As has been evident for at least the past two decades, America is a radically polarized country, more so today than at any time since the Vietnam War. Democrats demonize Republicans as coldhearted zealots while Republicans demonize Democrats as hopelessly woke and out of touch. If you watch Rachel Maddow, you get one quintessentially smug view of the world; if you tune in to Megyn Kelly, you get a completely different but equally strident perspective. Things have fallen apart, and the center has decidedly stopped holding.
All the same, a few independent voices have managed to make themselves heard above the cacophony. One of the most consistently interesting and provocative is that of Glenn Loury, a singularly gifted Black economist—the first such to receive tenure at Harvard, at 33—as well as a prolific writer and podcaster.
