Both the Grammys and the State of the Union Worship at the Cult of the Presidency: Podcast

Truer every year? ||| ReasonLast night’s Grammy Awards telecast included not just the headline-making reading by Hillary Clinton of Michael Wolff’s Trump-trashing bestseller Fire and Fury but also a set-up from host James Corden pointing out—as if it were a normal or admirable thing—that previous Grammys for Best Spoken Word Album have gone to Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore. Is that not a sign that—as will be in evidence during tomorrow’s State of the Union address—we are a nation still in thrall to the Cult of the Presidency?

That question kicks off today’s Reason Podcast, which features Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch debates the news of the week. How can we “de-presidentify” the SOTU? Suderman wants presidents to read policy white papers. Mangu-Ward suggests pointing out that “America is an idea about eagles.” And Gillespie argues that Trump’s own behavior has already demystified the Oval Office in overdue ways. Other discussion includes deal-points on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Steven Spielberg’s missed opportunity to trash Ben Bradlee in The Post, and the audio-visual problematics of Luke and Laura.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

Relevant links from the show:

Grammys Have Time for Hillary Clinton, But Not Lorde, To Perform?,” by Nick Gillespie

The Necessity of Stephen Miller,” by Ross Douthat in The New York Times

Are Microschools the Next Big Thing?” by Tyler Koteskey

How Immigration Crackdowns Screw Up Americans’ Lives,” by Shikha Dalmia

Why Trump Supporters Are Bringing an Elephant Man to the Beauty Pageant,” by Matt Welch

When the Entire Democratic Party Was Like Donald Trump,” by Matt Welch

The Cult of the Presidency,” by Gene Healy

Subscribe, rate, and review the Reason Podcast at iTunes. Listen at SoundCloud below:

Don’t miss a single Reason podcast! (Archive here.)

Subscribe at iTunes.

Follow us at SoundCloud.

Subscribe at YouTube.

Like us on Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/2nmYSbi
via IFTTT

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *