Danny and Derek welcome to the show writer Paul Heideman to talk about the transformation of the Republican Party from the main party of business interests to a fragmented, personality-driven coalition. They discuss the historical relationship between Republicans and capital, the disorganization of American employers, the political economy of the 1970s crisis, Reagan-era fragmentation, Gingrich and fundraising, globalization and bipartisan neoliberalism in the 1990s, the Koch network and Tea Party, Republicanism after Romney, the conditions that enabled Trump’s rise, and much more.
Read Paul’s book Rogue Elephant: How Republicans Went from the Party of Business to the Party of Chaos.
More content from this blog
- “Turning Point Taiwan” Memorial Turns Violent as Religious Right Gains Momentum in Taiwan, by Yo-Ling Chen – 19 October 2024
- Late Neoliberalism. Interview with Quinn Slobodian – 1 February 2025
- “What, Who, and How?” Session Two. Edited Transcript – 25 October 2026
- Did the Woman, Life, Freedom Protests Change Iran? Interview with Shadi Mokhtari – 1 March 2024
- Sudan: How Warring Factions Gained Influence in the Country’s Food System – And What It Means for the Current Conflict, by Danielle Resnick, Hala M.E. Abushama, Khalid Siddig and Oliver Kiptoo Kirui – 18 February 2026
Except where noted otherwise, original writing and translations produced by the Left Renewal Blog Collective are published under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Republished and translated material remains subject to the licence and terms of its original publication.