I welcomed my friends Dana DuBois and Lawrence Winnerman for a rare three-person conversation on The Journeyman.

I kicked things off with a discussion of the Young Republicans’ racist text messages making headlines, sharing my frustration that the media refuses to plainly call racist behavior what it is.

We talked about why words matter — how public discourse has been softened to the point where clear acts of racism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny get tiptoed around instead of confronted directly.

There is the growing realization across the country that U.S. democracy is far more fragile than many of us believed, and norms we assumed were rules or laws have proven to be nothing more than a handshake agreement among powerful people.

We examine the disconnect between the mythology of American progress and the harsh truths being exposed today — especially around race and gender power.

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