From Reagan Revolution to Trump Insurrection

The Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life will present a talk by Diane Winston (USC), “From the Reagan Revolution to the Trump Insurrection: The Role of the Religious Imaginary in American Politics,” on May 22, 2024, at 5:00pm in UCSB’s McCune Conference Room (HSSB 6020). This event is free and open to the public.

How did Ronald Reagan’s vision of the American Dream lead to Donald Trump’s success? Looking back to 1983, Diane Winston will discuss how evangelical religion, the news media, and social turmoil culminated in MAGA’s Second Coming. Winston shows that many journalists uncritically adopted Reagan’s religious rhetoric and broadcast his otherwise unpopular evangelical ideas about limited government and individual responsibility. Winston’s lecture is based on her recent book, Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan’s Evangelical Vision.

Diane Winston is Knight Chair in Media and Religion, and Professor of Journalism and Communication, at the University of Southern California. A former journalist, Winston received a PhD in Religion from Princeton. She has written or edited seven books. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, and Wall Street Journal.