The Week: The Death of the Old GOP, Housing’s Incumbent Problem, and the Numbers Anthropic is Hiding
Summary
This episode features historian Heather Cox Richardson discussing the 2024 midterms through the lens of 1850s political realignment, arguing that the Republican Party is fracturing over the central conflict of entrants versus incumbents. Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov analyze the record-breaking $11.2 billion ad spend, noting that the diminishing return on political money highlights the dangers of billionaire influence in democracy.
Topics discussed
Sponsor: USA Facts debate on the American Dream
Sponsor: Machine Gods, a new NPR AI podcast
Sponsor: LinkedIn ad campaign credit
Show intro: Midterms, housing, and the biggest IPO
Heather Cox Richardson on the 1850s and party realignment
Record ad spending and the ROI of money in politics
Entrants vs. incumbents: The central political question
Sponsor: USA Facts debate recap
Sponsor: USA Facts debate on the American Dream
Sponsor: LinkedIn ad campaign credit
Sponsor: SoFi checking and savings accounts
Housing crisis: Young people pushed out of the market
Historical context: Housing inequality since the 1850s
NIMBYism and the failure of housing supply policy
Anthropic IPO: $2T valuation and hidden compute costs
Steve Eisman on the lack of moats in AI
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