Alex Wagner

the lightning and the thunder, where people haven't gotten their kind of wits about them, and they're trying this kind of blitzkrieg to mow everyone down. But public backlash isn't going to go away. I truly believe that. It's a question of whether it gets organized, formalized, and wielded in enough time to stop some of this damage.

the lightning and the thunder, where people haven't gotten their kind of wits about them, and they're trying this kind of blitzkrieg to mow everyone down. But public backlash isn't going to go away. I truly believe that. It's a question of whether it gets organized, formalized, and wielded in enough time to stop some of this damage.

Yeah, I mean, the argument I make in the book is that, you know, we live in the attention age. Attention is the defining and most important resource of the age. And that in the public realm and in politics, Donald Trump has kind of intuited that more than any other figure.

Yeah, I mean, the argument I make in the book is that, you know, we live in the attention age. Attention is the defining and most important resource of the age. And that in the public realm and in politics, Donald Trump has kind of intuited that more than any other figure.

Yeah, I mean, the argument I make in the book is that, you know, we live in the attention age. Attention is the defining and most important resource of the age. And that in the public realm and in politics, Donald Trump has kind of intuited that more than any other figure.

And the key insight there is that it's better to get lots of attention, dominated attention, even if a lot of it's negative attention. than to choose to not get attention so that you don't get people outraged at you. Right. This this tradeoff is the key. And again, the tradeoff has drawbacks. Like Donald Trump has had been upside down and underwater in favorability most of his political career.

And the key insight there is that it's better to get lots of attention, dominated attention, even if a lot of it's negative attention. than to choose to not get attention so that you don't get people outraged at you. Right. This this tradeoff is the key. And again, the tradeoff has drawbacks. Like Donald Trump has had been upside down and underwater in favorability most of his political career.

And the key insight there is that it's better to get lots of attention, dominated attention, even if a lot of it's negative attention. than to choose to not get attention so that you don't get people outraged at you. Right. This this tradeoff is the key. And again, the tradeoff has drawbacks. Like Donald Trump has had been upside down and underwater in favorability most of his political career.

He barely pulled out this hat trick the first time he got elected. He lost the second time after being the incumbent, which is fairly rare. You know, he won this time, but it's not like this foolproof thing. magical quality that means he's like, you know, rolling up 1964, 1984, 1972, you know, FDR kind of margins. It's narrow, but it's effective. And I think Democrats operate in

He barely pulled out this hat trick the first time he got elected. He lost the second time after being the incumbent, which is fairly rare. You know, he won this time, but it's not like this foolproof thing. magical quality that means he's like, you know, rolling up 1964, 1984, 1972, you know, FDR kind of margins. It's narrow, but it's effective. And I think Democrats operate in

He barely pulled out this hat trick the first time he got elected. He lost the second time after being the incumbent, which is fairly rare. You know, he won this time, but it's not like this foolproof thing. magical quality that means he's like, you know, rolling up 1964, 1984, 1972, you know, FDR kind of margins. It's narrow, but it's effective. And I think Democrats operate in

in this fear of attention because that might be negative. They operate in a universe in which attention is very mediated. It's amazing how much Democratic politicians worry about what the Washington Post editorial board will say. They genuinely do.

in this fear of attention because that might be negative. They operate in a universe in which attention is very mediated. It's amazing how much Democratic politicians worry about what the Washington Post editorial board will say. They genuinely do.

in this fear of attention because that might be negative. They operate in a universe in which attention is very mediated. It's amazing how much Democratic politicians worry about what the Washington Post editorial board will say. They genuinely do.

Well, there's two things there that I think is also important. You can't talk about this distinction between the two parties without talking about this, which is... Like I care a lot if I get something wrong on my show because it's important to me to tell the truth and be correct.

Well, there's two things there that I think is also important. You can't talk about this distinction between the two parties without talking about this, which is... Like I care a lot if I get something wrong on my show because it's important to me to tell the truth and be correct.

Well, there's two things there that I think is also important. You can't talk about this distinction between the two parties without talking about this, which is... Like I care a lot if I get something wrong on my show because it's important to me to tell the truth and be correct.

Like independent of the attentional universe, like as a human being who has an ethical commitment to the work that I do. So part of you caring about getting fact-checked was like you guys didn't want to be wrong about stuff.

Like independent of the attentional universe, like as a human being who has an ethical commitment to the work that I do. So part of you caring about getting fact-checked was like you guys didn't want to be wrong about stuff.

Like independent of the attentional universe, like as a human being who has an ethical commitment to the work that I do. So part of you caring about getting fact-checked was like you guys didn't want to be wrong about stuff.