by Geoffrey Nunberg

I had hoped to make my maiden post to this blog in response to Eric Rauchway's exchange with Casey Blake about the origins of the distinction between progressives and liberals. As a linguist, I found Rauchway's unpacking of the distinction theoretically suggestive, but lexicographically unsatisfying. Like most other attempts to draw a philosophical line here, it didn't seem to account for the way people actually use these labels nowadays. Anyway, in the event I owed a piece to "Fresh Air," I wrote this up for them for airing October 27. You can find a version of the script here.