All that is solid melts into air. It was one of Karl Marx’s most famous slogans, but the great Victorian might have been writing about 2016. Many a political death arrived suddenly, and famous names from Prince to David Bowie died literally too. The British people voted to crash out of the European Union, and now—the one thing all the wise heads agreed couldn’t happen has done. America has voted in President Donald Trump.
Where are these unsettling times taking us, and what will the new president actually do? In the third episode of this monthly series, Prospect editor Tom Clark is joined by the esteemed American writer, Sam Tanenhaus who has followed Trump all year and explains why this most unprepared of leaders is looking as shocked as the rest of us; and, Diane Roberts, a literary critic and a commentator for National Public Radio warns that Trump’s arrival could set back the clock for women and minorities by half a century. The historian, Ruth Dudley-Edwards, gives her take on whether the effect of one of 2016’s earlier surprises—Brexit—could reopen an ancient Irish wound on the border. And all the panel reflect on one of the year’s cheerier “Oh My God” moments: the award of the Nobel literature prize to Bob Dylan. All of the discussion draws on articles in the December 2016 edition of Prospect magazine.
Produced by Matt Hill at Rethink Audio. To download the next episode automatically, you can subscribe to this series on iTunes (using the button above) or through the many free podcast apps available for your smartphone. Just search "Prospect Headspace" and subscribe.
