Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow in Governance Studies, expands on his widely popular new article in The Atlantic titled, “How American Politics Went Insane.” Also in this episode, Metropolitan Policy Program Associate Fellow Devashree Saha examines the impact of crashing oil prices on state and metro economies.   How American politics went insane The state of state parties, a neglected path to healthier politics Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy Permanent trust funds: Funding economic change with fracking revenues Thanks to audio producer Mark Hoelscher, plus thanks to Carisa Nietsche, Bill Finan, Vanessa Sauter, Jessica Pavone, Eric Abalahin, and Rebecca Viser. Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen in all the usual places, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.