{"store":{"customizeEditHighlightKey":null,"customizeEditingSectionKey":null,"customizeScrollToKey":null,"baseInfo":{"podcastTitle":"The Rational Nationalist","slug":"leee207","podcastDescription":"

The Rational Nationalist examines politics, history, psychology, and human nature through a structured, evidence-based lens. Rather than focusing on daily headlines, each episode explores the underlying mechanisms that shape societies, institutions, and political behavior.

Hosted by Lee Ellis, author of The Rational Nationalist, the podcast develops practical mental models for understanding ideology, group conflict, institutional incentives, decision-making, and the forces driving the modern world.

New episodes every Thursday.

","podcastLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8.jpg","podcastShareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8_1200x628.jpg?s=2bfef7240498eabff043cc59473692f9&e=jpg","podcastUrl":"https://leee207.podbean.com","podcastCanSearched":true,"feedUrl":"https://feed.podbean.com/leee207/feed.xml","theme":"elegant","podcastDeepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-knvei-14a16a4?from=usersite","removePodbeanBranding":"no","brandingLogo":null,"timeZone":{"timeZoneId":14,"gmtAdjustment":"GMT-05:00","useDaylightTime":0,"value":-5,"text":"(GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco","daylightStartTime":"Second Sunday Of March +2 Hours","daylightEndTime":"First Sunday Of November +2 Hours","timezone":null},"podcastDownloads":null,"totalEpisodes":52,"showComments":true,"iOSAppDownloadLink":null,"customizeCssUrl":null,"androidAppDownloadLink":null,"showPostShare":true,"showLike":true,"author":"Lee Ellis","enableEngagementStats":true,"shareEmbedLink":"https://admin5.podbean.com/embed.html?id=pbblog-knvei-14a16a4-playlist","language":"en","sensitivitySessionExpireTime":3600,"podcastApps":[{"name":"Apple Podcasts","link":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rational-nationalist/id1853100324","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/apple-podcast.png","title":null},{"name":"Podbean App","link":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-knvei-14a16a4?from=usersite","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/podbean-app.png","title":null},{"name":"Spotify","link":"https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0s5YqY03hx7SnGtLqppy","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/spotify.png","title":null},{"name":"Amazon Music","link":"https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/28e5de0f-4fd0-49bb-92d1-c40cf3d44a8e","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/AmazonMusic.png","title":null},{"name":"iHeartRadio","link":"https://iheart.com/podcast/307595639","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/iHeartRadio.png","title":null},{"name":"PlayerFM","link":"https://player.fm/series/3702194","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/PlayerFM.png","title":null},{"name":"Podchaser","link":"https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-rational-nationalist-6285405","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/Podchaser.webp","title":null},{"name":"BoomPlay","link":"https://www.boomplaymusic.com/podcasts/139798","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/BoomPlay.png","title":null}],"components":{"base":[{"id":"MainStyle","val":"light"},{"id":"Font","val":"Geometric Humanist"},{"id":"SecondaryFont","val":"Geometric Humanist"},{"id":"PlayerColor","val":"#428200"},{"id":"PlayerStyle","val":"player1"},{"id":"PlayerWave","val":"show"},{"id":"Favicon","val":null},{"id":"CookiesNotice","val":"hide"},{"id":"CookiesNoticeContent","val":"

Cookies Notice

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies.

