Last Wednesday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a tragic & unprecedented example of what happens when elements of culture are manipulated by powerful political interests at the expense, in this case, of democracy. Politics, like every aspect of human activity, is profoundly determined by culture, which can be manipulated for good or bad by those with the power to do so, and last week in the U.S., fundamental elements of U.S. culture, following a harrowing historical playbook, were abused for political ends. We discuss this phenomenon of manipulating culture for political agendas in our “The Political Climate. Ahh!!” episode from October 8th 2020. In advance of the upcoming inauguration of Joe Biden as president of the United States, we felt it critical to re-release this episode now. The episode description is below, and we’ll be back with new episodes starting next month. Until then, stand up for those aspects of your culture that advance democracy, wherever you are.

It's the biggest October surprise of all! We're dropping this episode on the same day as the previous episode because there's no time to waste: it's October of a presidential election year in the United States. Millions of votes have already been cast through mail-in ballots and early in-person voting, so Dean and Tom head outdoors again to explore how U.S. culture has directly affected today's political climate. Make your voting plan TODAY at iwillvote.com.

Have a cultural question or episode idea for Dean and Tom? Reach out on Twitter and Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Music: “Little Idea” - Bensound.com