It is not simply pessimism that has been weaponized. There are several other critical factors that lead millions, in America nd the world, the embrace MAGA and its other names (in other countries). Look at the political campaign organizers of Trump, they had participation on Brazilian Bolsonaro's campaign and also did the same in other countries (i.e.: Italy). There is a radical irresponsible group that has been selling the same agenda and "recipe" for political campaigns around the world. The political platforms and speeches from politicians adopting those services, are almost a perfect copy. I am baffled that this has not yet been mentioned and pursued by a serious Media Outlet. These group, and politicians/political parties, are embracing radical populist (even fascist) views and proposals. They are catering to all grievances people have from inflation, globalization, etc. The grievances are not wrong but they lack a broad and correct understanding of the causes and responsible behind those. These populists simplify the messages to leverage negative emotions (fear, prejudice, "shadow government" conspiratorial ideations, racism, etc.). America has been spearheading this craziness and, with Trump, it showed how destructive and detrimental to society and national security this is. We, as a society, must understand and solve the causes for so many to became almost like zombies who can't think and just repeat and act like a master-puppeteer moves them. The is a lot of money being made from the chaos by people who don't mind seeing the world burn (Rupert Murdoch, etc.)

Oh Frank You have to learn how to talk to the people first? The language of the general population and not some college educated person You can have all the academic conversations you want but you are not going to cross that divide

Everything he's saying has been said many times since 2016, but he says it very well. Will anyone listen who isn't already well aware of the problem? Whether it's woke activists in Portland, OR or San Francisco, CA, or pundits on Fox News, people seem too interested in exploiting grievance for the sake of their own narrative, their own power, their own wealth to really be able to say "I'll set these things aside and try to focus on the ethics of truth and solving problems more than on grievances and the us vs. them narrative."

The dude crushed this interview.

Complete BS, the Americans are right to be full of grievances against the useless elites like Frank Bruni. They are f**ked every day by he US oligarchs. Just listen to the story of AOC working as barmaid, earning $0,50 per week from her employer, because she got so many tips, that she did not need the salary of her boss. That is the modern USA full off the Ebenezer Scrooge type of business men and oligarchs. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos attacking a law from 1935 signed by FDR to support unions. Those greedy, tax evading oligarchs want to stop the current successes of the unions.

This started at McDonalds with someone's Grandma yelling at people to stop talking Spanish. Once tRump validated her grievance, it spread across the board. Everyone has a grievance with DMV, DHS, and any other service agency and tRump elevated the grievance to "our country is being destroyed", so now we can rebel as patriots. This is a sickness we can cure

Make America Grouchy Always

While I agree with everything he says, the idea this is going away any time soon is ridiculous. The money and power available to those playing the "them vs us" game is nearly unstoppable, as social media fuels it for clicks. The fact that it is so selfsustaining means it will only be stopped after something true dramatic happens, probably some form of outright civil conflict. With even the Supreme Court being influenced by relatively pultry amounts of money, the idea of "one nation" seems so far gone.

Horrifying humans. Drunk on power and hate.

Collegiality, comity and civility --- in precious short supply! Such thought leadership and eloquence is rare and deserves more attention. A University classroom is a small audience, but great interviews and his book are thought provoking and a needed call to action. Well done!

Great discussion.

The former president made it ok to hate anyone who's not white, male, and undereducated. We can thank the supreme court for putting religion into government and the continuous cutting off of our rights. The 2 together are a nightmare.

"example of grievance run amok on the left" provided as "fair" (per interviewer) counter to Fix News example of grievance. Comparing comments on one site to a major media organization is not a "fair" comparison. Try comparing grievance displayed by a legitimate news organization to Fox.

At least 4 Nationall Guard Battslions will need to be activated and start stay in DC until the day after the Inauguration.

There should be no celebrity CEOs. Corporations shpuld be quiet engines of commerce with multiple stakeholders. Make CNBC boring, which it already is.

This is one of the very best interviews I have ever heard. How productive it would be if we were to put these notions into action!

Maga is about rage and revenge: beginning, middle, and end. As Gary Wills said of George Wallace's campaign in 1968 “he offered neither palliative nor real cure; just a chance to scream into the darkness.” Trump offers the same thing. The Magas are screaming into the darkness.

Thanks. Great interview. But where Bruni states: "I don't know if we go too far down that road that there's any turning back now," surely he must realize we crossed that Rubicon years ago. Social media will never be recast in the mode he suggests--and neither will human nature. History is replete with examples of countries and societies in this cycle of rupture, and ours is occurring at a time when technology is an accelerant with no extinguisher.

Grievance leads to pessimism and that’s exactly what the Trump cult is banking on.

The Democrats doomed their election chances with the open border. Many of us are voting for mass deportations.

"The Dark Side" of some Americans.

Fascinating guest and excellent conversation.

Dude. Who dressed you?

I've read Bruni over the years and don't always agree with this conservative, but he is sounding the alarm folks need to listen to. I put the problem here as people not reading serious newspapers. When Trump first took office, Kellyanne Conway proffered the notion of "alternative facts." I thought maybe she misspoke but now there is a growing sense of an alternative reality due to social media. Facts. Reality is one-sided. Something is either fact or false.

