The Vital Center

By The Niskanen Center

Listen to a podcast, please open Podcast Republic app. Available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.


Category: Politics

Open in Apple Podcasts


Open RSS feed


Open Website


Rate for this podcast

Subscribers: 22
Reviews: 0
Episodes: 65

Description

Making sense of the post-Trump political landscape… Both the Republican and Democratic parties are struggling to defend the political center against illiberal extremes. America must put forward policies that can reverse our political and governmental dysfunction, advance the social welfare of all citizens, combat climate change, and confront the other forces that threaten our common interests. The podcast focuses on current politics seen in the context of our nation’s history and the personal biographies of the participants. It will highlight the policy initiatives of non-partisan think tanks and institutions, while drawing upon current academic scholarship and political literature from years past — including Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.’s 1949 classic “The Vital Center.”

Episode Date
The case for incremental change, with Greg Berman and Aubrey Fox
Apr 11, 2024
Understanding inequality and rising mortality rates in America, with Angus Deaton
Mar 27, 2024
Conservative voices in 1960s campus activism, with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd
Mar 11, 2024
Illiberal vanguards in Russia and the U.S., with Alexandar Mihailovic
Feb 13, 2024
Is America's past hurting us now? Deep dive with Fergus Bordewich
Jan 17, 2024
Milton Freidman's unexpected legacy, with Jennifer Burns
Dec 21, 2023
Minnesota's progressive Republican tradition, with Lori Sturdevant
Dec 06, 2023
Seth D. Kaplan on how to repair our fragile society, one neighborhood at a time
Nov 21, 2023
The decline of the American Dream, with David Leonhardt
Nov 08, 2023
The political reform that might matter most, with Katherine Gehl
Oct 25, 2023
The two-parent privilege, with Melissa Kearney
Oct 06, 2023
The contested meaning of American freedom, with Jefferson Cowie
Sep 27, 2023
Joe Biden as "The Last Politician," with Franklin Foer
Sep 13, 2023
The century-long war for American conservatism, with Matthew Continetti
Aug 29, 2023
Slouching towards Utopia, with Brad DeLong
Aug 03, 2023
How elites use zoning and NIMBYism to keep the working class out, with Richard Kahlenberg
Jul 13, 2023
Why Congress needs to be revitalized, with Philip Wallach
Jul 06, 2023
How government can succeed in the digital age, with Jennifer Pahlka
Jun 07, 2023
A long-term success strategy for Democrats, with Ruy Teixeira
May 30, 2023
An economic agenda for a divided nation, with Isabel Sawhill
May 10, 2023
How Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War
Apr 27, 2023
How the John Birch Society radicalized the American Right, with Matthew Dallek
Apr 04, 2023
Los Angeles in 1974 and the politics of culture, with Ronald Brownstein
Mar 29, 2023
Tackling immigration reform in a divided Washington, with Kristie De Peña
Mar 01, 2023
The GOP’s Faustian bargain with far-right extremism, with David Corn
Feb 01, 2023
Imagining a better future for American democracy, with Suzette Brooks Masters
Jan 04, 2023
The paradoxical life of J. Edgar Hoover, with Beverly Gage
Dec 13, 2022
Larry Hogan’s GOP Alternative, with Mileah Kromer
Dec 01, 2022
Reclaiming Libertarianism with Andrew Koppelman
Nov 09, 2022
America’s unfinished civil war, with Jeremi Suri
Oct 28, 2022
The 1990s origins of today’s Trumpian politics, with Nicole Hemmer
Oct 12, 2022
Why men and boys are falling behind, with Richard V. Reeves
Sep 28, 2022
Homophobia in the mid-20th century, with James Kirchick
Aug 31, 2022
Rising political violence in the U.S. and the threat to U.S. democracy, with Rachel Kleinfeld
Aug 17, 2022
Michael Mazarr on American decline and possible revival
Aug 03, 2022
The rise of the Ripon Society and moderate Republicanism, with Emil Frankel
Jul 20, 2022
Reckoning with the deep structural problems in our democracy, with Greg Sargent
Jul 06, 2022
Will the American conservative movement ever value liberty and virtue again? (with Stephanie Slade)
Jun 08, 2022
Can conservatism ever become sensible again? (with Joshua Tait)
May 16, 2022
The leading challengers to liberalism and moderation come from the West, with Aurelian Craiutu
Apr 29, 2022
Abraham Lincoln as a Pragmatist and Peacemaker, with John Avlon
Apr 04, 2022
Re-Centering the Democratic Party, with Elaine Kamarck
Mar 17, 2022
Vital Center: Looking at America from up high and on the ground, with Jim Fallows
Mar 07, 2022
A Veteran Administrator’s Perspective on Higher Education, with Sam Chauncey
Feb 02, 2022
What’s a principled conservative to do about Trump? (with Mona Charen)
Jan 06, 2022
Why the U.S. Government Can't Seem to Get Anything Done Anymore, with Brink Lindsey
Dec 15, 2021
How America Can Become a "Can Do" Country Again, with Philip Zelikow
Dec 02, 2021
The Influence of Gingrich, the Triumph of Trump, the Legacy of Conservative Court Appointments, with Jackie Calmes
Nov 10, 2021
The Last Liberal Republican President, with John R. Price
Oct 27, 2021
Dark Days in Washington, with A.B. Stoddard
Oct 13, 2021
How to confront the growing threat to American democracy, with Tom Nichols
Sep 29, 2021
How to Bridge Our Divides and Find Our Shared American Identity, with Phillipa Hughes
Sep 15, 2021
Can America Untangle Itself from Red Tape? (With Philip K. Howard)
Sep 01, 2021
The Role of the Corporate Elite in Politics, with Mark Mizruchi
Aug 18, 2021
The Roots of Reactionary Conservatism, with Laura K. Field
Aug 04, 2021
What's behind the illiberal attacks on our institutions and how to fight back, with Jonathan Rauch
Jul 22, 2021
Moderate Conservatism as a Way to Protect Pre-modern Institutions, with R.R. Reno
Jun 09, 2021
The Case for a Moderate Third Party, with Chris Vance
May 26, 2021
How to Fix Our Political Parties, with Rob Saldin
May 12, 2021
How Democrats Lost the Working Class, with Matt Karp
Apr 28, 2021
The Rise of the "Establishment," and Its Impact Today, with Aaron M. Renn
Apr 14, 2021
Could Women Save the GOP by Running for Office? (With Kodiak and Ariel Hill-Davis)
Mar 31, 2021
The Man Behind the Modern Conservative Movement, with Sam Tanenhaus
Mar 17, 2021
Why I Left the GOP, with Linda Chavez
Mar 03, 2021
The Forces Behind the Radical Right
Feb 17, 2021