This Is Exactly How Trump Broke Our America | The Daily Beast Podcast

Anand Giridharadas returns to the Daily Beast Podcast to discuss his new book, Man in the Mirror, and the three years he spent reporting on the fatal subway encounter between Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny. Giridharadas takes Joanna Coles inside a story that became a national Rorschach test, exploring race, homelessness, mental illness, public safety, fear, dehumanization, and the difficulty of making sense of a morally complicated event in an era of simple slogans. He also reveals what he learned from following the people at the center of the case, including Daniel Penny’s Marine Corps training, the NYPD detectives who questioned him, and the outreach workers trying to help people living on the streets. Then the conversation takes an unexpected turn toward the Epstein files, as Giridharadas connects the sense of abandonment he found on that subway car to what he sees as a defining political emotion in America today.

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00:00 - Fear, Disorder And The Jordan Neely Case
05:29 - Why Anand Giridharadas Wrote The Book
09:47 - How Fear Shapes Public Life
14:15 - The Clickbait Around Jordan Neely
18:11 - Daniel Penny, Dehumanization And The Trial
23:16 - What The Police Interrogation Revealed
28:05 - Why Jordan Neely Didn't “Slip Through The Cracks”
32:16 - The Debate Over Forced Treatment
36:41 - Making Mental Health A Public Health Issue
41:25 - The Human Cost Of Homeless Outreach
45:14 - America’s Defining Feeling Of Abandonment
49:44 - The Epstein Files And The Culture Of Impunity
54:01 - When Americans Take Matters Into Their Own Hands

#trump #podcast #news

📖 Title: This Is Exactly How Trump Broke Our America
👂 Podcast: The Daily Beast Podcast
📺 Episode: 775
🎧 Format: Full Podcast
📅 Date: September 27, 2026
👨‍💼 Guest: Anand Giridharadas
🎙️ Host: Joanna Coles

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