Wisdom of Crowds: Recent Episodes
Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic
We’re Damir Marusic and Shadi Hamid. We live in Washington DC and have been friends for a while. One of us works at a magazine, another thinks in a tank. The idea behind the podcast is to try out ideas in the hope of getting considered push-back—in real-time. We talk politics, ideas, culture, and current events. Civil discussion, maybe even a bit odd. But hopefully fun.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Official WoC house philosopher Samuel Kimbriel joins Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss the role that ideas had in the recent elections. Specifically, they focus on whether it was bad ideas or bad political strategy that doomed the Dems.
Sam insists that the Democrats failed because liberalism as we understand it has become weak, devoid of ideas and moral persuasion. Liberals, Sam insists, constantly shift from wanting to be a player in the political contest, to a referee of the same. They argue for their side and its views, until they start losing in the contest. If they start losing, they shift to a referee role, and try to rule out the legitimacy of certain opposing ideas (for example, immigration restrictionism). What we need, Sam says, is a renewed liberalism that is unafraid to make moral claims — one that plays and plays well, without tying to also be the referee.
Damir disagrees. He isn’t sure whether what happened on November 5 will be seen as revolutionary — that is, an overthrow of a previous order — or merely “an empty, peasant backlash,” though he is leaning toward the latter. Regardless, “what happened is a failure of rulership, not ideas,” he says. “It was not a failure of metaphysics, but of arguments.”
Shadi stands between Sam and Damir, sometimes as referee, sometimes as a player on Sam’s side. He supports democracy and the idea of moral politics. And he believes that Damir “always attacks us [Sam and Shadi] for having beliefs,” while hiding or being in denial of his own implicit metaphysical convictions.
In the bonus segment for paid subscribers, Sam and Shadi corner Damir into finally admitting that he does indeed have metaphysical convictions of his own, even if that conviction is materialism. Damir talks about how he’s reading the Bible this winter, and he gives us his own definition of the word “politics.” It’s a rollicking discussion that you won’t want to miss!
Required Reading:
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Western Civilization: Paleolithic Man to the Emergence of European Powers — the textbook Sam cites at the beginning of the episode (Volume I, Volume II).
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The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea by Shadi Hamid (Amazon).
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“Republicans See a Better Economic Outlook. Now It’s Democrats Who Don’t” (New York Times).
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Sam’s piece on the French Revolution and the contemporary Left (WoC).
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Ordinary Vices by Judith Shklar (Amazon).
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Damir’s piece about peasant revolts (WoC).
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“How the Ivy League Broke America” by David Brooks (The Atlantic).
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“A Letter Concerning Toleration” by John Locke (WikiSource).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
Tuesday night’s election has left us with total Republican control of all three branches of government. What does this mean for the immediate future of the Republic? Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic get together to discuss. We are releasing this episode early and completely free for all subscribers.
Will Donald Trump become a dictator? What is he capable of? What might be the worst aspects of his second term? Damir discusses mass deportations as the biggest risk. Shadi worries about Trump’s foreign policy in the Middle East. More than that, Shadi worries about a Donald Trump who all of the sudden has everything he’s ever wanted — a revenge victory — and finds it still unsatisfying. “What now?”
Damir and Shadi are not very fond of the Harris-Walz campaign. Shadi laments that Harris never seemed comfortable on the campaign trail, and could never quite communicate authenticity. Damir says that Walz is an irrelevant politician, a “weirdo” with no discernible contribution to the Democratic cause.
Two minds trying to figure out where things stand in the wake of what seems to be like a momentous election. The first of many attempts at Wisdom of Crowds where we will try to read the signs of the times.
Required Reading:
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Tim Alberta on the dysfunction in the Trump campaign (The Atlantic).
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Politico piece why Kamala lost (Politico).
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Shadi: “The Democrats can’t blame anyone but themselves this time” (Washington Post).
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Turkish migrant interview (YouTube).
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“What Do Men Want?” podcast with Shadi and Richard Reeves (Washington Post).
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Megan McArdle, Jim Geraghty and Ramesh Ponnuru podcast: “Are Republicans Kamala-curious? Not so much.” (Washington Post).
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Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and James Hohmann podcast: “Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and James Hohmann” (Washington Post).
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Andrew Sullivan’s Election Night Notes on Substack.
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Donald Trump’s interview with the Wall Street Journal editorial board.
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Barack Obama roasts Donald Trump at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner (YouTube).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
On October 21 in Washington, DC, Wisdom of Crowds hosted a special live taping of the podcast. WoC editor-at-large Samuel Kimbriel joined WoC contributor and New Republic journalist Osita Nwanevu, along with Georgetown political theory professor Joshua Mitchell, to discuss “Happiness and Misery in America” on the eve of the general elections.
Joshua spoke from a more communitarian and conservative point of view, citing the drawbacks that come with the growth of the state: “When you have a regime founded on small government and mediating institutions, you have to develop personal and collective competence. … Early on, happiness is linked to competence and to doing. But as the state has grown larger, and more and more the functions of living have been left up to the state, we’ve become more isolated and we come to think of happiness more as feeling and self-expression.”
Osita spoke from a left-liberal perspective. It might be less the case that we are unhappy, he argued, than that we think we ought to be unhappy, given the way life is structured today. “We think that Americans should be less happy than they are. If you think that Americans should be less happy, because they use smart phones a lot, then you should own that. … Liberals always are in the business of saying less than they actually mean. The pursuit of happiness is not just material well-being … happiness for the Founders … also meant moral and spiritual well-being.”
This was a robust and rich clash of perspectives that generated much more light than heat. Osita cautioned against romanticizing the old America of traditional communities, arguing that the “freedom to seek what the good life is, without having it given to you by father or pastor, is an important part of what American civilization is.” Joshua agreed that sometimes the state has to intervene in local communities for the sake of justice — for example, to desegregate the schools in Little Rock — but he also cautioned that we will never be fully satisfied without some “concreteness of embodied relations with others. … We [Americans] are all cowboys … the rest of the world can’t believe the level of unboundedness we live with.”
Free for all subscribers, this is a valuable and — crucially during this moment — civil conversation that will be interesting to anyone who cares about the soul of America. Give it a listen.
Required Reading:
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Joshua Mitchell (Georgetown faculty webpage).
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Osita Nwanevu (personal website).
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Surgeon General’s Advisory on Loneliness Epidemic (Department of Health and Human Services).
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Declaration of Independence (National Archives).
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Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (Amazon).
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Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation by Samuel Kimbriel (Amazon).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
For the past year, Shadi Hamid has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza — and the Biden administration’s complicity. Now he, like many others, is baffled by the Harris campaign’s disregard and seeming disdain for Muslim and Arab voters. In a week is election day, and he is wrestling with the moral and political implications of the choice at hand.
In our pages earlier this week, Shadi and Haroon Moghul debated the merits of voting for Harris or not voting at all. You can read their full exchange here. This podcast episode continues that conversation, but goes deeper. It is, in essence, about voting: is there a duty to vote? In a two-party system, must we accept the lesser of two evils?
Moghul is director of strategy at The Concordia Forum and author of Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future. Haroon shares all of Shadi’s misgivings about Trump and Harris, and has publicly chosen not to vote. “I don’t think you can get to democratic ends with a candidate who is at war with democracy,” Haroon says, “and I don’t just mean Trump, I mean Harris.”
Shadi, on the other hand, takes a more pragmatic point of view: Sitting an election out doesn’t do anything real; it would be better for Muslim and other pro-Palestine voices to continue supporting the Democratic Party, hoping to influence it from within. Meanwhile, Damir Marusic applies his trusty sense for realpolitik to the question. He challenges Shadi, arguing that he’s conflating two very different strategies: electoral pressure and intra-party influence. He questions Haroon whether there is an actual “theory of a change” behind his choice not to vote.
This is a passionate discussion, not so much about electoral politics as about the first principles undergirding citizenship. And it also asks an intensely personal set of questions: how do we ultimately make what can seem like an impossible choice?
Required Reading and Viewing:
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Shadi Hamid and Haroon Moghul debate: “Should Americans Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?” (WoC).
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Haroon Moghul, “What I Told My Muslim Students about Gaza” (WoC).
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Biden’s comments admitting Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” while also saying “we’re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel.”
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“Prominent Muslim Democrat Demands Answers After Being Kicked Out of Harris Rally in Michigan” (Democracy Now!)
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“Trump in Michigan makes play for Arab American and Muslim voters angry over war in Gaza” (CNN).
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An emotional debate with our friend and Christian Zionist Robert Nicholson weeks after Oct. 7 (WoC).
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Haroon Moghul, Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of the Muslim Future (Amazon).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
Damir Marusic and WoC executive editor Santiago Ramos get together to discuss Damir’s latest article, “Why We Need Nightmares.” In it, Damir writes about the the binding of Isaac — the chilling story from the Book of Genesis where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. Damir is fascinated both by the story and by a Caravaggio painting depicting it. “That’s the stuff,” he writes. But what is this “stuff”?
While searching for an answer to this question, Damir and Santiago cover a lot of ground. They discuss the story of Abraham and Isaac, as well as the different ways that philosophers have interpreted it. They talk about Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Kant. They come to the conclusion that, while we all have different words for it — terrifying, mysterious, sublime — everyone must grapple with the stuff. Grappling with the stuff is an essential part of living a human life, for believers and unbelievers alike.
This episode covers the Bible, philosophy, art, music, and much more. It is not a debate, but an exploration of what exactly it is that makes certain stories, works of art, and experiences so moving, compelling, terrifying. We enjoyed recording this episode so much that we decided to make it free for all subscribers.
Required Reading and Listening:
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Damir, “Why We Need Nightmares” (WoC).
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Damir, “The Pursuit of Passion for Its Own Sake” (WoC).
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Damir, “It’s Not Really About Cancel Culture,” about Tár (WoC).
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“Ending Summer on Violence and Despair, with Twitter’s Audrey Horne” (WoC).
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The story of the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22 (King James Version).
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Immanuel Kant (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Søren Kierkegaard (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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“Time of tension between dying and birth” quote by T. S. Eliot, in “Ash Wednesday” (Best Poems).
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Mozart, Symphony No. 40 (Leonard Bernstein and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, YouTube).
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Roger Scruton on pop music as addictive (YouTube).
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Keith Richards on heavy metal, “No lift, no bounce, no syncopation” (YouTube).
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Caspar David Friedrich, “Sea of Ice” (painting of shipwreck/example of the sublime).
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The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” (YouTube).
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Nirvana, “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” (YouTube).
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Shellac, At Action Park (YouTube).
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Arvo Pärt, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten (Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, YouTube).
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Leonard Bernstein, “The Unanswered Question,” lectures (YouTube).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Musa al-Gharbi is a sociologist and assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. He joins Christine Emba and Damir Marusic to discuss his new book, We Have Never Been Woke: Social Justice Discourse, Inequality, and the Rise of a New Elite. Don’t worry: the book is not another culture war polemic. Instead, it’s something much more useful: a work of social science that explains what “woke” means in terms of class and culture in the United States.
In our conversation Musa describes the inner workings of a group that has gone by many different names: the PMC (Professional-Managerial Class), the New Class, the cognitive elite or the symbolic capitalists. This group enjoys higher wages and more autonomy than most workers, and its power is derived from knowledge-based work, which requires (at the very least) a college degree.
Damir thinks that the PMC is merely hypocritical and self-interested, while Musa sees things differently. He argues that while this group has sincere interests in advancing social justice, they also have an interest in maintaining their own elite status. This contradiction is the source of so much of the insanity we see in American society today. Christine presses Musa for details about this insanity: to what extent is the symbolic capitalist class actually sabotaging positive social change, in order to preserve their privileges?
Among the topics discussed is the nature of symbolic capital; whether self interest and political idealism are necessarily contradictory; how wokeness and anti-wokeness have similar incentives; violence and social change; and the economics of victimhood. This practical and illuminating episode will make you smarter about how America works.
Required Reading:
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We Have Never Been Woke: Social Justice Discourse, Inequality, and the Rise of a New Elite by Musa al-Gharbi (Princeton University Press).
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Alex Press, “On the Origins of the Professional-Managerial Class: An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich” (Dissent).
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Musa al-Gharbi, “Social Movement Requires Force” (Salon).
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Musa al-Gharbi, “The Symbolic Professions Are Super WEIRD” (Substack).
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Musa al-Gharbi, “The Absurd Spectacle at Columbia Occludes the Grim Realities of Gaza” (Compact).
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“Georg Simmel” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
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Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction (Amazon).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
An emergency pod: “War, or something resembling war, is breaking out in the Middle East,” says Shadi Hamid. A year after the October 7 massacre, Israel has all but destroyed Hamas. Last month, it killed Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, thus decapitating that terrorist organization. This week, it launched an invasion of southern Lebanon. In retaliation, Iran — the longtime backer of Hezbollah — has lobbed a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel.
We decided to release the podcast early this week, before it is overtaken by the swiftly-moving events. What is this war about? What should the US do about it? Does anyone in the US political class truly believe that the Arab world is capable of democracy? Were the Abraham Accords foolish — or racist? How do you define a “rogue state”? What is Netanyahu right about?
Joining Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss these questions is Matt Duss, Executive Vice President of the Center for International Policy, co-host of the Undiplomatic Podcast, and former foreign policy advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders.
“A lot of [Arab Americans] are not going to pull the lever for Kamala Harris,” Shadi reports. Matt lambasts the “racist logic” of the Abraham Accords, which swept the Palestinian question aside and decided that “this is the best [America] can hope for, deals with modernizing autocrats.” Damir applies a realpolitik analysis, explaining the Israeli military strategy and arguing that American and European diplomats have no choice but to strike deals with the autocrats that rule the world. Shadi responds: “Realpolitik is supposed to be effective.”
It’s a passionate, intense discussion that strikes at the core preoccupations of Wisdom of Crowds: justice, war, and the state. Free for all subscribers: You will want to listen to the whole thing.
Required Reading:
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Shadi’s responses to subscribers’ provocations about the Middle East (WoC).
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Bruno Maçães’ article on the end of Western hypocrisy (Time).
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Jeffrey Goldberg’s 2016 article on “The Obama Doctrine” (The Atlantic).
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James Baldwin on the Dick Cavett Show (YouTube).
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The Abraham Accords (US State Department).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
What is human dignity? Is it a real thing, or merely an idea? If it’s real, then where does it come from? And why do only human beings have dignity? What about other intelligent beings? What about the octopus?
These are only some of the many questions that Damir Marusic and Santiago Ramos talk about in a slow-burn, philosophical episode of Wisdom of Crowds. Because Santiago is executive editor of Wisdom of Crowds, Damir wants to learn more about his bedrock convictions. He cross-examines Santiago about his religion, politics, and formative experiences.
At first, Damir finds in Santiago a kindred spirit: both are skeptical about power and about big political theories. But Santiago does have one fundamental conviction that he is not skeptical about: universal human dignity. Damir presses Santiago on this topic. What is human dignity? How do you know it exists? And do only human beings have dignity? What about other intelligent animals? What about … octopi?
The ending is one of the richest parts of the conversation, so we made this episode is free for all subscribers.
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Daniel Patrick Moynihan documentary (PBS).
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Song about the guerrilla priest: Victor Jara, “Camilo Torres” (YouTube).
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“Of New Things,” Pope Leo XIII (Vatican.va).
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“On the Progress of Peoples,” Paul VI (Vatican.va).
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Jacques Maritain and the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UNESCO).
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The Cold War in Latin America (RetroReport).
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Michael Novak obituary (New York Times).
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Iraq War timeline (Council on Foreign Relations).
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Thomas Aquinas on the human soul (Summa Theologiae, New Advent).
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Valladolid debate on the rights of indigenous people (In Our Time, BBC).
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Octopus intelligence (Natural History Museum).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
How does order emerge from anarchy? How do human beings create institutions? Can big problems — like climate change, income inequality, or AI alignment — find solutions “from below,” through collective action, rather than “from above,” i.e., imposed by regulatory bodies?
Today’s guest is a fascinating economist. Professor Paul Dragoș Aligică is a senior research fellow at the Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and a Professor of Governance at the University of Bucharest.
Paul believes that we are living through the third great moment in human history, after the transition to agriculture and the industrial revolution. What will this third moment be about?
Far too broad to pigeonhole, he’s a visionary public choice theorist and a student of renowned economists Vincent and Elinor Ostrom (the latter won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2009). Paul has thought long and hard about the strange inflection point our world seems to be hurtling towards. It’s a slow burn of an episode, one where interesting and complex ideas are laid out carefully, before Damir and Santiago engage Paul in sussing out their implications.
Does Paul think that public choice theory means the world has hope? How do we fix the seemingly intractable problems posed by capitalism and globalization? Tune in to find out.
Required Reading and Viewing:
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Paul Dragoș Aligică’s personal website.
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Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons (Amazon).
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What is the Tragedy of the Commons? (Harvard Business School).
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Elinor Ostrom on Ending the Tragedy of the Commons (Big Think on YouTube).
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Santiago Ramos, “What Does McDonald’s Mean?” (WoC).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
A very special episode this week, completely free for all listeners. The world-famous philosopher Charles Taylor joins Wisdom of Crowds editors Samuel Kimbriel and Santiago Ramos for a conversation about his new book, Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment.
Professor Taylor has spent a long and fruitful career trying to understand the basic questions of modern life. What does it mean to be a modern person? How do we form our sense of identity? How do we relate to the sacred? What does it mean to be secular? What happened to religion? In Cosmic Connections, he tells the story of how the Romantic poets of the nineteenth century sought to reconnect with nature through art, after the rise of modern science and the industrial revolution left many people wondering about man’s place in the universe.
Appropriately enough, Sam called in from a log cabin somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, and he enthusiastically supported Professor Taylor’s thesis that a connection with nature is an essential component of a healthy society. The more city-bound Santiago took a more skeptical approach, at least at first. He questioned Professor Taylor’s claim that a connection with nature entails a connection with a transcendent, spiritual reality. Along with these heady topics, the conversation touched upon Beethoven’s symphonies, A.I. “friends,” and the idea of progress.
Required Reading (and Listening):
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Charles Taylor, Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment (Amazon).
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Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (Amazon).
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Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity (Amazon).
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Damir Marusic, “Beauty and Niceness in an Accidental World” (WoC).
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Romanticism (School of Life).
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Henry David Thoreau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Beethoven, Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement (YouTube).
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Beethoven, Sixth Symphony “Pastoral” (YouTube).
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“Wear This A.I. Friend Around Your Neck” (Wired).
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Joni Mitchell (Official YouTube Page).
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Leonard Cohen (Official YouTube Page).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
The Harris-Walz campaign is having a moment. It is polling well. Harris made a good speech at the Democratic National Convention. The Democratic Convention as a whole got better TV ratings than the Republican one. Harris’s campaign is all about joy. Even Shadi’s parents are feeling the vibes (and using the word, “vibes,” probably for the first time).
But Shadi and Damir aren’t feeling it. No joy. No vibes. No excitement about the current moment in American politics. What’s going on is at best groupthink, at worst, the manufacturing of consent. Our podcast hosts are skeptical about the fact that the media made an abrupt 180-degree turn on Harris: someone who was once considered a political dud is now seen as “the second coming of Barack Obama.”
But soon Shadi and Damir start interrogating their assumptions. Is it necessarily a bad thing that large numbers of people are feeling positive emotions? Could large trends and coalitions develop organically, through common affinity, rather than through the machinations of politicians and propagandists? Could a campaign based on good vibes actually be more efficient at creating a Democratic Party platform that appeals to the median American voter? Maybe the Harris-Walz campaign is forcing us, as Damir puts it, to “update our priors on what democratic politics is.”
In the bonus concluding section for our paid subscribers, our hosts make a 180-degree turn of their own. They explore learning to like Harris and embracing the vibes. “No one is talking about threats of civil war anymore,” Shadi observes. This is a good thing. “People want to feel good about their country.” Maybe Harris is making that possible for millions of voters.
Required Reading:
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“Harris has upended years of Democratic dogma. That’s good,” by Shadi Hamid and Aden Barton (Washington Post).
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“The Peculiar Moderation of Donald Trump,” by Shadi Hamid (Washington Post).
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Full text of Kamala Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention (PBS).
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Our CrowdSource about “vibes” (WoC).
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Noam Chomsky on “manufacturing consent” (YouTube).
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Matt Yglesias on “popularism” (Slow Boring).
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Matt Yglesias on the “unhinged moderation” of the Republicans (Slow Boring).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Elon Musk just started tweeting about the Iliad. But our guest, Twitter’s Audrey Horne, has been talking about Homer with Samuel Kimbriel and Damir Marusic for at least two weeks now — well before Elon turned his attention to these kinds of things. We figured this was an excuse to share some of the offline chatter with the Crowd. If Elon’s interested in it, it has to be relevant, right?
Christians and Greeks both agree that the world is cruel: one must not look away from the despair we all face. And yet the Greeks face it with “no consoling prospect of immortality,” as Simone Weil puts it. Leaving aside whether it’s true, is the Christian approach better?
This is a classic Wisdom of Crowds rambler: a free-wheeling conversation about faith, meaning, purpose and the very nature of reality. What better way to wrap up the dog days?
Required Reading:
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Twitter’s Audrey Horne tweeting about butter (X).
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“Talk to Me Nicely,” by Twitter’s Audrey Horne (WoC).
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“How to Think About Fallenness,” by Damir Marusic (WoC).
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“Why Give a Damn,” by Samuel Kimbriel (WoC).
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“What Are Children For?” with Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman (WoC).
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” goes the famous line from Joan Didion — but is it worth it? How do narratives help us make sense of our lives, and how might they be misleading? Advertisements these days are full of them, but can a company really have a story of its own? And could having “main character energy” actually indicate a fundamental philosophical problem?
In this special live recording from the Lyceum Movement’s Tallgrass Ideas Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, Sam was joined by Hannah Kim, philosopher at the University of Arizona and associate editor of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, to discuss why storytelling has become such a prominent part of our cultural conversation, the philosophy of stories and narratology, and dig into how “storification” can limit our ability to understand our own lives.
Join the Crowd in getting the real story on stories themselves.
Required Reading:
- More about the Lyceum Movement.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
The international drop in baby-making is currently in the headlines, and it’s been constant preoccupation for us at Wisdom of Crowds (including in our latest edition of CrowdSource). It concerns us not only because of the possible long-term economic consequences but also because a people’s inability — or lack of desire — to reproduce itself might be the consequence of serious moral or social problems.
Enter philosophers Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman. Anastasia is a professor at University of California at Irvine, while Rachel is managing editor for The Point. Berg and Wiseman have written a book that asks the fundamental question right in the title: What Are Children For? Why should people reproduce? Should people desire to do so? And why has there been a drop in birth rates? What are the issues underneath the decline of fertility in the United States and around the so-called developed world?
Damir presses Anastasia and Rachel on the question of false consciousness. Are the young people telling themselves stories or giving themselves excuses instead of just … making a choice? In response, Anastasia and Rachel say that they take a sympathetic approach. They analyze the objective factors that seem to hinder family formation — cost of living, inability to find a mate, fear of the future, etc. — and see whether they truly are insurmountable. As philosophers, their goal is to enhance the free choice of individuals. If what you choose “by inertia” (because it is the cultural default) is not what you would choose if you had thought about things more clearly, then you are not truly free.
The conversation runs deep, but it is also extremely relatable for Wisdom of Crowds listeners who, on average, tend to be on the younger side. Stick around for a quasi-defense of Millennials, too. They’re not immature; in fact, they might be too “old” for their age …
Enjoy!
Required Reading:
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What are Children for? On Ambivalence and Choice by Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman (Amazon).
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“On Choosing Life,” by Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman (The Point).
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Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba (Amazon).
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“The Real Reason People Aren’t Having Kids,” by Christine Emba (The Atlantic).
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“Wham! Choose Life” T-shirt (Amazon).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This week, we are releasing a live interview from last April, that’s more timely today than when it was first recorded. Dictators and their sychophants; democracy imperiled by foreign policy misadventures. Sound familiar?
For almost a century, American intellectuals of different political stripes have been in thrall to dictators. They’ve either projected utopian ideals on to them, or been seduced by their charisma and alleged effectiveness. The story of left wing intellectuals falling for figures like Stalin or Castro has already been told. In a new book, America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators, Jacob Heilbrunn, author and editor of the National Interest, tells the story of the American political right and its dalliances with overseas despots.
As usual, Damir veers the discussion towards first principles. Are people more likely to be seduced by dictatorships when liberalism is perceived to be failing? Is liberalism perceived to be failing more often during wartime or peacetime? Just what is attractive about despotism? Should liberals accept that a certain amount of “ineffectiveness” is part and parcel of the liberal order? Tune in for a riveting discussion of these questions and more.
Required Reading:
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“Apologists without Remorse,” by Jacob Heilbrunn (American Prospect).
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America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators by Jacob Heilbrunn.
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“Trump’s anti-Ukraine view dates to the 1930s. America rejected it then. Will we now?” by Robert Kagan.
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U.S. Military Interventions since 1890 (Evergreen State College).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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That was fast. Just days after Joe Biden chose to remove himself from the presidential ticket, Kamala Harris is the unquestioned candidate of the Democratic Party. But was this a democratic process? Or was Biden bullied out of the ticket, and Harris shoehorned into it, without any attention paid to the peoples’ wishes? And who are “the people,” anyway?
Joining us to debate these questions is the author Freddie deBoer — one of the most influential and provocative leftist thinkers writing today. Freddie runs an extremely popular Substack. His latest book, How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, is about how progressive institutions betrayed their own ideals. In the elevation of Harris to the presidential ticket, deBoer sees the same betrayal at work.
