Holding on to Hope that Kamala Will Be Different

With Professor Mehrsa Baradaran

In our latest interview about the 2024 election, I welcomed Professor Mehrsa Baradaran back to Skipped History. An authority on inequality and banking history, I asked for her thoughts on Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and what she sees at stake in the election. For Professor Baradaran, it’s about more than policy—“it’s about whether we trust democracy or not.” I also asked how much of a democracy she thinks we currently have.

Professor Baradaran (UC Irvine Law) is the author of The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America, which we discussed a few months ago. She has advised U.S. Senators and Congressmen on policy, testified before Congress, and served on two Presidential Transition teams covering the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and various banking agencies. The Biden administration almost selected Professor Baradaran as the country’s top banking regulator before realizing she was far too much of a badass to secure Senate confirmation.

A condensed transcript of our conversation, edited for clarity, is below. You can also listen to the audio, which includes further discussion of the depth and growth of corruption, Japan, Obama’s handling of the financial crisis, a quiz I made called “Who said it: a famous economist or Liz Greene, the famous astrologist?” and more:

Professor Baradaran has a new way of teaching students about SCOTUS

Ben: Let me begin by asking the question on everyone’s minds. How was your recent trip to Japan?!

MB: Ha, it was great but surreal. When I landed, I saw that Donald Trump had been shot at, and during my time there, Joe Biden stepped down, and Kamala Harris stepped in. It was an eventful time to be away from the U.S. 

Being in Japan was fascinating, especially visiting the Hiroshima museum. Truman’s decision to just sort of pick Hiroshima and Nagasaki to bomb made me reflect on how consequential every election is.

Ben: We’ve covered some of the coverup of the bombing. A ceaselessly stunning episode in history.

---

Learn more about the coverup below:

Lesley M.M. Blume on Hiroshima and Nuclear War

---

What are your thoughts on the recent vice presidential news?

MB: I saw a tweet joking about someone being a longtime supporter of Tim Walz since they learned about him two days ago. I think that sums it up.

Walz seems like a trustworthy person, kind of like Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights. Trust is something that's been missing in politics. We often think about politics as rational, but it's more about whether you trust someone. Walz gives off that vibe, as does Kamala Harris. I’ve met her, and while I wasn’t a fan of all her policies, she’s real and authentic. You can tell the lights are on and her soul is still intact, which is rare in politics.

Ben: I guess we’re setting the bar at a medium level: lights on, has a soul.

MB: Well, it’s hard to be where she is, especially with all the money being thrown around. And what’s interesting about Walz is that he might push her left. Despite being an older white guy from the Midwest, he’s quite liberal on issues like LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, and prisoner reform.

Ben: I feel like Dems are in a honeymoon period. Still, I can’t help but temper my enthusiasm. You’ve chronicled the pervasiveness of inequality, the codification of neoliberal orthodoxy into law, and bipartisan support for all of the above that have led to wealth concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Those issues feel intractable regardless of who is on the ticket.

MB: Yeah. Like a lot of people, I couldn’t sleep the night Trump was elected. Coming from Iran, a country taken over by fascists 45 years ago, I wrote The Quiet Coup in part as a warning about how close we are to that. 

I also criticized the Obama administration. I felt he either didn’t understand or couldn’t stand up against the machine that we elected him to dismantle. His failure led to deep cynicism, which explains Trump, I think, and also Biden—a lowest common denominator choice to beat the fascists. I admit I wasn’t going to vote for Biden here in California.