In this week's show, which is divided into two special episodes, we'll dive into fear in America and explore some of the findings from a multi-year study on fear in a new book, Fear Itself, The Causes and Consequences of Fear in America (NYU Press, 2020). We'll look at what we know about American fears, and consider some surprising findings about who fears what and why. One of the interesting insights we'll discuss is how partisan politics have come to dominate American fears, so much so that conservatives and liberals fear entirely different things. We'll delve into why that is, and what it means for democratic politics. 

In the second part of this week's show we'll dig deeper into how belief in the paranormal and conspiracies both shape, and are shaped by, the things that we fear. Be sure to check out that episode later this week.

I'm producing these episodes in parallel with a course of the same name which I am teaching at California State University, Chico where I am currently teaching.  Each week I will look at a different topic related to the end of the world, from doomsday preppers and our deepest fears to the role of religion, media, and politics in thinking about the end of the world.

There are several short video segments included which you can watch by following the links below:

Clip 1: Chapman University Survey of American Fears Promo

Clip 2: LBJ's in64 "Daisy" campaign ad

Clip 3: Fear in New Trump 2020 Campaign Ad

For additional show notes and materials references in this episode be sure to visit my End of the World page:

https://www.chriscrews.com/end-of-the-world-podcast/

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Crews