A Nation in Crisis: American Rule (Jared Yates Sexton)

David Oddo invites author and associate professor, Jared Yates Sexton to the podcast for a history lesson, to talk about his new book, American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World but Failed Its People, and to shine a light on the myths of our country's past, the 2020 election, and the very real threat to our democracy. Whether you voted for or against Trump, this is a conversation you'll want to hear. 
 

Links:
 
https://www.jysexton.com/
 
https://twitter.com/JYSexton
 
https://www.themuckrake.com/
 
https://www.youtube.com/user/jsexton3
 
https://www.amazon.com/American-Rule-Nation-Conquered-Failed/dp/1524745715

ABOUT AMERICAN RULE: How a Nation Conquered the World but Failed Its People (Jared Yates Sexton)

From writer and political analyst Jared Yates Sexton comes a journey through the history of the United States, from the nation’s founding to the twenty-first century, which examines and debunks the American myths we’ve always told ourselves. 

In recent years, Americans have faced a deluge of horrifying developments in politics and culture: stolen elections, fascist rallies, families torn apart and locked away. A common refrain erupts at each new atrocity: This isn’t who we are.

In American Rule, Jared Yates Sexton upends those convenient fictions by laying bare the foundational myths at the heart of our collective American imagination. From the very origins of this nation, Americans in power have abused and subjugated others; enabling that corruption are the many myths of American exceptionalism and steadfast values, which are fed to the public and repeated across generations. Working through each era of American growth and change, Sexton weaves together the origins and perpetuation of these narratives still in the public memory, and the acts we have chosen to forget. 

Stirring, deeply researched, and disturbingly familiar, American Rule is a call to examine our own misconceptions of what it means, and has always meant, to be an American.

Get the book:
https://www.amazon.com/American-Rule-Nation-Conquered-Failed/dp/1524745715