Wham, Bam, Thank You Zam

This week, Matt and Brian review the incoming Trump administration as it takes shape, and what if anything Democrats can do, without official power or a real media arm, to limit the damage.

• Who has Trump nominated already, and who is he being gun-shy about, given that some of his loyalists would have a hard time getting confirmed by the incoming Senate?

• Can Democrats quickly shift gears into productive opposition, when so much of their infrastructure is built around intra-left discourse.

• How could Democrats (or how would Brian) go about building and reforming media to reach marginal voters who don’t tune in to mainstream organs or sophisticated political media?

Then, behind the paywall, Matt and Brian discuss the challenges progressive culture might pose to the establishment of a bigger tent, and more robust messaging. Would a new liberal media project tolerate elevating people who aren’t committed movement progressives? How can pro-liberal, pro-Democratic Party ideas better infiltrate non-political spheres of media, from pop culture to fitness to cooking? Given how much liberal funders already spend on “unhelpful” projects, is there any reason not to try?

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

• Brian’s article pleading with Democrats to take their media deficit seriously, and do something about it.

• Matt on how Democrats can broaden their own tent (ideally while their new media works at shrinking the GOP tent).