By courting neo-cons and failing to address cost of living concerns, have establishment Democrats signed the party’s death warrant?

On this episode of After America, Assistant Professor Musa Al-Gharbi joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the catastrophic failure of the Democrats to effectively resist Trump’s agenda and whether a new generation of leaders can turn the party around.  

This discussion was recorded on Wednesday 9 July 2025.

Emma and Musa also did a live event with Alex Sloan in Canberra – the recording is available here. 

Dead Centre: How political pragmatism is killing us by Richard Denniss is available for pre-order now via the Australia Institute website. 

Guest: Musa al-Gharbi, Assistant Professor in the School of Communication and Journalism, Stony Brook University // @musaalgharbi 

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @emmashortis 

Show notes: 

We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite by Musa al-Gharbi, Princeton University Press (2024) 

A Graveyard of Bad Election Narratives by Musa al-Gharbi (November 2024) 

The Elite Panic at the Heart of Liberal Attacks on Mamdani by Tressie McMillan Cottom, The New York Times (July 2025) 

Common Sense Solidarity, Jacobin (November 2021) 

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions 

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. 

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