The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination is providing the backdrop for an increasingly nasty fight within American liberalism. On this episode of Primary Concerns, host Brian Beutler welcomes two guests to discuss their conflicted feelings about both candidates, and to prove that progressives can indeed reason with one another. Rick Perlstein is a historian, a national correspondent for The Washington Spectator, and a Sanders supporter. Michelle Goldberg is an author, Slate columnist, and recently converted Hillary Clinton fan. And yes, they do get along.
In our second segment, Georgetown University law professor and libertarian legal thinker Randy Barnett joins the show to discuss Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death, and the legacy (and power vacuum) he leaves behind.
Further reading:
- Randy Barnett and the movement to persuade the Supreme Court to undo the New Deal, by Brian Beutler in the New Republic
- How to go from hating Hillary Clinton to voting for her, by Michelle Goldberg in Slate
- How Bernie Sanders is igniting a populist movement, by Rick Perlstein in The Washington Spectator