Politics in Question

Author: Julia Azari, Lee Drutman, and James Wallner

A podcast about how our political institutions are failing us and ideas for fixing them. Join hosts Lee Drutman and James Wallner as they imagine and argue over what American politics could look like if citizens questioned everything. Politics In Question is a joint venture of New America and the Foundation for American Innovation.
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Language: en-us

Genres: Education, Government

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How Does Transformation Lead to Regression?
Episode 164
Wednesday, 28 January, 2026

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James talk with their former co-host Julia Azari about the role of presidents in shaping of racial norms. Azari is a Professor of Political Science at Marquette University and author of Backlash Presidents (Princeton University Press, 2025). How have presidents shaped racial norms? Why was President Andrew Johnson a “backlash president”? What role does Congress play in coalition-building and norm shaping? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.