One of the most striking developments in recent intellectual life has been the convergence of critics from both the conservative and Marxist traditions, united in their skepticism toward the excesses of progressive liberalism. Few outlets embody this shift as much as Compact magazine, where unlikely allies have found common ground in challenging America’s domestic administrative state, its global reach, and the pressures of cultural conformity. The intellectual touchstones of this post-liberal moment are names like René Girard, Christopher Lasch, and above all, Alasdair MacIntyre.

Our guest, Nathan Pinkoski, has been central to this conversation. He’s the translator of Emile Perreau-Saussine’s new biography of MacIntyre, and the author of “Actually Existing Postliberalism,” an article that reframed the post–Cold War transformation not as a triumph of globalization, but as the rise of new hierarchies shaped by finance and the fusion of state and society.

In our conversation, we ask him what first drew him into philosophy and political theory, why MacIntyre remains essential reading today, and how thinkers like Judith Shklar and Samuel Moyn fit into this broader debate. We’ll also explore his analysis of globalization’s hidden architecture, the late Cold War’s imprint on U.S. foreign policy, and what the 1990s really meant for the world we inhabit now.

This is a wide-ranging discussion about the erosion of liberal order, the paradoxes of American power, and the uncertain horizons of our post-liberal age.

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