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There's optimism and can-do spirit outside Washington: 'Our Towns' documentary shows it Albert Hunt, opinion contributor © Getty Images There's optimism and can-do spirit outside Washington: 'Our Towns' documentary shows it America, viewed through the prism of Washington and national politics, is a bitterly polarized country. That's what columnists like me write all the time. I don't doubt President Biden's sincerity, but when politicians like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) talk about finding consensus on issues like voting rights or taxes or health care, it's a joke. There is ...

In 2020, the media got bigger. The New York Times continued its hegemonic expansion, announcing that it had topped five million subscribers in March, six million in June, and seven million in November. It has used its clout to hire whomever it wants, and digital publications, once seen as an existential threat, are now a hunting ground. A wave of consolidation swept through those digital publications, culminating in BuzzFeed’s acquisition of HuffPost last month. Unprecedented election interest swelled the coffers of cable networks, which practically minted their own money, a remarkable dev...

On big issues, whether it's the income mobility that you just mentioned, whether it's the monetization of our democracy, the inability of people without money to have anything that approaches an equal voice. and what i found was that our core values in many ways had been hijacked. the first amendment had been used by corporate interests to dominate our politics. meritocracy itself had some unintended and not good results. >> so when you hear this, jim fallows, i know you and deborah went out into the country and you saw some surprisingly optimistic things. but you've lived, both of you, in was...

Bipartisanship we used to enjoy on big issues, whether it's the income mobility that you just mentioned, whether it's the monetization of our democracy, the inability of people without money to have anything that approaches an equal voice. and what i found was that our core values in many ways had been hijacked. the first amendment had been used by corporate interests to dominate our politics. meritocracy itself had some unintended and not good results. >> so when you hear this, jim fallows, i know you and deborah went out into the country and you saw some surprisingly optimistic things. but y...

A book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! and we are back with jim and deborah fallows and steve brill, talking about nothing less than the future of america. you heard the fallows perspective, which i characterize as the friedman one from a different column, which is, if you want to be optimistic about this country, stand on your head because everything looks better from the bottom up. but the kind of problems you outline, that the government is deeply partisan, it can't get anything done, we haven't built any serious infras...