Paradox Podcast Episode 60: Let Political Tribes Go (with Mary Katharine Ham)

Mary Katharine Ham drops by to chat about political tribes, Disney princesses and more on this week’s episode of the Paradox Podcast. She explains why Twitter isn’t the best way to share your political views and what she thinks of people who line up out the door for cupcakes.

Terrible Opinions

Mary Katharine shares three terrible opinions for good measure.

MK: 1) I want to heckle people who line up for cupcakes as if it’s a rock concert when cupcakes aren’t actually good. 2) I like cicadas because they signify summer to me. 3) I’m a big fan of Cleatus the FOX Sports robot.

Jordan: It’s OK to mute people on Twitter to filter your timeline as long as you still see tweets from people from both “sides.”

Matthias: We need a Twitter option that alerts you when accounts you follow go silent for a long time.

Tribal politics

Matthias opens up the discussion about political tribes by talking about his own experience trying to live in two different worlds when it comes to ideology. He points out that the gap isn’t between social and fiscal conservatives but between people on the right who believe in a particular ideology and people who are simply partisan.

Mary Katharine talks about what needs to happen for people of all political ideologies to be able to talk to each other. Political rhetoric has only become angrier after the shooting in Virginia last week where a gunman seemed to be specifically targeting GOP lawmakers. Can we do better?

We talk about why the left needs to welcome liberal evangelicals instead of alienating people of faith by being illiterate when it comes to religion. Jordan mentions the case of the Obama White House staffer who used the biblical reference “the least of these” and was asked over and over if it was a typo.

‘How Far I’ll Go’

Time for the important topic: Disney princess movies. Mary Katharine details her theory that “Frozen” is Disney’s version of “The Shining.” Desolate winter landscape? Check. Volatile main character who is a risk to family members? Double check. We talk about how dark “Frozen” and its Oscar-winning song “Let It Go” actually are.

Mary Katharine talks about why “The Princess and the Frog” is her new favorite Disney movie and also explores the history of the classic “Sleeping Beauty.”