The United States of Anxiety, Episode 7: Does Our Response to Stress Determine How Conservative We Are?

The United States of Anxiety, Episode 7: Does Our Response to Stress Determine How Conservative We Are?

The United States of Anxiety, Episode 7: Does Our Response to Stress Determine How Conservative We Are?

How the burgeoning field of biopolitics can explain how you’ll vote.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Stress is a part of everyday life. But in this election filled with bombast, disregard for all sorts of political norms, and multiple October Surprises, the road to November 8th often appears overwhelmingly long.

Join WNYC Studios and The Nation as we explore the burgeoning field of biopolitics and uncover how our bodies respond to 2016’s political circus.

WNYC’s Amanda Aronczyk sits down with neuroscientist Jeffrey French and political scientist Kevin Smith, as we perform an unusual test to find out just what in this election is causing voters’ stress. Plus, learn how our bodies’ natural response systems can indicate where we fall along the political spectrum.

Afterwards, Kai Wright and Arun Venugopal sit down with political scientist Jonathan Weiler, co-author of the book “Authoritarianism & Polarization in American Politics,” to talk about voter psychology, and why certain personality types are allured by authoritarian leaders.

Episode Contributors:
Kai Wright
Arun Venugopal
Amanda Aronczyk
Karen Frillmann
Joseph Capriglione

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign

With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.

It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Huevel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x