"},{"id":"EpisodePageListenOn","val":"hide"},{"id":"EpisodePageCustomizeComponent","val":"hide"}],"home-header":[{"id":"HomeHeaderTextColor","val":"#000000"},{"id":"HomeHeaderBackgroundColor","val":"#ffffff"}],"page-header":[{"id":"PageHeaderTextColor","val":"#ffffff"},{"id":"PageHeaderBackgroundColor","val":"#868686"}],"episode-list":[{"id":"EpisodesPerPage","val":10},{"id":"EpisodeStats","val":"show"}],"navigation":[{"id":"NavigationFontColor","val":"#000000"},{"id":"NavigationBackgroundColor","val":"#e9e9e9"},{"id":"NavigationSearch","val":"show"},{"id":"NavigationLinks","val":[{"id":"Home","type":"Link","value":"/","text":"Home","subitems":[]},{"id":"Subscribe","type":"Link","value":"https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/Akra9ztApCl8","text":"Subscribe","subitems":[]},{"id":"Profile","type":"Link","value":"https://www.podbean.com/user-GRxgEofMGSe7","text":"Profile","subitems":[]}]}],"footer":[{"id":"FooterType","val":"Footer2"},{"id":"FooterFontColor","val":"#ffffff"},{"id":"FooterBackgroundColor","val":"#000000"},{"id":"FooterCopyright","val":"Copyright 2025 All rights reserved."},{"id":"SocialMediaLinks","val":{"facebook_username":"","twitter_username":"","instagram_username":"","youtube_username":"","linkedin_username":""}}],"customize-container1":[],"customize-container2":[],"customize-container":[{"id":"EpisodeListType","val":"grid"}]},"allLinks":[],"mainStylesDefaultSettings":null,"defaultCustomizeComponents":null,"scripts":[],"metas":null,"appConfig":{"package":"com.podbean.app.podcast","app_store_id":973361050,"app_name":"Podbean","scheme":"podbean"},"customizeCss":null,"canEditCss":null,"enableJsCodeInCustomizeContent":false,"enabledIframeCodeInCustomizeContent":true,"sectionMaxCount":10,"enableEditorLink":true,"enableEditCookiesNotice":true,"siteRedirectToFeed":false,"podcatcherRssUrl":null,"showFeed":true,"showTopBar":false,"enableWebSiteLike":true,"organizationName":null,"organizationPageLink":null,"subscribeLink":"https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/Akra9ztApCl8","isPrivateChannel":false},"backToListUrl":"/","tinymceLoaded":false,"listEpisodes":[],"userLikedEpisodes":[],"userLikeCheckedEpisodes":[],"topBarIframeLoaded":false,"listTotalCount":0,"listTotalPage":0,"listPage":0,"listType":"all","listValue":"","listName":"","pageLoading":false,"apiBaseUrl":"https://leee207.podbean.com","apiV2BaseUrl":"","apiCommonParams":{"t":"6aa8bbf0","clientSignature":"2898618b5a9fdd02798901955461bf6b","u":null,"customizing":null},"apiCommonHeaders":{},"comments":[],"commentsTotalCount":0,"commentsTotalPage":0,"commentsPage":1,"commentEpisodeId":"pb27045112-xqcjw","episode":{"id":"pb27045112","idTag":"xqcjw","title":"Soft Power","logo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8_300x300.jpg","shareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8_1200x628.jpg?s=2bfef7240498eabff043cc59473692f9&e=jpg","largeLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8.jpg","previewContent":null,"content":"

On this episode, we'll consider whether it matters what other countries think of the US (it does), whether we should care (we should), and how much we should care (not THAT much).

","publishTimestamp":1763649884,"duration":1479,"mediaUrl":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/smcxddqxgu27wduj/1-06_SoftPower_251120.mp3","mediaType":"audio/mpeg","shareLink":"https://admin5.podbean.com/embed.html?id=pb-xqcjw-19cacf8","likedCount":0,"deepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-xqcjw-19cacf8","transcriptUrl":null,"permalink":"/e/soft-power/","downloadLink":"https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-xqcjw-19cacf8?download=1","fallbackResource":null,"fallbackResourceMimetype":null,"downloadCount":25,"status":"publish","hasMoreContent":false,"chaptersUrl":null,"explicit":false},"episodeShareLink":null,"deepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-xqcjw-19cacf8","playlist":{"episodes":[],"current":0,"start":0,"stop":0,"playing":true,"playerLoading":true,"playbackRate":1,"playbackRateIndex":1,"volume":1},"toasts":[],"confirm":null,"customizeEditorFormZIndex":999,"lastRequestTime":null,"validateChangesOnBeforeunload":true,"windowWidth":1000,"previewDevice":"desktop","VITE_FS1_CDN_URL_PREFIX":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1","reloadStats":false,"userIdEncrypted":null,"userProfilePicture":null,"username":null,"isVerified":false,"loadUserInfo":false,"loginUrl":"https://www.podbean.com/site/user/login?return=https%253A%252F%252Fleee207.podbean.com%252Fe%252Fsoft-power%252F&rts=eea40824fc64c10318d5b0f309f0f576857d1c56","recaptchaV3Loaded":false,"recaptchaV2Loaded":false,"likesLoaded":false,"commentLikeMap":{},"commentOffset":0,"widgetCommentsLoaded":false},"episode":{"id":"pb27045112","idTag":"xqcjw","title":"Soft Power","logo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8_300x300.jpg","shareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8_1200x628.jpg?s=2bfef7240498eabff043cc59473692f9&e=jpg","largeLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/21632676/RationalNationalist_Graphics9_8b5ha8.jpg","previewContent":null,"content":"

On this episode, we'll consider whether it matters what other countries think of the US (it does), whether we should care (we should), and how much we should care (not THAT much).