No, This Isn't Just Like 1968 (Or Any Other Year)

In recent months, the media have pointed to certain political moments and figures to explain the rise of Donald Trump -- sometimes as a sign that history repeats itself, and other times as a sign that the current moment is truly unprecedented. Historian Rick Perlstein, author of several books on American political history and a frequent guest on news shows in the last year, argues in a recent piece in The Baffler that historical parallels are often drawn in a way that does a disservice to the complexity of history. He talks to Bob about how the media and its consumers can think about history in a more nuanced way, without rendering the present either "just like" the past or wholly unique.