Damir and Shadi press Freddie on what democracy actually is, and how it would manifest itself within the workings of a modern political party. Were the contested electoral conventions of yore really less democratic that the process as it exists today? And what is the future of democracy within the Democratic Party?
Due to the special circumstances of our crazy electoral season, we are making this episode free for all listeners. Make sure you listen to the very end, so you can find out who is Freddie’s candidate for best Democrat president of his lifetime (it’s not who you think).
Required Reading
-
“I Do Not Need to Defend Myself for Believing That Political Candidates Should Be Chosen Democratically,” by Fredrik deBoer (Substack).
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How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement by Fredrik deBoer (Simon & Schuster).
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The Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice by Fredrik deBoer (Macmillan).
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“Kamala Harris and the End of Democratic Debate,” by Shadi Hamid (Substack).
-
“Planet of Cops,” by Fredrik deBoer (Substack).
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Greetings, dear Listeners!
We are releasing our podcast early this week. We figured that an episode about the unity of the American people would sound good right about now, given the circumstances. Damir’s Tuesday Note — which will respond to a Provocation — will be published this coming Thursday.
What holds the United States together? Three hundred million people of different races, religions, and histories, spread out over half a continent — do we have a system that truly represents all of them? Who is that “We” in “We the people” and “We hold these truths”?
Yuval Levin’s answer to these questions might seem quaint at first: The Constitution. A scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and editor of the policy journal National Affairs, he has written several books about American politics and institutions. His latest is called American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified our Nation and and Could Again. In it, he makes a compelling argument that the Constitution is more than a list of laws, rights and limits to political power. It is a set of institutional structures that safeguard social peace. It is a text about how to live together.
This is an ambitious reading of the Constitution, to say the least. And we had questions. Christine asks how the Constitution can be a unifying force when it has effectively become a tribal marker in our culture wars. Damir wants to know whether the need to reform the Constitution can be reconciled with Yuval’s basically conservative impulse to preserve and revere it.
This is a timely, serious conversation which takes a sober look at the most important tool we have to face this season of crisis. We urge you to give it a listen!
Required Reading
-
American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation and Could Again by Yuval Levin (Hachette).
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A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream by Yuval Levin (Hachette).
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The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism by Yuval Levin (Hachette).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
Welcome to summer, dear crowd! This week, we have a live episode for you — live from the Aspen Ideas Festival. Sam Kimbriel recorded this episode with Tamar Gendler, a Dean and Philosophy professor at Yale University, and Erin McFee, a Future Leaders Fellow at the Latin America and Caribbean Centre in the London School of Economics.
The subject, very broadly, is forgiveness. Is it good or bad? Do we know what it means? Can one forgive wrongly? And could forgiving foreclose the possibility of achieving justice in this world?
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On July 1, the Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump, as President of the United States, enjoys “absolute” immunity for “his core constitutional powers,” but that he “enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does if official.” The ruling has an obvious immediate impact on the upcoming presidential elections. But it also suggests far-reaching questions about political sovereignty, and our system of government.
In this episode, Sam and Damir get together to hash out the theoretical implications of the Court’s ruling. Joining them is Yale Law professor and friend of the pod Samuel Moyn. Moyn argues that the Court’s decision was as much a product of “comparative risk assessment” of our current and near-future political situation, as it was a theoretical statement about our political system. Damir pushes on the question of the meaning of sovereignty, and what immunity implies in terms of the limits of presidential power. Sam sums up the decision as having reached “the limits of business as usual.”
In the bonus section for paid subscribers, the discussion strikes a philosophical note. Sam describes his views about the “Platonic” and “prophetic” sources of law, Damir asks whether Thomas Hobbes is still relevant, and Moyn explains his idea of “collective self-creation.” Law, politics, philosophy, and prophecy — this episode is packed with the drama of our time.
Required Reading
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Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court Immunity Ruling (supremecourt.gov).
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Richard Tuck, The Sleeping Sovereign: The Invention of Modern Democracy (Cambridge).
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Eric Nelson, The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding (Harvard).
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“Broad Reflections on Trump v. United States,” by Jack Goldsmith (Lawfare).
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Plato, Euthyphro (Internet Classics Archive).
-
Summary of the Kelsen-Schmitt debate (YouTube).
This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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What happened on Thursday night was a debacle for Joe Biden and an embarrassment for the nation. This, our three hosts — Christine, Damir and Shadi — all agree. And they are all angry about it. But who is to blame? Biden himself? The DNC? The media? Trump? All of us?
Shadi, Damir, and Christine work through their post-debate anguish and anger — and try to figure out who is responsible for the predicament that the country finds itself in today. “We are gripped by an inability to call balls and strikes anymore,” says Damir. In this episode, they try anyway.
Required Reading:
- Derek Hudson, “We Need to Talk about Biden” (Wisdom of Crowds).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
You might have noticed that Wisdom of Crowds got a facelift this week. We touched up our homepage and added two new features: CrowdSource and Provocations (read more about both here). In this spirit of renewal and relaunch, on the podcast we are getting back to our bread and butter with a classic Shadi and Damir episode.
This week’s episode deals with the virtues of resignation. Is giving up ever the right choice to make, either in politics or in one’s personal life? Shadi has been reading a book about “settling” — On Giving Up by Adam Phillips — and he muses on the topic in latest piece in Wisdom of Crowds: “Giving Up is Good for You.” Damir worries that giving up means resignation, a rejection of life, a denial of adventure. He considers Shadi’s mention of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Does Shadi understand the full implications of Nietzsche’s philosophy? Damir wonders. In the bonus section for paid subscribers, the talk turns toward war and geopolitics, where Shadi discusses how wars end in" “settlements” — a form of giving up. Finally, the conversation wraps up with a reevaluation of Damir’s personal philosophy, and a look back at last week’s podcast episode with Phil Klay.
Required Reading:
-
“Giving Up is Good for You” by Shadi (Wisdom of Crowds).
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Adam Phillips, On Giving Up.
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Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
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Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals.
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Friedrich Nietzsche, The Joyful Science.
-
Adyashanti official page (YouTube).
-
Podcast episode with Phil Klay (Wisdom of Crowds).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
Morality and war. Two words that seem to have nothing to do with each other. Yet as recent events have shown, our conscience pricks us every time we hear news of an atrocity, smarts at every war and rumor of war. Can a war ever be just? Does talk about morality in the conduct of war make any sense?
Joining Shadi and Damir to discuss this heady topic is Phil Klay, a novelist and essayist whose first book, the short story collection Redeployment, won the National Book Award in 2014. An Iraq War veteran, his work has focused on themes concerning war, citizenship, and the postwar life of veterans. His latest book is titled Uncertain Ground: Citizens in an Age of Endless, Invisible War.
This episode does not have the usual verbal sparring and back-and-forth. The tone is meditative and the questions are profound. Shadi opens the conversation with a direct question: What does morality have to do with war? Phil responds with a description of the Medieval practice of imposing penances on soldiers, even those who fought in just wars. Damir presses Phil with the nagging question of where the “shoulds” and “oughts” come from in Phil’s recent article about the war in Gaza. Phil develops a clear standard for sending citizens of a democracy to war. It is a fruitful idea, which Shadi and Damir chew on for the remainder of the episode. You won’t want to miss this one!
Required Reading:
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Redeploymentby Phil Klay.
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Missionaries by Phil Klay.
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Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War by Phil Klay.
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“U.S. Support for Israel’s War Has Become Indefensible,” by Phil Klay (The Atlantic).
-
Phil’s interview with the New York Times.
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“What Do I Owe the Dead of My Generation’s Mismanaged Wars?” by Phil Klay (New York Times).
-
Wisdom of Crowds episode with Samuel Moyn.
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Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War by Samuel Moyn.
-
“Uncomfortably Numb” by Damir Marusic (“the Bucha essay”).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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This week, Wisdom of Crowds hosts a fluid discussion about violence and sex in movies, where the “shoulds” of life come from, and whether liberal values can be based on something other than religion. The discussion is more meditative than contentious, an exploration prompted by recent pop culture hits and a probing comment from the Crowd.
Violence is entertaining. That’s the conclusion that Damir draws after watching the movie, Civil War, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Christine questions Damir about his taste for violent movies, and wonders whether we are slowly becoming numb to violence, just as we are — as recent studies suggest — becoming numb to sex in film. The discussion moves toward the question of values and where they come from, drawing from a recent reader comment that prompted some soul-searching in the Wisdom of Crowds masthead.
In the bonus section for paid subscribers, Damir asks Christine how she can overcome Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity and its values, while he launches into a defense of liberalism based on what he calls “mystery.” Finally, Damir explains why he believes that most moral truth claims “end up in tears.”
Required Reading (and Viewing):
-
Civil War trailer (YouTube).
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga trailer (YouTube).
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The Mad Max movie franchise.
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“UCLA Study: Gen Z Wants Less Sex Onscreen, Prefers Platonic Relationships Depicted to Romantic Rollercoasters,” (IndieWire).
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The Hays Code.
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Lauren Bacall movie line (YouTube).
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The Big Lebowski: “Fight a stranger in the alps” (YouTube).
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“Why Give a Damn?” by Samuel Kimbriel (Wisdom of Crowds).
-
Reader comment (Wisdom of Crowds).
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Rethinking Sex by Christine Emba.
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Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Conservatives often argue that liberalism is not a neutral political system. Liberalism, they say, has values of its own. It sneakily promotes these values as normative, and even good, for the citizens of liberal societies — whether those citizens like it or not.
The philosopher and self-proclaimed liberal Alexandre Lefebvre believes that, empirically speaking, this conservative critique is pretty much true. As the title of his new book, Liberalism as a Way of Life, suggests, liberals should own up to the fact that they believe in more than a political system. They believe in a way of life. But a way of life requires values, and where do liberals get their values from?
Christine and Shadi talk to Alex about these questions and more in a probing, contentious examination of Alex’s book. How does liberalism ground its preferences? How does it defend the idea of human dignity? Why is personal freedom a good thing? Moreover, how do religious people, who want to live in a liberal political society without necessarily believing in liberalism as a way of life, fit into Alex’s theory?
In the bonus section for paid subscribers, Alex explains why becoming a true liberal requires overcoming your “inner Karen,” and Christine and Shadi quiz Alex on his list of the seventeen joys of liberalism. How does liberalism lead to playfulness? What about redemption? Find out by listening to this rapid-fire, ideas-packed episode.
Required Reading:
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Liberalism as a Way of Life by Alexandre Lefebvre.
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Alex’s personal website.
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“Natural Law” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Justice: Rights and Wrongs by Nicholas Wolterstorff.
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Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland.
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“John Rawls” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Ordinary Vices by Judith N. Shklar.
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Disney Princess (tvtropes.org).
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“Carl Schmitt” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Irving Kristol: A conservative is a liberal who was “mugged by reality.”
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Surgeon General’s Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation (hhs.gov).
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“Long Term Trends in Deaths of Despair” (US Senate, Joint Economic Committee).
-
“Karen” meme origin.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
The war in Gaza is dividing Israeli opinion, but not along the same lines that it divides American opinion. What are Israeli priorities? How important is the return of hostages relative to total victory? What is Netanyahu thinking? What is the Israeli Left thinking? Is there an anti-war movement in Israel? Do American categories make any sense within the Israeli political context?
Washington Post political columnist Jason Willick joins Shadi and Damir to answer these questions. He just returned from a fact-finding mission in Israel, and the news he brings is complicated. On the one hand, there is more widespread support for the war in Israel than there is anywhere else. On the other, the divisions within Israeli politics run deep, especially regarding the details of a post-war settlement.
As discussion of Israeli views develops into a critique of those views, Jason and Damir question Shadi’s abiding moralism, asking whether ideas like “just war” and “proportionality” are helpful in making sense of war and combat. The debate then turns to whether Hamas is a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Could the Israeli government ever accept Hamas as a negotiating partner in establishing a post-war Gaza? Would doing so give a tacit victory to Hamas, and legitimize political violence? Can anything be resolved without continuing this war? And will this war ever end? Tough questions, discussed with wryness and charm. This is a Wisdom of Crowds episode you will not want to miss.
Required Reading:
-
“If Biden thinks Israel’s liberals are doves, he’s dreaming,” by Jason Willick (Washington Post).
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“Hamas’ Bid for Revolutionary Legitimacy,” by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“In the Israeli-Palestinian debate, you might be wrong. So be humble,” by Shadi Hamid (Washington Post).
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“Just War Theory” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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“Occupation and Reconstruction of Japan, 1945–52” (Office of the Historian, US Department of State).
-
“Give Peace a Chance,” by John Lennon.
What does justice mean for animals? Is justice for animals the same as justice for human beings? Why should we care more about the rights of animals when the rights of humans are so often neglected?
Martha Nussbaum teaches philosophy, ethics, and law at the University of Chicago, and is one of the most influential and cited philosophers of our time. She’s written dozens of books on Greek philosophy, the importance of emotions in politics, justice, feminism, and many other topics. She joins the podcast to discuss her new book, Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility.
Shadi begins the conversation by inquiring about the moral motivations behind Professor Nussbaum’s advocacy for animal rights. He also wonders how human beings can, given their finite resources and time, focus on animal rights over other issues, like war or poverty. Nussbaum pushes back, arguing that animal rights is only one part of a web of issues, like overpopulation and climate change, that have to be addressed holistically. Sam provides some philosophical background, placing Nussbaum’s thought within the context of her work as a whole, which is focused on justice, freedom, and human flourishing.
It’s an energetic episode, where three sharp minds constantly challenge each other to clarify their thoughts. Ultimately, the question of the meaning of life—both for animals and humans—emerges, as Nussbaum asks whether death should be perceived as something negative, and Shadi considers the significance of belief in the afterlife.
Required Reading:
-
Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility by Martha Nussbaum.
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“Mortal Immortals: Lucretius on Death and the Voice of Nature,” by Martha Nussbaum (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research).
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“The Dilemmas of Living in a Post-Religious World,” by Shadi (Washington Post).
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1966 Animal Welfare Act.
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1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
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R. M. Hare (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
-
Epicurus (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
-
Lucretius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
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Do Arab Americans support pro-Palestine protests because of identity politics? What about American Jewish support for Israel? Are both groups being “tribal” or are they fighting for universal values — as they understand them?
Recently, policy guru and Ur-Blogger Matt Yglesias pointed out that some of the political thinkers who, just a couple years ago, were aligned in opposition to identity politics today find themselves on opposite sides over Palestine. One of the names Matt mentioned was our own Shadi Hamid. What happened?
Matt joins Damir, and Shadi to figure it out. In their conversation, they discuss the demands of pro-Palestine protestors, whether conditioning aid to Israel would be effective, whether global justice claims are “nonsense,” and of course the nature of identity. Why do we believe what we believe, and how do come to hold the positions that we hold?
Towards the end of the episode, the conversation gets more personal, when both Shadi and Matt go deeper on how their own religious identities have been affected by the Gaza war. Matt, a liberal Jew who supports a two-state solution, says: “Playing dice with the existence of Israel is dangerous, it’s a lot for my heart.”
NOTE: We felt the final 20 minutes of the conversation with Matt were fascinating and surprising in the best way possible, capturing something important about this American moment — so we are dropping the paywall and making the full episode available for all subscribers. We hope you enjoy it.
Required Reading:
-
Slow Boring, Matthew Yglesias’ Substack.
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“A Letter on Justice and Open Debate,” AKA “The Harper’s Letter” (Harper’s).
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Martin Luther King, Jr. and Israel (Washington Post).
-
“Israel’s Two Wars” by Matthew Yglesias (Slow Boring).
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Shadi’s tweet, drawing on his book The Problem of Democracy, on how U.S. support for Israel undermines Arab democracy: “Our relationship with Israel distorts U.S. policy in the Middle East. We support Arab dictators in part because they are more likely to accept Israel's dominant position in the region. Democracy, however, would elevate anti-Israel parties to power.”
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Matt Yglesias on X: “It’s interesting that a bunch of people who I read who four years ago were in agreement about the perils of identity politics now sharply disagree about Israel/Palestine and the disagreements exactly track Jewish vs Arab or Muslim backgrounds.”
-
The Mexican-American War.
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Last December, the highest court in the State of Colorado ruled that Donald Trump’s involvement with January 6 disqualified him from holding the office of president. On May 4, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to overturn this decision, clearing the way for Trump to appear on the ballot in all fifty states.
Naturally, at Wisdom of Crowds these events got us thinking about the big questions. When it comes to eligibility for office, who should have the final say — the Supreme Court, or the voters? What is more important for a democracy: Elections or rights? And where do rights come from, anyway?At the moment, these questions are mostly being discussed on the Left side of the aisle, so we invited two prominent left-wing writers to argue about them in a live show. Osita Nwanevu is a journalist for The New Republic, currently writing a book about American democracy. Samuel Moyn is a law professor at Yale University, whose latest book is titled, Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times. For paid subscribers, the bonus content includes a raucous Q & A session with our live audience.
Enjoy a highly informed discussion about the most important political questions of our time, find out why Damir considers both Osita and Sam to be “revolutionaries,” and think about which branch of the US government really deserves to be called “a Council of Elders.”
Required Reading:
-
The Colorado ruling.
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The Supreme Court decision.
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“Resisting the Juristocracy” by Samuel Moyn (Boston Review).
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“The Constitution is the Crisis,” by Osita Nwanevu (The New Republic).
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Pro-Palestine protests have spread to college campuses across the country. Our social media feeds are flooded with images of chanting students and clashes with police. Meanwhile, Congress has passed a bill to deliver more aid to Israel, and there’s signs that the IDF is about to move on Rafah. In this episode, Shadi explores what it means to stand in solidarity with the protests, while Damir teases out their effect on brass tacks politics The two discuss what the right approach should be toward the anti-Semitic elements in the protests, whether anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are the same thing, what the Democrats might be thinking, and how Shadi wishes the United States would leverage its relationship with Israel.
In a spicy Part 2 for paid subscribers only, our hosts get into tricky territory while discussing Shadi’s pro-woke turn and the philosophical question of group affinity. In times of crisis, do human beings stand on principle? Or do they rally to their own ethnic or religious side? As Shadi observes: “Wokeness is able to grasp something important about the world that maybe I unfairly dismissed.”
For more, please subscribe!
Required Reading:
-
“Anti-Zionism is Deadlier Than Antisemitism,” by Joshua Muravchik (WSJ).
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“Why it matters that some Democrats voted against aid for Israel,” by Shadi Hamid (Washington Post).
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The Arc of the Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People by Walter Russell Mead.
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Matthew Yglesias on X: “It’s interesting that a bunch of people who I read who four years ago were in agreement about the perils of identity politics now sharply disagree about Israel/Palestine and the disagreements exactly track Jewish vs Arab or Muslim backgrounds.”
This week’s episode is a special collaboration with The Disagreement, a new platform that aims to “celebrate and normalize healthy disagreement.” (Check them out!) Wisdom of Crowds is 100% behind that mission statement, and so it was natural for us to agree to record an episode together. Fans of Wisdom of Crowds will know that Shadi has recently completed a book about American power, tentatively titled, “On Power.” Fans will also know that he debated the socialist writer Dan Bessner of the podcast last summer, in our episode titled “Is a Better World Possible Without American Power?” A lot has happened since that episode air, especially in the Middle East. So it’s a good time for Shadi and Dan to consider that question again. Enjoy Hamid v. Bessner, Round 2.
Required Reading and Listening:
Hamid v. Bessner, Round 1: “Is a Better World Possible without American Power?” (Wisdom of Crowds)
Shadi’s recent post about completing his manuscript: “The Art of Losing Well” (Wisdom of Crowds).
The Disagreement homepage.
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Christine and Damir kick things off by discussing a memoir about the fall of Communism in Albania. Damir reflects on his own post-Communist background, and ponders why Communist nostalgia affects only some countries, while others are not looking back. He wonders whether Christine is becoming a Communist herself after reading her essay about “Limitarianism,” a school of political thought that favors a cap on extreme wealth. Christine unpacks her own ideas about economic justice and democracy, and considers whether the Communist past in Europe should influence American political ideas for the future.
For paid subscribers, the bonus part of the episode focuses on whether the United States or Europe has the better economic system, and whether European dreams of a “green” economy can survive competition with China.
Required Reading:
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Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi.
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The full story behind Joyce Carol Oates’ infamous tweet.
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Damir’s Monday Note about Lea Ypi’s book.
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Limitarianism by Ingrid Robeyns
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“What Would Society Look Like if Extreme Wealth Were Impossible?” by Christine Emba (The Atlantic)
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“The Price of Peace is Stagnation” by Janan Ganesh (The Financial Times)
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
This week’s podcast is a recording of a live event. Rachel M. Cohen, a senior policy reporter for Vox, recently published an essay where she asks: “To our generation, being a mom looks thankless, exhausting, and lonely. Can we change the story?” As listeners know, this question speaks right to the heart of Wisdom of Crowds. Christine and Shadi invited Rachel to discuss her piece before a live audience in Washington, DC on March 20. The topics of conversation included marriage, singleness, hope, dread, and love. For paid subscribers, the bonus content is an intense Q&A with the audience, where the Crowd challenges the panelists on several points.
Required Reading:
-
“Why Millennials Learned to Dread Motherhood,” by Rachel M. Cohen (Vox).
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“Men are Lost. Here’s a Map Out of the Wilderness,” by Christine Emba (Washington Post).
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Shadi Hamid, “The Dilemmas of Living in a Post-Religious World” (Washington Post).
America is badly polarized. It’s a fact so pervasively acknowledged that pointing it out starts to feel like saying the sky is blue. Unlike a blue sky, however, growing polarization in America presents a difficult challenge. Because America is both incredibly diverse and a vibrant democracy, polarization starts to eat away at our politics.
Many attempts have been made to deal with polarization. A lot of it has to do with putting people with diverging perspectives face-to-face in an attempt to try to find common ground. Here at Wisdom of Crowds, we have tackled the problem by taking only half of this approach: we insist that people in disagreement confront each other, but with no expectation of common ground emerging.
We frequently talk about “deep difference.” We believe it’s naive to think that through reasoned discourse we can reach compromise positions. That does violence to the power of ideas and the strength of belief. We think it’s both healthier and more realistic to acknowledge that certain differences can’t be reconciled, and to instead direct the conversation toward respectful mutual interrogation — where the discussants push each other to excavate why they believe what they believe.
Jen Murtazashvili is one person who is profoundly aligned with what we’re doing. She first came on the Wisdom of Crowds podcast in August of 2021 to talk about America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. But both Shadi and Damir had gotten to know her almost a year earlier, during the start of COVID, when she kindly invited them both to participate in an online seminar about modus vivendi liberalism. Jen’s extensive work on Afghanistan had given her cause to be suspicious of top-down thinking that nation-building requires. She understands that societies are built from the bottom-up, from local insights, from particularism. Difference can’t be papered over.
We have been planning to collaborate more with Jen’s Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh for some time. Today, we’re pleased to announce that collaboration is kicking off. In the coming months, you will see podcast episodes and essays that will carry the CGM logo, featuring guests and writers and thinkers that the three of us have decided we need to engage with. First principles and the spirit of modus vivendi will animate all of it.
To launch the collaboration, we wanted to have Jen on the podcast. We didn’t explicitly set out to model exactly what we hope to achieve with the collaboration. But with the Gaza War in the background, it was impossible that we wouldn’t get to discussing it. As you’ll hear below, the conversation is deeply felt and argued — and remains unresolved. That’s as it should be.
(The paywall is down on this one, so everyone can give it a listen.)
We walked away from it energized to do more. We hope, dear listeners, you feel the same way. And you join us as we continue our Governing Deep Differences project.
Required Reading (and Listening):
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“Community Before Politics,” by Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili (Discourse Magazine).
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“Two Friends — One Jewish, One Muslim — Have an Answer to Campus Conflict, by Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Abdesalam Soudi (Tablet).
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“All Aboard the Compassion Bus — with Jen Murtazashvili,” on Ask a Jew Podcast (Apple).
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A tweet by Senator Fetterman (X).
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“The U.S. has more in common with South America than Europe,” by Samuel Goldman (The Week).
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“Hamas’ Bid for Revolutionary Legitimacy,” by Damir Marusic (WoC).
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
Editor’s note: We haven’t done an episode quite like this before. I absolutely loved this conversation with the novelist Jordan Castro, one of the most exciting young American authors writing today. Because it was such a rich conversation, we’re leaving out the paywall so that everyone can have a listen.
—Shadi Hamid, co-founder, Wisdom of Crowds
What’s it actually like to be a novelist? And how does literary success—and some amount of fame and notoriety—change how people think of you?
Special guest Jordan Castro joins Shadi and Santiago to talk about his novel, The Novelist, internet culture, converting to Christianity, his heroin addiction, love and, of course, literature.
At nearly two hours it’s a rich and, dare we say it, epic chat on the stuff of life. If you’ve ever wanted to get in the brain of a writer, you won’t want to miss this. Really.
Required Reading:
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The Novelistby Jordan Castro
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Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on René Girard
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New anthology of Girard’s essential writings
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Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
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The Present Age: On the Death of Rebellion by Søren Kierkegaard
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Dante: “I found myself within a forest dark …”
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Plato’s Myth of the Cave in the Republic
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Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
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The Perpetual Orgy: Flaubert and Madame Bovary by Mario Vargas Llosa
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Maxime du Camp
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Substance Abuse National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
In a late-night confab, Damir and Sam explore the meaning of experiences of wonder, which they each have written about for Wisdom of Crowds.
For Sam, these unique experiences are the foundation for his beliefs about the nature of the world and human life. Damir, on the other hand, does not believe that the experience of wonder necessarily leads to metaphysical questions. This freewheeling, stay-up-all-night fever dream of a conversation covers the pitfalls of therapy, the science of happiness, and lots of ancient Greek literature.
