Goodbye Red Brick Road

Tim Miller, writer-at-large at The Bulwark, joins Steve to talk about his new book: Why ...

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Tim Miller, writer-at-large at The Bulwark, joins Steve to talk about his new book: Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell. Miller gives listeners a breakdown of the Washington, D.C. political culture and how it’s not what you might think. Plus: the book sparks a lively debate about the divides within the Republican Party, and whether there’s a way forward in the midst of the murk. Is there a place for center-right journalism to thrive?

Show Notes:

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Very interesting interview. I sometimes find Tim’s stuff a little annoying because the heroin stuff (which he is now putting out a version of for NeverTrumpers) really ticks me off. Steve had the better of the debate at the end. But I enjoyed this. Have him back sometime.

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  2. Mark F

    What is The Dispatch's heroin?

    I mean, I assume it's the Wednesday G-File and August nerd AO, but I'm open to other suggestions.

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    W James Anderson

    It’s good to hear Tim Miller share his honest thoughts and is also good to know Steve wasn’t fishing for compliments. It’s great to hear two guys talk through the many things they did to help this guy understand things in general a little better💀’s and🌈’s

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    WKDawson

    I also appreciated the heated exchange at the end.

    You're not so expressedly religious, but one of the things in the Lord's prayer is "lead us not into temptation". I would guess the opportunity to be in an administration would be very luring. Whereas people probably go in there thinking that maybe they can be strong against the tide, we land ourselves in a culture, and the culture somewhat captivates us. I think we overrate our ability to stand up to power, to stay strong and focused and turn away from evil. I've never had anything remotely akin to being in a presidential administration, but even in the microcosms I've existed in, I don't think I have been able to effect much change. On the other hand, whereas I have met some of the worst people in highly competitive places, I've also met some of the best. I hope what I have taken away from those experiences is the best of the people, and not the worst.

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    WKDawson

    I appreciated this discussion, though I got to this a week late.

    I'm probably center left. I listen to The Dispatch because it is one of the few places where I can listen to the views of people (which I can sometimes have limited agreement on), and not get really annoyed at the distortions. I'm sick of the noise, and at least here, I detect some signal.

    Perhaps at some point, you can send out a survey of the proportion of center-left/center-right. Maybe also classify it a bit, as I lean more conservative on religion, but more liberal on social social/economic matters. Defense I'm probably spot on. So I'm kind of half homeless in both liberal and conservative media, but find some equilibrium here. Of course, I read NR/Commentary to the right, and NYT/WaPo/TYT to the left. So this isn't the only place, but it seems like you have caught one of the exhausted middle. I have recommended your paper to some people I know who are also in that exhausted middle.


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  6. Jason Odegaard

    This was an incredibly great and informative podcast, with some honest & earnest conversation (especially picking up mid-podcast) that definitely made me pay even more close attention to the discussion between Hayes and Miller.

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  7. James Angelichio

    I’m glad Steve pushed back as much as he did, but Miller still got away with too much Republican bashing while making the claim that democratic voters are all about well thought out policy.

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    Brendan Jubulis

    Thoroughly enjoyed the first ~50 mins of this interview until Tim compleeetely lost me. Steve, he is a cynic that is too far gone, and unfortunately, so is the rest of the the Bulwark. Funny how he works for editors who are literally doing the type of opportunistic hackery he claims to so fiercely oppose. If you think HR McMaster, a true American hero and someone who is still personally getting people out of Ukraine, is a feckless coward for not supporting Biden, you have gone past jaded and have lost your mind. (And I’m glad he said he was a different case later, but his instinct is still “anyone in the Trump White House is evil and cowardly” as if HE would have been able to do anything) And if you not only vote for, but demand support for Biden, you can call yourselves a lot things, but conservative is not one of them. And that is the difference between the ideologically honest Dispatch and the hysterical, hypocritical, and political activist-crazed Bulwark. And it’s sad to see, because I was a constant reader of some of them from the Standard, NR, etc. and I still like some of their non-political writing.

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    Eric Schmidt

    I'm the quintessential center-left Dispatch consumer, and listening to Hayes and Miller, I felt a little protective of a moderately conservative media outlet, which I did NOT see coming five years ago. And that made me reflect for a moment:
    1. I don't like the word niche, and not just because there's no consensus on pronunciation. It makes me think of boutique, and all that that implies.
    2. The Atlantic and The New Yorker, collectively, have been around almost three centuries, so that comparison is a little unfair. It took the Atlantic sixty years to reach 70,000 subscribers. Adjusting for population, that's about 200k in today's numbers. And The Atlantic's readership has doubled in the last three years. (https://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2021/08/the-atlantics-paid-circulation-tops-830000/619697/)
    3. This made me wonder--what is the current state of The Dispatch? Combining all your publications, how many readers and listeners do you have? And what is your trajectory?

    If you'd told me in the early twenty-teens that before the end of the decade, I'd be seeking out sane conservative voices, I would have assumed the wheels were about to get very wobbly in American politics. (In fact, they would soon snap the axles and go bouncing into oncoming traffic.)

    But what's happening in American media is SO MUCH WORSE. We're living in a news media hellscape, and so your discussion on Wednesday helped clarify this--The Dispatch has become important to me. As long as you stay the course and I have it to give, I'm happy to fork over the ten bucks per month.

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    Travis M

    Between this interview and one of the lawyers from the Coach Kennedy case, this has been a great week for Spicy Dispatch.

    I wouldn't want it every week, but it's nice to hear occasionally.

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