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Drawing on youth polling discussed in July 2026, Gabe Fleisher argues that young voters’ leading concerns—housing, food, gas and the cost of living—overlap with those of older generations.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 15/10/2026

Steven Bonnell argues that Trump’s political advantage comes from a long-established Republican media network, not unique messaging genius. He explains how that infrastructure amplifies Trump and defends what he says.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 14/10/2026

Sarah Longwell rejects the idea that voters are permanently drawn to cruelty and political performance. She argues that authentic leadership can still find an audience for decency and substance.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 13/10/2026

What happens when powerful public figures make open bigotry feel acceptable? @dsallentess.bsky.social on Trump, Musk, and the normalization of racism and antisemitism.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 12/10/2026

The image of dominance is not the same as dominance. @jamellebouie.net explains how authoritarian spectacle works—and why puncturing the image matters.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 11/10/2026

America’s promise has always been unfinished work. Explore historical voices and struggles for freedom, equality, and national renewal.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 10/10/2026

Adam Serwer argues that people who break the law for an administration must face accountability—and that failing to act invites another attempt.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 09/10/2026

On Wednesday, at a speakeasy in Washington, D.C., we toasted five years of The UnPopulist. Thank you to everyone who came out, and to our readers, who are the reason there is anything to celebrate. Here’s to many more.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 09/10/2026

What would your ballot look like under proportional representation? @leedrutman.bsky.social explains an open-list system that lets voters choose a party or a candidate. #ElectoralReform

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 08/10/2026

Why has Trump built such strong support among white evangelicals? @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social explores fundamentalism, certainty, and political loyalty from inside his own religious tradition.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 07/10/2026

Getting ready for The UnPopulist’s 5th birthday party at 6:30.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 07/10/2026

Radley Balko says video has contradicted ICE accounts of vehicle confrontations. #Immigration

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 06/10/2026

Radley Balko warns that ICE partnerships could spread a militarized culture into local policing. #Immigration

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 05/10/2026

How do we defend liberal democracy? Speakers call for limits on presidential power, a stronger Congress, and rebuilt institutions.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 04/10/2026

Radley Balko argues that political control of immigration judges and appeals undermines due process, leaving people at risk of deportation before a federal court can hear their case. Recorded September 2026.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 03/10/2026

@shikhadalmia.bsky.social asks how Trump’s deportations differ from Obama’s. Radley Balko argues that targeted investigations have given way to broad raids on immigrant communities. Recorded September 2026.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 02/10/2026

@shikhadalmia.bsky.social reflects on arriving in Reagan’s America and describes the hostility immigrants face under Trump. Recorded September 2026.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 02/10/2026

We're celebrating our 5th birthday this Wednesday evening in DC. Can you make it? Sign up here or just email (berny @ theunpopulist . net) to RSVP. www.facebook.com/events/14080...

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 01/10/2026

"It's been breathtaking to watch Indian Americans like me go from being a model minority to a reviled minority almost overnight." — @shikhadalmia.bsky.social

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 01/10/2026

What happens when powerful public figures make open bigotry feel acceptable? @dsallentess.bsky.social on Trump, Musk, and the normalization of racism and antisemitism.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 01/10/2026

In immigration court, the judge and the prosecutor both work for the executive branch, and Trump can fire the judges. Heck of a system, as @radleybalko.bsky.social explains.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 30/09/2026

The image of dominance is not the same as dominance. @jamellebouie.net explains how authoritarian spectacle works—and why puncturing the image matters. From LibCon2026. #LibCon2026

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 29/09/2026

America’s promise has always been unfinished work. Revisit the LibCon2026 opening film: historical voices and struggles for freedom, equality, and national renewal. #LibCon2026

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 28/09/2026

Populism may persist, but its support is not fixed. Craig and Shull discuss why even strongly attached Trump supporters can change their views about presidential abuses of power. Recorded August 2026.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 27/09/2026

At LibCon2026, Francis Fukuyama argues that federal agencies need room to exercise judgment within the law, with more attention to outcomes and less to procedure.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 26/09/2026

