Our deepest convictions shape how we see the world from a very young age. Our parents, community, and religion deeply influence our beliefs and ultimately, the political identity we choose to adopt.
Increasingly, political identity is determining the work we choose, where we live, our friends and even who (or if) we choose to marry. Yet, identity is contingent; life experience casts doubt on how we perceive the world, and the political leaders in charge of it.
How do we come to identify with a political ideology and more important, how are we defined by it? What does it take to change our political beliefs and all that goes with them, especially if you're a political leader?
This hour, we talk to two influential writers, one a former neo-conservative who shifted left, and the other a chronicler of six political leaders in the 20th century who left the left.
GUESTS:
- Michael Lind - Co-founder, New America Foundation and author of several books including Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States, and Up From Conservatism: Why the Right is Wrong For America
- Daniel Oppenheimer - Director of Communications for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Century
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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
