Ill Literacy, Episode 145: The Myth of Left and Right (Guest: Hyrum Lewis)

Ill Literacy: Books with Benson

In Episode 145 of Ill Literacy, Tim Benson talks with Hyrum Lewis, co-author ofThe Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America.

Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Hyrum Lewis, associate professor of history at Brigham Young University-Idaho, to discuss his new book (co-authored with his brother, Verlan), The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America. They chat about how, the book declares, there is no enduring philosophy, disposition, or essence uniting the various positions associated with the “liberal” and “conservative” ideologies of today—there is nothing other than tribal loyalty holding together the many disparate positions that fly under the banners of "liberal" and "conservative." They also discuss how the political spectrum came to the United States from Europe in the 1920s, and how the left and right have evolved in so many unpredictable and contradictory ways.

Get the book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-myth-of-left-and-right-9780197680629?lang=en&cc=us

Show Notes:

Acton Institute: Jonathan Leaf – “Getting Beyond Right-Wing and Left-Wing”

https://rlo.acton.org/archives/124983-getting-beyond-right-wing-and-left-wing.html

Deseret Magazine: Hyrum Lewis – “The myth of left and right”

https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/15/24002083/the-myth-of-left-and-right-politics/

The Public Discourse: Andrew Busch – “The Tribal, and Philosophical, Basis of the Left and Right in American Politics”

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/05/88878/

Reason: Jesse Walker – “The Left-Right Spectrum Is Mostly Meaningless”

https://reason.com/2023/05/21/the-left-right-spectrum-is-mostly-meaningless/

The University Bookman: Lee Trepanier – “Essentially Lying About the Left and Right”

https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/essentially-lying-about-the-left-and-right/

Washington Examiner: Oliver Traldi – “Busting the myth of Left and Right”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/education/2573215/busting-the-myth-of-left-and-right/