The Evangelicalism I was raised in lost credibility decades before ... what is happening now only validates my conclusions I made then. What is hidden in darkness will be exposed in due time and so it is being exposed. So much more to say but I will stop there. .

His proposed remedies are pathetic. In this video his first suggestion is national service for young people. We already have that. Young people can join the military to perform national service. There are other options too like the Peace Corp, community service and even that Up Up With People organization. He also wants the government to coerce elite universities to admit more students, lower costs and provide vocational certifications. In this video he wants elite universities to teach construction as if that's the best place to learn construction. He seems to think that only elite institutions are of any value. The community colleges and vocational schools aren’t worth investing in. The vast majority of people don’t attend the elite institutions, but evidently they’re not important enough for this guy to even consider. His other proposals involve handouts (UBI, child tax credit) and taxing the wealthy. On the issue of actually training and equipping young people for productive careers, he barely touches on that with universal Pre-K. He wants to give preferences to the poor, yet he doesn’t even throw a bone at training and education for the poor. Tough luck to those unlucky enough to be in a poor family in a poor neighborhood in an underperforming school unless you can qualify for admittance to one of his elite universities; they’ll just have to survive working minimum wage jobs and collecting government handouts.

Pessimism is hard to avoid when housing has been usurped by corporations not interested in using it as "housing."

Garbage none of that crap will happen cause trump isn't in control like 2020 making sure there won't be any interference by law enforcement

Struggling to see any equivalence here .Davis led what is mostly considered a rebellion that all in killed 600 K Americans and set development back decades. Trump paid stormy a few bucks to keep things private.Stormy may have enhanced his reputation!

As a Russian citizen who's in Russia i can assure you that putin wants to stay in power to the rest of his days, and now, unfortunately, continuing the war is the only way for him. He at least has to seize territories from Ukraine in order to deal with potential misunderstanding of many soldiers which comrades have died for this territory. So, basically he has no option to stop the war and give every miles of seized territory to Ukraine.

Wow! Fortunately it's not like this in Australia. We have problems, but people feel they can be solved.

Unfortunately many of the people who should be heeding this warning are the very people who because of their lack of education and contempt for sophisticated self introspection will have zero interest in hearing this message and if forced to hear it would dismiss it out of hand. Liberals can’t be the only people who try …

MAGA:Murdoch always gets away.Murdoch for president- cut out the middleman. Welcome to Oz.

I agree with that gentleman but lets not equate the levels of grievance. One extreme of that party is a teenager throwing a tantrum while the other is real evil, "the we will subjugate you and take away your basic human rights because we hate you evil. Its very important to highlight that.

The attorney general should not allow people to spread lies and misinformation. Merrick Garland is largely responsible for much of the division and chaos in the country. He never held Trump and his cronies accountable for all their lies and treasonous behavior. Many of Biden's choices for important positions are terrible, i.e. Blinken as sec of state is the worst, kamala Harris as VP. LEJOY as post master general, his press secretary and on and on. Good choices, sec of labor, transportation sec. Mayor PETE😢 .😮

Stop legitimizing and normalizing these psychopaths. Shame on you.

I think this grievance culture was developed by Trump and the rest of the right joined in once they saw it worked. I dont think it's being fair to say the left has been guilty of this, rather they have been the victim of it.

We need to fund more unremarkable overpasses to pitch our tents.

This guys are spelling pictures of Putin. However It is hipocresy. Are NOT in the politics of the world corruption? Why is he only mentioned Putin. Why he keep out Biden or Nathanyahu. When he left behind them he motives politics is cristal clear . Hipocresy cinism.

“left and right” - I’m sick of both sides-ism. I read new left progressive book “Justice is Coming” and it’s very optimistic - no grievance. The speaker’s examples on the left are pitifully weak.

So many people in the US have become full time whiners, driven by Fox & far right conspiracy theorists. Time for the rest of America to stand up and reject this victimhood

Invented facts are the currency of advertisement. Edvard Bernays has created a monster every bit as bad as any nuclear bomb. It’s a deadly psychological parasite now.

On all sides, facts should matter, inventing facts for gotcha motives will destroy our nation. We all have to check ourselves & be answers, not the problem too.

Thanks to global warming no one can say some one born today will have it better than their parents. Many forget that the worst consequences of global warming is the strain it will have on the economy. It will halt almost all economic growth and that in turn will make inflation run out of control.

Guns and Gardening - the American Way

boy o boy, having money with its inevitable options for flexibility in getting what you want/need, is what its all about. Grievance cuts across the divides, but wealth determines the interpretation...

Maybe we here in the US have simply become SPOILED and have just learned to keep demanding things we selfishly want all the time. Imagine what people who lived through and supported through personal sacrifice the World Wars? Have we forgotten how to be grateful for all that we have, certainly in comparison to so many many other places around the world. We must look like Whiny babies.

Love him and he is so on point.

Something like 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Something like 40% of Americans only have $500 dollars to cover for emergencies. Regardless of where one stands politically, it's hard not to feel a little bit peevish about this.

Excellent.