64 Brahmin Left 4: Adaner and John wrap up with Elizabeth

Recall This Book

Our Summer series on the Brahmin Left, winding down as Fall approaches, was inspired by our bracing but terrifying interview with Thomas Piketty. It starts from the assumption that a major realignment (or, rather, a “dealignment”) from the class-based politics of the mid-20th century is underway all over Europe and North America–and perhaps worldwide. What caused that? Piketty’s explanation centers on the rise of the Brahmin Left. He maintains that Left parties have abandoned the working-class for an increasingly highly educated voter-base (as if on cue, Nate Cohn recently supplied this analysis).

We spoke with Matt Karp, Jan-Werner Mueller and Arlie Hochschild and learned far more than we bargained for. Karp is among those who point to political changes produced by the waning power of labor in our post-industrial era; Mueller points to populist revival and ethnonationalism resurgent; Hochschild notes the breakdown in the narratives that succeeded in tying working-class white voters to Left parties in the 20th century. Other scholars (we spoke with Quinn Slobodian in 2019 for example) see in the Right’s recent successes the latest twist in a neoliberalism controlled by corporate elites.

Now, Adaner, Elizabeth and John come together for a “wrap” conversation: what unites our three guests, and what divides them? Elizabeth ponders the series as a whole, wondering: what exactly do we mean by “the left” anyway, let alone the Brahmin Left?

Listen and Read:

RTB 64 Roundup Brahmin Left Transcript finalDownload

Upcoming episodes: Next week marks the debut of a new feature. From now on, each month we will publish a short essay on the month’s big theme. So keep your eyes peeled for a Brahmin Left piece, hitting your browser three days into fall. And then…… October is Octopus Month (put away your chopsticks, please….). For starters that a terrific conversation with Peter Godfrey-Smith, author of the best book we know on the alterity of octopus consciousness: Other Minds. More cephalopod-themed material will follow throughout the month.

Finally, all listeners and readers who are interested in the gentle art of podcasting are cordially invited to the inaugural Humanities Podcasting Symposium, held over Zoom, October 15-16. Latif Nasser of Radiolab will headline two days of workshops, seminars and discussions among scholars students and amateurs who have fallen in love with the pedagogical and intellectual possibilities the medium affords. Elizabeth and John will both be presenting. Join us! RSVP here