TLP Weekend Edition (July 20-21, 2024)
What we're reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.
🎧 “Yuval Levin on the Coming Realignment,” interview with Yascha Mounk on Persuasion. Levin, author of a fascinating new book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again, is interviewed by Mounk to discuss, “Why neither Democrats nor Republicans have built a durable post-Cold War coalition—and how American politics could be transformed in 2028.” Related note: Ruy Teixeira, TLP’s politics editor, is currently working with Levin, who is his AEI colleague, on a project they call “Politics Without Winners.” The project is precisely about the recent, and historically anomalous, situation where neither party seems capable of developing a dominant majority coalition—or perhaps even interested in doing so. Out soon!
📖 “The Promise of Pro-Labor Conservatism,” by Missouri Senator Josh Hawley in Compact. Under Donald Trump, the Republican Party is now making no secret of the fact that, at least rhetorically, they plan to eschew their decades-long commitment to free-market conservatism—free trade, tax cuts, fiscal austerity—and instead pivot to embracing economic populism. In addition to Trump's pick of J. D. Vance for vice president, the RNC prominently featured Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, who excoriated corporate America and championed the rights of workers—once unthinkable at a GOP convention. The next day, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley penned a piece echoing much of what O'Brien said, writing:
Republican elites may have sold out to Big Business in years past, but their voters never did. From Missouri to Ohio to Florida, states where Republicans compete and win are home to millions of working people who back the GOP. Many belong to unions or have friends and family who do. They get it: Unions are a vital piece of the fabric of a nation that depends on working people.
If even a slice of union voters are receptive to this messaging, it could put key swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in play for Trump.
📖 “Abiding Legends: Richard Matheson, George R. Stewart, and the birth of the Calipocalypse.” by Kevin Mims. Excellent essay in Quillette on apocalyptic fiction, particularly that set in California and particularly the classic novel, Earth Abides, by midcentury author George R. Stewart. The latter book is highly recommended, still great after all these years!
🚴♂️ 50 Miles of 50 States, on Substack. When he's not slicing and dicing election data, there's a good chance you'll find our chief political analyst, Michael Baharaeen, on his bike. In addition to traversing DC’s extensive trail network and back roads, he has embarked on a project with a childhood friend to complete 50-mile rides in all 50 states. They have so far checked off 18, largely along the east coast and in the Midwest. If you want to follow along as they continue filling out the map, be sure to check out their Substack, which tracks the rides and more in every city and state they visit.
📚🎸 World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music, by Jeff Tweedy. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy’s third book offers a joyful look at the songs that defined his life, along with funny asides about his childhood in the 1970s, and includes a great mix of songwriters and bands: Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Mavis Staples, Dolly Parton, John Cage, Randy Newman, Otis Redding, Wings, Deep Purple, The Velvet Underground, The Replacements, Grandmaster Flash, Television, the Minutemen, Rosalia, and Billie Eilish. It’s a quick and pleasant read and includes a playlist with all of the songs. Any music lover will appreciate Tweedy’s insights and diverse song selections (including some he likes and some he does not). Take a break from all the political drama!
Thanks for sharing Larry!
I could match the music column. I grew up a drummer, and even though I already had a BA in Poly Sci from Arizona State, I played all through college to the detriment of my grades. (Grades aren't everything: I ended up with a Ph.D. and a college teaching position!). Literally the weekend I graduated, I was in a van going to play in . . . Peoria. I spent years on the road, and soon had a good band doing all (good) original music. We opened for Steppenwolf, Savoy Brown, the James Gang, and the Who sat through our set at the Troubadour with a very drunk Pete Townsend slapping me on the back and saying "Good show, wot!" Although I was straight ahead hard rock, I nevertheless was most influenced by Joe Morello of the Dave Brubeck Quartet; then drifted into Beach Boys Music, then, of course, the Beatles where I really learned drumming from Ringo. He and I would (figuratively) play together for hours every afternoon as I put on Beatles albums and played along. By far, Ringo was the best rock drummer ever because he not only could "play a song," but was so innovative he played new ways of playing a song. Anyway, Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge was my next influence---best drummer ever next to Ringo. But the whole time I was still looking at weird outsider bands such as King Crimson (Bill Bruford), Captain Beyond, Bloodrock, and of course Yes. When disco came, I didn't reject it but learned to play it and play it differently. So I loved K.C. and the Sunshine Band---and our group almost signed with them (woulda been a big mistake---we were "Allman Bros.). Later still I got into the big hair 80s bands at which time I stopped playing, but didn't stop listening. I loved Mister Mr. and Rick Page (another Phoenix native), Autograph, Bon Jovi, but also Brit acts like Howard Jones and Alan Parsons, whose "Gaudi" remains one of my top 10 albums of all time. Eventually I added great Christian groups to my listening including Avalon, Michael W. Smith, Mark Schulz, Point of Grace, and Andy Hunter. But one always has to make room for the talented Weird Al Yankovic---a genius---and of course the titans such as Michael Jackson, Boz Scaggs, and my current fave, a great jam band, Goose. If anyhone is terribly interested they can find my autobiography on Amazon as "The Rhythm of History." (In the meantime I managed to write a NYT #1 bestseller and make 2 movies).