Best of 2019: Identity Crisis: The Battle for the Meaning of America w/ John Sides + David Feldman & H. Jon Benjamin

John Sides (@johnmsides), professor of political science at George Washington University and co-author of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America, joins us.

John Sides (@johnmsides), professor of political science at George Washington University, joins us to discuss his new book, Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America. For this book, Sides researched voters' beliefs about how much the Democratic Party's policies helped black Americans, and found they grew substantially after Obama's 2008 election. Sides posits that Obama's election racialized US politics in a way they had not been previously, causing race, immigration and religion to play a major role in the 2016 presidential election.

Then, from May:

David Feldman then joins the program to discuss his "principles" and why in 2020 it's all about defeating Trump. While providing healthcare, food security, and government oversight are important things, the most important thing "in principle" is that we unit behind the candidate most likely to defeat Trump. Feldman says the threats of a inter-party circular firing squad and democrats staying home on election day are real and must be avoided at all cost. Additionally, Bernie is not reaching out to the middle class white males like Biden and cannot match Middle Class Joe because the former VP is just that, a middle class white male. While half the country doesn't have $500 for an emergency, Feldman understands, as a middle class man, who has experienced tragedy, that we start reaching out to the middle class and and then reach out to others from there. Feldman ends his interview explaining why it's important to take the advice of Rob Reiner in every aspect of your life.

Finally, also from May:

Sam and H. Jon Benjamin have a very uncomfortable interview about Benjamin's newish book, 'Failure Is An Option: An Attempted Memoir.' We're talking decades' worth of simmering resentment bubbling up to the surface uncomfortable. Seriously, why do we keep doing this?