Ben Rhodes and the Evil Empire State of Mind (#559)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribeCheck out Ben Rhodes new book: All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches-Ben Rhodes, wounded ’90s Knicks fan-Are we winning in Iran yet?-what should the President do with Iran right now?-Sanctions suck, mostly-Cuba and the Obama opening-Libya and the regime-change trap-Kosovo worked-ish-Responsibility to protect yourself from over-learning lessons-Rhodes wants institutions, not impulse wars-Is Ben Rhodes Tucker-adjacent?-Soft power, hard questions-Navalny didn’t want America’s money-When Reagan said “Evil Empire”-Reagan also change his mind-Moynihan accuses Rhodes of America pessimism-Ben says it’s because he loves America-Private equity killed the vibes-Nostalgia-nomics-The left-populist temptation-JD Vance talks pretty-National identity without a monoculture-Ben Franklin and the virtue of doubt-Experts are annoying but sometimes usefulRead All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches(Bookshop | Amazon)Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST.After 10 years, we’ve finally found a sponsor we actually like. Ground News pulls coverage of the same story into one place so you can compare headlines across sources and see how framing changes depending on the outlet.Subscribe for 40% off our Vantage plan using our unique link https://groundnews.com/fifth