Dehumanization in Society

This week on Politics Decoded, Ana and Sina begin a discussion about the issue of dehumanization in US politics. This episode draws on the enactment of and reaction to immigration enforcement efforts by the Trump administration to begin a discussion about the way that US political culture tends towards reducing empathy towards people labeled as “outsiders” and encourages people to maintain an emotional distance from political issues that do not immediately affect them. They then turn the discussion towards the implications of this trend for the future of US political society. 

CORRECTION: In the episode, a quote is mistakenly attributed to the chief of the Minneapolis police force when it actually comes from the Sheriff of Hennepin County, which includes the city of Minneapolis in its boundary. 

Sources for Audio Clips:

NPR Morning Edition 2/6/2026

Sound Compilations from the LA ICE Protests via the Washington Post June, 2025