Welcome to the HoosLeft podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from the unapologetic perspective of the Hoosier left. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers and I’m recording from Bloomington.
Friends, welcome back and thank you for your patience. I’ve been away from the show, focusing on my family after the tragic loss of my son, Layne, last month. I won’t retell his story here because I’ll become a sobbing mess and never get through this introduction, but I did post several written pieces, including the eulogy I wrote for him, over at scottaaronrogers.substack.com, which express my emotions far better than I can in this space.
But I’ll summarize the most recent of those pieces thusly: having experienced the worst loss imaginable, having known true grief, really for the first time I think, some things just don’t seem as important anymore. For me, that’s been my day job. Now, I understand that is a privilege most don’t enjoy and I have been extremely fortunate to have the time and space I’ve needed to grieve, and that we (barely) have the means to keep us afloat for a bit. But, this devastating loss has changed me deeply, and I feel called to do something different. This is not to say repairing, remodeling, and renovating aren’t important ; they are - we’re talking about people’s homes here. But, I think I have a some ability, some talent - not a ton, but enough - and a platform here that, used correctly, can help lessen the amount of grief and suffering here in Indiana.
How? By working full time to call out Hoosier lawmakers, their financial backers, and the networks of people actively working to make our lives worse by cutting education, cutting healthcare, cutting gaping holes in the social safety net; those whose policies kill children via environmental degradation, lack of access to necessary healthcare, and lax gun control laws; those that ensure more parents will experience that same grief I feel. I will work to highlight these bad actors so we can replace them with more empathetic leadership. I will also shine the spotlight on Hoosier activists, organizations, and elected officials who are working to build a more just, equitable, and compassionate Indiana.
But I can’t do this without you. Right now, the only income I bring to my household is from this project. I rely on your financial support from paid subscriptions over at scottaaronrogers.substack.com. For five bucks a month or only $50 a year, you can help me push our state in a better direction, and help my family in the process. And hey, I get it, not everybody can afford a paid subscription at this time. You can still help. Subscribe at the free level on Substack. Set your favorite podcast player to auto-download new episodes of the show. Rate and review the podcast on Apple, or whatever platform you use. Follow me on social media at scottrog78 (spell) on Instagram, Threads, and the platform everyone still calls Twitter; facebook.com/hoosleft (spell); and on Mastodon at scottrog78@hoosier.social. Most importantly, pass on the word. Forward the newsletter to a friend or colleague; don’t just like, but share on social media; record the show on a mix-tape for your crush. Consider it a small investment in Indiana’s future.
What will you get for your investment? A full time HoosLeft looks like new content every day, either written or audio (and hey, maybe video at some point); it looks like full coverage of the 2024 election cycle in Indiana and beyond; and it looks like zooming out to see how the forces at work in our state function nationally, even globally. And, though I am looking at special features for paid subscribers (would you all be interested in a private chat group?), I do not plan on paywalling any content, because I believe in open access to information, and your support helps make that content freely available to all Hoosiers.
This begins today with our first anniversary special and a whole week of new content. Episode #1 of the podcast dropped last year on February 14 with my friend, Tom LaVonne, as the special guest. Tom is back and we reset the table, putting the current crisis of social breakdown in historical perspective. Tomorrow, Chelsea McDonnel, director of outreach for MadVoters Indiana, returns to discuss what that crisis looks like in practice as Republicans sow grief for their citizenry at the Indiana Statehouse with terrible legislation. Wednesday, Chairman of the Monroe Country Democratic Party, David Henry, joins the show for a talk about fighting those efforts via the two party system, why it works the way it does, and the benefits and drawbacks of working within that system. Thursday, Indianapolis City Councilman Jesse Brown returns to the pod to discuss his first month-plus on the council, coming into the party - and then government, as an outsider - and some of the resistance he’s faced from fellow Democrats. Friday, I’ll have a written piece on Substack. Hope to have you aboard for the full ride.
Today, Tom and I return to the topic we discussed in episode one: our current time of historical crisis through the lens of William Strauss and Neil Howe’s cyclical, generational theory of history. We discuss our current period of polarization, how it mirrors other tumultuous periods in history, how we collectively forget the lessons learned during those difficult times as those who remember them pass on, how certain bad actors recognize this and push on society’s fault lines to destroy the social order, and how we must understand this if we to create a new social order based on fairness and empathy.
Here’s my interview with Tom LaVonne.
Once again, that was my good friend Tom LaVonne.
Let’s summarize:
Just as happens every four generations, the old world is dying while the new world struggles to be born.
We are currently right smack in the middle of that 4th - crisis - generation. Social breakdown in America, war in Europe, war in the Holy Land, democracy backsliding globally while ethnonationalist authoritarianism rises, including in our own country, our own state.
We are in the midst of a struggle to define the new social order, the order that will define the next 80 years, the framework in which humanity must fully take on the challenge of climate change, lest the next saeculum-defining struggle, four generations from now, be for the survival of the human species itself.
Do we want the new era to be defined by justice, fairness, and equity - for ALL people OR will that era be defined by hierarchy, dominance, and mass suffering? The forces advocating the latter are better resourced and better organized. Building the wildly diverse coalition necessary to overcome them is like herding cats, but absolutely necessary for a humane, sustainable future.
Next time we’ll put away the wide lens and zoom in on the future that Indiana Republicans are trying to build. Spoiler alert: it’s not great. Join me and Mad Voters’ Chelsea McDonnel for that conversation tomorrow. Until then, this has been the HoosLeft Podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generational_theory
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/where-did-steve-bannon-get-his-worldview-from-my-book/2017/02/24/16937f38-f84a-11e6-9845-576c69081518_story.html
https://www.thecorporategovernanceinstitute.com/insights/lexicon/what-is-woke-capitalism/
https://slate.com/culture/2023/09/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-dating-relationship-conservative-backlash-fox-news.html
https://www.fpri.org/article/2020/04/the-growing-threat-posed-by-accelerationism-and-accelerationist-groups-worldwide/
https://medium.com/@masswrites/hard-times-create-strong-men-strong-men-create-good-times-good-times-create-weak-men-weak-men-1b5333657a0a
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-we-fixed-the-ozone-layer/