At LibCon2026, Adam Serwer traces the tension between civic virtue and tyranny in American political culture—and asks why some people resist a strongman while others yield.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 25/09/2026

At LibCon2026, Jan-Werner Müller explains how federalism can give democratic opposition an institutional foothold when national power becomes concentrated.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 24/09/2026

At LibCon2026, Adam Serwer argues that people who break the law for an administration must face accountability—and that failing to act invites another attempt.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 23/09/2026

Renée DiResta explains how longstanding anti-vaccine activists used the COVID pandemic to spread distrust beyond individual vaccines to the medical establishment itself.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 23/09/2026

We're officially 5 years old! 🎉 🎂 Here's a toast, in video montage form, from our most recent event: LibCon2026.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 22/09/2026

At LibCon2026, Francis Fukuyama argues that a president who dismisses briefings and expertise risks making major foreign-policy decisions without understanding the consequences.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 21/09/2026

What do two national surveys reveal about populist attitudes among Trump voters? Craig and Shull discuss declining support for presidential rule-breaking, drawing on a June 2026 survey.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 20/09/2026

What would your ballot look like under proportional representation? Lee Drutman (@leedrutman.bsky.social) explains an open-list system that lets voters choose a party or a candidate. #ElectoralReform

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 19/09/2026

Age limits for elected federal office. Fixed Supreme Court terms. Guardrails on presidential pardons. This video essay makes the case for three constitutional reforms to strengthen American self-government.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 18/09/2026

What changes when a policy’s loudest supporter experiences its consequences firsthand? Berny Belvedere (@bernybelvedere.bsky.social) on Milo Yiannopoulos, immigration enforcement, and empathy that arrives late.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 17/09/2026

Why has Trump built such strong support among white evangelicals? David French (@davidfrenchjag.bsky.social) explores fundamentalism, certainty, and political loyalty from inside his own religious tradition. From LibCon2026. #LibCon2026

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 16/09/2026

What happens when powerful public figures make open bigotry feel acceptable? Danielle Allen on Trump, Musk, and the normalization of racism and antisemitism. From LibCon2026. #LibCon2026

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 15/09/2026

The image of dominance is not the same as dominance. Jamelle Bouie explains how authoritarian spectacle works—and why puncturing the image matters. From LibCon2026. #LibCon2026

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 14/09/2026

A pardon does not have to be the last word on accountability. David French makes the case for impeachment and disqualification at LibCon2026. #LibCon2026

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 11/09/2026

Milo’s trajectory is wild: went from premier alt-right provocateur to feeling deep shame over ever having supported Trump.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 28/07/2026

FDR spoke of "welcome waves of immigration" enriching America with the "blood, culture, [and] traditions of all the races and peoples of the earth." Trump says immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country." Both presidents reached for the same metaphor and landed in opposite places.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 28/07/2026

7: 👇👇 www.theunpopulist.net/p/court-pack...

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 28/07/2026

4: 👇👇 www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-unfort...

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 27/07/2026

George W. Bush called immigration "a sign of a confident and successful nation." Donald Trump followed with claims about immigrants "eating the dogs" and "eating the cats." The distance between these two speeches tells you everything about where political leadership on immigration has gone.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 24/07/2026

America's two-party system was engineered by Progressive-era reforms, not ordained by the Founders. Lee Drutman on the fix. www.theunpopulist.net/p/fixing-ame...

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 24/07/2026

JFK saw America as a "new world" built by 40 million immigrants and called citizenship a "proud privilege." Trump warns of an "invasion" from "prisons and jails, mental institutions and insane asylums" and promises to seal the border. One vision treats openness as the American project.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 23/07/2026

LBJ: America was "built by a nation of strangers" and flourished from its diversity. Trump: immigrants are "stone cold killers" and "terrorists" destroying the country. This isn't a policy debate. It's a fight over whether pluralism is a strength or a mortal threat.

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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 22/07/2026

Obama: "Most of us used to be them." Trump: "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists." One president sees immigration as the American story. The other treats it as an existential threat. That gap tells you everything about two competing visions of national identity.

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