One Virus, Two Americas

We sit down with Ron Brownstein, senior editor at The Atlantic and senior political analyst for CNN to talk about how responses and attitudes towards the coronavirus differ along the same lines that divide the country politically. What does this divide mean for how this pandemic unfolds? How will it all play out politically, and what does it mean for November?

Brownstein is one of the nation’s top political journalists. He’s a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has written six books, including The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America

His analysis that America is in the midst of a battle between the Coalition of Transformation and the Coalition of Restoration is one of the most illuminating frameworks for understanding U.S. politics presented by any analyst.

Ron Brownstein – @RonBrownstein

The Atlantic // Ron Brownstein – Red and Blue America Aren’t Experiencing the Same Pandemic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/how-republicans-and-democrats-think-about-coronavirus/608395/

Ron Brownstein – The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/299750/the-second-civil-war-by-ronald-brownstein/

Jonathan Metzl – Dying of Whiteness https://www.dyingofwhiteness.com

Frank Chin (Editor), Jeffery Paul Chan (Editor), Lawson Fusao Inada (Editor), Shawn Wong (Editor) – AIIIEEEEE!: An Anthology of Asian American Writers https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16042534-aiiieeeee

Ralph Waldo Emerson – Self Reliance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1760630.Self_Reliance?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=85rsAPMuDz&rank=1

Homer // Translated by Robert Fitzgerald – The Odyssey https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48643953-the-odyssey?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=F3tJFLCcVw&rank=2

Manuel Pastore – USC https://socialinnovation.usc.edu/staff/manuel-pastor/