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The Scramble: Cultural Leaders Are Retreating From Trump. Why Now?

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Cultural leaders are beating a hasty retreat from President Trump. 

Last week, CEO's on Trump's business advisory councils disbanded and members of hisCommittee on the Arts and Humanities resigned. This weekend, megachurch pastor A.R. Bernard left the president's unofficial evangelical council and honorees for the Kennedy Center Honors threatened to boycott their December ceremony if the president attended. The apolitical has become political. 

While the retreat may seem sudden, coalitions of activists have been taking to the streets since Inauguration Day to protest the values and policies of Donald Trump and the lack of action on behalf of the representatives they elected to help them. Some say that what's happening on the street today is sending a powerful message that the rightward shift is not going to work.

At the top of our hour: Did we mention a partial solar eclipse is happening during our show? 

GUESTS:

  • Nick Thieme- Third-year Computer Science Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland and Slate’s 2017 American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Fellow  
  • Sarah Jaffe - Freelance journalist, Nation Institute fellow and the author of Necessary Trouble: Americans in RevoltAn updated edition of her book will be out in paperback on September 5. She is the co-host, with Michelle Chen, of Dissent magazine’s Belabored podcast. 
  • Mark Silk- Director, Leonard Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life and Professor of Religion in Public Life  
  • Peter Marks - Chief theater critic for the Washington Post

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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows.

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