Fascism on the Rise Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show · Burt Cohen

The Trump Era and the Psychology of Moral Courage

·58 min·3 clips

People who won awards for moral courage also showed more self-efficacy, according to Anna Bommart’s research.

1. KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show frames “The Trump Era and the Psychology of Moral Courage” around whether people will act on conscience in Donald Trump’s America. 2. Host Burt Cohen and guest Alina Tugend matter because Cohen presses for examples while Tugend, an award-winning journalist, reports research from psychology and social behavior. 3. The episode asks what moral courage is for: deciding when to speak up, help someone, or resist pressure even without reward. 4. Tugend defines moral courage as acting on ethical principles despite negative consequences, personal risk, or social disapproval. 5. She distinguishes it from physical bravery by using the example of jumping onto a train track to save someone. 6. Cohen and Tugend then connect moral courage to the older idea of “virtue” and ask why the word feels less common in the 21st century. 7. Tugend says people may feel morally brave even while doing something wrong, and she names the January 6th insurrectionists as an example. 8. She quotes Philip Mazzucco on the gap between self-image and behavior: “Everyone thinks I would resist.” 9. Tugend also quotes Philip Zimbardo: “The majority of people can get seduced across the line of good and evil in a very short period of time.” 10. She argues that conformity is powerful because people fear being excluded from the group. 11. Tugend points to an Australian study showing groups can stay hostile toward a dissenter even after later agreeing the dissenter was right. 12. She says whistleblowers can be punished for damaging cohesion, even when they expose wrongdoing. 13. Tugend describes rescuers and resistors as people who answer, “What else could I do?” 14. She contrasts that with people who say, “I was just one person, what could I do?” 15. She cites the Wells Fargo employee who reported suspicious behavior, was fired, and later said she could not carry it on her conscience. 16. Tugend says Albert Bandura’s moral disengagement lets people rationalize unethical acts without self-reproach. 17. She walks through Bandura’s mechanisms, including moral justification, euphemistic labeling, diffusion of responsibility, dehumanization, and blaming the victim. 18. Cohen and Tugend discuss training, with examples from Quakers, the American Friends Service Committee, and cell-phone recording during George Floyd’s killing. 19. The conversation sounds like a direct interview with frequent back-and-forth, practical examples, and repeated returns to current events. 20. People interested in psychology, protest, and moral decision-making would likely engage with it; listeners wanting light entertainment probably would not.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about moral courage, rights, and starting small when speaking up.

Burt Cohen frames the conversation around moral courage and the pressure people feel to keep their heads down. Alina Tugend answers by focusing on rights, preparation, and the practical judgment that has to come before action.

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Why you'd press play

You want a serious talk about courage that stays practical.

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