The Politics of Smart

Rick Perlstein talks to Chris Lehmann

Democrats were desperate to get Reagan (pictured here) to agree to debate Carter, whose smartness they assumed would win them the 1980 election. / Levan Ramishvili

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Welcome to this Baffler podcast, EXPERTS BAFFLED.

In our first episode, Rick Perlstein talks to Baffler editor in chief Chris Lehmann about his salvo “Outsmarted” in the new issue of the magazine. They discuss the curious identity of smartness, American Psycho, the dark underbelly of meritocracy, and the long-term political origins of the “libtard” insult.

Hey, one last thing.

In a media environment that tolerates tail-chasing, gutlessness, and all kinds of ratfuckery, The Baffler is a rare publication willing to shake the pundit class free of their own worst impulses. We can’t help it. We’re humanitarians at heart.

But running a charitable organization of this magnitude requires serious dough, and subscriptions only cover a fraction of our costs. For the rest, we rely on the good will of generous readers like you.

So if you like the article you just read—or hate it, and want us to publish more just like it, so you can ridicule us online for years to come—please consider making a one-time donation to The Baffler. $5, $10, $2,000… we’re not picky. Anything helps.

Rick Perlstein is a contributing editor of The Baffler and author of Nixonland and other books.

Chris Lehmann is editor at large of The Baffler and author of Rich People Things. His latest book, The Money Cult, is out now from Melville House.