Ronald Reagan’s Make-Believe

For decades after the Roman legions left Britain in the early fifth century, people expected them sooner or later to return. ‘During this bizarre interregnum,’ Pablo Scheffer wrote recently in the LRB, ‘a veneer of romanitas was everywhere.’ But unlike in other parts of the forme ...  Show more

In What is literature? (1948) Jean-Paul Sartre argued that writers and artists have a responsibility to engage with political and social realities. But is it still possible for writers to have political agency in a culture that instantly commodifies ideas? Lea Ypi, a professor of ...  Show more

Ronnie was one of America's most beloved and controversial presidents. From his early days as a B-movie actor and union president, to his pivotal role in heating up the Cold War, Reagan was an icon of the 80s (even for British kids like Tom!). But what was he really like? How did ...  Show more

Ronald Reagan is one of the most mythologized figures in American politics, but how did an actor and former Democrat become the standard-bearer of conservatism? In this new series exclusively for Founding Members explore Reagan’s rise, legacy, and myth. Who was the real Ronald Re ...  Show more

Ronald Reagan, a man who was first elected President more than forty years ago, remains one of the most impactful and influential conservative politicians in American history. Reagan, who made it in Hollywood before he made it to the White House, was a towering statesman, a fa ...

Ep 5: Ronald Reagan brings his long American odyssey to a close in his presidential farewell address, an evocation of America as a shining city on a hill. A nation that builds not walls but bridges.