Happy Fourth of July! To celebrate, we're unlocking Matt's conversation with historian Eric Rauchway about his new book, Why the New Deal Matters.
In this unlocked bonus episode, Matt is joined by historian Eric Rauchway for a deep-dive into his new book, Why the New Deal Matters. It's Rauchway's latest effort to recover Franklin Delano Roosevelt as an anti-fascist political leader who sought to expand the meaning and practice of American democracy—that in a robust democracy, people don't just need enough to live on, but something to live for. Topics include: Herbert Hoover's and FDR's different responses to the Bonus Army's march on Washington; why Hoover is the true founding father of modern conservatism; how FDR understood the New Deal as more than just a pragmatic series of experiments; the importance to the New Deal of public art and projects like building libraries and theaters; why, despite its compromises with white supremacists in the Democratic Party, the New Deal continues to inspire; and more!
Further Reading:
Eric Rauchway, Why the New Deal Matters (Yale University Press, 2021)
Eric Rauchway, Winter War: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the First Clash Over the New Deal (Basic Books, 2018)
Jamelle Bouie, "F.D.R. Didn't Just Save the Economy," New York Times, April 16, 2021
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