What Rough Beast
What Rough Beast
Podcast Description
What Rough Beast, hosted by Virginia Heffernan (Wired, Trumpcast) and Stephen Metcalf (Slate, Culture Gabfest) is a podcast where we bear witness to America’s demise, and ask what might be built from the rubble. The sludge. The sparkly phosphorescent faerie dust of recombinant DNA.
It is a spiritual successor to Trumpcast, but with a radical reimagining. Instead of focusing on opposing Trump or trusting institutions, this podcast explores imaginative, unexpected responses to our current political moment. The show takes inspiration from the '68ers' motto "all power to the imagination" and seeks unconventional solutions beyond traditional political frameworks. virginiaheffernan.substack.com
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores themes around political imagination, social change, and unconventional solutions. Key topics include the transformation of the Supreme Court, internal exile as a response to political despair, and the role of climate activism in democracy. Recent episodes have covered specific examples like the impact of the Federalist Society on legal rulings and discussions about radical approaches to activism.
What Rough Beast, hosted by Virginia Heffernan (Wired, Trumpcast) and Stephen Metcalf (Slate, Culture Gabfest) is a podcast where we bear witness to America’s demise, and ask what might be built from the rubble. The sludge. The sparkly phosphorescent faerie dust of recombinant DNA.
It is a spiritual successor to Trumpcast, but with a radical reimagining. Instead of focusing on opposing Trump or trusting institutions, this podcast explores imaginative, unexpected responses to our current political moment. The show takes inspiration from the ’68ers’ motto “all power to the imagination” and seeks unconventional solutions beyond traditional political frameworks.
You’re listening to What Rough Beast!
We are Virginia Heffernan and Stephen Metcalf, and today we’re talking with Mandeep Tiwana of CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations and activists working to strengthen citizen action and civil society throughout the world. And CIVICUS just added the United States to its Watchlist.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Why CIVICUS has put the U.S. on a democracy watchlist alongside countries like Serbia and Congo
* The scary erosion of basic American freedoms like protesting, speaking out, and organizing
* How America’s gone through rough patches before, but why this time feels way more alarming
* How democracy is torn down with alarming speed, and takes decades and centuries to rebuild
* What regular Americans can do to spot these freedom-crushing red flags before things get even worse
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Disclaimer
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