Is a hotdog a sandwich? And why is that an important question? (Just trust me: It is!) Yascha Mounk of Johns Hopkins University joined us for this conversation to discuss his latest book THE IDENTITY TRAP: A STORY OF IDEAS AND POWER IN OUR TIME. What is meant by the term “identity synthesis?” In recent years, terms like “identity politics,” “cancel culture” and being “woke” have been used to refer to the topics that are dealt with in the book. So with the urgency of fighting the dangers of right-wing authoritarianism, why address the identity trap? What advice is there for arguing and organizing against the identity trap? And is there reason to be optimistic?

YASCHA MOUNK is Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, Founder of Persuasion, an online magazine devoted to defending the values of free societies; he’s a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, he is the host of the Good Fight podcast, and the author, most recently, of The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time.

Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

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www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/712961/the-identity-trap-by-yascha-mounk

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“(S)ix pieces of advice for arguing and organizing against the identity trap..." 

1. Claim the Moral High Ground


2. Don’t Vilify Those Who Disagree


3. Remember That Today’s Adversaries Can Become Tomorrow’s Allies


4. Appeal to the Reasonable Majority


5. Make Common Cause with Other Opponents of the Identity Synthesis


6. …But Don’t Become a Reactionary