24. USA: From ’Victory Lab’ to defeat… Can progressives reverse the trend? GUEST: Sacha Issenberg

Political campaigns are not what they used to be.Once it was about speeches, tabloids, and TV spots. Now it is behavioural experiments, voter modelling, and psychological targeting happening quietly behind the scenes. This is not just campaigning. It is science for sole purpose of securing power. It’s Moneyball applied to the War Room. Sacha Issenberg called it the Victory Lab — the conceptual space in which strategists test what makes you act, click, donate, and vote. But the question today is bigger. What was revolutionary back when Barack Obama was winning landslides has become… basic. So how do you rebuild that lab in an era of changing media, AI persuasion, and voters who know they are being played?In this episode of This Time Tomorrow, Omri and Benni chat to Sacha to find out what comes after the Victory Lab and what it means for the future of democracy……and honestly, the answer might surprise you. Are we returning to the café?Sacha Issenberg is a journalist and author known for his reporting on politics, business, and culture, including The Victory Lab, which revealed how data and behavioural science transformed modern campaigning. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thistimetomorrowpod.substack.com