American Angst
American Angst is a podcast where political scientist Dr. Michael Bailey unpacks the founding ideals and present tensions of American democracy with clarity, depth, and concern. Hosted and produced by his longtime friend Dale McConkey, the show blends serious civic reflection with honest, good-humored conversation for anyone trying to make sense of this American moment.
Episodes
33 episodes
Filibustered: When Debate Damages Democracy
In this episode of American Angst, political philosopher Michael Bailey offers a clear, engaging, and deeply informed exploration of the filibuster—what it is, how it has evolved, and why its modern use may be undermining democratic go...
Is This War Different? Putting the Iran Conflict in Context
After a break, American Angst returns with Dr. Michael Bailey bringing his sharp, historically grounded perspective to one of the biggest questions in political culture right now: how unusual is this latest American war footing, really...
Kitchen-Table Congressman? A Conversation with Candidate Shawn Harris
In this return appearance on American Angst, congressional candidate Shawn Harris joins Michael Bailey and host Dale McConkey for a candid, unscripted conversation about politics grounded in lived experience rather than partisan theate...
Protesting in God's Name: Faith, Immigration, and Public Witness
This week on American Angst, Mike shares a crossover episode with host Dale McConkey Church Potluck. They are joined by United Methodist pastors Rev. Ash McEuen and Rev. Karen Kagiyama for a timely ...
Jimmy Carter’s Living Legacy (Literally!) Josh Carter on Democracy, Global Health, and Caregiving
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 s...
"It's a Republic, not a Democracy": Bailey's Take
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 s...
Trump’s Troublesome Environmental Policy: From Ocean Depths to Atmospheric Heights
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, ...
Thanksgiving: The Most American Holiday?
It's a special Thanksgiving crossover episode of American Angst and Church Potluck! Dr. Michael Bailey and Dale McConkey start off-topic with a quick overview of 10 dizzying days in American politics. From there,...
Election Results and Shutdown Breakthrough: Who Won the Week?
In this episode of American Angst, Michael Bailey briefly updates us on the apparent breakthrough in the government shutdown. The deal reopens the government and restores furlough pay, but Bailey emphasizes that
American Dream on Hold: The Rising Barriers to Homeownership for Young Adults
Homeownership used to be the on-ramp to the middle-class American Dream. For many young adults, that on-ramp now feels barricaded—by high prices, high mortgage rates, high rents, and student debt. In this episode, Michael Bailey and Dale McConk...
The Government Shutdown: Why Our System Fails on Purpose
Boo! In this Halloween edition of American Angst, political philosopher Dr. Michael Bailey leads a brisk, illuminating tour of the current government shutdown and what it reveals about our constitutional machinery. Michael lays out why...
Democratic Backsliding: How Democracies Erode (with Dr. Sam Call)
We may begin talking about sweater weather and niceties about upstate New York, but we quickly let the angst flow deep and wide. Join us as Sam Call (comparative politics) joins Michael Bailey (political science and philosophy) an...
Faith & the Founders, Part 2: The Godless Constitution Thesis
We’re back with another crossover of American Angst and Church Potluck—and it’s the middle slice of a three-part series. In Part 1, we explored evidence for a religious impulse at the founding of the United States. Today, we f...
Faith & the Founders, Part 1: The Christian Commonwealth Thesis
It’s a crossover feast: American Angst meets Church Potluck for a lively, thoughtful dive into religion, politics, and the Founders—setting the table for an upcoming conversation on Christian nationalism. This one leans a bit more...
San Francisco De-Angstified: A Father-Daughter Conversation
San Francisco is often painted as a city in crisis by conservative politicians and pundits, but does that picture hold up when you actually live there? In this special episode, political scientist Michael Bailey sits down with his daught...
Climate Change and Glimmers of Hope: A Conversation with Courtney Cooper
Environmental policy professor Dr. Courtney Cooper joins American Angst to untangle climate science, local vs. federal solutions, and why adaptation and mitigation aren’t either/or options. With Dr. Michael Bailey (our re...
Trump Loyalty Shakedown: Free Speech’s New Fault Line
Is America’s free-speech problem moving from online pile-ons to state-pressured loyalty tests? Political scientist and philosopher Dr. Michael Bailey makes the case that we’re drifting into a new, internet-era McCarthyism—a “Trump Loyalt...
Why Don't We Trust the Experts? Science and the Crisis of Authority
Physicist and astronomer Dr. Todd Timberlake joins the conversation to explore the modern crisis of expertise. What does it mean to trust science when experts sometimes get things wrong? How do peer review, replication, and the broader s...
Charlie Kirk's Tragic Death and the Temptation of Collective Blame
Political philosopher Dr. Michael Bailey and host Dale McConkey reflect on the public murder of Charlie Kirk and a week already heavy with 9/11 remembrances. With humility about their limits and the fluid facts, they focus not on speculation bu...
Trump Derangement Syndrome: Sincerity, Bulls**t, and the Death of Dialogue
Political philosopher Michael Bailey joins host Dale McConkey to unpack “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as a window into America’s fractured political discourse. They begin with how shifting cultural guardrails have normalized dismis...
American Inequality: From Gilded Age Tycoons to Tech Oligarchs
In this episode of American Angst 101, host Dale McConkey hands the reins to Michael Bailey, political philosopher at Berry College, for a thoughtful deep dive into the growing problem of inequality in America. With...
Campaigns, Congress, and Cattle: A Conversation with Candidate Shawn Harris
In this special episode of American Angst, political scientist Michael Bailey and host Dale McConkey welcome retired Brigadier General Shawn Harris, a Democratic candidate for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. The conversation ran...
End of an Era? Dems in the Hot Seat, Part 4
In our fourth and final installment of our "Democrats in the Hot Seat" series, political scientist Dr. Michael Bailey shifts the focus squarely onto the Democratic Party—its historic dominance since the New Deal, the vision it set forth,...
Patriarchy in the Pulpit and the Pentagon: Pete Hegseth and Doug Wilson
CROSSOVER EPISODE! In this first-ever crossover episode between Church Potluck and American Angst 101, host Dale McConkey, political scientist Michael Bailey, and historian Christy Snider dive into a hot-button political...
Limits to Pluralism? Dems in the Hot Seat, Part 3
Political scientist Dr. Michael Bailey leads this episode of American Angst 101 with a sweeping exploration of how the United States’ founding-era vision of a liberal federal government—meaning one grounded in Enlightenment id...