With the excesses of 2020 now being examined in mainstream outlets like The New York Times, we are witnessing a moment of introspection on the American left. To unpack this development, we're joined by a writer who has studied the history of the left. And in this week's conversation, we wrestle with our own complicated — and at times conflicted — relationships to these politics.

Daniel Oppenheimer is an American writer and podcaster. He runs the Substack newsletter Eminent Americans and hosts a podcast of the same name. He’s the author of Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Century, and his latest essay for Persuasion is “How the Left Loses its People.”

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com