How Extremely Online Republicans Are Taking Over Their Political Party

Heather Cox Richardson, historian and author of the Substack’s most-read newsletter “Letters from an American,” joins Offline to explain why she’s still hopeful about the future of American democracy. Heather’s new book, Democracy Awakening, pushes past the clamoring 24-hour news cycles and delves deep into US history: how does Trump’s rise compare to those of other authoritarian leaders? Can Americans use fascists’ theory of change against them? Is widespread disinformation anything new? But first, Max and Jon discuss why referral traffic from social media sites has plummeted and what that means for journalism. Then, they marvel at Congressman Matt Gaetz’s Trumpian political strategy, and why it’s stymied the Old Guard of the GOP.

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
1:05 - Social media with Max Fisher
21:07 - Ad break
25:01 - Heather Cox Richardson interview
52:31 - Ad break
56:30 - Back to Heather Cox Richardson