MARK
HALLORAN
INTERVIEWS
What if a conversation could change the way you think about yourself?
And about the world?
In conversation with Eric Topol, cardiologist and Professor of Molecular Medicine. He founded the Scripps Research Translational Institute, has written three books, and has published over 1,200 peer-reviewed articles.
Making Trouble: John Waters
In conversation with John Waters, American actor, filmmaker, writer and artist. We talk growing up in the Catholic Church, the LGBTQIA community and Waters' incredible career.
At Eternity's Gate: Julian Schnabel
Can a movie speak to the intense swirl of feeling and aliveness that goes into painting? It was the seeming impossibility of this task which beckoned to Julian Schnabel as he created At Eternity’s Gate. He wanted to capture some things that have often evaded movies about artists. Schnabel’s vision of Van Gogh’s final days is a view into the artist unlike any other. This is a story that pursues what the act of creation feels like from the inside, the strenuous physicality of painting and the devotional intensity of the artist’s life, especially the way painters see.
Dan Pfeiffer author of Yes We (Still) Can:
Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump.
Q1. In your first meeting with Barack Obama, he told you he wanted to run for the presidency, against all conventional advice, because he felt he had something to say. Reflecting now, what is it you think that the Obama administration had to say?
The message of the Obama Administration is that change comes from the bottom up and there is nothing more powerful than a grassroots movement for change.
Q2. You said that prior to this you had thought about quitting the Democratic Party because you felt you were unable to affect change. As part of the Obama White House what changes were you a part of that you are most proud of now?
Passage of the Affordable Care Act which gave millions of Americans access to lifesaving healthcare.
Q3. You stated that Democratic campaigns typically lose and Democratic presidents are usually replaced by Republican ones. Is this kind a regression towards a mean of conservatism after a socially progressive administration? What do you think the factors are that are involved in this?
Democrats have won the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 elections, so the U.S. is trending progressive. However, we have made mistakes of strategy, message, and policy that have cost us very winnable elections.
"We have made mistakes of strategy, message, and policy that have
cost us very winnable elections".
Q4. You’ve stated that Obama’s campaign’s raison d’être was grassroots change from the inside out – and yet Obama has been criticised by intellectuals such as the philosopher Cornel West for at times not taking a strong enough stand on issues such as workers rights. What do you think the perception is of the Obama administration amongst the American working class now and what is its legacy?
I will leave it up to the historians in the future to write about Obama’s legacy, but I am confident that he will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential presidents. There is no question that his policies saved the economy from a depression and improved the lives of Americans but there is much more work to do.
Q5. How much of the campaign success in 2008 can be attributed to young people starting grassroots support groups for the campaign on Facebook? It is interesting considering that Cambridge Analytica via Facebook may have significantly contributed to Donald Trump’s win. Has this changed your mind about the role of social media in political campaigns?
Social Media represents the best and worst in politics and society more broadly. Some of the trends on Facebook have been negative by creating filter bubbles and incentivizing outrage. Maybe politics would be better if Facebook had never been invented or was shut down tomorrow,. but it is also here to stay, so the key is to figure out how to mitigate the negative and accentuate the positive.
Q6. In your book you talk about your first week at the White House and how President Obama stopped in your office and causally talked about how he had signed an executive order to stop the use of torture as an interrogation technique. In his political bestseller Who Rules the World? Professor Noam Chomsky quotes journalist Allan Nairn who argues that Obama only stopped a small percentage of torture committed by Americans, whilst retaining the vast majority of foreign torture that is committed under US patronage. Is this a fair analysis? Why? Why not?
No response given.
Q7. The author and New Atheist Sam Harris has argued in his essay A Defence of Torture that torture is no more immoral, and may be more defensible in certain circumstances, than collateral damage. Are there any, in your view, circumstances where the use of torture may be ethically permissible? Why? Why not?
No response given.
Q8. In the aforementioned book, Professor Chomsky also argues that whilst the Bush administration sanctioned the torture of suspected terrorists, drone attacks and assassinations increased during Obama’s presidency, and that this was a key policy of the administration. Professor Chomsky cites the example of the assassination of cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, and famously, of course, Osama Bin Laden. He states that this is in violation of the Geneva Conventions that stipulates that suspects have the right to a fair trial by an ‘independent, impartial, and regularly constituted court’. Once again, is this a fair analysis and what are all the factors that come into play in relation to cases such as these?
No response given.
Q9. During his campaign for the presidency Donald Trump effectively recognised the pain of working class people who live in places like the Rust Belt – people who had felt that they were left behind by globalisation. He then used that pain to scapegoat immigrants – Muslims, Mexicans etc. Did the Obama administration fail to reach these people and improve their lives during its time in office? What do you think the main strengths of the Trump Campaign were?
Before we laud the Trump campaign for some strategic brilliance, it is worth noting that Trump received 3 million less votes and needed the Russians to help him win on an electoral technicality. However, Trump did manage to seize the mantel of change and represent to many voters a better future. Despite the racist underpinnings of the Trump campaign, he received a surprising amount of support from people who voted for Obama in 2012. Democrats needs to understand how that happened and how we can get them back since our policies are designed to make their lives better.
Q10. You provided an amusing anecdote in your book about Kanye West and stated that you are a fan. Kanye has recently come out in support of President Trump and in defence of this he has said that he doesn’t like ‘monolithic thought’. What do you think he means by this?
I have no idea and I am not sure Kanye does either.
"I have no idea and I am not sure Kanye does either".
Q11. In his new political satire mockumentary series Sacha Baron Cohen is able to get various congressman to support on camera a scheme that would place firearms in the hands of children as young as four years old. It seems that the National Rifle Association (NRA) not only lobbies government officials, it is essentially embedded within government. Given the usual argument that gun ownership is a defence of second amendment rights, what hope is there of getting meaningful legislative change in relation to the gun culture in America?
Meaningful change can only happen when gun safety advocates turn out in elections with the same frequency and ferocity as those pushing for gun rights. The battle of public opinion has been won in America – with 8 in 10 Americans supporting common sense reforms. The problem is in our Congress.
"The problem is in our Congress".
Q12. In some ways both the election of President Obama and President Trump seems a direct repudiation by the American people of the establishment as represented by politicians such as Hilary Clinton. Do you think that in the future only presidential candidates who have a policy platform that is anti-establishment, such as the democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, will succeed?
I think being an outsider in American politics is a big advantage as it was for Obama in 2008 and Trump in 2016.
Q13. Is democratic socialism the future of the Democratic Party? Why? Why not?
Many of the policies at the heart of Democratic Socialism are now mainstream with in the Democratic Party and in the country as a whole – so a platform similar to Bernie Sanders’ will almost certainly be the Democratic Party agenda going forward.
Q14. You talked about the issues that President Obama faced in regards to Obamacare and the conspiracy theory started by Sarah Palin about how this legislation would result in Death Panels. You stated that people seem curiously immune to the facts. Now, President Trump has been able to label any mainstream news service ‘fake news’ if it runs a story that is critical of his administration. You have stated that you are concerned about the potential dumbing down of America. Are you concerned that voters are becoming less discerning and that ‘post-truth politics’ may be here to stay? What can we do about it?
I spend a lot of time in the book laying out specific strategies to combat the spread of conspiracy theories, but the main lesson is those fighting for truth need to use social media as well as those spreading falsehoods. You need to respond to everything as soon as possible with as big a megaphone as possible.