American Angst
American Angst is a podcast where political scientist Dr. Michael Bailey unpacks the founding ideals and present tensions of American democracy with clarity, depth, and concern. Hosted and produced by his longtime friend Dale McConkey, the show blends serious civic reflection with honest, good-humored conversation for anyone trying to make sense of this American moment.
Episodes
USA 250: "Dear America," - Letters from Mike's Friends
What happens when you invite dozens of thoughtful people to write a letter to America on its 250th birthday?The responses are heartfelt, surprising, hopeful, grateful, critical, deeply personal—and unmistakably American.In this special episode of American Angst, Dr. Michael Bailey steps back from the usual conversation to listen to the voices of friends, former students, colleagues, immigrants, ve
USA 250: 25 Things Mike Loves About America
As America approaches its 250th birthday, Michael Bailey sets aside his angst and offers a thoughtful, humorous, and deeply personal celebration of the United States. Hosted by Dale McConkey, this special episode counts down 25 things Michael loves about America—from the profound to the delightfully unexpected. The conversation spans everything from America's founding ideals, history, governm
Filibustered: When Debate Damages Democracy
In this episode of American Angst, political philosopher Michael Bailey offers a clear, engaging, and deeply informed exploration of the filibuster—what it is, how it has evolved, and why its modern use may be undermining democratic governance in the United States. Moving beyond the familiar image of marathon speeches, Bailey explains how today’s “silent filibuster” functions as a routine tool of
Is This War Different? Putting the Iran Conflict in Context
After a break, American Angst returns with Dr. Michael Bailey bringing his sharp, historically grounded perspective to one of the biggest questions in political culture right now: how unusual is this latest American war footing, really? Rather than offering hot takes, Bailey carefully sorts through what feels familiar, what feels troublingly new, and what may signal a deeper shift in the way the U
Kitchen-Table Congressman? A Conversation with Candidate Shawn Harris
In this return appearance on American Angst, congressional candidate Shawn Harris joins Michael Bailey and host Dale McConkey for a candid, unscripted conversation about politics grounded in lived experience rather than partisan theater. Drawing on decades of military service as a brigadier general and his current life as a cattle rancher, Harris frames leadership as humility, responsibility, and
Protesting in God's Name: Faith, Immigration, and Public Witness
This week on American Angst, Mike shares a crossover episode with host Dale McConkey Church Potluck. They are joined by United Methodist pastors Rev. Ash McEuen and Rev. Karen Kagiyama for a timely and poignant conversation exploring immigration, protest, and the uneasy intersection of faith and public life in the United States.The episode begins with the real-world impact of current immigration p
Jimmy Carter’s Living Legacy (Literally!) Josh Carter on Democracy, Global Health, and Caregiving
In this kickoff-to-2026 episode of American Angst, we’re joined by a truly special guest: Josh Carter—podcaster, advocate, and yes, Jimmy Carter’s grandson—who offers an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the values that shaped his grandfather’s public life and his own. Josh shares unforgettable stories from Plains Sunday school (where people of many faiths felt welcomed), the surprising role of
"It's a Republic, not a Democracy": Bailey's Take
Dr. Michael Bailey closes out the American Angst year with a holiday-season conversation that’s equal parts warm, witty, and razor-sharp about American civic identity. Starting with a few Christmas-movie confessions (including some truly astonishing gaps in Dr. Bailey’s viewing history), the episode quickly pivots into the real theme: why the phrase “We’re a republic, not a democracy” is not just
Trump’s Troublesome Environmental Policy: From Ocean Depths to Atmospheric Heights
In this wide-ranging episode of American Angst, Dr. Michael Bailey and Dale take a deep and sobering look at Donald Trump’s environmental record. Using a “bottom of the ocean to the top of the atmosphere—and into our minds” framework, Michael walks through Trump’s approach to deep sea mining, fossil fuel expansion, weakened clean air and water protections, changes to endangered species rules, and
Thanksgiving: The Most American Holiday?
It's a special Thanksgiving crossover episode of American Angst and Church Potluck! Dr. Michael Bailey and Dale McConkey start off-topic with a quick overview of 10 dizzying days in American politics. From there, they pivot to something far older, quieter, and deeper: Thanksgiving! Michael makes a bold claim—that Thanksgiving is the most American of all holidays—and builds his case like a tru
Election Results and Shutdown Breakthrough: Who Won the Week?
