The Sorcerer's Apprentice? American Politics from Buckley to Trump (w/ Sam Tanenhaus)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice? American Politics from Buckley to Trump (w/ Sam Tanenhaus)

From In the National Interest by Center for the National Interest

June 26, 2025 · 1h 12m · Season 2 · Episode 9

About this episode

The episode explores the influence of William F. Buckley on American politics and the implications of Trump's rise in relation to Buckley's legacy.

What does the life of William F. Buckley, Jr. reveal about the deeper currents shaping American politics? In this episode, Jacob Heilbrunn speaks with Sam Tanenhaus, a former editor of The New York Times Book Review and the author of the new biography “ Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America ” (Random House, 2025). Together, they examine how outsider campaigns, cultural backlash, and the performance of political authenticity have reshaped both the right and the left. Is Trump the culmination, or corruption, of Buckley's movement? Has the liberal establishment lost its hold not just on power, but on the language of ideas itself? And in a time of ideological confusion and institutional decay, is today's chaos a break from the past or its inevitable result? Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay

People in this episode

Host: Jacob Heilbrunn

Guest: Sam Tanenhaus

Topics covered

  • American politics
  • William F. Buckley
  • Trump
  • cultural backlash
  • political authenticity
  • ideological confusion
  • institutional decay

Keywords

  • Buckley
  • Trump
  • American politics
  • cultural backlash
  • political authenticity
  • ideological confusion
  • institutional decay

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The New York Times Book Review, Random House

Books & works: Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America

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