Wisdom of Crowds
81 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago -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.
Homepage Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Episode 76: Can Democrats Bounce Back?
November 07, 2021 19:21 - 34 minutes - 33.2 MBIn 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 CO...
Episode 75: The Republican Zombie Party
October 29, 2021 18:27 - 1 hour - 90.3 MBAs 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" ...
Episode 74: Enough With the Masks Already!
October 22, 2021 16:30 - 1 hour - 101 MBDamir 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,...
Episode 73: Fixing Failed States, America Edition
October 15, 2021 10:57 - 1 hour - 83.7 MBIt'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 know...
Episode 72: Fighting China For All The Right Reasons
October 08, 2021 00:27 - 55 minutes - 80.9 MBElbridge 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?
Episode 71: Is America Actually Great?
October 01, 2021 00:25 - 1 hour - 115 MBIs 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. ...
Episode 70: American Narcissism
September 23, 2021 23:00 - 1 hour - 86.3 MBThis 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.
Episode 69: Can We Even Do This If We Try?
September 04, 2021 16:00 - 56 minutes - 105 MBWith 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.
Episode 68: Who Wrecked Afghanistan?
August 19, 2021 15:44 - 1 hour - 148 MBHow 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...
Episode 67: Afghanistan and America's Liberal Empire
August 14, 2021 23:30 - 1 hour - 93.8 MBWith 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 Washin...
Episode 66: Are Vaccine Mandates Racist?
August 06, 2021 14:05 - 57 minutes - 44.2 MBFresh 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 discrim...
Episode 65: Michael Brendan Dougherty on Identity, Culture, and the False Promise of Liberation
July 13, 2021 12:59 - 1 hour - 47.5 MBParents 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 importa...
Episode 64: Donald Rumsfeld Knew He Was Right
July 04, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 51.2 MBWisdom 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 s...
Episode 63: Will Europe Become a Geopolitical Backwater?
June 17, 2021 22:58 - 50 minutes - 37.1 MBDamir 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...
Episode 62: Nice Woke Parents
June 10, 2021 23:48 - 56 minutes - 77 MBDamir 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 unde...
Episode 61: Ross Douthat on Decadence, Wokeness, and UFOs
June 02, 2021 10:00 - 52 minutes - 44.2 MB“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....
Episode 60: Sohrab Ahmari on Liberalism, Tradition and "Political Catholicism"
May 25, 2021 16:26 - 44 minutes - 38.7 MBAn 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 simpl...
Episode 59: Israel, Palestine, and the Problem of Morality
May 20, 2021 19:05 - 1 hour - 78.4 MBWhat 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...
Episode 58: Will We Ever Be The Same?
May 12, 2021 09:00 - 55 minutes - 49.8 MBDamir 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 Strug...
Episode 57: Can Islam Be Liberal?
May 02, 2021 14:20 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBThe 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 li...
Episode 56: What's the Matter With Europe?
April 24, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 97.6 MBBerlin-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’ Fran...
Episode 55: The World According to Glenn Greenwald
April 17, 2021 18:45 - 1 hour - 56.2 MBThe 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 Cap...
Episode 54: America's Exceptional Resilience
April 12, 2021 18:02 - 54 minutes - 45.9 MBDamir 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)
Episode 53: Losing Our Religion
April 01, 2021 19:43 - 57 minutes - 78.4 MBShadi 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)
Episode 52: Who Counts As "The People"?
March 24, 2021 19:51 - 1 hour - 49.3 MBOn 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)...
Episode 51: Civility and Consensus Are Overrated
March 13, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 65.3 MBToo 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 Pres...
Episode 50: Islam, Keto, and the Problem of Evil
March 06, 2021 16:28 - 52 minutes - 71.5 MBIn 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 (N...
Ep. 49: Was Trump's Foreign Policy As Bad As We Think?
February 25, 2021 23:33 - 1 hour - 53.8 MBDavid 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) "F...
Episode 49: Was Trump's Foreign Policy As Bad As We Think?
February 25, 2021 23:33 - 1 hour - 53.8 MBDavid 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) "F...
Episode 48: Who Are the Real Realists?
February 19, 2021 01:54 - 1 hour - 88.1 MBWas 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)
Episode 47: The Sources of Our Discontent
February 13, 2021 22:52 - 58 minutes - 49.9 MBWhat 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)
Episode 46: How Big is the White Supremacist Threat?
February 06, 2021 18:43 - 1 hour - 103 MBNew 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.
Episode 45: The Game Stops Now
January 28, 2021 23:32 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBShadi 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
Episode 44: Fantasy and Reality in Biden's America
January 21, 2021 20:00 - 1 hour - 107 MBHours 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)
Episode 43: Mending What's Torn
January 14, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 138 MBIs 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...
Episode 42: The Darkness and the Light
January 09, 2021 23:00 - 1 hour - 87.2 MBBen 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
Episode 41: Falling Down the Rabbit Hole
December 19, 2020 17:00 - 55 minutes - 76.7 MBA 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.
Episode 40: The Death of Liberal Democracy Won't Be Televised
December 11, 2020 17:00 - 1 hour - 139 MBAndrew 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?
Episode 39: The Cultural Roots of Coping with COVID (Live)
December 07, 2020 00:45 - 54 minutes - 76.5 MBOn 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
Episode 38: "...If You Can Keep It..."
November 22, 2020 12:07 - 47 minutes - 66.1 MBA 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).
Episode 37: An Optimistic Take on the 2020 Vote
November 05, 2020 03:01 - 56 minutes - 78.2 MBShadi 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)
Episode 36: Who's the Biggest Threat?
November 01, 2020 04:22 - 1 hour - 130 MBWho 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 Beacon joins 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)
Episode 35: Jewish Identity in the Age of Trump
October 16, 2020 22:00 - 1 hour - 99.2 MBWhat 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 (Tab...
Episode 34: The Romance of Righteousness
October 08, 2020 16:00 - 1 hour - 91.4 MBWhy 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)
Episode 33: The Things We Do To Each Other
September 27, 2020 00:00 - 51 minutes - 71.3 MBDoes 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)
Episode 32: The Looming Crisis of Legitimacy
September 18, 2020 22:00 - 1 hour - 106 MBThe 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 Shad...
Episode 31: Smart People and Dumb Ideas
September 11, 2020 04:00 - 58 minutes - 80.6 MBShadi 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: Intellectua...
Episode 30: The Revolution May Not Be Televised
September 04, 2020 12:30 - 54 minutes - 56.4 MBDuring 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.
Episode 29: Writing, Working Out, and Why Ordinary People Do Extraordinary Evil
August 14, 2020 19:13 - 1 hour - 102 MBIt'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
Episode 28: Victorians, Manners, and the Woke Wars, with Christine Emba
August 06, 2020 21:36 - 1 hour - 125 MBStand 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)