In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Rick Perlstein about conservatism, politics in the United States, and past and present social-cultural issues. They discuss his motivations for writing his four books on modern Conservatism in the United States. They discuss the rise of Barry Goldwater and the splintering of the New Deal coalition. They also discuss the shifting cultural voting bloc from the middle class to elites and how Nixon’s rise worked with these shifting social and cultural changes. They talked about how suburbanization influenced a push towards Goldwater and Nixon and the new brand of Conservatism. They discuss the ever-present role of Reagan always in the background and some of the biographical aspects of the image he created for himself. They talk about the conservative shift from economic to social-cultural elements, the Reagan Democrats, and building of the modern Conservative coalition. They also talk about the Conservative party over the past 40 years leading up to the current platform and the potential future directions.

 

Rick Perlstein is a writer, journalist, and historian who has written four books on the social and political Conservative waves during the 1960s and 1970s. He is the author of Before The Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, Nixonland: The Rise of A President and the Fracturing of America, The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and The Rise of Reagan, and Reaganland: America’s Right Turn 1976-1980. You can find all of the links to his books, essays, and other publications at his website. Twitter: @rickperlstein

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