American Dreaming

This episode is an audio narration of a 2023 essay I wrote titled “Institutions and the Reallocation of Trust.” Sadly, this one grows more relevant by the year… https://americandreaming.substack.com/p/institutions-and-the-reallocation Jamie Paul is a writer based in Greater Philadelphia, founder of American Dreaming , contributing editor at Bi.org, and former managing editor at Queer Majority . Hi...

I sat down with Alexander von Sternberg to discuss the outstanding essay he recently wrote about the rising anti-Semitism in the US and the de facto excuses for it that are becoming increasingly common, told through the lens of the history of Japanese internment during WWII. We also discussed the viral quote from Ezra Klein’s recent Times piece on anti-Semitism, why anti-Semitism has been so persi...

A solo episode exploring some ideas I’ve been kicking around about the political far left and far right and the limitations of horseshoe theory. I kept this one short simply because I have nothing else to say that I haven’t already said elsewhere at greater length. I’m no stranger to the long form, but not everything needs to be an hour. Articles mentioned: The Memory-Hole Archive “ Yes, It’s Fasc...

The Donald Trump era has been 10 long years and counting. Opinion journalists are still figuring out how — and how much — to cover him. More often than not, the media’s attempts to hold Trump accountable only backfire in his favor. Jamie Paul and Johan Pregmo discuss covering Trump after a decade, American Dreaming’s coverage of Trump, Jamie’s Trump Fatigue Syndrome, the GOP’s hive-minded message...

Since October 7th, 2023, we’ve covered the Israel-Palestine conflict quite a bit. Many of our articles have focused on the discourse surrounding the war and the anti-Semitism — not criticism of Israel, actual anti-Semitism —that has been so prevalent within the pro-Palestine movement. Writer Johan Pregmo has done more than contribute a couple of these articles — he’s spent the past year and a half...

Having perspective is as important in politics as it is in life. It’s a theme we touch upon often in American Dreaming . Understanding what America gets wrong, but also what it gets right , how the US relates to societies throughout history and around the globe, and how much worse things can be are crucial to accurately assessing the present and rationally thinking about politics. As the White Hou...