Required Reading:
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Damir’s piece, “A Lost Sense of Wonder,” Wisdom of Crowds
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Sam’s piece, “Desire, Sadness, and the World,” Wisdom of Crowds
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Oliver Traldi, “Do You Know What You Want?”, Wisdom of Crowds
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Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self
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Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
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Parmenides’ fragments
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
A recently-published memoir making headlines suggests a trend: Polyamory is going mainstream among high-status Americans. Culture critic and environmental studies professor Tyler Austin Harper joins Christine and Shadi to make sense of this fad, and explain why it’s both an upper-class luxury and a raw deal. Along the way they discuss happiness, self-expression, race, love, self-immolation, parenting, and a better way to live.
Required Reading:
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Tyler Austin Harper, “Polyamory, the Ruling Class’s Latest Fad.”
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Tyler Austin Harper, “I’m a Black Professor. You Don’t Need to Bring That Up.”
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Tyler Austin Harper, “The 100-Year Extinction Panic Is Back, Right on Schedule.”
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Shadi Hamid, “Is Polyamory the Future?”
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Molly Roden Winter, More: A Memoir of Open Marriage.
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Janet W. Hardy and Dossie Easton, The Ethical Slut.
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Philip Rieff, The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith after Freud.
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Christine Emba, Rethinking Sex: A Provocation.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Christine and Damir discuss two personal essays from New York magazine that went viral last week. The first deals with divorce, the second with getting scammed. A flabbergasted Damir can’t believe they were published; he wonders if anyone outside New York would care to read them. Christine finds ironic wisdom buried in both essays. The conversation ends on a high note, with Christine explaining how one of the essays breaks new ground in the media monoculture.
Required Reading:
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Emily Gould, “The Lure of Divorce,” New York magazine.
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Charlotte Cowls, “The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger,” New York magazine.
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Christine’s three theories about the above essays.
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Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation.
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Kristen Roupenian, “Cat Person”.
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Ross Douthat, The Decadent Society.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Jason Blakely of Pepperdine University joins Shadi and Damir to discuss his new book, Lost in Ideology: Interpreting Modern Political Life. A professor of political science, Jason claims that everyone has an ideology. The point is to be aware of it, and to remember that there’s always more to reality than your ideology can explain.
Damir doesn’t buy it. The quest for power, he thinks, is what ultimately drives politics, not ideas. Meanwhile, Shadi tries to figure out Jason’s ideology.
Required Reading:
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Jason’s new book, Lost in Ideology: Interpreting Modern Political Life
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Jason’s controversial Harper’s essay, “Doctor’s Orders”
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Jason’s old book, We Built Reality: How Social Science Infiltrated Culture, Politics, and Power
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Jorge Luis Borges, “On Exactitude in Science”
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Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
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Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
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Thomas More, Utopia
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Desiderius Erasmus, In Praise of Folly
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Anthony Fauci, “I represent science” statement and backlash
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Our brand new Executive Editor, Santiago Ramos, joins Shadi and Damir to discuss his first-ever essay for Wisdom of Crowds, “Empathy for the Devil.” The essay is about the need for cognitive empathy in politics. But Damir wants to discuss something slightly different: Whether “the Good,” as a category, is something real, out in the world, or whether it is completely contingent on tribal allegiances. Santiago comes to the Good’s defense, and Shadi joins him in a good cop/also good cop situation.
Required Reading & Listening:
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Shadi’s big announcement
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Santiago’s writing
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Santiago’s debut Wisdom of Crowds essay, “Empathy for the Devil”
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Robert Wright’s Nonzero Newsletter
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The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”
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Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and the Margarita
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Maurice Blondel, in the International Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Amy Winehouse, “You Know I’m No Good”
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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Are ideas overrated?
Shadi’s recent column (and controversial tweet) exploring the reasons behind Trump’s popularity launches a discussion about what exactly drives politics. Are politicians motivated by winning more than ideology? Do voters respond to strong personalities, rather than policies and promises?
As expected, Damir makes a case for “materialism” over ideas. Shadi isn’t totally convinced.
Required Reading:
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Shadi, “The Peculiar Moderation of Donald Trump,” Washington Post, 1/25/2024
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Shadi’s tweet
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Bruno Maçães’ tweet
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David Ignatius, “The Midwest Tacks Hard Toward a Mideast ‘Moment of Truth’,” Washington Post, 2/1/2024
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Eduardo Porter, “Republicans’ Immigration Bill is Not Serious Legislation,” Washington Post, 2/2/2024
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Thomas Friedman, “A Biden Doctrine for the Middle East is Forming. And it’s Big,” New York Times, 1/31/2024
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Bruno Maçães on Wisdom of Crowds
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Three months into the Israel-Gaza war, Shadi, Damir, and Sam get philosophical about morality and international relations. Is it realistic to expect states to behave morally?Is the Western concern for human rights real? Or is it merely a mask for self-interest and imperial rule?
The American attitude toward the war has caused Shadi to doubt his conviction in the goodness of American power. Damir thinks he sees an opportunity to drag Shadi to his amoral way of analyzing the world. A familiar tussle follows, with each citing examples from history to make their case.
Is America just another empire, doing what empires always do? Or is it an agent of democracy, prosperity, and moral progress, despite its many failings?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Sam increasingly intervenes in the debate, forcing Shadi (and to a lesser extent Damir) to justify their moral priors. Is democracy good in itself, or does the good come from faith and religion?
Required Reading:
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Shadi’s growing doubts (Twitter/X).
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Damir growing glee at Shadi’s doubts (Twitter/X).
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I Saw Satan Fall Like Lighting by René Girard.
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Sam’s essay, “Relinquishing Utopia”
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Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War by Samuel Moyn
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Wisdom of Crowds episode with Samuel Moyn
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Our now legendary episode with pseudonymous Muslim writer
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’s essay, “I wanted to love America”
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Longtime member of the Crowd and WoC contributor once called episodes when Shadi and Damir just chew over stuff “train wrecks”. (He meant it in an affectionate way — we think.) Well that’s what this episode is: a classic back and forth that ranges far and wide.
Shadi asks Damir how his year ended. Damir admits he’s feeling properly burned out. Does following two bloody wars all too closely contribute to a feeling of helplessness? And isn’t feeling drained by reading about war itself a product of extreme privilege and luxury? With signs of wider conflict spreading in the Middle East, we still can’t properly wrap our heads around what a world-changing war might look like.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Shadi reveals how the rise of urban violence — DC surpassed Baltimore in murders last year — has him thinking about zombie movies, and the gnawing uncertainty that was the hallmark of the early days of COVID.
Required Reading:
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“The Unserious Generation,” by Damir Marusic (WoC).
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“Unconstructive Ambiguity,” by Damir Marusic (WoC).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Aaron Sibarium, a star reporter over at the Washington Free Beacon covering the campus culture wars, joined us this week to talk about Claudine Gay’s resignation. Aaron’s reporting on Gay’s plagiarism was instrumental in her eventual downfall.
We start the episode discussing the merits of the case, but quickly switch gears to talk about first principles. What does it mean for our society if culture war becomes a war of personal destruction? Will it lead to a better world, in universities and more broadly, or have we just descended into another level of vengeful retribution?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), we discuss the parallel with the Supreme Court, and the railroading of Robert Bork in 1987. The Court has never been the same since, and is arguably quite degraded since its mid-century heyday. Maybe this is all just the product of the inherent, glorious messiness of democracy? Or are we going the way of Weimar Germany?
Required Reading:
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“Fresh Allegations of Plagiarism Unearthed in Official Academic Complaint Against Claudine Gay,” by Aaron Sibarium (Washington Free Beacon).
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“Harvard Itself Unearthed New Case of Plagiarism,” by Aaron Sibarium (Washington Free Beacon).
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“Harvard President Claudine Gay Hit by Six New Charges of Plagiarism,” by Aaron Sibarium (Washington Free Beacon).
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“Harvard’s President Claudine Gay Should Resign,” by Ruth Marcus (Washington Post).
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“The Rise and Fall of Claudine Gay,” by Shadi Hamid (WoC).
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“The Weimarization of the American Republic,” by Aaron Sibarium (American Purpose).
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
This week, our in-house philosopher and very own Editor-at-Large returns to the podcast for a one-on-one discussion with about wealth, ambition and whether they are the paths toward happiness.
How do societal values, especially those in American culture, influence our sense of fulfillment? The guys probe why those who are perceived as the most successful — like tech entrepreneurs and posh weekend travelers — seem to be the least happy. This opens up questions about how those who face adversity find forms of happiness be it through a craft, a spiritual pursuit, or the broader expectations baked into their life circumstance. This deep and free-wheeling episode opens up rifts between Shadi and Sam’s perspectives on the utility of the happiness literature, the role economics and material success play, and what we sacrifice in the pursuit of what we think will ultimately bring us contentment.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Shadi and Sam continue exploring the tension between ambition and spiritual fulfillment. They explore how societal values, rooted in seeing humans as economic entities, lead to existential despair. Shadi calls attention to how religious practices, like Ramadan, compel individuals to break from a regimen of relentless productivity and consumption. This episode is a real treat and we’re excited to share it with you.
Required Reading:
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Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation by Samuel Kimbriel (Amazon).
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“Thinking Is Risky” by Samuel Kimbriel (Wisdom of Crowds).
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What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael Sandel (Amazon).
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The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition For Upbuilding And Awakening by Soren Kierkegaard (Amazon).
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More about Aspen Institute’s Society and Philosophy Initiative.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
We’re thrilled to publish the audio from our first major event in collaboration with Aspen Institute’s Philosophy & Society Initiative. P&S and Wisdom of Crowds have grown up together and are both relentlessly focused on getting down to first principle questions. Click the link below and add your email to the mailing list to find out when we’re doing more of these kinds of events.
In this episode, we take on the crisis of masculinity. asks our own and Washington Post nonfiction book critic whether the crisis is in fact real, and if so, what can be done about it.
Christine argues there is hard evidence that young men are struggling — young men are dropping out of school, their unemployment rates are up, and deaths of despair are rising. Becca is less convinced — she thinks we may be misdiagnosing the problem, and in doing so are entrenching harmful stereotypes and gender norms.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) the audience chimes in with questions, and the conversation takes some surprising turns. Is modernity making heterosexual relationships more difficult? Is technology making re-evaluating gender roles easier? And who has the advantage on dating apps?
Required Reading:
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The Aspen Institute’s Philosophy and Society Initiative.
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“If attitudes don’t shift, a political dating mismatch will threaten marriage” by Editorial Board (The Washington Post).
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“How to be a man? Josh Hawley has the (incoherent) answers” by Becca Rothfeld (Washington Post).
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“Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness” by Christine Emba (The Washington Post).
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“‘The Two-Parent Privilege’ gets caught in the trap of convention,” by Becca Rothfeld (Washington Post).
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“Single moms know marriage would be ideal, but how do they get one?” by Christine Emba (Washington Post).
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“An uneasy political marriage... or not” by Christine Emba (Wisdom of Crowds).
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The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind by Melissa Kearney (Amazon).
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Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi (Amazon).
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Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba (Amazon).
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Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs (Amazon).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
What constitutes justifiable warfare—and how should the overall impact of conflicts be evaluated? With the United States being so closely associated with Israel’s war, is it possible to still envision America as a “force for good” in the world? One of America’s leading leftist intellectuals, Samuel Moyn, joins us to debate these questions and much more. Sam is the Chancellor Kent Professor of History at Yale University and the author of Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented Warand most recently Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times.
Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, the conversation dives into the potential for humane wars and whether progress, even in war, is possible. While Sam acknowledges that the conduct of war has become more “targeted” and “proportional,” he argues that relatively more humane wars can distract us from more ultimate questions of whether wars are just or moral in the first place. The questions at hand sharply divide Sam, and in this charged conversation. In the post-9/11 era, the U.S. has pioneered a new way of waging war, with lawyers present at various levels of military decisions. But what has resulted is a world where wars are endless in part because they are less lethal. Is this “progress” or is it something more sinister?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), the three clash over moral warfare in the real world, including whether American hegemony has prevented large-scale conflicts and can continue to do so, including between China and Taiwan. Has American dominance been good for the world, on balance? Yes, less people die and there may be less major wars, but Sam argues that this is an unacceptably minimalist standard for judging progress. What, then, is the alternative? The conversation ends with Sam’s optimistic vision for a narrative of progress that focuses on pivoting the U.S. in a leftward direction that avoids repeating the mistakes of an overly interventionist era.
Required Reading:
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Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War, by Samuel Moyn (Amazon).
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Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times, by Samuel Moyn (Amazon).
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Black Snow: Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo, and the Road to the Atomic Bomb, by James M. Scott (Amazon).
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The Hamid-Moyn cage match on whether America is a force for good in the world, hosted by Intelligence Squared (YouTube).
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“The Moral Dilemmas of Total War,” by Tom Barson (Wisdom of Crowds).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Why do Americans struggle so much to understand Palestinians? A former advisor to the Palestinian leadership and a participant in the doomed 2008 Annapolis peace talks, Khaled Elgindy has written arguably the definitive account of America’s blind spot. In Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump, Khaled chronicles how time and time again the U.S. has failed to see the Palestinians as actors in their own right.
But beyond the specifics of policy, there is a question of humanity—specifically, the seeming inability or unwillingness of American politicians to extend any genuine consideration towards Palestinians’ suffering. The White House’s empathy gap has surprised even Khaled. He traces this back to an affinity for Israel’s Western liberal values but also the various and entrenched mythologies that obscure the dispossession of Palestinians. Khaled, Damir, and Shadi clash over whether Cold War geopolitics is what drove America to deprioritize the ethical considerations of Palestinians and whether Israeli consensus sees a distinction between Hamas and Palestinians broadly.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), the three debate how much blame Hamas deserves for provoking a war whose burden ordinary Palestinians would have to bear. What was Hamas thinking—and when the fighting stops, will Palestinians direct their anger towards Hamas and other militants? Is it possible to envision a future scenario where Hamas, now chastened by its first total war with Israel, fully commits to politics and eschews armed struggle?
Finally, the three discuss whether it’s reasonable to expect Israeli officials to care about Palestinian suffering. This is the reality of states, particularly after the other side has been dehumanized: they simply don’t care. Why should Israel care? This leads into a sobering consideration of nightmare scenarios in which tens of thousands of Palestinians may die, including from the “slow death” of hunger and disease.
Require Reading:
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Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump by Khaled Elgindy (Amazon).
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“A cease-fire in Gaza isn’t a fantasy. Here’s how it could work.” by Shadi Hamid (The Washington Post).
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“Thinking About Peace” by Damir Marusic. (Wisdom of Crowds).
-
Khaled’s Twitter page.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
After nearly a month of being consumed by the Israel-Hamas war, and take a step back to evaluate the prospects of an end to the violence, while still probing their own priors.
Damir argues that “moral clarity” is often anything but clarifying, but concedes that “realism” can be self-defeating, because people can’t help but think in both emotional and moral terms during a conflict like this. Meanwhile, Shadi opens up about his inner struggles reconciling his sympathy for the plight of Palestinians and his role as an analyst called on to come up with meaningful solutions to intractable problems.
The conversation turns to rifts opening up at home. Support for President Biden among Arab Americans has plummeted, and a generational divide is also becoming apparent. But has youth activism on the Palestinian question actually succeeded in shifting U.S. policy and attitudes towards the conflict more broadly?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) Shadi and Damir discuss their experiences in Israel. As early as 2019 (when both of them last visited), even the left-wingers in Israel sounded pretty right-wing. What will this war mean for the future of Israeli politics? Are Israeli and American interests aligned in any meaningful sense? And is “democracy vs. autocracy” really the best framework for thinking about the world?
Required Reading:
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“Ceasefire, Plans and Activism” by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“Hamas’ Bid for Revolutionary Legitimacy” by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“Is ISIS rational?” by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic).
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Our previous podcast episode, “The End of the World As We Know It”, with Robert Nicholson.
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“Israel’s two wars” by Matt Yglesias (Slow Boring).
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“Dick Durbin first U.S. senator to call for Gaza ceasefire, tied to Hamas' release of hostages” (CBS News).
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Zack Beauchamp’s tweet about Hamas spokesman’s crappy propaganda.
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American attitudes on support for Israel (Matt Yglesias on Twitter).
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Americans blaming Hamas for Palestinian casualties (Aaron Astor on Twitter).
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Quinnipiac poll of registered voters on sending weapons to Israel.
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Data For Progress poll on likely voters support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
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Zogby-Arab American Institute poll, including declining favorability of Biden among Arab Americans.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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In a charged and often emotional conversation, and welcome Robert Nicholson, the president of the Philos Project, to discuss the pro-Israel perspective as the war in Gaza intensifies. Many Israeli voices have veered sharply to the right. However much we may disagree with these views, we have to understand them.
Robert, a Christian and self-described Zionist, expresses empathy for the Israeli perception of an existential threat next door. Hamas’ attacks have undermined, perhaps fatally, any hope that Israelis might have had that peaceful co-existence is possible not just with Palestinians but with Arabs more broadly. The three consider alternative scenarios, including a reoccupation of Gaza or a policy of complete and total separation.
In the United States, meanwhile, Arab Americans are reacting with despair at President Biden’s stalwart support of Israel. Shadi finds himself in the unenviable position of writing a book subtitled “The Case for American Dominance.” If this is what American dominance looks like, Shadi wonders, can he really support it? And how is he supposed to make the case to Arabs and Muslims that America is, on balance, a force for good?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Shadi, Damir and Robert delve into tricky territory, debating whether “Islamic exceptionalism” makes it difficult for Muslims to ever really accept a U.S.-led order and to ever accept a world in which Israel is as powerful as it is. Were the religious passions that are now being unleashed across the Arab world inevitable—or could they have been tamed and contained by democracy?
Damir and Robert argue that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn’t really about Israel or Palestine but is a proxy for a deeper set of religious, cultural, and civilizational fault lines. In this sense, there may be no way out and no room for compromise. And Arabs and Muslims—as well as much of the Global South—may feel compelled to choose between two drastically different visions of world order: one led by the United States and the other led by America’s growing list of adversaries. There is, as they say, no alternative.
Required Reading:
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“The Death of the Two-State Solution,” by Damir Marusic (The American Interest).
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“Eight Steps to Shrink the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” by Micah Goodman (The Atlantic).
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“Support for Mass Protest on the Rise in Gaza and the West Bank,” by Catherine Cleveland (The Washington Institute for Near-East Policy).
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Public Opinion Poll Number 89 (The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research).
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Islamic Exceptionalism, by Shadi Hamid (Amazon).
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‘I Have No Pain Left to Feel,’ by Shadi Hamid (Substack).
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Our first episode after Hamas’ attacks in Israel, a classic Damir and Shadi conversation.
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Our conversation with on Israel, Hamas, and why nonviolence failed.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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Two weeks after Hamas’s brutal attack on Israeli civilians, tensions have skyrocketed as Israel begins an offensive against Gaza from the air and the ground as the area home to over a half million Palestinians is plunged into darkness. What could have been done to avoid this renewed war and what are the best possible paths toward ending violence?
This week, and invite on to discuss. Peter writes at his Substack, and is editor-at-large of Jewish Currents as well as professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York. Peter emphasizes the importance of viewing the conflict in its historical context, one that includes severe violence on either side of the border. After Hamas’ brutal massacre of Israeli civilians and now Israel’s siege and bombardment of Gaza, how can we speak with moral clarity and consistency about the many lives that have been lost?
Hamas is a terrorist group, but that’s all the more reason to try to understand how and why the group has changed since it won the 2006 Palestinian elections. Were opportunities to tame the organization missed? Why did Netanyahu prefer Hamas’ rule over Gaza? As Peter and Shadi note, Israel undermined repeated attempts at Palestinian unity that would have brought the Palestinian Authority back to Gaza with Hamas stepping down from governing responsibilities. Was Hamas’ radicalization inevitable? Why does terrorism happen?
Regardless, it’s too late now. After what Hamas has done, there is no going back. Which raises the question: is there any way to move forward? What does a post-Hamas Gaza look like, especially now that Hamas appears to be gaining popularity in the West Bank? All of these questions can only be answered by addressing the question of violence head on. Why do some revolutionary movements turn to brutality while others counsel a principled resistance that takes pains to spare civilians?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), the three discuss the Biden administration’s approach to the Middle East policy and the role of the media in framing the war. They find historical parallels to the conflict, including the ANC in South Africa after Apartheid. Shadi asks whether it’s possible for the U.S. and the international community to “incentivize” nonviolent resistance, while Peter underscores the role of Arab citizens of Israel as potential mediators for a longer-term solution.
Required Reading:
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“On Addressing Jews,” by Peter Beinart (Jewish Currents).
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“There is a Jewish Hope for Palestinian Liberation. It Must Survive,” by Peter Beinart (New York Times).
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“West Bank Protests Spread Over Gaza War,” by Miriam Berger (Washington Post).
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Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance, by Tareq Baconi (Amazon).
-
The 2017 Hamas charter.
-
The 1988 Hamas charter.
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After Hamas fighters massacred hundreds of Israeli civilians, Israel is now massed on Gaza’s borders ahead of an operation that will likely devastate the Palestinian population. This week, and sit down and unpack their complex thoughts and feelings about what is going on. What is the appropriate way to speak about atrocities after the fact?
In the imm…
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What are the most valuable parts of our transient lives and how does our appraisal of them change as we age?
This week, and take a step back from larger questions around current events to visit a recurring theme at Wisdom of Crowds around meaning. The episode centers around Damir’s recent Monday Note, “A Lost Sense of Wonder”, where he reflects on the pursuit of enchantment including in close relationships but also after witnessing a wondrous meteor shower in the Shenandoah Valley. The guys discuss how to think about the failure to recreate precious memories just as people they know move away and cities they remember visiting change. Should we feel melancholy in our nostalgia or continue finding comfort in the things that bring us happiness now? Meanwhile, Shadi dwells on judgement in the afterlife. He observes how the relationships that make life valuable are not enough for some, including those at ease with their own mortality — a disposition to which Shadi cannot quite relate.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) the two discuss the balance between pursuing virtue for potential rewards in the afterlife and doing right by people in the present. Shadi, a believer, admits to genuine fear about what happens after death. After all, if there is a heaven, there is also a hell. Damir, a non-believer, places more emphasis on finding purpose in oneself rather than adhering to otherworldly incentives. Is a balance between these two paths possible?
Subscribe to the listen to the full episode.
Required Reading:
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“A Lost Sense of Wonder”, by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“The Virtue Politics of Mitt Romney” (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“The Watusi bull riding shotgun is what makes America great” by David Von Drehle (TheWashington Post).
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“This Really Is Europe” with Ben Judah, podcast episode (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“An Extremely Online Existence” podcast episode (Wisdom of Crowds).
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Shadi’s conversation with Sam Harris about meditation and being Muslim on Sam’s podcast, Waking Up.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
As the leaders of the major political parties show stark signs of advanced age, their supporters are bending over backwards to defend their own while criticizing their opponents. Politics at its purest.
This week, Shadi and Damir return from summer break to dive into the latest developments in D.C. as the next election looms. They discuss the self-interest and rank hypocrisy of the Republican Party conveyed in a new, fascinating profile of Senator Mitt Romney. Is the GOP irredeemable? The conversation heats up as the guys arrive at the intersection of hypocrisy, politics, and morality. Damir the cynic questions whether Romney’s pieties are all that impressive. Shadi, the moralist, lauds Romney as an exemplar of virtue politics—inextricably linked to Romney’s Mormon faith. Hypocrisy, Shadi argues, entails rather than negates morality. But of course there is such a thing as too much hypocrisy. Where to draw the line?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) Shadi and Damir grapple with how events shaped by establishment politicians dating back to the nineties ought to be viewed today. The guys discuss how fear of worst-case political outcomes scrambles an adherence to one’s moral and political beliefs. Damir argues that while he sympathizes with anti-Trump Republicans like Romney, their moral posturing doesn’t resolve fraught political questions. Shadi expresses concerns about the situation Democrats find themselves. In their obsession with avoiding a Trump victory, they may be making the the very outcome they fear more likely.
Required Reading:
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“We Need to Talk About Biden,” by Derek Hudson (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate,” by McKay Coppins (The Atlantic).
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“President Biden should not run again in 2024,” by David Ignatius (The Washington Post).
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“Democrats are crazy to insist only Biden can beat Trump,” by David Von Drehle (The Washington Post).
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"Is ‘Peak Woke’ Behind Us or Ahead?’ by Ross Douthat (The New York Times).
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“Mitt Romney Has Given Us A Gift” by David Brooks (The New York Times).
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CNN polling showing Trump remaining competitive against Biden.
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Political Hypocrisy by David Runciman.
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Hypocrisy and Integrity by Ruth Grant.
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“Better Man” by Pearl Jam.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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This week, we’re pulling one of our favorite and most explosive episodes from the archive. This one, from May 2022, with socialist intellectual on the role of America on the world stage. We encourage all of you, especially our newest Substack subscribers, to have a listen and tell us what they think in the comments. And if you aren’t yet a subscriber, …
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Private power is imposing its own tyranny through tools of economic coercion that exploit workers. It’s time to redirect attention from the hysteria over “wokeness” and toward establishing social democratic protections in America. That’s a view ubiquitious on the left, but a similar case is being made on the populist right.
