Matt is joined by Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer, author of the new book The Cruelty Is the Point. They discuss the racial politics of the Trump-era, how these tactics persist in the GOP today, and how the dynamics of the present moment have led us to relitigate Reconstruction-era problems that go against the fundamental understanding of American equity. They also have a few things to say in there about Die Hard and Indiana Jones.

"The Cruelty Is the Point" by Adam Serwer (The Atlantic; Oct. 3, 2018)

The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America by Adam Serwer (Penguin Random House, June 2021)

"The Flight 93 Election" by Michael Anton (Claremont Review of Books; Sept. 5, 2016)

"The Great Awokening" by Matthew Yglesias (Vox; Apr. 1, 2019)

"The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic; June 2014)

Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior by Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird (Princeton' Oct. 2021)

Schoolbook Nation: Conflicts over American History Textbooks from the Civil War to the Present by Joseph Moreau (U. Michigan; 2004)

Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer), staff writer, The Atlantic; author, The Cruelty Is the Point

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Erikk Geannikis, Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

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