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you never said the podcast was over an hour long, but being a sucker I listened to it anyway.  It was providential, as he admitted, that Trump appeared at just the right moment to be shoehorned into his narrative, & provide the grand finale.
That's all very American in the terms of his book, but I'm not sure he appreciated the irony, maybe he did. As a generality, taking perceived negative national characteristics, & amplifying them into an explanation for how we got here from there, runs the risk of being called rayciss when applied to just about any other nation or group. That's just a quibble though; ignore it, it's only my extreme right-wing right wingery rearing its ugly hateful head. Actually, I was pleased to hear that both of them aren't enamoured of the PC monster that has a grip on the American academy.
I probably won't read the book though, as I don't think the argument stands up. It's all a bit facile & forced. When you consider that the Puritans who stayed behind went on to start a war which killed 4% of the population of England, 7% of Wales, 17% of Scotland, & 35%+ (possibly 50%) of Ireland, then you have to wonder if maybe the ones who went to America were such suckers after all.
There were other things, but I thought his comment about Trump supporters having an 'aggrieved reality', the implication being that they were deluded, gave the game away. No hint that maybe they have something to be aggrieved about. Spoken like a true upper class American.
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