Sports Radio Is Part of Why I Hate Populism
Not that I needed another reason
If you read this blog, you probably know that I hate populism. And I really do hate it: I think it’s the enemy of progress and an endorsement of humanity’s worst impulses. When leaders adopt widely-held beliefs that are good, we call that “common sense politics” — we only call it “populism” when the ideas are dumb enough to warp the space-time continuum.
I like sports. I follow soccer and baseball closely, and I dabble in football and basketball when I have a reason (e.g. my friend’s team is terrible and their anguish gives me joy). I listen to podcasts and radio shows about my favorite teams, because sometimes the game ends but I’m not done neglecting my family — I want more content! Some of the stuff I listen to is good, but I also listen to shows by museum-quality morons just because they’re talking about the team I like — I’m like Lisa Simpson getting her fix from The Corey Hotline:
Listening to these sports shows helps me understand populism and hate it even more. The same attitudes and ignorance that stymie political progress are the coin of the realm on sports radio. I think that every political consultant should have to listen to sports radio, which for Democrats would have the added benefit of making their social media feeds sounds less like a gay Dartmouth student whose butchest influence is the T-Rex from Toy Story.
