Morgan Marietta is Dean of the Center for Economics, Politics & History at UATX. Formerly, he taught at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and served as Chair of Political Science at UT Arlington. With a focus on political psychology and constitutional politics, he is the author of four books:
*A Citizen’s Guide to American Ideology
*A Citizen’s Guide to the Constitution and the Supreme Court
*The Politics of Sacred Rhetoric: Absolutist Appeals and Political Persuasion
*One Nation, Two Realities: Dueling Facts in American Democracy
We sat down on a stormy Thursday evening to chat about his writing and research, UATX, the Austin Union, and the marketing of bourbon and cigarettes—among many other things. This interview is a bit longer than usual, but is definitely worth the listen. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I hope you do too.
Happy listening
0:00 - Intro
00:50 - What is America?
04:13 - The Unique Nature of the American Constitution
09:01 - Personal Experiences and the Role of Universities
13:42 - Constitutions in Other Countries
25:11 - The Power of Misrepresentation and Bullsh*t
31:02 - The Current State of Misrepresentation in America
35:35 - Evolutionary Psychology and the Role of Lying
36:56 - The Evolutionary Drive and Misrepresentation
37:56 - Hypergamy and Misrepresentation
39:13 - Bullsh*t and Truth Telling
40:27 - The Importance of Saying 'I Don't Know'
42:02 - Weaponizing Fact Perceptions
43:23 - Marketing and Fact Perceptions
44:41 - Misrepresentation in Marketing
46:07 - Trust and Perception of Facts
50:28 - Perceptions of Reality and Trust
52:01 - Polarization and Perceptions of Reality
54:57 - Manufacturing Consent and Misrepresentation
56:23 - The Influence of Social Media and Twitter
58:07 - The Role of Trust in Perception of Facts
01:00:02 - The Influence of Media and Marketing
01:03:38 - The Manufactured Nature of Political Issues
01:05:06 - John Adams and the Perception of Facts
01:06:28 - The Lack of Consensus Authority on Facts
01:07:05 - The Marketplace of Realities
01:07:55 - The Loss of Authority
01:10:27 - The University of Austin
01:12:39 - Founding New Institutions
01:14:26 - The Austin Union
01:16:37 - The Importance of Debate
01:18:58 - The Lack of Intellectual Discussion on Campuses
01:21:20 - The Need for Honest Discourse
01:23:11 - The Chatham House Rule
01:25:28 - The Problem with Confirmation Hearings
01:31:02 - Constitutional Amendments
01:37:09 - The Dishonesty of Confirmation Hearings
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