Episode 2484: David Masciotra on how every day has become April Fools Day in Trumpian America

Happy April Fools, everyone! Although, according to cultural critic David Masciotra every day in Trump 2.0 America is now April Fool's Day. KEEN ON AMERICA regular Masciotra argues that the new Trump's administration represents a "bipartisan phantasm" featuring absurdly unqualified and ignorant figures from both right (Hegseth & Vance) and left (RFK Jr. & Tulsi Gabbard). Masciotra explores how the destruction of media gatekeepers has allowed fantasy to dominate reality - creating what he dubs, crediting Kurt Anderson, Trump’s Fantasyland America.

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Five KEEN ON AMERICA Takeaways from this Conversation with David Masciotra

* America as "Fantasyland" - Masciotra view current American politics as increasingly absurd, with Trump's administration embodying a "fantasyland" where truth and reality are secondary to spectacle. He argues this stems from a longer American tradition of accommodating unfactual, anti scientific beliefs.

* Bipartisan Delusion - While fantastical thinking may be more prevalent on the right, Masciotra identifies figures like RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard as examples of how the left also contributes to this phenomenon, describing this collective idiocy as a "bipartisan phantasm."

* Media Gatekeepers - The conversation highlights how the demolition of traditional media gatekeepers has allowed crazy fringe ideas to gain mainstream traction, with Masciotra confessing that his youthful opposition to “elite” gatekeepers was misguided.

* Reality vs. Fantasy - I expresses more faith that reality (such as the economic consequences of tariffs) will eventually overcome fantasy. But Masciotra is more pessimistic, citing examples of people maintaining delusions that do them great personal harm.

* Democratic Strategy - We discuss whether Democrats need to incorporate more "fantasy" and humor in their approach, with Masciotra suggesting Democrats need to balance factual standards with more imagination, spontaneity, and willingness to be confrontational.

David Masciotra is the author of six books, including Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy and I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters. He has written for Salon, the Washington Monthly, and many other publications, on politics, music, and literature.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

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