at www.liberalpatriot.com/subscribe