This week, Sohrab Ahmari, editor at Compactand author of a new book Tyranny, Inc., returns to the podcast with and to talk about America’s economic order, its social contract, and what he sees as the cruelty within it amid globalization and technological change. Embracing the label “pro-life New Dealer”, Sohrab laments the right’s obsession with the culture wars and argues that conservatives are losing sight of glaring problems in the economy. He says the path forward is greater state intervention that seeks to treat the ills of neoliberalism while boosting America’s productivity. The three also delve into how an emboldened state may collide with Sohrab’s socially and culturally conservative values. Can the United States convert to a social democracy while retaining its title as the world’s economic leader?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Shadi, Damir, and Sohrab discuss China’s future and whether the country will abandon its industrial policy approach amid shifting trade dynamics. They cover the GOP’s economic stance and what Sohrab sees as the incongruity between the party’s culturally conservative and pro-market positions. They explore Protestantism’s influence in shaping economic views and the prospect of figures like Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and J.D. Vance of Ohio, ushering in a new period of pro-labor policymaking that meets the call for change.
Required Reading:
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Tyranny, Inc.: How Private Power Crushed American Liberty--and What to Do About It, by Sohrab Ahmari (Amazon).
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Compact Magazine, where Sohrab is founder and editor.
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Sohrab’s first appearance on Wisdom of Crowds.
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The meme Damir referenced about why America doesn't have universal health care.
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“On Conservatism and Capitalism,” by Damir Marusic (America’s Future).
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The Great Transformation, by Karl Polanyi (Amazon).
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The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America 1815-1846, by Charles Sellers (Amazon).
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Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, by Kristin Kobes Du Mez (Amazon).
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Abraham Lincoln’s speech at the Wisconsin State Fair.
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Of Boys and Men, by Richard V. Reeves (Amazon).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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We’re living in the most prosperous time in human history with more material abundance and comfort — and yet something just feels… off. This week, and take a trip to the heartland to find out what that something is.
In this special live recording from the Lyceum Movement’s Tallgrass Ideas Festival in Iowa, Shadi and Sam join political theorist Susan Laehn to grapple with whether a sense of meaning precedes or succeeds happiness. With the live audience jumping in with comments and questions, the three delve into the balance between personal desires and finding collective meaning in a society. Then there is the question of whether freedom, to be truly “free,” requires constraint. On this there may be some differences.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Shadi, Sam, and Susan take on the increasingly challenging question of how to balance individuality and community. There are dangers of going too far in the latter direction. As one audience member challenges the panel, many have fled societies because there was too much communal feeling. And then the Crowd finishes with a conversation about the role of love. It might sound corny, but trust us—it’s not. How can there be meaning without love? And is it possible to have a deeper love—with the unconditional forgiveness that that sometimes calls for without God.
Required Reading:
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Welcoming the Other: Student, Stranger and Divine, by Susan Laehn (Amazon).
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“A Radically Condensed History of Post Industrial Life,” by David Foster Wallace.
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Escape from Freedom, by Erich Fromm (Amazon).
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Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation, by Sam Kimbriel (Amazon).
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More about the Lyceum Movement.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
At a time of disruption in the workforce, rapidly shifting gender norms, a dearth of role models and declines in mental health, men are facing a distinct set of challenges that are prompting a renewed understanding of masculinity. For the last few years, viral right-of-center personalities have dominated the conversation offering men guidance that much of mainstream media has viewed as radioactive. But as the challenges men face become more apparent, others are recognizing the issue at hand isn’t just a right-wing conspiracy.
This week’s guest is our very own who recently wrote a brilliant long-form essay in The Washington Post, “Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness”. Christine scrutinizes both the provocative influencers on masculinity as well as mainstream commentators who’ve denied the problem exists, all while asking what a healthier masculinity looks like that isn’t simply femininity. The conversation with and dives into how the decline of religion along with social and economic dislocation have impeded relationship-building. Can a softer masculinity emerge and thrive, or is it simply incompatible in a vigorously competitive world? And what do the world’s societies risk by leaving men to the wilderness?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) the three wade into a conversation around how the aspects of masculinity and religion interplay with fascism as they explore variants represented in religious figures including Jesus, King David and the Prophet Muhammad. They also discuss how periods of wartime have shaped men’s sense of purpose.
Required Reading:
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“Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness,” by Christine Emba (The Washington Post).
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“The Ideal Man Exists,” by Christine Emba. (Wisdom of Crowds).
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Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, by Christine Emba (Amazon).
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“What if We’re the Bad Guys?” by David Brooks (The New York Times).
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Of Boys and Men, by Richard V. Reeves (Amazon).
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War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, by Chris Hedges (Amazon).
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An interview with author Beverly Gage on her book, G-Man, about J. Edgar Hoover (Reason).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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Are Muslim communities increasingly tilting to the right? After about two decades of being alienated by Republicans, American Muslims continue to align themselves with the Democratic Party. But as the country polarizes and the progressive agenda makes gains, writers like our guest find it increasingly untenable for Muslims to continue nodding along with the left’s conceptions of gender identity, sexuality, and secularism.
This week, and talked to , a pseudonymous writer who wrote a fiery provocation in The American Mind titled “Meet Your New Allies”, where he makes the case for why Muslims should align themselves with the right to counter the left’s excesses. This is a provocative and wide-ranging conversation that really gets at how deep difference and philosophical disagreements are difficult to reconcile. You won’t want to miss this one.
The three discuss Dragoman’s decision to remain anonymous, whether he considers himself a reactionary, his appeal to the dissident right-wing, and his plans to leave the United States to raise his children. As a believing Muslim himself, Shadi challenges Dragoman to articulate the threat to Western civilization posed by the left and the implications of aligning with the Trump wing of the GOP.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) Shadi and Dragoman diverge on the role of Islam and democracy in shaping a moral society. It gets heated, leading to one of the more charged exchanges in recent WoC history. They also delve into the influence of Western academia on Muslim thought and the Anglo world’s limitations in understanding non-Western perspectives. The conversation concludes with a reflection on the generational differences among Muslims.
To listen to the full episode, please consider subscribing. We’d love to have you as part of our growing community.
Required Reading:
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“Meet Your New Allies,” by Dragoman (The American Mind).
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Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World, by Shadi Hamid (Amazon).
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“Subversive with Alex Koshuda” (Apple Podcasts).
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“Muslims vs. Democrats: A Story of Betrayal,” by Shadi Hamid (just out today in the Wall Street Journal)
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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Does the United States Supreme Court’s legitimacy hang in the balance — or is it itself the balance keeping the union centered?
After handing down blockbuster decisions this term on gerrymandering, executive authority and affirmative action, the highest court in the land is facing fierce criticism from progressives in the media and in elected office. This week, we welcomed Washington Post columnist back on the podcast to help us unpack it all.
Jason discusses how the Court’s decision to outlaw affirmative action in higher education was straightforward and popular. But after the Court’s unpopular decision last year striking down a constitutional right to an abortion, the grounds for accepting the high court’s rulings based on popularity appears to be all but dependent on whether one finds any given outcome favorable. questions the coherence of liberal arguments when it comes to popular decisions that go against the left’s expectations. Meanwhile, makes the case that despite it being undeniable the Court operates with political considerations, pretense is a critical aspect to the institution’s survival.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) Shadi raises concerns about the perception of the Court’s legitimacy among Democrats. After threats against the justices and warnings from Democratic lawmakers, the three discuss scenarios that could provoke efforts to stack the deck. The conversation winds down as the guys acknowledge that when it comes down to it, the law is not neutral; it is political.
Wisdom of Crowds is a reader-supported publication. To support our work and receive the latest, please subscribe.
Required Reading:
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“Sorry, Democrats, there is no Supreme Court ‘legitimacy’ crisis,” by Jason Willick (Washington Post).
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“How John Roberts is outmaneuvering his critics,” by Jason Willick (Washington Post).
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“This is the most mischaracterized Supreme Court case in recent history,” by Jason Willick (Washington Post).
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“The Supreme Court will increasingly control U.S. elections,” by Jason Willick (Washington Post).
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“Trump’s Justices Didn’t Doom Affirmative Action. Demography Did.” by Christopher Caldwell (New York Times).
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“What’s Behind the Conservative Rift on the Supreme Court,” by Sarah Isgur (Politico).
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Jason’s interview with sociologist Nathan Glazer (Wall Street Journal).
-
Inventing the People, by Edmund Morgan (Amazon).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
Shadi, Christine, and Sam head to Aspen to record a live episode of the show. The crowd gets involved.
The broad topic of the conversation was decline. We don’t always know how to express it, but many of us feel it: There’s something wrong with America today. The mood is tense. More Americans say they won’t have children because of climate change and other future catastrophes. But are things really as bad as they seem? Is decline something we need to accept—or is there a case for a new optimism?
You won’t want to miss this one.
Required Reading:
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Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich (Amazon).
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Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, by Christine Emba (Amazon).
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Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation, by Samuel Kimbriel (Amazon).
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“Five Ancient Secrets to Modern Happiness”, lecture by Tamar Gendler (YouTube).
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There is the Europe of politics. There is the Europe of ideas. But there is also the Europe of actual people, who live, love, die, and dream. How they live and how they hope is shaped by mass migration, climate change, the war in Ukraine, and any number of other disruptions. Who are they and what do their lives actually look like?
This week, British journalist Ben Judah talks to and about his outstanding new book This Is Europe, a work of heartfelt and immersive storytelling about individuals amidst the forces reshaping the continent’s landscape.
Ben eschewed coverage of superficial political debates and dedicated the book to tell 23 gripping stories of ordinary people — an ex-Muslim porn actor, a Romanian truck driver, a refugee olive production line worker — embedded in this new European life. In addition to relaying parts of these narratives, Ben discusses the unique approach he took, including removing himself from the frame and closely collaborating with subjects to add depth to their stories.
Instead of asking them what they thought, Ben chose to ask them “how did this make you feel?” Interestingly, few of them seem to have any distinct politics or ideology, something which seems to especially intrigue Shadi.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) the three discuss Islam’s growing footprint on a largely secular but still superstitious Europe. Ben also discusses the increasingly blurred cultural lines between Europe, Africa and Asia as well. The conversation winds down with Ben explaining the absence of Jewish stories from the book and the three circling back to a fundamental question: How do we live?
Subscribers will also receive the full video of the conversation, available below.
Wisdom of Crowds is a reader-supported publication. To support our work and receive the latest, please subscribe.
Required Reading:
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This Is Europe: The Way We Live Now, by Ben Judah (Pan Macmillan).
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This Is London: Life and Death in the World City, by Ben Judah (Amazon).
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The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio (Amazon).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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How important are ideological labels and how might they change over the next generation? A lot is on the minds of and this week as the two go on a winding discussion about political identity and ideological shifts amid a tribalistic political culture.
The guys discussed the rarity of prominent figures publicly changing their political identity and the friction among Americans in mixed ideology relationships.
Having never felt confined by labels, Damir questions Shadi’s preoccupation with belonging to a “team” as Shadi ponders whether he should prioritize perceptions of his political identity, including as a critic of woke orthodoxy. Are we on the cusp of another Cold War era-like realignment?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) the conversation pivots to declining fertility rates in the United States and the role of immigration in staving off population decline in America and other emerging economies. Damir pushes back against Shadi’s claim implying that something inherent about autocratic regimes make them more distinctly restrictive of immigration compared to democracies. The debate concludes with Damir positing that a coming ideological shift could prompt Shadi to become an apologist for colonialism.
Video for this podcast will be available here next week.
Required Reading:
Zia Haider Rahman’s tweet about Shadi’s supposed existential crisis (Haider Rahman is also the author of Shadi’s 2nd favorite novel of the 21st century).
“Millennials Just Keep Voting,” by David Leonhardt (New York Times).
“The greatest threat to democracy isn’t what Republicans or Democrats think,” by Jason Willick (Washington Post).
“A Note About Polarization,” from ’s terrific Substack.
“Lower fertility rates are the new cultural norm,” by Charles Lane (Washington Post).
“The Unstoppability of Mass Migration,” from ’s Weekly Dish.
America at the Crossroads: Democracy Power and the Neoconservative Legacy, by Francis Fukuyama (Amazon).
Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire, by Niall Ferguson (Amazon).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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Why is therapy replacing God on dating apps? If bad things happen, were they “meant to be”? When we say that everything happens for a reason, what do we even mean?
This week, Shadi and Damir are back on the podcast together with close friend and guest to discuss her stunning new essay, “Do Liberals Have a God Problem?” Recently, Rachel noted a striking contrast on dating apps: men who openly state their involvement in therapy and the dearth of those professing religious faith. This opens up one of the most personal and searching episodes in WoC history. The three delve into free will, sin, and why spiritual alternatives like therapy and “self-care” are, perhaps insufficiently, supplanting belief in God.
Rachel draws on her upbringing in Utah as a non-Mormon among Mormons and as a professional struggling for personal fulfillment in Washington’s environment of brute ambition.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only) the conversation turns to how a distinctly American emphasis on “freedom” creates a series of dilemmas for young Americans searching for meaning and structure. They also debate the influence of generous welfare states on religious identity and how Rachel’s essay may contrast with the experience of a European. And a very special bonus that you won’t want to miss: how easy (or hard) is it to convert to Islam, according to Shadi Hamid?
Required Reading:
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“Do Liberals Have A God Problem?” by Rachel Rizzo (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“Among the Believers” by Rachel Rizzo (Wisdom of Crowds).
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Religiosity in Europe from ‘s Substack.
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Eric Clapton’s “The Presence of the Lord”.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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As organized religion declines, particularly among younger Americans, a constellation of spiritual and sense-making phenomena appear to be taking its place. This week, and Editor-at-Large are joined by the author whose upcoming book Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians, chronicles how our sense of self has evolved over time alongside political, religious and societal change.
Damir and Christine interrogate Tara’s argument that in adhering excessively to individualism, a principle with deep roots in both liberal and Christian traditions, an imbalance has neglected the importance of integrating self-desire, direct contact and communal ties to find meaning. As a result, a renaissance of alternatives to traditional faith — from fitness and astrology to post-rationalism and cosmic vibes — have culminated into a crisis of spirituality.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Christine, Damir and Tara discuss the necessity of defining progress, particularly among believers, and how these new belief systems are themselves indicative of “frivolity” and “decadence”. The three also contemplate the uniqueness of human beings and the potential for new versions of spirituality to emerge with greater technology advancement.
Video of this podcast will be available next week.
Wisdom of Crowds is a reader-supported publication. To support our work and receive the latest, please subscribe.
Required Reading:
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Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians, by Tara Isabella Burton (Amazon).
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Strange Rites, by Tara Isabella Burton (Amazon).
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“Rational Magic,” by Tara Isabella Burton (The New Atlantis).
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“The Man Who Spends $2 Million a Year to Look 18 Is Swapping Blood With His Father and Son,” by Ashlee Vance (Bloomberg).
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“On animate intelligence,” from Dhananjay Jagannathan’s Substack.
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“An entire generation is losing hope. Enter the witch.” by Christine Emba (Washington Post).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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Are big ideas still possible? Are there any “new” ideas left—and what makes an idea new in the first place?
If we need new ideas to shake ourselves out of decadence, we should be careful what we wish for. Wokeness is one such “comprehensive framework.” Others might prove similarly frightening.
This week, Shadi is joined by New York Times columnist and author of The Decadent Society and the political philosopher . Recently, Sam wrote an essay “Thinking is Risky”, which was cited in Ross’s newsletter, calling on academics to be more intellectually courageous. Sam’s call to action relates to a recurring theme in Ross’s work — namely that society faces “decadent” stagnation (or worse, decay) on a number of fronts. To transcend modern mediocrity, the three discuss a path to renewal, but as Shadi argues, the risks of doing so are real.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), the three discuss the extent a break from decadence can be achieved through religion. After all, if what makes an idea “big” is that it offers up a metaphysical/cosmic account of the universe, then cultural renewal may require religion. Anything less would be limiting and finite. Ross makes the case that religious belief is “obviously appropriate”, predicting that elites will eventually recognize its value. But is it enough for people to instrumentally appreciate the importance of religion, or must they believe themselves?
Required Reading:
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The Decadent Society, by Ross Douthat (Amazon).
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“Thinking Is Risky,” by Samuel Kimbriel (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“Why Journalists Have More Freedom Than Professors,” by Ross Douthat (New York Times).
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Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, by William Deresiewicz (Amazon).
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“At least it’s an ethos” from The Great Lebowski.
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“Nude” lyrics, by Radiohead.
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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This week, Damir stages an intervention for Shadi.
Lately, Shadi’s become gradually detached from the world of current events and political media. Damir probes to understand why, therein unraveling an episode that goes off the beaten path to discuss progress, happiness and meaning at a time when everything feels existential.
Shadi maintains that while he isn’t divorcing himself from the commentariat, he’s recognizing the limited fulfillment political awareness can deliver — particularly when progress can never seem to be satiated.
Scoffing at Damir’s notion he’s become a conservative, Shadi laments what he sees as more pressing matters, including crime and the unintended impacts of legal marijuana dispensaries in D.C. All of this prompts Damir to press Shadi on how he reconciles this detachment with participation in democracy.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), the guys pivot toward a critique of the mental health subculture. Damir believes the level of introspection offered by therapy may make us more miserable. Shadi agrees and questions how healthy it is that we seem to be seeking out more reasons to seek therapy. The pod ends on a higher note, however, with Damir and Shadi finding contentment in pursuing Wisdom of Crowds’ mission.
Paying subscribers will also be able to watch the whole conversation on video and take note of our facial expressions. We’re really excited to be offering this new subscriber benefit, so please consider joining us.
Required Reading:
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The Open Letter to President Biden that Shadi helped organize on Tunisia.
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“Is It Enough to Tie Your Camel and Trust in God?” by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds).
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's tweet thread
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“Pot and Pathology,” by (Institute For Family Studies).
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“How I Changed my Mind About Marijuana,” by Charles Fain Lehman on his Substack, .
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“You’re Better Off Not Knowing,” by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic).
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Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman (Amazon).
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The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel, by Milan Kundera (Amazon).
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“ChatGPT and Me,” by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“How AI could change computing, culture and the course of history,” (The Economist).
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Shadi Hamid’s essay on suicide (Washington Examiner).
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“It’s not too late: How to save Tunisian democracy,” by Shadi Hamid and Sharan Grewal (Brookings Institution).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
Can a cohesive nation survive without a common identity or shared values?
That question is at the heart of this week’s podcast with political theorist . Last week, David’s essay in Wisdom of Crowds rebutted the claim that the Israelites can be understood as a modern nation. Throughout history, various peoples, David argues, have coalesced around a shared sense of “peoplehood” without a claim to a nation. From here, a rich conversation ensues as to whether a people—and democracy itself—can endure without anything more than a commitment to peaceful coexistence.
Shadi maintains that his conception of democratic minimalism and a belief in “the people” (even if they’re not real) are enough to sustain a democracy. Damir finds this to be insufficient. While a degree of myth-making is necessary to constitute a nation, more is required to undergird an enduring society. But what exactly?
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), Shadi presses David on his assertion that the modern Canadian state, despite being democratic, has far more power over individual citizens than under pre-modern dictators. The three also discuss whether the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means that democracy is rebounding, ebbing, or headed for a different trajectory altogether.
Lastly, not only will paying subscribers have access to the full episode—including an awkward but vaguely touching coda from Shadi on his doubts over the future—but they will also be able to watch the whole conversation and take note of our facial expressions on video. We’re really excited to be offering this new subscriber benefit, so please consider joining us.
Required Reading:
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“Why Ancient Israel Was Not a Modern Nation,” by David Polansky (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“Populism and Democracy Conflict: An Aristotelian View,” by David Polansky (The Review of Politics).
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Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes (Project Gutenberg).
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“For the People to Exist, You Must Believe in Them,” by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds).
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How Democracy Ends, David Runciman (Amazon).
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Shadi and Damir debate “democratic minimalism” in a special live recorded episode in Pittsburgh (Wisdom of Crowds).
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“On Hindutva,” by on his excellent Substack
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!
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Why is Trump such a formidable candidate, despite everything? How can someone who lies so readily be seen as authentic? With the Republican presidential campaign heating up, —co-host of “Know Your Enemy” and one of the most fascinating leftist writers around today—returns to the podcast to argue that Trump has something special that Ron DeSantis doesn’t have and likely never will.
Pundits often argue that DeSantis represents a stable and “competent” version of Trump that can win the presidency for the GOP. Sam disagrees. DeSantis, he argues, is reflective of a well-educated elite bumbling to co-opt Trump’s style without understanding the former president’s essence. Not only that, DeSantis may even be a “technocrat,” that dreaded word. Sam makes the case that Trump’s conning authenticity, charm—but especially his “anti-competence” and distinct resentment of elitism and expertise—help explain his staying power.
In the full episode (for paying subscribers only), the three discuss the rampant apocalypticism of the current moment and how Republicans and Democrats leverage the premise that the end is near. Damir posits that the doomerism may be justified whereas Shadi is more cautiously optimistic. Also, Sam discusses the discipline required—as someone on the political left—to not define one’s politics around the most annoying features of one’s opponents.
Required Reading:
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Sam Adler Bell’s must-listen podcast “Know Your Enemy” with on the intellectual origins of the American Right.
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Sam’s epic first appearance on Wisdom of Crowds, discussing the New Right.
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The classic “Know Your Enemy” episode on Nixon’s resentments and obsessions.
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“The One Thing Trump Has That DeSantis Never Will,” by Sam Adler-Bell (The New York Times).
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“The Jeffrey Epstein case is why people believe in Pizzagate,” by Matthew Walther. (The Week).
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Dave Chappelle monologue on Trump’s appealing hypocrisy (Saturday Night Live).
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The Confidence Man, by Herman Melville (Amazon).
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Chris Christie takes down Marco Rubio in 2016 (CBS News).
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Trump Inaugural Address, “American Carnage” (ABC News).
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“The Humiliation Factor,” by Thomas Friedman (The New York Times).
Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live
An anti-natalist subculture has flourished for years online. These days, it feels like it’s taking hold in the real world.
This week, writer and internet historian and Editor-at-Large join Shadi and Damir to make sense of this underground phenomenon—and its broader implications for how we live today.
Do people really believe that suffering makes life n…
With the world feeling increasingly unstable, Damir and Shadi turn to foreign policy. Can the United States can back its bluster abroad, including in defense of Taiwan?
All of this is happening as Donald Trump re-enters the national spotlight. The guys contrast the former president's manic approach to deterrence with the current and preceding administrations. Shadi is comforted the White House is staffed by vaguely smart and competent people, but thinks there may be something to Trump's saber-rattling.
Finally, Damir challenges Shadi on Biden's "democracy versus autocracy" approach to foreign policy. How do we understand Brazil's democratically elected president willingly embracing China?
Required Reading:
- Tucker Carlson interview with Donald Trump.
- China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower, by Frank Dikotter (Amazon).
- "Blinken: I press Saudis on LGBTQI issues ‘in every conversation’" (Politico).
- "The West hoped Lula would be a partner. He’s got his own plans" (WaPo).
Twenty years after the American invasion of Iraq, Damir and Shadi go head-to-head to revisit the right (and wrong) lessons learned. What results is an episode of stark contrasts. Recalling now-regretful supporters of the war, Damir prods Shadi to reconcile his opposition to the war and his claim that Iraq is undoubtedly better off today than it was under Saddam. The two also have a spirited debate about the conditions under which American involvement in hostile autocratic countries is justifiable. Should Iraq be seen as a flawed but rare democratic "success" in the Arab world, or the product of a blunder that cost countless lives – or something else entirely?
The saying goes that hindsight is 20/20, but Shadi argues that the bigger problem may in fact be "hindsight bias," where Iraqis, Egyptians, and other citizens who suffered under dictatorship are unable to remember the past with any clarity.
In Part 2, accessible to subscribers via the Wisdom of Crowds site, the guys come back to a recurring rift between themselves. Damir is skeptical that ordinary civilians can accept democracy as superior when alternatives may be preferable for a host of reasons. Shadi pushes back to argue that while there is no ideal, there may be no genuine alternatives to democracy either, short of violence. They conclude with a surprising exchange that reveals a fundamental tension on the question of whether a good life can be lived under autocracy.
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Required Reading:
- "Sometimes, Consensus Can Be Ruinous," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic).
- "Two Decades Later, the Iraq War Is Hard to Defend," by Gerald Baker (The Wall Street Journal).
- "20 Years On, I Don’t Regret Supporting the Iraq War," by Bret Stephens (The New York Times).
- "Everyone says the Libya intervention was a failure. They’re wrong," by Shadi Hamid (Vox).
- Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich (Amazon).
- "The Reason Iran Turned Out to Be So Repressive," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic).
- "You're Better Off Not Knowing," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic).
- "The Iraq War Helped Destroy What It Meant To Be an Iraqi," by Feurat Alani (Washington Post).
In Part 2 (for subscribers only) Damir and Sam differ on whether ChatGPT is a new version of an old mechanism or whether it's something more sophisticated. Shadi asks whether such a technology can ever feel longing, wistfulness, and regret. How do we seek to understand human consciousness let alone that of artificial intelligence? A rich conversation ensues.
Required Reading:
- "You’re Better Off Not Knowing," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic).
- "ChatGPT and Me," by Damir Marusic. (Wisdom of Crowds).
- "Why I Am Not (As Much Of) A Doomer (As Some People)," by Scott Alexander (Substack).
- A very politically incorrect tweet about ChatGPT and Joe Biden.
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), Damir sets out a dark theory. Could the arrival of true mass democracy, where social media makes everyone far too interested in politics, actually be encouraging demagoguery? And can a democratic system withstand repeated assaults by such unscrupulous political entrepreneurs? Shadi's more optimistic on balance, seeing conflict as a sign of democratic health. And Osita sticks to his institutionalist guns. Believe it or not, the episode ends on a cautious note of optimism.
Required Reading:
- "Trump has a better shot at the Republican nomination than people realize," by Osita Nwanevu (Guardian).
