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Populism | Munk Debates

EPISODE #39

Populism

Be it resolved, the future of western politics is populist not liberal.

Guests
Stephen K. Bannon
David Frum
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About this episode

Throughout the Western world, politics is undergoing a sea-change. Long-held notions of the role of government, trade and economic policy, foreign policy and immigration are being challenged by populist thinkers and movements. Does this surging populist agenda in Western nations signal a permanent shift in our politics? Or, is it a passing phenomenon that will remain at the fringes of society and political power?

On the eve of a contentious US election, the Munk Debates shares an abridged version of the 2018 stage debate about the rise of populism as an ideology, between Steve Bannon, former chief strategist for President Donald Trump, and David Frum, senior editor at The Atlantic and former speechwriter for George W. Bush.

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Stephen K. Bannon

"The populist nationalist message and its policies are working in the United States, and it’s spreading. We’re at the beginning of a new political revolution, and that is populism."

Stephen K. Bannon

"The populist nationalist message and its policies are working in the United States, and it’s spreading. We’re at the beginning of a new political revolution, and that is populism."

Steve Bannon is co-host of “War Room: Impeachment,” a nationally-syndicated radio show and podcast that provides expert real-time analysis of the current impeachment proceedings until the day after the acquittal of President Donald Trump. 
 
Mr. Bannon was CEO of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. At the White House, he served as Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President. 
 
Mr. Bannon is Chairman for the Rule of Law Society, which investigates abuses of power by the Chinese Communist Party, and Co-Founder of the Committee on the Present Danger: China. 

He is an award winning documentary filmmaker. Mr. Bannon has a new docudrama out: Claws of the Red Dragon, exposing the connection between Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party.  

A Goldman Sachs M&A banker, Mr. Bannon has a Master's degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 
 
He was a Surface Warfare Officer serving aboard the USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964) in the western Pacific, Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. He served at the Pentagon as a Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations.

 

David Frum

"Why will this populist movement lose, and why will our liberal institutions prevail? At bottom, it’s for one reason, which is: this new populism is a scam; it’s a lie; it’s a fake; it has nothing."

David Frum

"Why will this populist movement lose, and why will our liberal institutions prevail? At bottom, it’s for one reason, which is: this new populism is a scam; it’s a lie; it’s a fake; it has nothing."

David Frum is a senior editor at The Atlantic and a frequent guest on television in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. His popular Twitter feed is followed by about 825,000 people. 

From 2001 to 2002 he served as a speechwriter and special assistant to U.S. President George W. Bush and, from 2014-17, chaired the board of trustees of Policy Exchange, the United Kingdom's leading center-right think tank. He was, for many years, a member of the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition in the United States. 

Frum is the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestseller Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic and the recently published Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy.

He and his wife Danielle Crittenden Frum live in Washington, DC and Wellington, Ontario.

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