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 music in Carter-world (including a wild Bob Dylan family anecdote), and how Jimmy Carter’s faith wasn’t a private label but a public engine—fueling peacemaking, global health, and a radically inclusive moral imagination.

Then Dr. Michael Bailey brings his expert lens to the big civic themes underneath it all: what democracy really does (and how it can fail), why institutions matter most in fragile transitional moments, and how history turns on a few pivotal decisions. Josh connects these ideas to his own mission—demystifying government through stories—and to a deeply moving, present-day calling: caregiving advocacy, shaped by his son Jonathan’s rare disease journey and his family’s long experience with illness, disability, and care. Hosted by Dale McConkey, this conversation is heartfelt, funny, practical, and unexpectedly hopeful—one of those episodes that leaves you both more informed and more human.

The views expressed on American Angst are solely those of the participants and do not represent any organization.

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 misleading, but often politically weaponized.

Bailey breaks down the difference between republic, democracy, and liberal democracy in plain language—showing how political scientists actually use these terms and why the “republic vs. democracy” framing is frequently a rhetorical sleight of hand. Drawing from his work published at Outside the Beltway (and from a recent talk he gave to the League of Women Voters), he traces how the slogan has been used historically—from the John Birch Society to modern partisan messaging—to justify restrictions on participation, normalize minority-rule structures, and minimize the moral weight of broad voter inclusion.

Along the way, Dr. Bailey makes his core argument: the United States has long been a republic, but over time it became a democracy in the modern sense—especially a liberal democracy, where “liberal” means liberty, not partisan ideology. And that distinction matters, because a republic can exist without robust rights or meaningful participation (he points to global examples), while a liberal democracy is defined by protecting civil liberties, welcoming dissent, and making representative government accountable to “we the people.”

To lighten the mood after an hour of political theory (and to keep the angst appropriately seasonal), the episode ends with a playful holiday “list segment,” where Dr. Bailey shares a few memorable Christmas gifts—including a beloved childhood globe that accidentally taught him a lifelong lesson about language, history, and the power of words.

The views expressed on American Angst are solely those of the participants and do not represent any organization.

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 targeted obstruction of wind and renewable energy. The episode also explores Trump’s efforts to dismantle climate policy infrastructure, suppress scientific data, defund research agencies, and erase public reporting on climate change. Together, Michael and Dale examine what it means for a democracy when environmental policy is shaped not just by ideology, but by the deliberate undermining of shared facts and scientific expertise.

The views expressed on American Angst are solely those of the participants and do not represent any organization.