Voices for the Future: Could a Coup Happen in the U.S.?

A Conversation with the writer Jamie Malanowski

Voices for the Future is a podcast series that I co-host, with my collaborator Anodea Judith.

The next program is Tuesday, August 9th at 7pm Eastern with the writer Jamie Malanowski and is entitled Can a Coup Happen in the U.S.?

You can attend for free on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935178588

Jamie Malanowski is a writer and editor. A member of the original staff of Spy magazine, Jamie has also been an editor at Time, Esquire and Playboy, where he was Managing Editor. Jamie has also written for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Washington Monthly, and The New York Times. 

His most recent work, the biography Commander Will Cushing, Daredevil Hero of the Civil War, was published by W.W. Norton. Jamie is also the author of the novels Mr. Stupid Goes to Washington and The Coup; the author of And the War Came, a history of the six months that preceded the start of the Civil War; the author of The Book of Levon: The Trial and Triumphs of Levon Helm, about the life of the musician Levon Helm; co-author with Kurt Andersen and Lisa Birnbach of the play and book Loose Lips; co-author, with Martyn Burke, of the HBO movie Pentagon Wars; and co-author, with Susan Morrison, of the humor book Spy High. 

Jamie's work has been praised by filmmaker Ken Burns, the late senator John McCain, the writer Kurt Andersen, and the musician Marshall Crenshaw, among others.

I asked Jamie to be a guest because of his satirical novel The Coup, which, although not related to current events, is one of the few books--fiction or nonfiction--to explore the possibility of a coup at the highest levels of power in the U.S. 

About Jamie's book The Coup: The Washington Post called it "required reading"; CNN said it was "a biting and hilarious satire"; The New York Post stated it was "an outrageous piece of work"; NPR described it as "smart and entertaining"; and Publisher's Weekly stated it was "as entertaining as it was scary." 

About could a coup happen in the U.S.?: Some would say that right now in the U.S., two different coup attempts have taken place. One has been revealed by the January 6th House Select Committee, which through a number of public hearings has demonstrated that former President Donald Trump presided over an attempted coup of the U.S. government in order to stay in power.

While Trump’s coup attempt was not successful, there has been another coup brewing for many decades now.

This coup's most visible and recent victories have occurred in the past few weeks with the Supreme Court rulings that rescinded gun restrictions, allowed prayer in schools, overturned Roe v. Wade, and, in the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, blocked the ability of the EPA to regulate businesses that pollute (in fact, the greater aspect of this court ruling was blocking the ability for any government agency from issuing regulations).

There's another Supreme Court ruling taking place next year, when the Supreme Court hears the case of Moore v. Harper. If the Supreme Court rules with the plaintiff in this case, they would be legalizing a radical change in the way federal elections are conducted—they would give state legislatures sole authority to set the rules for elections.

What this would mean is a state legislature could decide in the case of a presidential election who they would prefer to give the state's electors to.

So if a Democrat won the state in 2024, but the legislature wasn’t fond of the results, they could decide to hand the state’s electors to the Republican candidate.

We will explore these and other related issues with our special guest Jamie Malanowski, who knows a thing or two about coups, having written a novel about the subject. 

This conversation with Jamie Malanowski promises to be a very provocative discussion. Again, it takes place next Tuesday, August 9 at 7pm Eastern, at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935178588

Join us!