Podcast
Reject Modernity Embrace Tradition
Hosted by Clayton Becker and Megan Cox · EN
Two UCLA Political Science PhD Students, Comparativist Megan Cox and Americanist Clayton Becker take you through the ways that previous generations have made the world worse by dismantling the legacy of things like the New Deal and the Great Society. From car dependency to political polarization to our over-reliance on dating apps to helicopter parenting, come along to learn about the many different ways that we should Reject Modernity and Embrace Tradition.
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Episode 49: Reject Trump's Forever Dodge, Embrace Foreign Policy
1w ago01:15:53Tap to summarizeThe Trump Administration has been maddeningly, insanely inconsistent on the causes, justification, purpose, just about everything to do with their war in Iran. Megan and Clayton take you through why this is so strange, why Congress needs to step in, and how we need to orient ourselves differently towards foreign policy going forward.
Transcribe →Episode 48: Reject Rejecting the Voting Rights Act, Embrace Reconstruction 2.0: The Reckoning
4w ago01:13:15Tap to summarizeThe Supreme Court's decision in the Callais case is, to put it mildly, a bunch of hot garbage. Megan and Clayton struggle to stay calm as they take you through the history of the VRA up to this point, as well as what this decision means going forward.
Transcribe →Episode 47: Reject Medical Misinformation, Embrace Modern Science
Mar 1601:09:39Tap to summarizeThere is a rising tide of misinformation specifically related to women's health that parallels the anti-vaccine movement with startling fidelity. Megan and Clayton talk about some of the tactics of these groups, and what we might be able to do to head them off at the pass.
Transcribe →Episode 46: Reject "The Department of", Embrace Justice
Feb 2301:12:48Tap to summarizePam Bondi is turning the Department of Justice into an instrument of Trump's will rather than a legitimate law enforcement organization. Her actions are doing long term damage to our institutions and wreaking havoc on our judicial processes. Megan and Clayton take you through what is happening, and discuss long term prospects for repairing the damage.
Transcribe →Episode 45: Reject X, Embrace Twitter (with Jake Christie)
Feb 201:05:11Tap to summarizeElon has ruined Twitter. Just about every element of the user experience has gotten worse since he took over, and he fundamentally seems to misunderstand the platform. We talked to Jake Christie, the curator of the Museum of Twitter, to understand a bit more about the Twitter of Yore, and what we might've lost now that it's gone.
Transcribe →Episode 44: Reject Random State Violence, Embrace Accountability
Jan 1901:15:26Tap to summarizeOver the past year of the Trump administration, ICE agents have been running around the country acting with utter impunity. Without the threat of being help accountable for their actions, they have been running roughshod over anyone who they perceive as getting in their way. The only way to fix this situation, and to restore some measure of public trust in the justice system, is to make sure that those responsible are held accountable in the future.
Transcribe →Episode 43: Reject Isolation, Embrace Celebration
Dec 2900:51:28Tap to summarizeJust about every culture in the Northern Hemisphere has a festival of lights around this time of year, from Diwali to Christmas to Hanukkah to the Lantern Festival to Yule . It speaks to a deep need for humans to connect at this time of year, yet we constantly hear and read about isolation and loneliness in the depths of winter. It's up to us to be villagers and celebrate with our friends and family.
Transcribe →Episode 42: Reject Tax Cuts, Embrace Civic Commitment
Dec 1501:11:46Tap to summarizeThat top tax rates and general tax burdens have decreased has been much reported on, but an equally important, if less well known, trend is that American states and cities maintain deeply regressive tax systems. Yet, wealthy people in the most regressive places continue to push for further tax cuts for themselves. This is, to put it frankly, precisely backwards and the exact opposite of what we should be doing.
Transcribe →Episode 41: Reject the 50-year Mortgage, Embrace Building Housing
Dec 101:08:30Tap to summarizeTrump's recent "proposal", if we can call it that, for a 50-year mortgage, is one of the worst ideas his administration has ever had that wasn't actively intending to hurt someone or some group. Megan and Clayton take you through why it is such a terrible idea and what we ought to do instead.
Transcribe →Episode 40: Reject the Shadow Docket, Embrace Decisions
Nov 1701:02:14Tap to summarizeRecently, the Supreme Court has been making much greater use of the emergency, or "shadow", docket to make rulings which have real substantive impacts - even though the emergency docket is supposed to be used only for procedural rulings. Listen along as Megan and Clayton talk about why this is such a problem and what we could potentially do to help fix it.
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