The House majority whip from South Carolina gave Joe Biden the key endorsement of his candidacy. What does the civil rights veteran want to see from his party — and the President-elect — in 2021? How will Democrats bridge the divide between progressives advocating for change and Biden preaching a ‘return to normalcy?’ And with Clyburn chairing the new president’s inauguration committee, what does he expect from a very unusual transfer of power?

This interview was recorded as part of an Atlantic Live event on December 17th, 2020.

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Jim Clyburn

The Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Like the magazine, the show will “road test” the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversations—and sometimes sharp debates—with the most insightful thinkers and writers on topics of the day, Radio Atlantic will complicate overly simplistic views. It will cut through the noise with clarifying, personal narratives. It will, hopefully, help listeners make up their own mind about certain ideas.
The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. Radio Atlantic aims to bring some order to our thinking—and encourage listeners to be purposeful about how they unstick their mind.

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Is having a Birkin bag ... a right? Earlier this year, two California residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the French luxury design company Hermès. Their grievance was that although they could afford a coveted Birkin bag made by the company, they could not buy one.
We talk to Atlantic staff writer Amanda Mull about the lawsuit and the current state of the luxury market. What do we actually want from luxury these days? Is there even such a thing anymore as a rare luxury good? And what handbag is Amanda carrying? 
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Money Can Buy You Everything, Except Maybe a Birkin Bag

Where were you for the 2017 total eclipse? Where will you be this year? And where will you be for the next one in 2045? Hanna talks to Atlantic staff writer Marina Koren about the eclipse as a peculiar event: a beautiful if not slightly unsettling moment that is also a strange marker of time.
And we hear from retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak who's seen more than 20 total eclipses in his life and wonders which eclipse might end up being his last.
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During the Eclipse, Don't Just Look Up

Atlantic political reporter John Hendrickson has had a stutter since he was a kid. Recently he heard Donald Trump make fun of Joe Biden’s stutter, and he noticed that the audience laughed.
Hendrickson’s working theory has been that disability is apolitical, and he wondered what Trump supporters actually feel about him making fun of people with disabilities. We go to a Trump rally in Dayton, Ohio and poll the crowd. 
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Do Trump Supporters Mind When He Mocks Biden’s Stutter?

Hanna talks to her child Jacob about the thing they've argued the most about: being on their phone.
Then, Hanna sits down with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. In his new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Haidt argues there is a direct tie between the wide distribution of smartphones and a rise in depression, anxiety, and loneliness among young people.
After which, Hanna asks Jacob: Did I ruin your life?
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The Smartphone Kids Are Not All Right

Sarah Osmundson knows how to talk about abortion. She’s learned over the course of her career as a maternal-fetal medicine doctor that some patients are comfortable with the option, and others would never consider it. 

Osmundson is a physician in Tennessee, a state with one of the strictest abortion bans in the country following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision. The procedure is illegal at any stage of pregnancy, with limited exceptions to protect the life and health of the mother. 

But which cases meet those exceptions? The risks and outcomes of pregnancy aren’t easy to predict, especially for the types of patients Osmundson treats. After Dobbs, her hospital—and others around the country—formed what’s informally known as an “abortion committee” to decide if a patient meets the state’s exceptions. In this episode, Osmundson brings us the rare view inside these deliberations.

Further Reading:
“Their States Banned Abortion. Doctors Now Say They Can’t Give Women Potentially Lifesaving Care” by Kavitha Surana

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Jim Clyburn

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