Tocqueville Road Trip: 1. Game of chance
6/13/202651 min
John Prideaux, The Economist’s US Editor, embarks on a roadtrip to see how America’s democracy is faring in the era of Trump.
His companion is a long-dead French aristocrat called Alexis De Tocqueville, author of arguably the best book ever written about America.
When Tocqueville arrived in New York in 1831, it was a small, low-slung city where pigs roamed the streets. But he was able to see past that—to a vision of the future.
Arriving in Manhattan today, John finds cause for concern, even among the island’s wealthiest residents.
Guests and Hosts
- John Prideaux, The Economist’s US Editor
- Babara Tober, Philanthropist and former Editor of Brides magazine
- John Catsimatidis, CEO of Red Apple Group
Topics
- Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
- ‘Equality of conditions’ at 250
- The election of Zohran Mamdani
- Declining faith in American democracy
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[instrumental music] The Economist.
Rosie Blore· Host0:05
This weekend, America starts celebrations for a big birthday. And no, I'm not talking about cage fighting on the White House lawn in honor of President Trump's 80th, but 250 years since the founding of the United States. When Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in 1831, he saw a new kind of society. Not just a country, but an idea that would change the world. His writing on America's experiment in liberal democracy made him a founder of modern political science, the forebear of the foreign correspondent, and patient zero for a two-century swoon over America. But is America's love affair with liberal democracy finally losing its luster? [instrumental music] I'm Rosie Bloor, and for the next three weeks, The Weekend Intelligence is taking a break while we bring you a brand-new series from Economist podcasts. It's a road trip around America's past, present, and future. Our US editor, John Prideaux, follows in the footsteps of Tocqueville to ask what's happened to American democracy and how much of what was so inspiring in the 1830s still remains. We'll be publishing episodes every Saturday for the next three weeks, and The Weekend Intelligence will be back in July, when we'll be exploring