- "The Constitution is the Crisis," by Osita Nwanevu (New Republic).
- "DeSantis Derangement Syndrome and the Return of Mass Panic," by Shadi Hamid (Substack).
- "My Fellow Liberals Are Exaggerating the Dangers of Ron DeSantis," by Damon Linker (NYT).
- "Ron DeSantis is Not a Fascist," by Damon Linker (Substack)
This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire-- the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply.
First theorized by the French philosopher Rene Girard, and present in everything from The White Lotus to the writings of Peter Thiel, mimetic desire is everywhere around us.
We talked about how to identify the power of mimetic desire in our society: in ever more adversarial politics, in an economy increasingly focused on attention, and especially in social-media-mediated quests for collective scapegoats (Shadi shares how he became a scapegoat for Philadelphia sports fans last week).
We discussed if it was possible to ever break the cycle of scapegoating, and how knowledge of this dynamic should change how we view politics. What does it mean to be a "political atheist," as Girard, a Catholic, called himself? And is Damir going to Hell?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers) we pondered what the more pessimistic conclusions of the theory of mimetic desire might be. What does it mean that societies are to some extent bound to engage in cycles of mimetic imitation, rivalry, and scapegoating? Do citizens in democracies really deliberate rationally, or are they just following the leader? Is Shadi's insistence that democracy is an end in itself in peril?
We closed by asking what implications this could all have for our personal livees? How can we determine which of our desires are "thin"-- mimetically taken from others-- or "thick"-- coming from a deep sense of self? Do we have to consciously restrain our own choices? And what might our lives look like if we regain our sense of self-possession?
Required Reading:
- Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis (Amazon).
- Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, by Rene Girard (Amazon).
- Shadi's bad sports tweet.
This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire—the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply.
This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire—the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply.
First theorized by the French philosopher Rene Girard, and present in everything from The White Lotus to the writings of Peter Thiel, mimetic desire is everywhere around us.
We talked about how to identify the power of mimetic desire in our society: in ever more adversarial politics, in an economy increasingly focused on attention, and especially in social-media-mediated quests for collective scapegoats (Shadi shares how he became a scapegoat for Philadelphia sports fans last week).
We discussed if it was possible ever break the cycle of scapegoating, and how knowledge of this dynamic should change how we view politics. What does it mean to be a "political atheist," as Girard, a Catholic, called himself? And is Damir going to Hell?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), we pondered what the more pessimistic conclusions of the theory of mimetic desire might be. What does it mean that societies are to some extent bound to engage in cycles of mimetic imitation, rivalry, and scapegoating? Do citizens in democracies really deliberate rationally, or are they just following the leader? Is Shadi's insistence that democracy is as an end in itself in peril?
We closed by asking what implications this could all have for our personal lives. How can we determine which of our desires are "thin"—mimetically taken from others—or "thick"—coming from a deep sense of self? Do we have to consciously restrain our own choices? And what might our lives look like if we regain our sense of self-possession?
Required Reading:
- Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis (Amazon).
- Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, by Rene Girard (Amazon).
- Shadi’s bad sports tweet.
This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire—the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply.
First theorized by the French philosopher Rene Girard, and present in everything from The White Lotus to the writings of Peter Thiel, mimetic desire is everywhere around us.
We talked about how to identify the power of mimetic desire in our society: in ever more adversarial politics, in an economy increasingly focused on attention, and especially in social-media-mediated quests for collective scapegoats (Shadi shares how he became a scapegoat for Philadelphia sports fans last week).
We discussed if it was possible ever break the cycle of scapegoating, and how knowledge of this dynamic should change how we view politics. What does it mean to be a "political atheist," as Girard, a Catholic, called himself? And is Damir going to Hell?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), we pondered what the more pessimistic conclusions of the theory of mimetic desire might be. What does it mean that societies are to some extent bound to engage in cycles of mimetic imitation, rivalry, and scapegoating? Do citizens in democracies really deliberate rationally, or are they just following the leader? Is Shadi's insistence that democracy is as an end in itself in peril?
We closed by asking what implications this could all have for our personal lives. How can we determine which of our desires are "thin"—mimetically taken from others—or "thick"—coming from a deep sense of self? Do we have to consciously restrain our own choices? And what might our lives look like if we regain our sense of self-possession?
Required Reading:
- Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis (Amazon).
- Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, by Rene Girard (Amazon).
- Shadi’s bad sports tweet.
This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire—the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply.
First theorized by the French philosopher Rene Girard, and present in everything from The White Lotus to the writings of Peter Thiel, mimetic desire is everywhere around us.
We talked about how to identify the power of mimetic desire in our society: in ever more adversarial politics, in an economy increasingly focused on attention, and especially in social-media-mediated quests for collective scapegoats (Shadi shares how he became a scapegoat for Philadelphia sports fans last week).
We discussed if it was possible ever break the cycle of scapegoating, and how knowledge of this dynamic should change how we view politics. What does it mean to be a "political atheist," as Girard, a Catholic, called himself? And is Damir going to Hell?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), we pondered what the more pessimistic conclusions of the theory of mimetic desire might be. What does it mean that societies are to some extent bound to engage in cycles of mimetic imitation, rivalry, and scapegoating? Do citizens in democracies really deliberate rationally, or are they just following the leader? Is Shadi's insistence that democracy is as an end in itself in peril?
We closed by asking what implications this could all have for our personal lives. How can we determine which of our desires are "thin"—mimetically taken from others—or "thick"—coming from a deep sense of self? Do we have to consciously restrain our own choices? And what might our lives look like if we regain our sense of self-possession?
Required Reading:
- Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis (Amazon).
- Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, by Rene Girard (Amazon).
- Shadi’s bad sports tweet.
The Crowd returns triumphantly this week, for a rollicking conversation with one of Twitter's brightest and most iconoclastic personalities, Phillippe Lemoine. Phillippe writes the War on Science newsletter for the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, and is also working on a book on the recent history of Russo-American foreign policy.
We begin the show talking about direct democracy, and whether "the people" are worth listening to. Should we actually want the vox populi to weigh in on, say, American policy towards China, or public health? Maybe not—but does the educated elite have a much better track record? Phillippe tells of his personal encounters with motivated reasoning, ideologically driven conclusions, and just plain stupidity among epidemiologists and statisticians during the pandemic.
We also discuss how deeply felt "wokeism" is among younger generations. Are we doomed as generations turn over, or will the ideological fever eventually break?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), we dig into that final question—the fate of the Great Awokening—even further. What is it about social media that makes us crazy? We ask Phillippe how he stays sane, and protects himself from the pressure to conform ideologically. His answer shows just how far gone Shadi and Damir really are.
Required Reading:
- One of Philippe's many articles critiquing conventional modeling of the Covid pandemic (War on Science).
- The study Philippe criticized, “Estimating the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in Europe,” by Waxman et. al (nature).
- Scott Alexander’s rundown of Covid models and their critiques, including Philippe’s (Slate Star Codex).
The Crowd is back to two members this week, as we sat down to talk about Elon Musk's recent takeover of Twitter and what, if anything, it means. One of Musk's first posts as the owner of Twitter was retweeting a conspiracy theory about the recent attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband— is this a sign that Twitter will become more like Parler, or significantly less-censored corners of the internet?
Liberals are furious about the Musk takeover of Twitter. We discussed what a mass exit from Twitter, or some other series of events that leads to its decline, might mean for broader politics. Will the "dreampolitik" that otherwise quite banal liberals act out on Twitter spill out into real life, if its digital cage erodes? And why are mainstream liberals obsessed with labeling the spaces they create as "nonpartisan?"
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers) we branched out to discuss the ways in which political balkanization has reshaped the boundaries of religious identity and tolerance. Dr. Oz is angling to become America's first Muslim senator, and his religion is almost a nonissue in the campaign— have Muslims quietly become part of the American mainstream?
Shadi also shares his insights into why ethnic minorities are shifting to the right— "personal stories of radicalization," as he puts it. As the twin issues of crime and gender identity become more personal, whether experienced in major cities or in schools, will previously staunchly Democratic ethnic groups become ever more alienated from the left? And as these voters, from the privacy of the ballot box, threaten to punish Democrats in the midterms, will liberals react by questioning the legitimacy of elections?
Required Reading:
- Shadi tweeting about Houellebecq.
- Shadi and Mehdi Hasan arguing about American democracy.
- Youssef Chouhoud’s tweeting about how Shadi and Hasan's argument was a sign of progress.
- “Dearborn divisions over LGBTQ books spur national debate as candidates compete for votes,” by Niraj Warikoo (Detroit Free Press).
American men are struggling across the board. Falling behind in school, rapidly shrinking as a share of students in higher education, overwhelmingly the victims of violent crime, males in the United States are increasingly alienated and disconnected from our economy and society. That's the argument of Richard Reeves, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and author of the acclaimed new book, Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to do About It.
The book is making waves across liberal and conservative media, and we were thrilled to have Richard on to discuss it with the Crowd. He has sharp criticisms for both sides of the culture war: the right weaponizes men's struggles without providing realistic solutions, and the left simply refuses to admit there is a problem at all. We pushed Richard on his proposed solutions of technocratic reforms in areas like education and family law: should we seek to restore social norms around marriage instead of consigning the institution to the past? How do we provide useful social scripts for young men to follow, in a society weighted towards brain and against brawn?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers) we talk about the deep differences in social development between boys and girls. For example, Richard's childhood in England included playing chicken with passing trucks, while schoolyard rock fights were a daily occurrence during Damir's time in Croatia (hailing from the gentler culture of the Philadelphia Main Line, Shadi is shocked).
More seriously, we also discussed the way that the right has monopolized thinking about the effects of cultural and societal norms: how do liberals relearn discussing the importance of culture? Can a broken dating market be fixed? What does it mean if alienated men increasingly turn to illiberal movements and cultural figures like Jordan Peterson? And finally, why is Richard cautiously optimistic about the long-term prospects for men?
Required Reading:
- Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to Do about It, by Richard Reeves (Amazon).
- Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, by Christine Emba (Amazon).
- Our podcast with Christine Emba.
- The Center for Arabic Studies Abroad.
It’s been a turbulent few months for the United Kingdom: the scandal-ridden departure of a prime minister, the death of a beloved queen, economic woes, and the accession of a less-beloved king. We decided it would be best to have an actual British person on the podcast to discuss it all with, so we invited Josh Glancy, columnist for The Sunday Times.
We began by highlighting the strange contrast between the recent upswell of support for the monarchy and Britain’s parlous economic state. Does having a monarchy suppress public discontent by deflecting its attention, and is this a good thing? Also, how can Americans wrap their heads around the monarchy’s function in Britain? Shadi, Damir, and Josh discuss whether the Constitution or Presidency might serve a similar role.
Then, we discussed the monarch who now rules over Britain. Will (now-King) Charles be able to preserve the apolitical, broadly popular place his mother carved out in British life? Or is the institution doomed to become politicized and controversial? The answer, we surmise, might lie in how similar British political culture is to America’s.
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers) Damir asks the question that's on everyone’s mind: is Prince Charles a secret Muslim? Shadi has his thoughts. More seriously, we discuss the religious role of the British monarch, as the head of the Church of England, and how much Christianity shapes public life there. In a relatively irreligious and diverse country like Britain, are average citizens affected by Christianity’s presence in the state? And does the United States, a far more religious country on paper, “feel” any more Christian?
Required Reading:
- Adrian Woolridge, “How a Journalist, a Bureaucrat, and a King Invented British Majesty” (Bloomberg).
- Josh Glancy, “Divided America Needs a Dose of the British Royal Family” (The Times).
- Josh Glancy, “How the British Royal Family Became a Very American Obsession” (American Spectator).
- Josh Glancy, “King Charles III: A New Era Begins With the Most Gloriously Elaborate Piece of Box-Ticking” (The Times).
- Josh Glancy, “Even Now it’s Still Good to be Jewish in the U.S.A.,” (The Jewish Chronicle)
- Josh Glancy, “Party of a Lifetime for the ‘World’s Grandmother’” (The Times).Damir tweeting about the crypto-Islamism of King Charles.
The Crowd is flying solo (duo?) again for this week's episode, focusing on recent developments in the war in Ukraine, Iranian protests, and Europe's under-the-radar political upheavals. The Russian government recently declared a "partial mobilization" to aid in the war effort, and Vladimir Putin threatened to defend Russia's gains with nuclear weapons. How much affect will mobilization have on the course of the war? What kind of precedent does it set to seize territory, then defend those gains with nuclear threats?
Then, we turned to the recent protests shaking Iran—and a larger discussion of how authoritarian regimes hold onto power. Have governments become better at crushing dissent in recent years? And why do dictators seem to love running a dictatorship–an often unpleasant job–so much?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), we talked about the recent success of far right parties in Europe. The Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in neo-fascism, have become the second biggest political party in Sweden's parliament. If Sweden is as tolerant as many Americans would like it to be, what explains their rise? The country's recent rise in Muslim immigration, as well as crime, might point to an answer, although we disagree on the "solutions." Can a crackdown on crime forestall a far-right backlash? Is Muslim integration helped or harmed by such methods? And why do hobbits come into it?
Required Reading:
- “'Nothing Has Really Changed': In Moscow, the Fighting is Worlds Away,” by Valerie Hopkins (The New York Times).
- “Hobbits and the Hard Right: How Fantasy Inspires Italy’s Potential New Leader,” by Jason Horowitz (The New York Times).
- “How Italy is facing a crucial election,” Gideon Rachman’s interview with Nathalie Tocci (The Financial Times).
- “Will Jean Monnet’s Vision for Europe Win Out?” Damir’s interview with Nathalie Tocci for the Atlantic Council.
- The Happiness Lab’s episode on Denmark.
- “Europe’s Growing Muslim Population,” a report from the Pew Research Center.
- “Lead: America’s Real Criminal Element,” Kevin Drum (Mother Jones).
This podcast came after a whirlwind few weeks for the Crowd– Damir returned from his odyssey through the Balkans, and Shadi was the recipient of several Twitter pile-ons. Oh, and the Queen died.
Before getting to all that, though, we ramble through a potpourri of other subjects. Damir gives relationship advice. Shadi tells us why he's against pets and hiking. A conversation about whether animals have souls turns into a discuss of creationism and free speech, touching on some recent arguments in the pages of The Atlantic.
We also continue our conversation about national conservatism from last week, addressing statements made by national conservatives about the nature of rights in the international system. Are rights only real if they're enforceable? And if not, should the very concept be thrown out the window?
In Part 2 of the episode(available here for subscribers) Damir discusses some of the takeaways from his trip to the Balkans: what he saw on his travels made him wonder whether authoritarians like Vladimir Putin imposed themselves on unwilling societies, or if "the people" were more active participants in the process. In other words, are the Russian people as victimized as Western media makes them seem? Finally, Shadi shares his surprise at Britons; depth of feeling for their monarch, as well as his thoughts on what role monarchs play in Western democracies.
We did something a little unusual for this week: a crossover episode. We sat down with Susannah Black Roberts and Peter Mommsen—the hosts of Ploughcast, from Plough Quarterly, a Christian magazine of ideas and culture—for a conversation about the "post-liberal" movement as well as broader questions of the "common good" (does it exist?). All four of us are coming from vastly different perspectives and backgrounds, and that came out in our spirited conversation.
Our conversation about the common good led to deep questions about the nature of politics and law. What are the practical implications of saying, as Martin Luther King did, that "an unjust law is no law at all?" If all humans have souls (even Damir) what does that mean about how we should organize political communities? And how can citizens with fundamental differences be reconciled?
We also discussed the recently released National Conservative Statement of Principles: a manifesto signed by many leaders of the post-liberal right. All four of us had significant disagreements with the Statement—but for different reasons. Will its advocacy for a more robust role for Christianity in public life crowd out religious minorities, as Shadi notes? Susannah, as a self-identified Christian post-liberal herself, goes further, wondering if a Christian conception of the good can even be the foundation for an American political movement.
We also talked about how Christian ideas of justice cohere—or don't—with liberalism. Damir makes a bold claim: articulating a "common good" can't be done without reference to religious principles, and anyone claiming otherwise is deluding themselves. Needless to say, everyone else on the podcast disagrees (the word "Satanic" comes up).
Required Reading:
- The National Conservative Statement of Principles.
- The open letter responding to the National Conservative Statement of Principles (The European Conservative).
- “Our Post-Liberal Moment,” by Susannah Black Roberts (The Spectator World).
- Why Liberalism Failed, by Patrick Deneen (Amazon).
- The AP’s recent report on Canada’s euthanasia policies (The Associated Press).
Just as it has a past, liberalism has a future. The only question is whether this future will be compelling enough for those who have lost faith. We have our doubts. Which is why we wanted to talk to Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man and perhaps the foremost thinker on the development of modern political order. In his new book, Liberalism and Its Discontents, Fukuyama mounts a comprehensive and stirring defense of the liberal idea. But is it enough?
We started by discussing Donald Trump—and other possible threats from the GOP to liberalism. Liberalism hasn't necessarily failed, but it has weakened. How and why did this happen? Is liberalism too "thin" to serve as the bedrock of American identity? Fukuyama argues that modern liberalism has become deformed and is no longer liberal. What would it mean to return to "classical liberalism" and is it even possible?
In Part 2 of the conversation (available here for subscribers), Shadi questioned Fukuyama on whether ostensibly liberal states do in fact promote their own particular conception of the Good. For example, can state-enforced secularism, like France's, be reasonably considered liberal? Damir raises the point that the universalist assumptions behind liberalism may simply not be workable in a large, diverse, societies.
Finally, we talk about the specific ways in which rising illiberalism could be beaten back. Fukuyama believes that the only way to defeat right-wing illiberalism is to defeat it decisively at the polls, through the Democratic Party moving towards the center and ditching its "woke" wing. In the long term, however, Fukuyama is optimistic about liberalism's prospects, and the chances for "partisans of human freedom" to succeed.
Required Reading:
- “Paths to Depolarization,” by Francis Fukuyama (Persuasion).
- Liberalism and Its Discontents, by Francis Fukuyama (Amazon).
- The End of History and the Last Man, by Francis Fukuyama (Amazon).
- Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy, by Francis Fukuyama (Amazon).
- The Transformation of Title IX: Regulating Gender Equality in Education, by R. Shep Melnick (Amazon).
- The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning, by Eve Fairbanks (Amazon).
This week's episode features one of Twitter's more controversial figures: Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy at Yale and author of How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. In true Wisdom of Crowds fashion, we wanted a more measured and wide-ranging exchange of views than Twitter could provide, so we invited Stanley onto the podcast to discuss Trumpism and the Republican Party, the use of the word "fascism," and the dangers of an emerging fascist international.
While there were significant disagreements, our desire for more open and honest dialogue was richly rewarded. Stanley believes that the fascist mode of politics—a precursor to actual fascism—takes American form in Donald Trump and today's GOP. To what extent is Trumpism "legitimate"? Should federal prosecutors do all in their power put Trump away even if that imperils the legitimacy of our democracy? Under what conditions should a political party be banned for anti-democratic activity in the United States?
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), we asked whether Stanley's definition of fascism included things that many would merely consider illiberal. How does diagnosing fascism work in Europe, where almost every country's notion of belonging is at least partly tied to ethnic origin? Are modern notions of citizenship compatible with a non-fascist political philosophy?
We also asked Stanley some more personal questions to close out the episode. Does he see his combative Twitter activity as separate from his academic work and his writing? What is the role of philosophers in the public sphere, and how would he like to be remembered in 200 years (or 50)?
Required Reading:
- How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, by Jason Stanley (Amazon).
- How Propaganda Works, by Jason Stanley (Amazon).
- Jason’s 2015 article, “Democracy and the Demagogue,” where he describes the source of Trump’s appeal (The New York Times).
- “American Fascism?” by Jason Stanley (El Pais).
- “America is now in fascism’s legal phase,” by Jason Stanley (The Guardian).
- The Newsweek story about Sam Harris’ controversial interview (Newsweek).
- Emile: On Education, by Jean-Jacques Rosseau (Amazon).
The FBI's surprise "raid" on Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago this week has been hailed in some quarters as a triumph for the rule of law, and seen in others as signs of a slide into banana-republic status. We invited Jason Willick, a Washington Post columnist who writes on legal issues, to sit down with us and discuss the deeper implications of the event.
True to the Crowd's ethos, we focused on fundamental issues. Jason argued that the polarized reactions to the raid show the difficulty of having federal-level law enforcement in an increasingly divided political climate. Shadi and Damir went back on forth on the question of justice: should law enforcement be entirely impartial, or must prosecutors exercise discretion based on the political context? Does one side bear more blame for our current spiral of mistrust and polarization, or is the problem systemic?
In **Part 2** of our conversation (**available here** for paying subscribers) things got a little heated, as we debated what might restore Americans' belief in democracy. Shadi went (in his own words) "unplugged," talking about his hopes for restoring democratic values. Might a South-Africa-style "truth and reconciliation" commission be appropriate? Damir is skeptical.
And finally, the three conclude with a discussion of whether America can pull out of the spiral. Shadi believes that we need a recovery of civic virtue. Damir thinks the national culture is no longer able to sustain democratic values. And Jason raises the point that full scale democratic backsliding is unlikely, given the size of our country. Ultimately, the choice to reject the polarization cycle will be up to voters– a conclusion both optimistic and pessimistic.
Required Reading:
- "An Informer Told the FBI What Docs Trump Was Hiding, And Where," by William H. Arkin (Newsweek).
- Bill Barr's speech at Hillsdale College.
- "The Problem of Donald Trump Didn't Start with Donald Trump," by Damir (Gen, on Medium).
- Jason Tweeting about the Espionage Act.
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Tweeting about the American "regime."
- "Is Trump Crazy— or calculating? His opponents will have to decide," by Jason (The Washington Post).
We welcomed a truly important thinker onto the podcast this week. Walter Russell Mead joined us to discuss his latest book The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.
Many critics of American foreign policy have long pointed to our long-standing relationship with Israel as proof of the power of the "Israel Lobby" to influence American politics. Mead's latest book shows that reality is far more complicated: the struggles of Zionism in the 19th and 20th centuries have deep resonances with America's self-conception as a nation blessed by Providence. We see a little bit of ourselves in Israel, and act accordingly.
We then moved on to broader questions. How has the American conception of the "arc of history," and our place in it, changed over time? Have modern Americans really lost faith in the American project to a greater degree than previous generations?
In Part 2 of our conversation (available here for paying subscribers), we discussed the future of American engagement with the wider world. How much do we need to pursue human rights abroad? And does a foreign policy based on human rights make us stronger (Damir, of course, is skeptical)?
Mead offers an answer, drawn from his own belief in "Christian realism." In the closing moments of the episode, we talk about the Biden administration's failures and successes in foreign affairs, as well as the reasons recent Democratic administrations have struggled to achieve their geopolitical aims. And finally, how does Providence figure into our future struggles with a rising China?
Required Reading:
- Walter Russell Mead's latest book, The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People (Amazon).
- God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World, and Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World, by Walter Russell Mead (Amazon).
- "Democratic Primaries Are Embroiled in Debate Over Support for Israel," by Jonathan Weisman (The New York Times).
- Huey Long: A Biography, by T. Harry Williams (Amazon).
- All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren (Amazon).
- The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World, by Robert Kagan (Amazon).
This week, we had writer Nick Burns on the podcast. Nick's recent essay, "Why Live in America?" prompted Shadi to write his Monday Note for July 4th. We delve into the ways America is different than Europe, for good and for ill. Size, geography, culture, dynamism—all these twist and disfigure many European imports when they land on our shores.
When educated Americans pine for a more European lifestyle, are they simply reflecting their own class biases? Is the building of high speed rail really a sign of decline? And are democratic values incompatible with the modern university?
We then turned to foreign policy. Nick's recent article in the New Statesman questioning the core assumptions of realism was our jumping-off point for a broader discussion of morality in foreign affairs, and the role of the public's sentiments in states' decision-making. Shadi and Damir of course go at it on the question of a values, with Nick caught in between.
Is arguing for human rights a universalist claim? And is arguing from the vantage point of neutrality its own kind of moralism? And was the 19th century French reactionary Chateaubriand the world's first neocon?
Required Reading:
- The Red Scare podcast.
- The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy, by Christopher Lasch (Amazon).
- "New York's Hipster Wars," by Nick Burns (The New Statesman).
- "America's Medieval Universities," by Nick Burns (American Affairs).
- "What Realists Get Wrong About Putin," by Nick Burns (The New Statesman).
- The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, by Rod Dreher (Amazon).
- Sam Haselby's Twitter account.
- "Unlearning the Language of Wokeness," by Sam Adler-Bell (New York Magazine).
We return to a question that the Crowd has been chewing over for the last month or so: why do things– political systems, regimes, parties– change? Do ideas really change the world? And can individual actions really have any effect on larger systems?
Climate change, and whether we think world governments can mend their ways in time to avert the worst of the crisis, begins the discussion. We discuss whether governments will ever be able to cooperate to the extent needed to "solve" climate change (Damir, predictably, is less sanguine) and whether humanity will find some way to muddle through. Have we, as a species, finally run into a Malthusian limit on progress? How much faith should we have in the prospect of progress?
We later move into a wider ranging discussion of the role of ideas in world politics, and whether the modern world is heavily influenced by abstract ideas, as authors like Francis Fukuyama would argue. Shadi also talks about his personal effort to get his own ideas across– and hopefully accepted by– to American policymakers, in the face of political systems that seem unbearably sluggish and unresponsive.
Finally, in the bonus portion of the episode, available here for subscribers, we use the proliferation of diverse candidates in the Tory leadership race as a springboard into a discussion of democracy. Does the handpicked selection of women and minorities for leadership by party leaders in the United Kingdom showcase the virtues of democracy? Or does its top-down nature show how non-democratic means are sometimes needed to achieve social goods?
