Marx’s 19th century remark that history repeats itself twice, first as tragedy and then as farce, helps us makes sense of the seemingly surreal politics of the contemporary Republican Party. As Kyle Paoletta notes in his insightful Harpers essay “The Race For Second Place”, the 2024 Republican primaries have been a complete “farce” (the tragedy, of course, being the 2016 primaries). Everything about this year’s Iowa Causus and the New Hampshire primary, Paoletta reported from Des Moines and Manchester, was untrue. There wasn’t even really a race for second place. The only story was Trump, who not only didn’t show up, but barely acknowledged either the primaries or the Republican party itself. It was classic farce. but behind the absurdity of these 2024 primaries, Paoletta predicts, are tectonic shifts in American democracy which will shape the political geography of the 21st century.
Kyle Paoletta’s reporting and criticism has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s, New York Magazine, The Nation, The New Republic, n+1, The Believer, The Columbia Journalism Review, The Baffler, High Country News, and Boston. His first book, American Oasis: Finding the Future in the Cities of the Southwest, will be published by Pantheon in early 2025. Kyle holds an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University and previously worked at GQ and New York Magazine. He is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Episode 2178: Bryan VanDyke on Humanist Nostalgia in our AI Age
Episode 2177: Brazil vs X, France vs Telegram and the Brewing War between Big Tech & Government
Episode 2176: Peter Phillips on why State Controlled Chinese Capitalism is more Humane than the Free Market American Model
Episode 2175: Tanya Gold on her Gay Romp through Jewish Poland
Episode 2174: David Lay Williams on how Economic Inequality has Shaped the History of Political Thought
Episode 2173: Pano Kanelos on How to Build a Liberal 21st Century University
Episode 2172: Pedro Domingos on how AI can radically democratize American politics
Episode 2171: Frank Andre Guridy reimagines America through the history of its sports stadiums
Episode 2170: Former U.S. Inspectors General, Glenn Fine, in defense of honest & accountable government
Episode 2169: Why Both Teachers and Students Need AI
Episode 2168: KEEN ON America featuring William Deresiewicz
Episode 2167: George Gilder on the Israel Test
Episode 2166: Meredith Sumpter on how to make American Democracy more Democratic
Episode 2165: A Meta Exec on why Corporations Should be in the Business of Social Engineering
Episode 2164: Keith Teare asks if Europe is Dying
Episode 2163: David Masciotra on Kamala and America's "Harrisist" Moment
Episode 2162: Bethanne Patrick on the Hypocrite, Hitler's People and Hum
Episode 2061: Mimi Casteel explains the how to fix America, one sip of wine at a time
Episode 2160: Steve Benen on how the Republicans have become the Orwellian Party of Big Brother
Episode 2159: Richard J. Evans on how leading Nazis were, in some ways, just ordinary middle class Germans
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Bank of America Treasury Insights
How I Crushed It
Pharmacy Podcast Network
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money