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.
Waking Up White
A Brave New World of AI, Virtual Reality and Memetic Culture
Against Marriage
Why the Shadows of Socrates still haunt us today
The forced erasure of gays from 20th century American life
The Biggest Liberal Loser or an Iconic Progressive?
In defense of geeky intellectuals
Why do we seem to have so little free time?
And the Oscar goes to.....
Unpacking the Facebook tragedy
Will Putin ever die?
Should Americans pursue virtue or happiness?
A Case for Reparations
Exposing Hollywood's most notorious interwar celebrity spy
What chance peace in Israel?
How to write a #1 global bestseller
How Tucker Carlson's Putin interview captures today's "new, new media" revolution
Uncovering the world's mightiest (and tiniest) narco-state
in defense of cultural liberalism
Do nations have psychologies and can they experience collective trauma?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
The Power of Storytelling
NABOR® TALKS
U.S Property Podcast
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money