Required Reading:
A sample of the Matt Yglesias tweets about European appliances.
"One Billion Americans," by Matt Yglesias (Amazon).
"The Great Stagnation," by Tyler Cowen (Amazon).
Part 2 of our episode with Ross Douthat, wherein we discuss aliens.
Shadi's article about democratic backsliding in Tunisia (The Washington Post).
Elon Musk's thoughts on having 10 children (The New York Post).
"The Origins of Political Order," and "Political Order and Political Decay," by Francis Fukuyama (Both on Amazon).
Our latest Q&A.
John Bolton discussing coups with Jake Tapper.
"The Problem of Democracy," Shadi's forthcoming book (Amazon).
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\n"}]],"markups":[["em"],["strong"],["a",["href","wisdomofcrowds.live/ten-years-of-horror/"]]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"This week was a first for the podcast– we welcomed two guests, Michael Wear and Jane Coaston. Michael is a rare fish, an Evangelical Christian and a Democratic political strategist who worked as President Obama's director of faith outreach in the 2012 campaign, going on to lead Evangelical outreach for the Obama White House's faith based initiative. An article he recently wrote for his Substack, \"This is How to End Abortion Politics as We've Known It,\" has sparked vigorous discussion among the online set. In it, Wear argues that what \"is needed now is legislation which provides a national framework that would contain our abortion debate, even if it would also mean codifying the nation’s long-held consensus that abortion is not a social good, even if a majority also believe it necessary to (re)establish the right to have one.\""]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Jane Coaston, a New York Times opinion writer and host of \"The Argument\" podcast, thinks that Wear is mistaken. In her view, both sides see their position as absolute, and any compromise will be seen as an unacceptable betrayal of the cause. We decided to invite them both onto the pod, to hash it out and discuss the political fallout from the "],[0,[0],1,"Dobbs "],[0,[],0,"decision. "]]],[10,0],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In "],[0,[1],1,"Part 2"],[0,[],0,", available "],[0,[2],1,"here"],[0,[],0," for subscribers, the conversation shifted towards a discussion of first principles and political strategy. We asked Michael how he squared working for President Obama with his own pro-life position, and questioned Jane on whether she thought a \"settlement\" on abortion was even desirable, let alone possible. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Will Republicans after the fall of "],[0,[0],1,"Roe v. Wade "],[0,[],0,"be like the dog who caught the car, as Damir argues? Will Democrats be forced to moderate their strategy on abortion to meet voters where they are? Will either party be able to extricate itself from the demands of its activist class? And finally, we all debate the extent to which Democrats could, or should, have moderated their views on abortion over the past decade. "]]]]}'> This week was a first for the podcast– we welcomed two guests, Michael Wear and Jane Coaston. Michael is a rare fish, an Evangelical Christian and a Democratic political strategist who worked as President Obama's director of faith outreach in the 2012 campaign, going on to lead Evangelical outreach for the Obama White House's faith based initiative. An article he recently wrote for his Substack, "This is How to End Abortion Politics as We've Known It," has sparked vigorous discussion among the online set. In it, Wear argues that what "is needed now is legislation which provides a national framework that would contain our abortion debate, even if it would also mean codifying the nation’s long-held consensus that abortion is not a social good, even if a majority also believe it necessary to (re)establish the right to have one."
Jane Coaston, a New York Times opinion writer and host of "The Argument" podcast, thinks that Wear is mistaken. In her view, both sides see their position as absolute, and any compromise will be seen as an unacceptable betrayal of the cause. We decided to invite them both onto the pod, to hash it out and discuss the political fallout from the Dobbs decision.
In Part 2, available here for subscribers, the conversation shifted towards a discussion of first principles and political strategy. We asked Michael how he squared working for President Obama with his own pro-life position, and questioned Jane on whether she thought a "settlement" on abortion was even desirable, let alone possible.
Will Republicans after the fall of Roe v. Wade be like the dog who caught the car, as Damir argues? Will Democrats be forced to moderate their strategy on abortion to meet voters where they are? Will either party be able to extricate itself from the demands of its activist class? And finally, we all debate the extent to which Democrats could, or should, have moderated their views on abortion over the past decade.
Required Reading:
- "This is How to End Abortion Politics as We've Known It," by Michael, on his Substack.
- "Democrats Shouldn't be so Certain About Abortion," by Michael (The New York Times).
- "How Will We Punish Women Who Have Abortions?" by Jane, (The New York Times).
- "The Argument" episode discussing the Dobbs decision, with Ross Douthat and Michelle Goldberg (The New York Times).
- "Making Abortion Illegal and Unthinkable," by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra Desanctis (National Review).
- Kevin D. Williamson discussing his email exchange with Jane, in National Review's online blog.
- "The Abortion Stories We Didn't Tell," by Rebecca Traister (New York Magazine).
- The full transcript of 2016's third presidential debate (Politico).
This week we sat down to debate America's greatness—or lack thereof. Somewhat to our surprise, we found a source of agreement between us: our belief in American exceptionalism, even if we have very different conceptions of the role of morality and "progress" in forging the American idea.
Countries in Europe may have a more leisurely pace of life and higher levels of reported happiness, but is that really what Americans want? Should it be what they want? Central to all of this are the questions of the state, democracy, and the double-edged sword of meritocracy. If, contrary to popular belief, a certain degree of dysfunction is what makes American society so dynamic, are we better off being a "failed state" then having a strong, efficient state like in Norway, Denmark, or France?
In Part 2 of our discussion, available here for subscribers, we turned to the question of whether the main problem facing American democracy is Trump himself or Trumpism as a movement. If it's the latter, do intellectuals' dire warnings of the threat to democracy really matter, especially if Trumpism is all about resentment? Many American pundits compared the rise of Trump to the rise of Hitler, adding to their sense of urgency in "stopping" him. But, we ask, would a greater awareness of the dangers of Trump really have prevented his rise? Is it possible—or morally appropriate—to stop a criminal before the crime is committed?
The debate over January 6 hinges at least in part on whether it qualified as an "attempted coup." If the coup had succeeded, would it have blocked Biden's transition to power—or was America's messy, dysfunctional democracy a protection against such an outcome?
Required Reading:
- "America is Great Precisely Because it's Not," by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds).
- "Why Live in America?" by Nick Burns on his Substack.
- Damir's Twitter thread on America's supreme adaptability.
- Damir retweeting Garry Kasparov on Europe's struggles with innovation.
- Shadi's Twitter thread on humiliation, resentment, and Jon Stewart's decline.
- William Galston on Tyler Cowen's Average is Over (The Wall Street Journal).
- "How Life Became an Endless, Terrible, Competition" by Daniel Markovits (The Atlantic).
- Shadi's infamous Atlantic piece from before the election.
- Jason Stanley's Twitter.
- Our episode with Bruno Macaes.
- "Notes Towards a Dreampolitik," in The White Album, by Joan Didion.
Jamie Kirchick joins us to discuss the triumph and sorrow of the gay experience in the nation's capitol. This is the story of The Secret City, Kirchick's genre-defining and panoramic history of the gay men and women who served in the halls of power, all the while in constant fear that they would lose their jobs and perhaps even their lives.
It got worse before it got better. We discuss how the national security state—born after World War II—both brought down immense suffering upon countless individuals (including in a string of shocking suicides), and helped shape the consciousness of the country as a whole. There was the red scare, but there was also the "pink scare," with fears of political perversion driving fears of sexual perversion and vice-versa. But was there progress in the end?
The Reagan Administration, despite its homophobia and failures to act on AIDS, could also claim perhaps the largest number of gay political appointees up until that point in U.S. history. And then the closet began to open, so much so that it is difficult to imagine just how horrific it was mere decades ago for gays serving in government. But is this really "progress"—and does it mean we should be optimistic about America's future, despite everything?
Required Reading:
- Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, by Jamie Kirchick.
- "The Long, Sordid History of the Gay Conspiracy," by Jamie Kirchick (New York Magazine).
- "The Struggle for Gay Rights is Over," by Jamie Kirchick (The Atlantic).
- Notes on Camp, by Susan Sontag.
- Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality, by Andrew Sullivan.
- Masha Gessen on Judith Butler (New Yorker).
A few weeks back, a book title caught our eye. It was called Two Billion Caliphs, written by Haroon Moghul. Mixing personal narrative and theological ruminations, it promised to offer a bold new vision for Muslims living in the 21st century. Being that we frequently talk about the importance of religion in the modern world, inviting Haroon on was a no-brainer.
A rich episode ensued. We talked about how 9/11 did (and didn’t) change everything for Muslims in America and how secularism and liberalism drive assimilation for good and for ill. If the Islamic tradition is being subsumed under liberalism, particularly in the West, does Islam's future include so-called "atheist Muslims"? And when it comes to politics, does the future of Islam in America include a Trumpist Republican party that, despite its anti-Muslim sentiments, still manages to run candidates like Dr. Mehmet Oz?
Required Reading:
- Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future, by Haroon Moghul.
- "American Islam gets this beautiful thing right," by Haroon Moghul (CNN)
This week we invited the author Oliver Traldi on the podcast to talk about the role of experts in society and how we assess different kinds of skill, talent, and truth. Oliver, a writing fellow at Heterodox Academy and a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, is one of the most exciting young thinkers and writers around today—as evidenced by his recent tour-de-force of an essay titled "With All Due Respect to the Experts."
The conversation begins with Shadi's half-joking admission that he is being red-pilled in real time, mostly due to the increase in crime and many liberals' inability to concede that it is indeed a problem. This leads to an interesting back and forth about the difficulty of pinpointing truth in a pluralistic and democratic society.
What is the role of experts really? Are "experts" the academic equivalent of pilots flying planes? Would we be better off as a society if we diminished the importance of punditry?
In Part 2, available here for subscribers, the conversation zeroes in on the role of elites, and the qualities needed for effective leadership. Would technocracy seem like a more desirable system if our expert class hadn't sullied its credibility so extensively over the last 20 years? Is the horse-sense of normie voters a better guiding light than the prophecies of an elite class that is all to0 often high on its own supply?
Required Reading
-
"With All Due Respect to the Experts" by Oliver Traldi (American Compass)
-
"The Red-Pilling of Liberal America" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
-
Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, by Phillip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner (Amazon)
-
Smug Pilots New Yorker Cartoon
-
How Propaganda Works, by Jason Stanley (Amazon)
-
Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, by Christopher H. Achen (Amazon)
-
"The Point of Political Belief" by Michael Hannon (Academia)
-
"A crying shame" by Oliver Traldi (Washington Examiner)
Ideas have consequences. From the early 2000s Matt Continetti, the author of the fascinating new book The Right, has worked at some of the leading institutions of American conservatism. He has seen firsthand how many of them fallen or lost their way. But where conservatism's critics see a movement that has become unrecognizable and even dangerous, Continetti sees instead a rich, vibrant, and messy war of ideas, institutions, and personalities.
This week, Continetti—the co-founder of the Washington Free Beacon and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute—offered us a panoramic look at the past and future of the American right and its sometimes odd intellectual evolution. How much do ideas really matter? How might the Republican Party have been different had 9/11 not happened? And would the conservative movement have even been possible without the pervasive threat of communism?
In Part 2, available here for subscribers, the conversation zeroes in on the extent to which conservatism and the right have diverged. Conservatism is meant to conserve, where the New Right is defined by populism and radicalism. Shadi pushes Matt by asking a question that is top of mind for many on the left: To what extent is the Republican Party still democratic? What is it drawing young men to such a revolutionary view of American politics? Is there a limit to anti-American ideas in American politics?
Required Reading
- The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, by Matthew Continetti (Amazon)
- Democratic Realism: An American Foreign Policy for a Unipolar World (Irving Kristol Lecture), by Charles Krauthammer
- "The Unipolar Moment" by Charles Krauthammer (Foreign Affairs)
- Trump's American Carnage Innaugural Address (CSPAN)
This week Shadi and Damir sat down to discuss the Uvalde mass shooting and its aftermath. Tragedy has struck the American psyche once again. The murder of innocent children has Americans groping for answers but the seemingly scripted discourse in the wake of such tragedies provides anything but solid answers. Are there really any viable legislative paths to prevent such terrible shootings? Must everyone “read the room” when Twitter is collectively grieving?
As the conversation progresses, the discussion turns to liberals’ squeamishness about appearing patriotic and what to do when one’s political party changes before their eyes.
In Part 2 of their discussion, available here for subscribers, Shadi admits that he feels somewhat perplexed by swing voters—after all, who hasn’t had time to make up their minds by this point—only to find out that Damir is in fact one of these elusive voters. They go on to discuss their voting histories and ask whether Republicans are more antidemocratic than their counterparts. Also, Shadi admits that he views Mitt Romney and John McCain in a new light while Damir explains his concerns about Vice President Harris potentially taking over for an aging Biden.
Required Reading
- "The U.S. has more in common with South America than Europe" by Samuel Goldman (The Week)
- Shadi's controversial Atlantic piece from before the election.
- "How the Left Lost Me" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- Pat Buchanan's 1992 speech at the RNC
- Matt Yglessias' initial tweet
- Matt Yglessias' apology tweet
- Elon Musk's tweet about voting for Republicans.
- Elon Musk's tweet about the Democrats moving to the left.
- Ted Cruz's one door for schools idea
- "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" by The Beatles (Youtube)
Shadi has been curious about whether he has diverged from the left since Bernie Sanders' campaign, so he invited the socialist thinker Daniel Bessner onto the podcast this week for a spirited discussion of first principles. Bessner is one of the most influential and important leftist intellectuals writing on foreign policy today. He is the Joff Hanauer Honors Professor in Western Civilization at the University of Washington and the author of Democracy in Exile.
What followed was perhaps the most contentious episode in Wisdom of Crowds history. Of course, here at the podcast, we see deep difference as a feature and not a bug, so we hope you'll see this as an example of what spirited but civil disagreement might look like in practice. The fundamental question we wanted to ask was whether American hegemony has, on balance, been "good" or "bad" for the world.
This is a question about a world that seems to have been lost. The unipolar moment is quickly coming to an end—that is, if it isn't already gone. Daniel argues that the decline in American power is both an inescapable reality and a net positive for the world. Shadi and Damir both disagree, but for quite different reasons.
In Part 2 of our conversation, available here for subscribers, the guys dive even deeper into their disagreements over America's role in the world. If the status quo is anything but ideal, what exactly are the alternatives—and are those alternatives plausible?
Damir, looking to press Daniel, suggests that the socialist vision for how the world will improve with an inward-facing Socialist America leaves too many questions unanswered. Shadi bristled at the suggestion of decreasing America's military footprint at the exact time when Russia and China are becoming increasingly aggressive. All the while, Daniel rejects the premise that it's in our interest to militarily aid Ukraine and would prefer that the U.S. take care of its own people and address its own moral disasters instead of pushing its pretend values on the world.
Subscribe here for access to Part 2.
Required Reading
-
Daniel Bessner's podcast, "American Prestige"
-
Daniel's recent appearance on Glenn Loury's podcast
-
Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual, by Daniel Bessner (Amazon)
-
"The American Empire and Existential Enemies" by Daniel Bessner (Foreign Exchanges)
-
"There Are Many Things Worse Than American Power" by Shadi Hamid (Atlantic)
-
"Are We The Good Guys? A Debate with Glenn Greenwald" (Wisdom of Crowds)
-
The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (Amazon)
This week we were joined by Molly Ball, bestselling author of Pelosi, to talk about how the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade will (or won't) change American politics for decades to come. Until a few days ago, Americans could act politically under the assumption that Roe was permanent. But it may not be.
Ending Roe v. Wade would mean abortion would be decided by states, presumably according to the whims, desires—and wisdom—of crowds. To what extent would this be a more "democratic" outcome?
In Part 2 of the conversation, available here for subscribers, the discussion turned toward questions of legitimacy and minority rule. The debate over abortion, after all, is a debate about elites and institutions—and whether bodies like the Supreme Court can, or should, ever be neutral. We also debate whether Evangelicals really believe that abortion is tantamount to genocide. Presumably, if they did, more of them would do something about it.
Also, after Molly raises the specter that "progress" may in fact be real, chaos ensues—featuring a rapid fire exchange between Molly and Damir on first principles.
Subscribe here to listen to Part 2.
Required Reading
-
Pelosi, by Molly Ball (Amazon)
-
"Overturning Roe would make America more democratic" by Jason Willick (Washington Post)
-
"The war that never ends" (Economist)
-
"Is This Trump’s World Now? Four Opinion Writers on the Dobbs Leak and Vance’s Big Win." by Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Jane Coaston, Michelle Cottle and Ross Douthat (New York Times)
-
"How Southern Baptists became pro-life" by David Roach (Baptist Press)
Much of the freakout about Elon Musk buying Twitter is based on an assumption that social media is integral to democracies and a critical tool for dissidents living in repressive regimes. But what if that assumption is overblown? Are the dustups over Twitter's new ownership really just a proxy war for the broader freedom of speech debate that has been ratcheting up recently?
Just as Elon was talking up Twitter, Barack Obama gave a major address calling for government regulation of social media platforms to curb "misinformation." Here, then, are two contrasting visions that speak to essential differences over freedom and truth—and who determines what constitutes truth in the first place.
In Part 2 of the conversation, available here for subscribers, Shadi and Damir debate whether low information or high information voters are better for democracy. Ordinary voters say they believe in crazy things, but in their day-to-day lives don't behave as if they believe. Ideologues, on the other hand, tend to be well-educated, so clearly better education or information isn't the answer. But then what is?
Required Reading
-
Damir's tweet about Elon buying Twitter
-
Obama's speech on misinformation and disinformation at Standford
-
"Human rights groups raise hate speech concerns after Musk's takeover of Twitter" by Kanishka Singh (Reuters)
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"To End Foreign Meddling, End Anonymity" by Damir Marusic (American Interest)
-
"How Musk could burst Obama’s ‘disinformation’ bubble" by Jason Willick (Washington Post)
-
"Bad News" by Joseph Bernstein (Harpers)
-
National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin (Department of Homeland Security)
-
"Just Keep It Off My Timeline!" by Freddie deBoer (Substack)
-
"READING: H.L. Mencken (December 1933): On Adolf Hitler" by Brad DeLong (Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality)
-
The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics, by Mark Lilla (Amazon)
-
The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction, by Mark Lilla (Amazon)
-
"The Texas Lawsuit and the Age of Dreampolitik" by Ross Douthat (New York Times)
-
Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, by Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels (Amazon)
-
"Fantasy and Reality in Biden's America" with guest Bruno Bruno Maçães (Wisdom of Crowds)
This week, Elisabeth Zerofsky of The New York Times Magazine joins us after recent reporting trips in Paris and Berlin. In Part 1, we talked about the upcoming French election and the rise of the far-right in France. The West is looking on nervously as President Macron tries to fend off a challenge from Marine Le Pen, a populist with ties to Putin. Regardless of the outcome, French voters have veered to the right—with fear of Islam driving public debate and mainstream politicians refusing to disavow the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.
In Part 2 of the discussion, available here for subscribers, the conversation shifts to Germany's growing sense of crisis. Is Germany the new "sick of man of Europe"? During the Trump years, American liberals saw Angela Merkel as a sort of substitute leader of the free world. But Merkel legacy's may be in for a not-so-kind reckoning. Also: Damir wonders out loud whether Shadi is, deep down, a crypto-neoconservative.
Subscribers get access to all paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&A features with Shadi and Damir, our full essay archive, as well as members-only conversations with guests like Ross Douthat and Glenn Greenwald. You can subscribe here and cancel anytime.
Required Reading
-
"The End of History Dies Hard in Berlin" by Elisabeth Zerofsky (Wisdom of Crowds)
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"France's Far Right Turn" by Elisabeth Zerofsky (New York Times)
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"'Worst crisis since the second world war’: Germany prepares for a Russian gas embargo" by (Financial Times)
-
Philly D.A., directed by Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicola Salazar (Amazon)
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Trump's meeting with Germany
This week, Shadi and Damir debate whether the war in Ukraine is breathing new life into the liberal idea. It seemed like liberalism might stage a comeback, but Putin-adjacent rightwing populists are still going strong in France and Hungary. Shadi insists he's a liberal who's critical of liberalism, which pushes Damir to question what exactly that means in practice. When is too much illiberalism too much? Also: Damir wonders whether Prohibition got a bad rap.
In Part 2 of their discussion, available here, Shadi and Damir go deeper into how the challenges to liberalism play out in foreign policy, and debate whether democracies are less cruel during war. Is America a moral power? Does that make us better?
Subscribers get access to all paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&A features with Shadi and Damir, our full essay archive, as well as members-only conversations with guests like Ross Douthat and Glenn Greenwald.
Required Reading
-
"Is There Such Thing as the Common Good?" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
-
"Why I Am Not A Liberal" by Liam Bright (Sooty Empiric)
-
"A Country of Their Own" by Francis Fukuyama (Foreign Policy)
-
"Preparing for Defeat" by Francis Fukuyama (American Purpose)
-
"Can Liberalism Thrive Without a Wolf at the Door?" by Ross Douthat (New York Times)
-
"The Enemies of Liberalism Are Showing Us What It Really Means" by Ezra Klein (New York Times)
This week we were joined by Christine Emba, a columnist at the Washington Post and author of the fascinating new book Rethinking Sex: A Provocation. What resulted was the longest episode in Wisdom of Crowds history, delving into some uncharted territory. We discuss a lot of big topics—the perils of modern dating, the sex recession, consent, incels, marriage, porn, and Tinder hookup culture. If we have so much freedom, why are we so unhappy about it?
Shadi presses Christine about whether her arguments about sex are a metaphor for broader disappointments with liberalism and the burdens of unlimited choice. Damir wonders if Christine is being a bit Straussian in an attempt to push conservative values into sex discourse.
In Part 2 of our conversation, available here, we dive deeper into the fraught world of sex culture in America today. When one can "order" the delivery of a sexual partner, like the Tinder Delivery Guy story from Christine's book, is it time to go back to the drawing board? Can a case be made that people were more happy decades (or centuries) ago? Also, Christine lays out her argument that consent is not enough.
Subscribers get access to all paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&A features with Shadi and Damir, our full essay archive, as well as members-only conversations with guests like Ross Douthat and Glenn Greenwald.
Subscribe here to listen to Part 2.
Required Reading
-
Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, by Christine Emba (Amazon)
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"Consent is not enough. We need a new sexual ethic." by Christine Emba (Washington Post)
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"Victorians, Manners, and the Woke Wars" (Wisdom of Crowds)
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"Cat Person" by Kristen Roupenian (New Yorker)
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"A Manifesto Against Sex Positivity" by Michelle Goldberg (New York Times)
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"Searching for a Mate: The Rise of the Internet as a Social Intermediary" by Michael J. Rosenfeld and Reuben J. Thomas (American Sociological Review)
In a classic wide-ranging episode, Shadi and Damir kick things off by noticing that the Ukraine War is no longer capturing “the discourse” as it did a week ago. Does how we consume media make it difficult for us to grapple with the moment’s most important stories? And does the same phenomenon make us overrate the importance of things like wokeness?
As the conversation proceeds, and talk turns to Biden’s democracy-versus-autocracy worldview, Damir asks Shadi if he would have supported the Vietnam War, and whether he might one day end up a politician.
In Part 2 of our conversation, available here, Shadi and Damir talk about religion, legality, war, and the importance of the existence of God for the possibility of justice. Is it better to be a believer than a godless agnostic?
Subscribers get access to all paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&A features with Shadi and Damir, and our full essay archive.
What’s the nature of our enemy in Ukraine? Is it Putin, Russia, or authoritarianism? What are the sources of the West’s strength and its capacities for revival? And how should we think about evil in the world? The political philosopher Samuel Kimbriel joins Shadi and Damir to help unpack these questions, and many others in a wide-ranging philosophical discussion.
In Part 2 of our conversation with Samuel Kimbriel, available here, the debate intensifies around whether finitude entails a more confrontational American foreign policy or a more humble one. Will the threat of an external enemy push Americans out of their decadence and towards a new kind of proto-messianism?
Required Reading
Required Reading
-
"Death and Morality in the War on Ukraine" by Samuel Kimbriel (Wisdom of Crowds)
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"We Need to Talk About a No-Fly Zone" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
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“Putin’s Palace: The History of the World’s Largest Bribe,” by Alexei Navalny (YouTube)
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Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World, by Shadi Hamid (Amazon)
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Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation, by Samuel Kimbriel (Amazon)
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Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich (Amazon)
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"Ross Douthat on Decadence, Wokeness, and UFOs" (Wisdom of Crowds)
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"The (Aggressive) Pursuit of Happiness" (Wisdom of Crowds)
The firebrand journalist and author Glenn Greenwald joined us for a broad-ranging discussion on the war in Ukraine and the past few decades of American foreign policy. We tackled the comparisons between Russia's invasion, the Iraq War, and other disastrous American foreign policy failures. Does America's good intent set it apart from countries like Russia, or are we more similar than we care to admit?
In Part 2 of our conversation, available here for subscribers, we ask Glenn whether the U.S. should continue arming the Ukrainian resistance, and what an endgame would even look like. Shadi argues that, for all its faults, American hegemony is better than any of the available alternatives while Damir wonders whether "better" is even a relevant category. Perhaps a multipolar world is inevitable. If so, how should we think about such a world and our role in it?
