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You can\u2019t understand the modern Republican Party without understanding the complete collapse of trust in mainstream institutions that has taken place among its voters over the last half-century.\n\nIn 1964, 73 percent of Republicans said they trusted the federal government to do the right thing always or most of the time. Today, that number is down to 9 percent. And it\u2019s not just government. Pew found that only 35 percent of Republicans trust national news and 61 percent think public schools are having a negative effect on the country. Many of the issues animating the modern right \u2014 from fights over school curriculums and learning loss to media bias and Covid vaccines \u2014 are connected to this deep distrust.\n\nMary Katharine Ham is a journalist and conservative commentator who has appeared on CNN, Fox News and ABC News. In Katharine Ham\u2019s view, America\u2019s institutions have \u201cearned\u201d her party\u2019s rampant distrust. Across her writings, she has leveled scathing critiques of numerous mainstream institutions, from the media to the C.D.C. and universities, arguing that these institutions have consistently failed to serve ordinary Americans. So this is a conversation that explores Katharine Ham\u2019s critique in order to understand the distrust at the heart of the Republican Party. \n\nMentioned:\n\n\u201cRobert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Coalition of the Distrustful\u201d by Michelle Goldberg\n\nEnd of Discussion by Mary Katharine Ham and Guy Benson\n\nBook Recommendations:\n\nWise Blood by Flannery O\u2019Connor\n\nRules of Civility by Amor Towles\n\nThe Right by Matthew Continetti\n\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\n\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\n\nThis episode of \u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\u201d was produced by Kristin Lin. Fact checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Our senior editor is Rog\xe9 Karma. The show\u2019s production team also includes Emefa Agawu and Rollin Hu. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Sonia Herrero.