Why the Essay Matters Again — The Weekly

Why the Essay Matters Again — The Weekly

From Politicology by Politicology

March 20, 2026 · 1h 12m · Season 2 · Episode 565

About this episode

The episode discusses the resurgence of essays and the role of writers in understanding contemporary America.

Why are essays resonating again in this moment? And what does it mean when writers, not just journalists or politicians, start helping people make sense of America in real time? Guest Host Mike Madrid sits down with Robert Arnold (writer, speaker, and activist) for a wide-ranging conversation about the resurgence of the essay, the responsibility of artists and writers in a fractured political age, and why long-form thinking still matters in an era shaped by algorithms, cable-news conflict, and shrinking attention spans. Check out Robert’s Substack: https://bit.ly/4uxo8MS Check out Mike’s Substack: https://greattransformation.substack.com/ POLITICOLOGY+ Not yet a Politicology+ member? Don’t miss all the extra episodes on the private, ad-free version of this podcast. Upgrade now at politicology.com/plus. CONTRIBUTE TO POLITICOLOGY politicology.com/donate SPONSORS & PROMO CODES https://bit.ly/44uAGZ8 Send your questions and ideas to podcast@politicology.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(703) 239-3068‬ Follow this week’s panel on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/madrid_mike Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Mike Madrid

Guest: Robert Arnold

Topics covered

  • essays
  • politics
  • long-form writing
  • media responsibility
  • cultural commentary

Keywords

  • essays
  • politics
  • long-form thinking
  • media
  • cable news
  • attention spans

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Politicology, Substack, politicology.com, megaphone.fm

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