Required Reading
-
Glenn's Substack
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"War Propaganda About Ukraine Becoming More Militaristic, Authoritarian, and Reckless" by Glenn Greenwald (Substack)
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"Victoria Nuland: Ukraine Has 'Biological Research Facilities,' Worried Russia May Seize Them" by Glenn Greenwald (Substack)
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"The Ugly Truth About No-Fly Zones" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
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"There Are Many Things Worse Than American Power" by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic)
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"141 countries vote to condemn Russia at UN" by Ivana Saric and Zachary Basu (Axios)
This week, Berlin-based journalist and New York Times Magazine contributing writer Elisabeth Zerofsky joins us to discuss how Russia's invasion of Ukraine has changed Europe. What explains the righteous fury of previously pacific Germans? Shadi asks Elisabeth and Damir what a "red line" in Ukraine could possibly be—or if it even exists. For example, how might the United States respond in hypothetical scenarios of large-scale massacres and the leveling of entire cities.
In Part 2, available here for subscribers, we debate whether Europe has a preference for white—and specifically non-Muslim—refugees. "Anti-immigrant" leaders on the far-right are, all of a sudden, discovering a soft spot for migrants. Are Europeans racist? Perhaps, the argument goes, it's easier to integrate Ukrainians because they are secular, culturally similar, and look like "us." Can that ever justify the double standard? Shadi decides to do away with caution and make a rather controversial argument.
Subscribe here to listen—and get access to all paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&A features with Shadi and Damir, our full essay archive, and members-only conversations with guests like Ross Douthat and Glenn Greenwald.
Required Reading
-
"Negotiating with Madmen" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
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"On Putin, Rationality, and Believing In Heaven" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
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Is EU Concerned? Twitter account
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"Gerhard Schröder Casts a Dark Shadow over Berlin's Foreign Policy" (Spiegel)
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Benjamin Wittes' tweet
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"Why John Mearsheimer Blames the US for the Crisis in Ukraine" by Isaac Chotiner (New Yorker)
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Michael Cecire and Damir's Twitter exchange
Shadi and Damir sit down again, four days into the war in Ukraine, to look at where things stand, and where things could be going. We talk best- and worst-case scenarios, why the West can’t get militarily involved, and why the Europeans in particular are so white-hot furious about Putin's invasion.
Shadi and Damir sat down to do a quick episode today as Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine. They talk about how the world got to this point, what we in the West could have done differently, what could happen next, and what it means for the future of America. We hope you find this real-time attempt at analysis useful and helpful.
Required Reading
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"Negotiating with Madmen" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
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"America’s role in the Russia and Ukraine situation" (AP)
In this week's episode, we were joined by Joy Marie Clarkson, author of the new book Aggressively Happy: A Realist's Guide to Believing in the Goodness of Life. Joy and Shadi exchange thoughts on ways to best find happiness while Damir remains skeptical that such a goal is worthy of pursuit. As the conversation progresses, the discussion turns to deep questions about how one should think about the brevity of life, what role romantic partners play in happiness, and whether Shadi is actually pursuing happiness or just avoiding FOMO.
In a highlight of Wisdom of Crowds podcasting history, Joy turns the tables on Damir midway through the episode and plays interviewer, while Shadi sits back in fascination.
In this week's Bonus episode for subscribers, Shadi and Damir sit down again to continue pulling on some of the deep threads from the main episode. Their conversation ends up being the most detailed discussion the two have had about their religious and spiritual views, culminating in a revelatory breakthrough that had remained elusive for their first two years of podcasting.
Subscribe here to listen. Members will also gain access to other paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&A features with Shadi and Damir, and our full archive of Friday Essays.
Required Reading
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Aggressively Happy: A Realist's Guide to Believing in the Goodness of Life, by Joy Marie Clarkson (Amazon)
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Joy's podcast on arts, culture, and theology, "Speaking with Joy"
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Plough Quarterly, a magazine on the role of religion in public life
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Shadi's new project with Christian theologian Matthew Kaemingk (Fuller Seminary)
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A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara (Amazon)
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The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Amazon)
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A Place for Us, by Fatima Farheen Mirza (Amazon)
From Leon Trotsky to Sayyid Qutb to the Founding Fathers, Shadi and Damir discuss revolution in all its forms. The guys argue about the importance of ideas, the role of violence, and how order is legitimized. Can democracy keep the peace?
Part 2 of our conversation is available here for subscribers. Shadi and Damir turn their attention to the revolutionary impulses on both the conservative right and the woke left. While the intellectuals behind these movements likely don't consider themselves to be advocating for the overthrow of our system, does that mean they are fine operating in the system? Or are we approaching a tipping point of revolutionary impulse in America?
Subscribe here to listen. Members will also gain access to other paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&As with Shadi and Damir, and our full archive of Friday Essays.
Required Reading
- The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky, by Isaac Deutscher (Amazon)
- The Democracy Essays (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Am I a Trotskyite?" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
- Hitler: A Global Biography, by Brendan Simms (Amazon)
- Terrorism and Communism: A Reply to Karl Kautsky (Revolutions), by Leon Trotsky, Foreword by Slavoj Žižek (Amazon)
- "Taking People as They Are: Islam as a 'Realistic Utopia' in the Political Theory of Sayyid Qutb" by Andrew F. March (American Political Science Review)
- "The Philosopher of Islamic Terror" by Paul Berman (New York Times)
- "Liberalism Has an Unhappiness Problem" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Sohrab Ahmari on Liberalism, Tradition, and Political Catholicism" (Wisdom of Crowds)
After two years of podcasting together, Shadi and Damir think they've gained some clarity on where their worldviews diverge: it's especially pronounced on the question of how to do foreign policy. As the conversation unspools, and with the ghost of John McCain hovering over the show, the guys draw out where they come out on various milestones—from the Iraq war, to NATO Expansion, to Obama's policy of "Don't do stupid sh*t."
Part 2 of our conversation is available here. Shadi and Damir take note of how disappointing last 20 years of history have been for U.S. foreign policy, and ask whether Trump's legacy might be as lasting as Reagan or Truman's.
Subscribe here to listen. Members will also gain access to other paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&As with Shadi and Damir, and our full archive of Friday Essays.
Required Reading
- "Not Caring about Ukraine and Feeling Guilty About It" (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Who Wrecked Afghanistan?" (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Wokeness Is Not Leftism. Or Is It?" (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "The U.S. Approach to Ukraine’s Border War Isn’t Working. Here’s What Biden Should Do Instead." by Samuel Charap (Politico)
- "Why America Needs Hypocrisy" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
In this week's episode, we were joined by our friend Aaron Sibarium, a reporter for the Washington Free Beacon. Aaron recently reported a piece showing how three states were rationing COVID drugs on race-based criteria. The article made a splash. Fox News covered the story, Trump referenced it in a speech (sloppily as always), and Twitter tried to rebrand it as a right-wing talking point.
Prioritizing woke ideology over medical realities can cost lives. But we tried to stay true to the Wisdom of Crowds ethos and made our best faith effort to ask whether race-based triage can ever be justified on practical or philosophical grounds. Is this the result of good intentions going off the rails, or is something more sinister at work?
Part 2 of our conversation is available here. With Aaron playing referee, Damir tries to use "wokeness" to get Shadi to denounce leftism. While explaining how his affinity for Bernie intersects with his views on cultural progressivism, Shadi slips up and uses one of Damir's trigger words–progress. Chaos ensues.
Subscribe here to listen. Members will also gain access to other paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&As with Shadi and Damir, and our full archive of Friday Essays.
Required Reading:
- "Food and Drug Administration Guidance Drives Racial Rationing of COVID Drugs" by Aaron Sibarium (Washington Free Beacon)
- "Hospital System Backs Off Race-Based Treatment Policy After Legal Threat" by Aaron Sibarium (Washington Free Beacon)
- "Hospitalization and Mortality among Black Patients and White Patients with Covid-19" (New England Journal of Medicine)
Is a war in Ukraine coming? And what should the U.S. do about it? Putin is sticking to his maximalist demands, which some believe might be used as a (flimsy) casus belli. Samuel Charap, a senior analyst at RAND and author of Everyone Loses, joins us this week to help break down this dangerous moment, explain how we got here, and what our next steps should be.
With few Americans paying attention, this could be a pivotal moment for Russia's broader ambitions in Europe. Despite his relatively weak hand, Putin has been playing it well. Samuel, Damir, and Shadi debate whether the U.S. can or should "do more"—and what does doing more look like, anyway?
Our follow up bonus episode is available here for subscribers. Shadi confides that he doesn't care that much about Ukraine, while feeling somewhat guilty about it. Which leads to a classic Damir-and-Shadi back and forth about counterfactual history and what it means to care about anything.
Required Reading:
- "A Consensus Proposal for a Revised Regional Order in Post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia" by Samuel Charap, Jeremy Shapiro, John J. Drennan, Oleksandr Chalyi, Reinhard Krumm, Yulia Nikitina, Gwendolyn Sasse (RAND)
- "Everyone Loses: The Ukraine Crisis and the Ruinous Contest for Post-Soviet Eurasia" by Samuel Charap and Timothy Colton (Amazon)
- "The U.S. Approach to Ukraine’s Border War Isn’t Working. Here’s What Biden Should Do Instead." by Samuel Charap (Politico)
- "Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate" by M.E. Sarotte (Amazon)
- "What Putin Really Wants From the Ukraine Crisis" by Brett Stephens (New York Times)
It used to be called "political correctness." It had its heyday in the 1990s, then it went underground. While we weren't paying attention, an entire architecture of speech restrictions was being built on campuses across the country. Greg Lukianoff, CEO of FIRE and co-author of the bestselling The Coddling of the American Mind, joins us to discuss what he calls the "second great age of political correctness."
When people say cancel culture isn't real, are they arguing in good faith? One part of the story is the lack of diversity in American universities—in disciplines like anthropology, the ratio of liberal to conservative professors is 42 to 1. If we care so much about diversity, why don't we seem to care viewpoint diversity?
Required Reading:
- "The Second Great Age of Political Correctness" by Greg Lukianoff (Reason)
- "How To Keep Your Corporation Out of the Culture War" by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff (Persuasion)
- "The Polarization Spiral" by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff (Persuasion)
- The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
- The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium by Martin Gurri
- Manliness by Harvey Mansfield
This week we were joined by Sam Adler-Bell, cohost of the Know Your Enemy podcast. We examined the New Right, their earnestly held belief that liberals have already won the battle for the soul of the country, and America's crisis of legitimacy. Is it even worth trying to bridge the gap between left and right on cultural issues?
Part 2 of our conversation, is available here for subscribers.
Required Reading:
- "The Radical Young Intellectuals Who Want to Take Over the American Right" by Sam Adler-Bell (New Republic)
- "Young, Radical, and on the Right (w/ Nate Hochman)" by Know your Enemy
- "Shadi Hamid on Being an Anti-‘Woke’ Progressive" by Matt Lewis
- "Michael Brendan Dougherty on Identity, Culture, and the False Promise of Liberation" by Wisdom of Crowds
- "Ross Douthat on Decadence, Wokeness, and UFOs" by Wisdom of Crowds" by Wisdom of Crowds
- "Sohrab Ahmari on Liberalism, Tradition, and Political Catholicism" by Wisdom of Crowds
- Trump’s Full Inauguration Speech 2017
Power corrupts, sure, but is there any way to avoid its temptations? As Shadi wraps up writing his book, the guys discuss democracy, Succession, how to be happy, having kids during climate change, and Putin’s essay on Ukraine.
Required Reading:
- "Am I Still a Progressive?" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "The Coming Storm" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" (ostensibly) by - Vladimir Putin
- "In tiny Bhutan, known for Its pursuit of happiness, democracy brings discontent" by Joanna Slater (The Washington Post)
- Succession by HBO
What was it like to live through the fall of Kabul? How should we think about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan? And with famine enveloping the country amid an unprecedentedly severe state collapse, how should we approach—and deal with—the ruling Taliban authorities?
This week we are joined by Dr. Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Dr. Omar Sadr, both of the newly-launched Afghanistan Project at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets, to talk about what lies ahead for the long-suffering Afghan people.
Recommended Reading:
"Afghanistan: a Vicious Cycle of State Failure" by Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili
The Afghanistan Project - Center for Governance and Markets, University of Pittsburg
"Afghans at risk of near-universal poverty, UN report warns" by Peter Beaumont (The Guardian)
"In Afghanistan, the threat of widespread famine looms as drought and hunger continues" by All Things Considered (NPR)
In this episode, Shadi and Damir analyze the Rittenhouse verdict and question how the media's framing shaped people's initial reactions. The conversation turns to the state of American democracy. Damir questions whether he has been too glib about the recent moves made by the Republican Party. Is our democracy approaching an inflection point?
Part 2 of our conversation is available for subscribers. In the episode, we dive into Damir's last Friday Essay "The Coming Storm". Was Damir too pessimistic about the state of the post Cold War order? The U.S. should rethink its foreign policy priorities, but what should those new priorities be?
Required Reading:
"Newspaper Corrections Run Amok With Trivia" by Michael Kinsley (The Washington Post)
"The Rittenhouse Verdict Is Only Shocking If You Followed the Last Year of Terrible Reporting" by Matt Taibbi (TK News by Matt Taibbi)
"The Rittenhouse Trial Could Never Have Been What Americans Wanted" by David A. Graham (The Atlantic)
"The Rittenhouse Trial and the Value of Silence" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
In this episode Shadi and Damir analyze the Virginia gubernatorial race and question whether it has any national implications. Shadi examines his biases around whether the outcome was bad or not. We then shift to a conversation about the Democratic Party's smug righteousness. Are Democrats too patronizing to retain enough swing voters to win in 2024? Do Democrats deserve a comeuppance for their smugness?
Part 2 of our conversation is available for subscribers. We discuss the impact of COVID in Eastern Europe and question how it should shape our feelings around COVID in America. Where is the vision of what returning to normalcy, and living with COVID, will look like? Should Shadi take a break from the Internet?
Required Reading:
- "The Fox News Fallacy" by Ruy Teixeira (The Liberal Patriot)
- "Why Is Everything Suddenly Racist?" by Zaid Jilani
- "Nice Woke Parents" by Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
As Biden struggles to get his massive spending bill passed, WoC's former Associate Editor Matt Winesett joins Shadi and Damir to talk about guns, gentrification, opera, the race for Governor of Virginia, and the sad state of the Republican Party.
Required Reading:
- Matt's essays at WoC.
- "Trump's Look Backward Poses Peril for GOP," by Gerald F. Seib (WSJ).
- The Citizen app.
- "Glenn Youngkin's Viral 'Child' Ad is Missing Important Context," by Glenn Kessler (WaPo).
- "Nice Woke Parents" (Wisdom of Crowds).
Damir and Shadi talk about health security theater during this latest phase of the pandemic, before going on to discuss how technocratic approaches tend to worsen and exacerbate polarization in democratic societies. Also: can anyone make a moral case for democracy without recourse to God?
Required reading:
- The Islamic World Today: Issues and Perspectives (Brigham Young University)
- "The danger of bringing religious zeal to the political realm," by Shadi Hamid (Deseret News).
- "One in 5,000," by David Leonhardt (NYT).
- Public Opinion, by Walter Lippmann.
- "Limits to Democracy," by Roger Scruton (New Criterion).
- "Solutionism Is Not the Solution," by Damir Marusic (WoC)
It's no secret that the United States is in a bad place. Fiona Hill saw the chaos and blunders up close, as deputy assistant to President Trump and top Russia advisor at the White House. In November 2019, she was a witness in House hearings during the Trump's first impeachment.
Fiona has a new book out There Is Nothing For You Here and is back at the Brookings Institution. She joins Shadi and Damir to talk about whether she would would have agreed to work under Trump knowing what she knows now. Was there anything redeeming about Trump in the flesh? Fiona also discusses growing up poor in British coal country, seeing our divisions from inside the Trump administration, and how to apply the lessons other countries have learned in building unity at home.
Does America need a national reconciliation process? Can the country's divides be fixed through policy innovation or must Americans resign themselves to living with people who are beyond the pale?
Required Reading:
- There is Nothing For You Here, by Fiona Hill
- Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin, by Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy
- "The Role of Islam in European Populism" by Shadi Hamid (Brookings)
- "Dealing with the Dignity Deficit", by Damir Marusic (The American Interest)
Elbridge Colby joins Shadi and Damir to talk about his challenging new book The Strategy of Denial, an unflinchingly clinical argument for confronting China. Does China's authoritarianism make it our enemy, or is confrontation inevitable regardless? Will our allies stick by our side just because China is a bully? And what does Henry Kissinger get wrong about power politics?
Is America the most successful third world country on earth? Shadi and Damir welcome Samuel Goldman, author of the new book After Nationalism, onto the podcast for a raucous discussion on national identity, the likelihood of another civil war, and the possibility that, because it has more in common with Latin America than Europe, the United States may be the best place on the planet.
Required Reading:
- After Nationalism, by Samuel Goldman.
- A symposium on the book at Law and Liberty.
- Sam's column at The Week.
- Bruno Maçaes on dreampolitik.
- "The Case Against Consensus," by Shadi Hamid.
- "Who Are America's Peers," by Samuel Goldman.
This summer, the inherent ugliness of the world reasserted itself. And yet we Americans still found a way to make it all about us, who we think we are, and what we think we represent. Shadi and Damir sit down to talk about the remarkable frivolity of our politics today, and whether there's any way out.
Required reading:
- Shadi's recent Friday Essay on Carl Schmitt.
- Damir's recent Friday Essay on the Missionary Position.
- Damir's tweet on politics.
With the drawdown complete, Shadi and Damir sit down to talk about what could have worked better in Afghanistan—and what the democracy promotion community can learn from America's two decade commitment.
Could we have done Libya better, or are our dysfunctions baked in to our bureaucracy? And what hope is there for Tunisia now?
Recommended Reading:
- Twitter thread on the Human Terrain System.
- Shadi’s Atlantic piece.
- Damir’s Examiner piece.
- Mike McFaul on Obama's realism.
How did it all go wrong? Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, a leading scholar of Afghanistan, joins Damir and Shadi to dissect the Taliban's victory and discuss what it tells us about the failures of America's nation-building effort. Why did the Afghan government collapse so quickly? Have the technocrats and NGOs in the democracy promotion industry been completely discredited? And for the sake of the Afghan people, should we now help the Taliban succeed in governing the country? Things get heated.
Murtazashvili is director of the Center for Governance and Markets and associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh and the author of Informal Order and the State in Afghanistan. She lived in Afghanistan for 3 years, conducting fieldwork in rural villages across the country, and previously worked at the US Agency for International Development and the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit.
Recommended reading:
- Jen Murtazashvili in the Washington Post
- "Afghanistan is not the Balkans," by Thomas Barfield (ResearchGate)
- Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History, by Thomas Barfield (Amazon)
- Nassim Taleb on the Taliban's refusal to deadlift
- "When Terrorists and Criminals Govern Better Than Governments," by Shadi Hamid, Vanda Felbab-Brown, and Harold Trinkunas (The Atlantic)
With Kabul close to collapse, Shadi and Damir argue about the nature of the multiple screwups in Afghanistan, both long-term and of more recent vintage. What exactly is Biden doing wrong? Should we stay a bit longer, and if so, to what end? And what lessons should Americans learn from all if it?
Recommended reading:
- Aris Roussinos' tweet thread.
- "Afghanistan’s Unraveling May Strike Another Blow to U.S. Credibility," by Steven Erlanger (NYT).
- Jen Murtazashvili (recently in the Washington Post).
Fresh off a joint trip to Europe, Shadi and Damir debate if the Balkans are where political theories go to die, and "Great Man" interpretations of history are vindicated. They also observe how Americans' and Europeans' responses to COVID continue to differ, and lament the return of DC's mask mandate. Finally, Damir and Shadi discuss the conundrum facing liberal politicians pressured to enact vaccine mandates. Are they a necessary step to corral intransigent holdouts? Or a new form of discrimination against blacks and hispanics, who are vaccinated at lower rates than whites?
Their conversation continues in a bonus episode out next week, in which they carry on their debate about democratic theory in the context of the ongoing strife in Tunisia. Subscribe here to get it straight to your inbox.
Recommended Reading:
- Damir's tweet
- Shadi's response
Parents in the 1990s believed they were doing their children a favor by instilling in them the ethos “do what you like, follow your dreams, and things will work out.” But Michael Brendan Dougherty, author of My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son's Search for Home, argues that sometime in the 2000s, this promise of liberation revealed itself as a curse, feeling more like abandonment than instruction. In a wide-ranging conversation, he, Shadi, and Damir talk about the meaning and importance of identity, where modernity falls short, the promise and peril of nationalism, and much more.
In Part Two, available here for subscribers, the conversation continues with a discussion about immigration in America and Europe, if Islam is the religion of the future, whether white Americans have a distinct identity, and if right-wing governments in Poland and Hungary are harbingers of the future or the last gasps of a dying ideology.
Subscribe here to listen to the rest of the discussion. Members will also have access to our recent two-part conversation with Ross Douthat as well as our weekly Friday Essays.
Recommended Reading:
- My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son's Search For Home, by Michael Brendan Dougherty (Amazon)
- "Critical Race Theory as Metaphysics," by Michael Brendan Dougherty (National Review)
- "Why the Fight Over Critical Race Theory Matters," by Michael Brendan Dougherty (National Review)
Wisdom of Crowds associate editor Matt Winesett joins Damir and Shadi to debate Donald Rumsfeld's legacy and if his mistakes permanently discredited nation building and democracy promotion abroad. They also discuss how younger Millennials perceived the Iraq War, whether Bushism or Trumpism would better serve the GOP's future, how much politicians' personal character ultimately matters, and much more.
Their conversation continues in a bonus episode, out next week. Subscribe here to get it straight to your inbox.
Recommended Reading:
- “The Defense Secretary Who Let Bin Laden Get Away,” by Peggy Noonan (The Wall Street Journal)
- “The Hubris of Donald Rumsfeld,” by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
- “Oh, the Audacity!” by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream, by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam (Amazon)
- American Conservatism: Reclaiming an Intellectual Tradition, by Andrew Bacevich (Amazon)
- "Dispatches From the Conservative Bubble," with Matt Winesett, Damir Marusic, and Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "The Poetry of D. H. Rumsfeld," by Donald Rumsfeld (Slate)
Damir calls in from a conference in Slovakia and describes what life is like in a land without widely available vaccines. Shadi addresses why he won't just register as a Republican already (or convert to Catholicism). And they both discuss if Europe is in danger of sinking into irrelevance, whether George W. Bush should have sent troops to Crimea, the relationship between America's power and its values, and much more.
Recommended Reading:
- "Biden Talks a Big Game on Europe. But His Actions Tell a Different Story," by Jeremy Shapiro (Politico)
- "Morality is Impossible Without Power," by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "How Liberal Triumphalism Breeds Passivity," by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
- The Avery James tweet
Damir and Shadi return to a familiar topic, but this time with a twist. Damir manages to sound like an optimist. He argues that the fad of wokeness will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions, while Shadi thinks it's probably too late. They also discuss whether justice is possible without God, the rather odd fact that Shadi's first academic article was on feminist theory, why white parents seem nonplussed about indoctrinating their kids, and whether a rising crime wave will undermine the woke revolution.
The debate continues in a special bonus episode, out on Saturday. Subscribe here to get it straight to your inbox.
Recommended Reading:
- "How America Fractured Into Four Parts," by George Packer (The Atlantic)
- "How Michel Foucault Lost the Left and Won the Right," by Ross Douthat (The New York Times)
- "Stop Blaming the Pandemic for America's Violent Crime Wave," by Zaid Jilani (Inquire)
- "Nice Woke Parents, Episode 4," (The New York Times)
- The Harper's Letter
“What fascinates and terrifies us about the Roman Empire is not that it finally went smash,” W. H. Auden once wrote, but rather that “it managed to last for four centuries without creativity, warmth, or hope.” In his latest book, The Decadent Society, Ross Douthat suggests contemporary America may be in a similar spot. He joined Shadi and Damir to discuss the factors contributing to our present state of decadence, and possible avenues out—from wokeness to a new post-liberal politics to UFOs.
In Part Two, available here, the conversation continues with Damir asking Ross if wokeness will burn itself out or if it must be countered with a new, more compelling faith. Shadi, Ross, and Damir also discuss why more and more elites are no longer Christian, if meritocracy has failed, the role of rationalism and faith in sustaining the American project, and why—despite his religious conservatism—more liberals don't hate Ross.
Recommended Reading:
- The Decadent Society: America Before and After the Pandemic, by Ross Douthat (Amazon)
- "Can the Meritocracy Find God?" by Ross Douthat (The New York Times)
- Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, by Ross Douthat (Amazon)
- "Sohrab Ahmari on Liberalism, Tradition, and Political Catholicism" (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Sohrab Ahmari on Liberalism, Tradition, and Political Catholicism—Part Two" (Wisdom of Crowds)
An Iranian-born immigrant, Sohrab Ahmari has become one of America's most prominent and controversial Catholic commentators. His new book, The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos, asks us to rethink our understanding of freedom and choice—and the fact that we have too much of it. What does it mean to be a "political Catholic"? What is the value of a state-imposed Sabbath? Does civilization require heartfelt religious belief, or is there a benefit in simply going through the motions? And can a liberal society avoid enforcing an oppressive orthodoxy of its own?
Part two of the conversation with Sohrab is available here for subscribers. Part one ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, with Sohrab suggesting the law is not just a reflection of the public's wishes but can be a moral teacher for the public as well. The conversation then moves into other interesting territory, including on how Sohrab has gained more respect for Islam since his conversion to Catholicism.
Subscribe here to listen to the rest of the discussion; you won't want to miss it.
