3239 - How Reagan’s Religiosity Defines Our Politics Today w/ Diane Winston

Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Diane Winston, Professor of Journalism and Communication at the University of Southern California, to discuss her recent book Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan’s Evangelical Vision. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Israel’s murder of Israeli hostages, Netanyahu’s political career, Pope Francis’ reign, immigration reform, Biden’s polling numbers, Rudy’s big suit, the Florida GOP Chair, Clarence Thomas’ (and the Supreme Court’s) corruption, and the battles of the administrative state. Diane Winston then joins, jumping right into a background on Ronald Reagan’s religiosity, and how – despite media presentation – it was a consistent through line in his life, and central to his successful pivot from Democrat and former Union President, to GOP Governor of California, as he emphasized his born again bona fides in his plea to the supposed “moral majority.” Next, Winston walks Sam and Emma through the contrast between the representation of Ronald Reagan’s Christianity in the media and how it was viewed and interpreted by his base, with the media largely ignoring it – or at most taking it with a grain of salt – allowing him to imbue political messages with the moral concepts of the evangelical community (e.g. lowering taxes to raise “personal responsibility”), set the conversation around policy, and reinvent conservatism as a hopeful ideology. After briefly expanding on the role of religion and religious law in his administration, Winston, Sam, and Emma wrap up with an assessment of the direct line between the anti-government and pro-market government of Reagan to the fascistic and anti-human GOP of today.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma parse through the coverage of Israel’s unsurprising and indiscriminate murder of their own civilians, the past and future of Netanyahu’s domination of Israel’s apartheid regime, and watch Ehud Olmert acknowledge exactly that. They also bask in the glory of Rudy’s near $150 million defamation suit, the GOP’s continued struggle to define Biden’s impeachable offenses, DeSantis’ cuckery, and the Pope’s recent moral battles, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Diane's book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo195433961.html

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