In this episode of American Angst, Michael Bailey briefly updates us on the apparent breakthrough in the government shutdown. The deal reopens the government and restores furlough pay, but Bailey emphasizes that the underlying fight—especially over Affordable Care Act subsidies—remains unresolved. In his view, the shutdown ended without Democrats gaining meaningful policy concessions, making this
American Dream on Hold: The Rising Barriers to Homeownership for Young Adults
Homeownership used to be the on-ramp to the middle-class American Dream. For many young adults, that on-ramp now feels barricaded—by high prices, high mortgage rates, high rents, and student debt. In this episode, Michael Bailey and Dale McConkey trace how the starter-home drought ripples outward, negatively affecting:Wealth-building: Years of renting replace decades of equity, widening generation
The Government Shutdown: Why Our System Fails on Purpose
Boo! In this Halloween edition of American Angst, political philosopher Dr. Michael Bailey leads a brisk, illuminating tour of the current government shutdown and what it reveals about our constitutional machinery. Michael lays out why both parties share blame in different ways, but, more importantly, why the structure itself incentivizes brinkmanship over basic governance. He explains how the Sen
Democratic Backsliding: How Democracies Erode (with Dr. Sam Call)
We may begin talking about sweater weather and niceties about upstate New York, but we quickly let the angst flow deep and wide. Join us as Sam Call (comparative politics) joins Michael Bailey (political science and philosophy) and host Dale McConkey (sociology) for a fascinating exploration of how democracies erode, or "backslide." Dr. Call explains why today’s threats rarely look like
Faith & the Founders, Part 2: The Godless Constitution Thesis
We’re back with another crossover of American Angst and Church Potluck—and it’s the middle slice of a three-part series. In Part 1, we explored evidence for a religious impulse at the founding of the United States. Today, we flip the coin and examine the “godless constitution” thesis: why the U.S. Constitution reads secular by design, how the framers imagined church–state separation, and what that
Faith & the Founders, Part 1: The Christian Commonwealth Thesis
It’s a crossover feast: American Angst meets Church Potluck for a lively, thoughtful dive into religion, politics, and the Founders—setting the table for an upcoming conversation on Christian nationalism. This one leans a bit more American Angst in tone, with Michael Bailey taking the lead while Dale McConkey jumps in with sociological insight and good-humored pushback. In this episode, the focus
San Francisco De-Angstified: A Father-Daughter Conversation
San Francisco is often painted as a city in crisis by conservative politicians and pundits, but does that picture hold up when you actually live there? In this special episode, political scientist Michael Bailey sits down with his daughter, Lydia Bailey, for a wide-ranging father–daughter dialogue about her life in the city. Host Dale McConkey is along for the ride, chiming in from the back seat.T
Climate Change and Glimmers of Hope: A Conversation with Courtney Cooper
Environmental policy professor Dr. Courtney Cooper joins American Angst to untangle climate science, local vs. federal solutions, and why adaptation and mitigation aren’t either/or options. With Dr. Michael Bailey (our resident “Avatar of Angst”) pressing on partisanship, expertise, and the politics of denial, and host Dr. Dale McConkey steering the conversation, we move from Andean glaciers and w
Trump Loyalty Shakedown: Free Speech’s New Fault Line
Is America’s free-speech problem moving from online pile-ons to state-pressured loyalty tests? Political scientist and philosopher Dr. Michael Bailey makes the case that we’re drifting into a new, internet-era McCarthyism—a “Trump Loyalty Shakedown”—while host Dale McConkey presses on what truly protects expression: not just the First Amendment, but civic norms that resist conformity. We warm up w
Why Don't We Trust the Experts? Science and the Crisis of Authority
Physicist and astronomer Dr. Todd Timberlake joins the conversation to explore the modern crisis of expertise. What does it mean to trust science when experts sometimes get things wrong? How do peer review, replication, and the broader scientific community create self-correcting systems that still move knowledge forward, even through mistakes? And why has public trust in institutions—including sci
Charlie Kirk's Tragic Death and the Temptation of Collective Blame
Political philosopher Dr. Michael Bailey and host Dale McConkey reflect on the public murder of Charlie Kirk and a week already heavy with 9/11 remembrances. With humility about their limits and the fluid facts, they focus not on speculation but on what our reactions to this tragedy reveal about us as a people. Michael outlines three tensions—legal individual responsibility, our deep cultural form
Trump Derangement Syndrome: Sincerity, Bulls**t, and the Death of Dialogue
Political philosopher Michael Bailey joins host Dale McConkey to unpack “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as a window into America’s fractured political discourse. They begin with how shifting cultural guardrails have normalized dismissive rhetoric and redefined what counts as acceptable in public conversation, creating an environment where team loyalty often matters more than truth. From there, they e
American Inequality: From Gilded Age Tycoons to Tech Oligarchs