Recommended Reading:
- The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos, by Sohrab Ahmari (Amazon)
- From Fire, by Water: My Journey to the Catholic Faith, by Sohrab Ahmari (Amazon)
What do Shadi and Damir's divergent responses to the Gaza crisis tell us about questions of morality, idealism, and power? Damir presses Shadi on his recent commentary about Israel's treatment of the Palestinians—and the line between analysis and polemics. Shadi argues the Middle East still matters—and that it's in America's national interest to be moral. Damir counters by saying that it is the job of the analyst to complicate stories, not necessarily to resolve them.
Required Reading:
- "I'm Angry About Palestine. Should You Be?" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Don’t take the narrow view of what’s happening in Gaza," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic)
- "A separate peace? What the Gaza crisis means for Arab regimes," by Shadi Hamid (Brookings)
- The Shadi vs. Dershowitz showdown (The Megyn Kelly Show)
- "Four Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" (Carnegie Connects)
Damir returns to the office and is surprised by how it feels. Shadi marvels at the precipitous decline of outrage—but wonders if our collective tuning out of politics might have drawbacks. And why have so many corporations gone woke? All this and more on this week's episode of Wisdom of Crowds.
Required Reading:
- "Tema Okun's 'White Supremacy Culture' work is bad," by Matt Yglesias (Substack)
- "Can We Please Ditch the Term 'Systemic Racism'," by John McWhorter (Substack)
- "Biden Struggles With Western Pandemic Disunity" by Ed Luce (Financial Times)
- "Democracy’s Skeptics—and Its Necessity," by Osita Nwanevu (Wisdom of Crowds)
The liberal idea arose partly as a response to the religious wars of 17th-century Europe. Could something similar occur in the Islamic world today? Mustafa Akyol thinks so—and his new book Reopening Muslim Minds offers a fascinating and forthright case for reinterpreting Islamic history and revisiting Islamic law. Mustafa joined Shadi and Damir to talk about what inspired the book, starting with his arrest by Malaysia's "religion police." They go on to debate Islam's proper role in public life, how to interpret sharia in a modern context, the promise (and dangers) of "rationalism," and what makes Islam attractive in the first place.
Part two of the conversation with Mustafa is available here for subscribers. If the first hour catches your interest, join us as we wade deeper into various controversies. The discussion turns to whether Islam will follow a similar trajectory as Christianity, apostasy laws, the case of Turkey, whether democracy is a means or an end, and what all of this means for American foreign policy. Subscribe here.
Required Reading:
- Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance, by Mustafa Akyol (Amazon)
- "Where Islam and Reason Meet," by Mustafa Akyol (The Wall Street Journal)
- Sharia: Theory, Practice, Transformations, by Wael B. Hallaq (Amazon)
- Mustafa's New York Times archive
Berlin-based journalist Elisabeth Zerofsky joins Shadi and Damir to talk about how Europeans are coping with the pandemic. What's it like living under an actual lockdown? Is Brexit vindicated? Does Europe now feel America envy? And would Damir make an effective demagogue? The answers to all these questions and more, answered in just over an hour.
Required Reading:
- Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievech (Penguin)
- "The Right-Wing Pundit ‘Hashtag Triggering’ France," by Elisabeth Zerofsky (The New York Times)
- Elisabeth's New Yorker archive
- "Why is Everything Liberal?" by Richard Hanania (Substack)
The journalist, author, and firebrand Glenn Greenwald joins Shadi and Damir for a two-part episode ranging from Glenn's investigative work in Brazil to his increasingly contentious relationship with the liberal establishment in America. In part one, Glenn talks about the corruption case at the center of his new book, why respectable middle-class people supported an authoritarian bigot, and how living in Brazil has shaped his views on American politics—including the January 6 riots at the Capitol.
Part two of their conversation, for subscribers only, is available here. The conversation gets more personal, with Glenn discussing if he considers himself a man of the left, why he is disliked by American liberals, what he has against wokeness, and whether he would have considered serving under a Bernie Sanders administration. His answers might surprise you.
Required Reading:
- Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro's Brazil, by Glenn Greenwald (Amazon)
- Glenn's Substack
- Glenn's Twitter
Damir and Shadi pull back the curtain on the thought process behind Damir's latest essay. The central question: If Europe's social democracies offer far more support to their citizens, why has America weathered both the Great Recession and Covid-19 pandemic better than the European Union?
Required Reading:
- "Selfishness and American Resilience," by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi Have One Last Job," by Adam Tooze (Foreign Policy)
Shadi and Damir discuss America's cratering religious affiliation and church attendance, and if the U.S. is losing any unifying culture it once had.
Required Reading:
- “Church membership in the U.S. has fallen below the majority for the first time in nearly a century,” by Sarah Pulliam Bailey (The Washington Post)
- “America Without God,” by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic)
- “The Paradox of American Faith,” by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
On today's show, Jason Willick of the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page stops by to discuss all things representation: Does the filibuster still serve a beneficial purpose? How can we balance both rural and urban interests? Should representatives mirror their voters' preferences or rely on their personal judgment? And how does the rise of Big Tech factor into all this?
Required Reading:
- The Politics of Size: Representation in the United States, 1776–1850, by Rosemarie Zagarri (Amazon)
- Why Cities Lose: The Deep Roots of the Urban-Rural Political Divide, by Jonathan A. Rodden (Amazon)
- Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America, by Edmund S. Morgan (Amazon)
- Representation in the American Revolution, by Gordon S. Wood (Amazon)
- Representation, by Monica Brito Vieira and David Runciman (Amazon)
- The Concept of Representation, by Hanna F. Pitkin (Amazon)
- Political Representation (Cultural Memory in the Present), by F. R. Ankersmit (Amazon)
- The Democracy Essays (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "Civility and Consensus Are Overrated," with Osita Nwanevu and Samuel Kimbriel (Wisdom of Crowds)
Too many commentators today want a "return to civility" in political discourse. Osita Nwanevu, a staff writer at The New Republic, and Samuel Kimbriel, a political philosopher, think that's misguided—rather than ignoring our fundamental disagreements, we should be arguing about them much more honestly. This episode's example: Osita's proposal to abolish the U.S. Constitution.
Required Reading:
- Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation, by Samuel Kimbriel (Oxford University Press)
- “The Constitution Is the Crisis,” by Osita Nwanevu (The New Republic)
- "The Democracy Essays," by Samuel Kimbriel and Osita Nwanevu (Wisdom of Crowds)
In another sprawling episode, Shadi and Damir talk about Germany's decision to surveil one of its leading political parties and what this says about modern liberalism. They also discuss Shadi's Islam-as-Keto metaphor, the EU's legitimacy problem, and how theodicy relates to democracy.
Required Reading:
- “Germany Places Far-Right AfD Party Under Surveillance for Extremism,” by Katrin Bennhold (New York Times)
- “German Court Suspends Right to Surveil Far-Right AfD Party,” by Melissa Eddy (New York Times)
- “Goodbye to Europe,” by Luuk van Middelaar (London Review of Books)
- “Keto is basically ‘the Islam of diets,’ which probably explains why it’s so effective,” by Shadi Hamid (Twitter)
David Adesnik of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies joins the show to discuss Trump's foreign policy legacy and how much Biden's will differ. David also talks about his evolution from liberal Democrat to neoconservative, Shadi presses him on the Abraham Accords, and Damir reveals the problem with popular conceptions of "progress."
Required Reading:
"Why 'Anything But Trump' Should Not Be Biden’s Foreign Policy Mantra," by David Adesnik and John Hannah (The National Interest)
"From Trump to Biden," by David Adesnik and John Hannah (Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
Was Barack Obama America's last "realist" president? Was he even a realist at all? Emma Ashford of the Atlantic Council joins Shadi and Damir to answer these questions and more. They also discuss democracy promotion, whether to confront China, and why Shadi supported Bernie's candidacy even though Shadi is an interventionist.
Required Reading:
"Reality Check #1: Build cooperation cycles, not security spirals," by Emma Ashford (Atlantic Council)
What is driving our current political upheaval? Shadi and Damir discuss a few different theories including the decline of religion, the absence of an aristocracy, and, crucially, modern America's obsession with dogs.
Required Reading:
- "The Weimarization of the American Republic," by Aaron Sibarium (American Purpose)
- "Reflections on What's to Come," by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)
- "The Death of Our Most Cherished Pieties," by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)
New York Times justice reporter Katie Benner joins the show to talk about January 6, the FBI and DOJ response, the limits of 9/11 comparisons, and if the threat posed by right-wing militias is overstated.
Shadi regrets not investing in GameStop. Damir thinks that once you say democracy must be saved from the masses, protecting Wall Street from the retail-investing crowds is the next logical step. Finally, does Shadi still consider himself a progressive?
Required Reading:
The Tolerance Dilemma
Joker and Our Leaderless Future
Locke's essay on toleration
Hours into the Biden administration, Shadi and Damir sit down with author Bruno Maçães to talk about Trump, January 6, the future of world order, and the sources of American exceptionalism.
Reading List:
- Bruno on Substack.
- History Has Begun: The Birth of a New America, by Bruno Maçães (Oxford University Press)
- "The Roleplaying Coup," by Bruno Maçães (City Journal)
Is 1/6 our new 9/11? Are we in danger of making decisions in the heat of the moment that we will come to regret? Is the United States splitting apart fatally? And what will there after COVID be like?
Megan McArdle, the person most responsible for the invention of Wisdom of Crowds, joins Shadi and Damir to chew over our post-insurrection reality.
Reading List:
- "Why we should be frightened by tech companies’ censoring of conservatives," Megan McArdle (Washington Post)
- "Trump fed off the establishment’s moral outrage. So did his followers," Megan McArdle (Washington Post)
- "Trump's Exit," Heather MacDonald (City Journal)
Ben Judah joins Shadi and Damir for a first attempt at digesting what happened this week in Washington. Was it a coup attempt? Are we at a moment of catharsis where the country can start to rebuild? Or are we in for even more darkness?
Reading List:
- "Japanese Lessons for the American Coup," by Noah Smith
- "The Weimarization of the American Republic," by Aaron Sibarium
A wide-ranging episode: a day or so after Damir's birthday, Shadi discusses his longest bout of self-isolation ever, Damir talks about Teddy Roosevelt and how enlightened views on slavery were completely compatible with that old-timey colonial racism. Plus national stereotypes, arranged marriages, and Domino's Pizza!
Reading List:
- A tweet by (Captain) David Ryan.
- Shadi on Riada Akyol's podcast.
- Damir on Michael Weiss' podcast.
Andrew Sullivan joins Shadi and Damir to try to put the last four years of Trump into some kind of perspective. Was he stopped or did he succeed? Is he a symptom or a source of decay—or both? Is our republic doomed, or will things just go back to normal? And what's the proper role of a writer and intellectual in troubled times: to analyze or be engaged?
On Friday, December 4, 2020, Shadi and Damir went live on Periscope—Damir from Croatia, Shadi from DC. On their minds: how different cultures react, deal with, and adapt to COVID, how even vaccination is becoming a partisan issue in the United States, and how to think about the state of exception in democratic societies.
Check out the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l8elM2Bq7TM
A glitchy episode (apologies), as Shadi and Damir record across the Atlantic, with Damir in self-isolation and with shaky internet in Croatia. Damir talks about his run-in with the law, and Shadi admits Republicans' rejection of democratic outcomes is bringing out his uncompromising inner partisan.
Reading List:
- Democrats calling for "deprogramming."
- Shadi's "raw power" first draft.
- Shadi getting back on-side with the Left (members only).
Shadi and Damir get together after a long night of watching the results come in from the 2020 Presidential elections and take stock of where they stand. You'll never guess who's the optimist.
Reading List:
- "Everything in its Right Place," by Radiohead (Kid A)
Who poses the biggest danger to our country aside from Trump: the wokes, the integralists—or the Never Trumpers themselves? Aaron Sibarium of the Washington Free Beaconjoins Shadi and Damir to talk about his new essay about Weimar Germany, polarization, and the allures and dangers of moral certitude.
Reading List
- "The Weimarization of the American Republic," by Aaron Sibarium (American Purpose)
What is dissolving the social bonds that tie us together in America? Is liberalism decaying? And is there a "successor ideology" waiting in the wings? Special guest Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, joins Shadi and Damir to talk about Jewish identity and American politics in the waning moments of 2020.
Reading List:
- "Brooklyn's Anti-masking Protests Betray a Broken Culture," Yehuda Kurtzer (The Atlantic)
- "Memory Malpractice," Yehuda Kurtzer (Tablet)
- "Stop Being Shocked," Bari Weiss (Tablet)
Why so angry? Shadi and Damir talk about useful idiocy, neoconservatism, and the dangerous temptation of righteousness in politics. Come for Shadi musing about U2 and stay for Damir rhapsodizing about Guy Debord.
Reading List:
- Not the Coen Brothers.
- "On Romance and Being in a Constant State of Alarm," Shadi Hamid (WoC)
- "The Biggest Risk to This Election Is Not Russia. It’s Us." Fiona Hill (NYT)
Does rhetorical escalation among our elites belie the stability of the nation today? With Amy Coney Barrett nominated for the Supreme Court and partisan rancor at an all-time high, Shadi and Damir pick apart their doubts about the health of our democracy.
Reading List:
- Shadi's prescient tweet
- "Resisting the Juristocracy," Samuel Moyn (Boston Review)
The great Nils Gilman of the Berggruen Institute and Noema joins Shadi and Damir to talk about why the upcoming elections feel existential, why our federal government feels increasingly illegitimate, and why Shadi's most recent piece in The Atlantic has annoyed so many people.
Reading List:
- "Human Rights and Neoliberalism," by Nils Gilman (LA Review of Books)
- "The Collapse of Racial Liberalism," by Nils Gilman (The American Interest)
- "The Democrats May Not Be Able to Concede," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic)
Shadi thinks Damir is getting more worried about our institutions. Damir reveals the depths of his relentless fatalism. All because NPR thought it was a good idea to interview a radical apologist for rioting and looting.
Reading List:
"One Author's Controversial View: 'In Defense of Looting'," by Natalie Escobar (NPR)
"Between Orientalism and Postmodernism: The Changing Nature of Western Feminist Thought Towards the Middle East," by Shadi Hamid (Hawwa)
The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics, Mark Lilla (NYRBooks)
"The Free Floater," by John Gray (TNR)
During a livestream, Shadi and Damir talked about the site redesign and relaunch, why it's smart to abandon Big Tech platforms during the upheavals of the Age of Wokeness, how America is definitively not on the cusp of revolution (no matter what the activists might think), and whether violence was likelier if Trump defeats Biden than vice versa.
It's summer. Damir rings up Shadi to talk about the pleasure of writing and the pain of exercising, before the conversation takes a much darker turn.
Required Reading:
Islamic Exceptionalism, by Shadi Hamid
That Mohammed Tweet, by Shadi Hamid
Stand up straight! The Washington Post's Christine Emba joins Shadi and Damir to ponder the positive aspects of the woke wars, the role of ideas in furthering social change, and the virtues of lukewarm takes.
Reading List:
"Why George Floyd Died," by Rod Dreher (The American Conservative)
Are we reaching a tipping point in our politics, and is the very legitimacy of our democratic system is being called into question? The Week's Damon Linker joins Shadi and Damir to discuss how a desperate narrative seems to be taking a hold on the Right, its historical antecedents, and whether the threat comes from an illiberal ideology or if our Union has always been more precarious than we thought.
Reading List:
"When Conservatives Become Revolutionaries," by Damon Linker (The Week)
"Democracy Maybe," by Lee Drutman, Joe Goldman, and Larry Diamond (Voter Study Group)
Jamie Kirchick of the Brookings Institution and author of The End of Europe joins Shadi and Damir to talk race, anti-semitism, morality, and the ever-multiplying claims to universal rights that are driving the turmoil shaking Western societies to their cores. Come for Damir's tinnitus, and stick around to find out if Shadi will end up a neo-neocon as the woke brigades take over the Left.
Reading List:
"The Man Who Opposed Hate," by James Kirchick (Tablet)
Peter Beinart joins Shadi and Damir to discuss his recent essays for Jewish Currents and the New York Times, in which he argues that with the two-state solution a dead letter in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the only possible path forward is making a case for a bi-national state. Is this a tactical maneuver to expand the Overton Window to unblock the status quo? A desperate attempt to prevent Israel from considering worse solutions? Or a moral case energized by the ascendance of the social justice movement? (And what does it have to do with cancel culture?)
Reading List:
"Yavne: A Jewish Case for Equality in Israel-Palestine," Peter Beinart (Jewish Currents)
"I No Longer Believe in a Jewish State," Peter Beinart (NYT)
Shadi and Damir sit down their friend Robert Nicholson, Founder and Executive Director of the Philos Project (and one of the small handful of people who witnessed the birth of the idea for this podcast with his own eyes). Recently back from a trip to Minneapolis, Robert discusses facing up to our deep national dysfunctions as someone who has worked abroad, and how religion might end up being the best bridge we have across our gaping racial divides.
Shadi quizzes Damir about his belief in the possibility of progress and social change, before the conversation spins off into a discussion about the creative process, selling out, and the nature of success.
Reading (Listening) List:
"How a Great Power Falls Apart" by Charles King (Foreign Affairs)
"The Problem With Music" by Steve Albini (The Baffler)
"Atmosphere" by The Oranges Band
On June 23, Shadi and Damir went live on Periscope to discuss Shadi's latest piece for the Atlantic, the tension between political change and negative externalities, their new Patreon account, and plans for a newsletter.
Shadi talks through his inner conflicts. Damir responds by minimizing the reality of what is happening. Also: why Americans are all fundamentalists (whether secular or religious), the appropriateness of activist-journalism, the empty symbolism of woke politics, and whether the New York Times should(n’t) be our lodestar.
Reading List:
“Our Deathwish” by Jacob Siegel (Tablet)
“The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution”, by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic)
Waverley, by Sir Walter Scott
The former President of Georgia joins Shadi and Damir to talk about how tricky reforms—such as police reforms—can succeed (and fail), about how identity is a slippery thing in the post-Soviet space, about liberalism, illiberalism, and Western haughtiness, and about his encounters with Donald Trump when he was just another rich guy with a political itch.
Very special guest Michael Signer joins the podcast to talk about his new book recounting his time serving as mayor of Charlottesville during the violence of August 2017. With America in upheaval, it's an appropriate time to revisit that sad bit of recent history, but also an opportunity to think about what's gone wrong with our politics, and what, if anything, can be done to fix it. A rich discussion.
Reading List:
Cry Havoc: Charlottesville and American Democracy Under Siege, by Michael Signer
Shadi and Damir live-streamed an episode as a weekend of violent protests around the country wound to a close. Our episodes are never scripted or prepared, but in this case we are interacting with our audience on Twitter's Periscope in real time to help guide the conversation. Also, please excuse the audio quality.
Shadi and Damir discuss how Trump's unabashed contempt for expertise has encouraged his opponents to latch onto expert opinion—and how this could boost Trump if the economic opening goes even tolerably well.
Reading List:
"What a Maskless Trump Says About His Re-Election Strategy" by Henry Olsen (WaPo)
"In Search of Lost Time" by Peter Pomerantsev (The American Interest)
"Pandemics Kill Compassion, Too" by David Brooks (New York Times)
Shadi and Damir talk about their conflicted feelings about recording the previous episode in a room together, the dangers of optimism about the recovery, what the "new normal" in successful South Korea looks like, why America in all likelihood won't ever be able to get there, and why that might or might not be OK.
Reading List:
Shadi's tweet thread about why America can't be like South Korea.
Michael Kim's tweet thread about the reality in South Korea.
Man lectures BoJo in a park.
The Atlantic Council's Benjamin Haddad joins Shadi and Damir to talk social distancing, the coronavirus response on both sides of the Atlantic, and how elites' ever more fervent love of experts could lead them to political disaster.
Reading List:
Le paradis perdu: L'Amérique de Trump et la fin des illusions européennes, by Benjamin Haddad (Grasset)
"The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic)
"Social Distancing Isn't Going To End Soon. So How Do We Live With It?" by Gaby Hinsliff (The Guardian)
In the third week of lockdown, Shadi and Damir talk about the Beatles versus the Stones, how the 1960s represent a kind of dangerous idealism grounded in universal values, and how there’s no escaping politics.
Reading List:
“The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution,” by Shadi Hamid
“It’s imperative for the U.S. and China to work together on the coronavirus pandemic,” by Michael McFaul
Jennifer Rubin’s Political Mathematics
“National Identity is Made Up,” by Max Fisher and Amanda Taub
Catastrophe and resilience, human and economic costs, and the future of democratic politics: Shadi and Damir hunker down for an intense coronavirus podcast (while of course observing appropriate social distancing protocols).
Reading List:
“Pandemics Kill Compassion, Too,” by David Brooks
“The Wuhan Virus and the Imperative of Hard Decoupling,” by Andrew Michta
“The Coronavirus Called America’s Bluff,” by Anne Applebaum
In the shadow of Bernie Sanders’ underperforming on Super Tuesday, Shadi and Damir welcome author Ben Judah to the podcast to talk about the enduring promise of left-populism in an Age of Trump.
Relevant Reading:
“Left Populism and the Rediscovery of Agonistic Politics,” by Shadi Hamid
“Traditional ‘foreign policy’ no longer exists. Democrats are the last to know,” by David Adler and Ben Judah
“Hawks say Sanders will be weak on Russia. But Putin should fear a President Bernie,” by Ben Judah and David Adler
“Is Joe Biden the American Brezhnev?” by Ben Judah
“The Emergence of Foreign Policy,” by Halvard Leira
Shadi and Damir talk about how racism, virtue signaling, the fundamental illegitimacy of the Chinese state, and how both consensus and irreconcilability can be fatal for democracy.
Reading List:
“China is the Real Sick Man of Asia” by Walter Russell Mead
“Birth of the Nations” by Damir Marusic
“It’s Not About Britain. It’s About Europe” by Damir Marusic
“The dark side of consensus in Tunisia: Lessons from 2015-2019” by Sharan Grewal and Shadi Hamid
“After Europe” by Ivan Krastev
Author and essayist Peter Pomerantsev and Karina Orlova of Echo of Moscow Radio join Shadi and Damir to talk about the Russian soul, imperialism, historical memory, opioids, and bad cocaine. (It’s a lot less depressing than it sounds!)
Reading List:
This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality, by Peter Pomerantsev
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia, by Peter Pomerantsev
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich
“The Dying Russians” by Masha Gessen
Shadi and Damir start talking about the appeals and perils of Pete Buttigieg and end up discussing the dangerous dead ends of meritocratic right-think.
Mentioned in the Podcast:
Shadi’s tweetstorm about Mayor Pete (https://twitter.com/shadihamid/status/1203416084189196288)
Luuk van Middelaar’s latest book (https://www.amazon.com/Alarums-Excursions-Improvising-Politics-European-ebook/dp/B07PHV1Y4M/)
“Lanes Are Starting to Emerge in the 2020 Primary” -Nathaniel Rakich, 538 (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lanes-are-starting-to-emerge-in-the-2020-democratic-primary/)
“Anti-Solutionism as a Strategy” – Natan Sacks, Foreign Affairs (https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/israel/2015-10-20/why-israel-waits)
Should Trump be impeached? And is he a transformational president? The Washington Post’s national security reporter John Hudson joins Shadi and Damir to talk high-wire politics.
Articles Mentioned in the Podcast:
How The Framers Thought About Impeachment – Gary Schmitt
(https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/09/25/how-the-framers-thought-about-impeachment/)
U.S. Officials Ignored Trump On Syria And We Are All Paying The Price – Aaron Stein
(https://warontherocks.com/2019/10/u-s-officials-ignored-trump-on-syria-and-we-are-all-paying-the-price/)
Trump Is Doing Exactly What He Was Elected To Do – Daniel McCarthy
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/opinion/trump-impeachment.html)
Shadi and Damir talk Europe, its problems of integrating of foreigners, and how European mental reliance on the state as a solution to everything is a long-term problem for the continent.
Required Reading:
Emmanuel Macron’s interview in the Economist magazine: https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-in-his-own-words-english
Riada Akyol in Al-Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/macron-remarks-bosnia-dangerous-191110133224396.html
Bruno Maçaes in Politico Europe: https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-islamophobic-undercurrent-french-vision/
Ash Jain and Matthew Kroenig at Atlantic Council: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/present-at-the-re-creation/
A healthy Shadi and a sick Damir chew over Richard Holbrooke’s complicated legacy, as well as the moral imperatives and political limits of humanitarian intervention.
What’s that in the air? It’s not autumn. It’s that feeling you get knowing that all we’ll be collectively discussing in the next 14 months is the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Shadi and Damir discuss the fate of our republic in these polarized times.
Articles discussed in this episode:
How the Framers Thought About Impeachment – Gary Schmitt
The Decay of American Political Institutions – Francis Fukuyama
The Problem of Donald Trump Didn’t Start With Donald Trump – Damir Marusic
Shadi and Damir record an episode in transition, with Shadi just having gotten back from a long trip, and Damir just embarking on one. The nature of nationalism and the idea of “Americanism” come up as a result of being abroad.
Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide kicks off a frenzy of conspiracy theories in the media—and prompts Shadi and Damir to talk through whether we are living through a healthy democratic correction, or something much darker.
Articles mentioned in the podcast:
Ross Douthat on conspiracies (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/opinion/jeffrey-epstein-suicide.html)
YouTube and Bolsonaro (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/11/world/americas/youtube-brazil.html)
In the wake of last weekend’s twin mass shootings, Shadi and Damir discuss radicalization, social media, and how the Left’s of denial of religion is creating dangerous blindspots for itself and for our democracies.
In the inaugural episode of this ongoing experiment, Shadi and Damir talk about how inherent tensions in American identity—between inclusion and assimilation—are being tugged apart in perhaps unhealthy ways.