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cover of episode How to Read a Presidential Candidate

How to Read a Presidential Candidate

2024/8/30
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On the Media

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B
Brooke Gladstone
C
Carlos Lozada
C
Curtis Sittenfeld
V
Vinson Cunningham
Topics
Brooke Gladstone: 本期节目探讨了如何通过回忆录、小说等途径更深入地了解政治人物。 Carlos Lozada: 政治人物的回忆录,无论其如何掩饰,都会无意中透露他们的不安全感、恐惧和野心。阅读时应关注细节之处,例如致谢部分,而非主要新闻事件。奥巴马回忆录中关于他坚持自己携带公文包的细节,展现了他对自身形象的精心塑造。彭斯回忆录中对特朗普1月6日讲话的省略号,揭示了他对特朗普的维护。阅读特朗普的书籍可以帮助理解他的总统任期。总统或前总统的回忆录,距离其任期越远,质量通常越好。尤利西斯·格兰特的回忆录是优秀之作,因为它更关注其个人经历,而非总统任期。吉米·卡特的《黎明前的一小时》是其最好的回忆录,因为它讲述了他的成长经历。回忆录的致谢部分可以揭示政治人物的性格和人际关系。拜登回忆录的致谢部分体现了他对儿子去世的记忆模糊,这与特别顾问报告中的说法相符。阅读政治人物的书籍可以帮助我们更好地理解他们和美国历史。通过阅读不同时期政治人物的书籍,可以了解美国社会对诚信的预期变化。 Vinson Cunningham: 小说《远大前程》中的候选人形象是模糊的,读者可以将自己的希望和焦虑投射到他身上。小说中的候选人与现实中的奥巴马有很多相似之处,但小说更侧重于候选人作为被投射对象的形象。小说中的候选人是一个相对被动的人物,是人们愿望的投射对象,而非愿望的创造者。小说利用作者自身的经历,探讨了信仰和政治的相似之处。小说可以将真实与虚构结合,创造出更具意义的故事。创作小说时,作者并未过多考虑小说与自身经历的相似之处。小说通过对人物细致的观察,展现了奥巴马的魅力和其信仰的复杂性。小说探讨了信仰与政治的共通之处,认为政治家善于利用人们之间的共通点。小说探讨了修辞的强大力量及其局限性。作者从小在教会长大,对修辞艺术有着深刻的理解。小说中的人物Beverly对奥巴马的修辞艺术持怀疑态度,认为权力才是最重要的。小说主人公David试图从抽象的角度理解政治,这是一种天真。小说探讨了主人公对自身被动性的反思,以及奥巴马作为象征人物的意义。奥巴马作为政治人物的象征意义随着时间的推移变得更加复杂。小说结尾暗示了人们对真实性的追求是永无止境的。 Curtis Sittenfeld: 作者创作《美国妻子》是为了探索劳拉·布什对小布什和伊拉克战争的真实想法。小说虚构的情节与劳拉·布什的真实经历相结合,展现了她内心的挣扎。小说通过虚构的情节,展现了小布什的性格特点。小说展现了小布什家族对小布什的评价,以及劳拉·布什对丈夫政治生涯的复杂情感。小说中Alice的内心独白展现了她对自身在丈夫政治生涯中所扮演角色的反思。

Deep Dive

Shownotes Transcript

During election season, voters hope to glimpse the true selves of presidential candidates. And sometimes, revealing details hide in plain sight. On this week’s On the Media, one reporter sifts through political memoirs for truths about politicians and the people they lead. Plus, in vivid detail, a novelist imagines the private lives of former presidents.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Carlos Lozada), New York Times Opinion columnist and a co-host of the weekly “Matter of Opinion” podcast. Lozada explains how he mines political memoirs for deeper understanding of our political figures by examining what they include and what they omit.

[16:43] Brooke speaks with Vinson Cunningham), author of the novel Great Expectations. Cunningham, who is now a theater critic at The New Yorker, worked on the 2008 Obama campaign and later in the White House. Great Expectations is inspired by that time in his life and the difficult-to-read candidate for the presidency.

[35:05] Brooke interviews novelist Curtis Sittenfeld) about her exploration of the minds of political figures through fiction, first in American Wife (inspired by Laura Bush) and next in Rodham, which considers what Hilary Clinton’s life would have looked like if she had never married Bill. They discuss the questions that led Sittenfeld to write those novels and why fiction based on real people makes readers so uncomfortable — especially the sex scenes.

*This show originally aired on our May 3, 2024 program, *How to Read a President, with Carlos Lozada, Vinson Cunningham, and Curtis Sittenfeld.)

Further reading:

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