In this episode of American Angst 101, host Dale McConkey hands the reins to Michael Bailey, political philosopher at Berry College, for a thoughtful deep dive into the growing problem of inequality in America. With historian Christy Snider joining the conversation, the trio explores the widening gap between rich and poor, comparing today’s digital tycoons with the industrial giants of the Gilded
Campaigns, Congress, and Cattle: A Conversation with Candidate Shawn Harris
In this special episode of American Angst, political scientist Michael Bailey and host Dale McConkey welcome retired Brigadier General Shawn Harris, a Democratic candidate for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. The conversation ranges across key issues including veterans’ care, agriculture, healthcare, border security, and foreign policy, as Harris reflects on his 40 years of military service
End of an Era? Dems in the Hot Seat, Part 4
In our fourth and final installment of our "Democrats in the Hot Seat" series, political scientist Dr. Michael Bailey shifts the focus squarely onto the Democratic Party—its historic dominance since the New Deal, the vision it set forth, and the serious challenges it faces today. Bailey examines how Democrats built an era defined by international cooperation, inclusion, regulation, and a
Patriarchy in the Pulpit and the Pentagon: Pete Hegseth and Doug Wilson
CROSSOVER EPISODE! In this first-ever crossover episode between Church Potluck and American Angst 101, host Dale McConkey, political scientist Michael Bailey, and historian Christy Snider dive into a hot-button political and theological controversy surrounding Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s recent social media post endorsing ideas from pastor Doug Wilson, a leader in the Confederation of Ref
Limits to Pluralism? Dems in the Hot Seat, Part 3
Political scientist Dr. Michael Bailey leads this episode of American Angst 101 with a sweeping exploration of how the United States’ founding-era vision of a liberal federal government—meaning one grounded in Enlightenment ideas of individual rights, consent of the governed, and limited purposes for government—continues to shape modern politics. Bailey explains that, unlike the states of the era,
Elitism, Crime, and Borders: Dems in the Hot Seat, Part 2
In this follow-up to the previous conversation on MAGA critiques of the Democratic Party, Political Scientist Michael Bailey dives into the final three charges: (1) being elitist cultural snobs, (2) soft on crime, and (3) favoring open borders. Bailey examines how charges of cultural condescension, fueled by moments like Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment, have long hampered Democra
Wokeness, Patriotism, and Religion: Dems in the Hot Seat, Part 1
In this episode of American Angst, political philosopher Michael Bailey analyzes the first three of six major criticisms often leveled against the Democratic Party by conservatives and MAGA supporters: that Democrats are (1) “woke” and obsessed with identity politics; (2) unpatriotic and ashamed of America; and (3) hostile toward religion. With insight and nuance, Bailey explores where these charg
The Phrase That Won’t Die: “We’re a Republic, Not a Democracy"
In this thought-provoking episode of American Angst 101, Michael Bailey and his longtime friend and fellow political scientist Dr. Steven Taylor join forces to examine the phrase “We’re a republic, not a democracy”—a line increasingly echoed in American political rhetoric. What do people mean when they say it? Where did the phrase originate? And more crucially, what are its implications for Americ
Why July 4th? The Truest Meaning of Independence Day
In this episode of American Angst 101, political historian and resident expert Michael Bailey takes center stage to explore a deceptively simple question: why do we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th? With Dale McConkey hosting, Bailey delivers a captivating, wide-ranging treatise that combines historical insight, political theory, and cultural reflection. Intermixed with his typical wit, he c
The Mandate Mirage: When Presidents Stretch Thin Margins into Sweeping Claims
In this episode of American Angst 101, political scientist Dr. Michael Bailey unpacks one of the most pervasive myths in American politics: the presidential mandate. With insight, clarity, and a touch of dry wit, Bailey walks through why claims of sweeping public endorsement—often made by presidents right after elections—are both analytically weak and politically hazardous. From Bill Clinton’s hea
No Kings, New Terrain? Is Today's Political Climate Unprecedented?
Political scientist Michael Bailey brings his deep knowledge, sharp wit, and characteristic humility to this episode of American Angst 101, hosted by sociologist Dale McConkey. Launching from the massive “No Kings” protest—which coincided with a military parade and President Trump’s birthday—Bailey unpacks the historical, constitutional, and cultural significance of what many see as an unsettling
Truth Decay, Part 2: Democracy as Pro Wrestling
In this second episode of American Angst 101, political philosopher Dr. Michael Bailey and host Dale McConkey continue their dig into the nature of political truth in the age of Trump—and what it means for democracy today. Bailey argues that Trump's rhetoric, far from being random or merely outrageous, functions more like pro wrestling: it’s not about factual truth, but about affirming identi
Truth Decay: Our Inaugural Angst
Political philosopher Michael Bailey has spent years thinking carefully about American democracy—its roots, its ideals, and its increasingly shaky relationship to truth. In American Angst 101, he sits down with his friend Dale McConkey to reflect on what’s happening in our political culture, what’s changed, and whether anything can be done about it. The podcast opens with humor (and a theme song c
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