Today Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the recent angry posts on X from David Austin Walsh, a history postdoc at Yale, and what this controversy says about the social and economic trends of the elite in the US. They also cover the the rise of right-wing muckrakers, discuss what the conservative movement needs now, and who they consider the smartest thinkers today are - on the left and the right.

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Recommended Podcast: The Riff with Byrne Hobart

Byrne Hobart, the writer of The Diff, is revered in Silicon Valley. You can get an hour with him each week. See for yourself how his thinking can upgrade yours.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6rANlV54GCARLgMOtpkzKt

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-riff-with-byrne-hobart-and-erik-torenberg/id1716646486

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SEND US YOUR Q's FOR NOAH TO ANSWER ON AIR: [email protected]

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LINKS

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-case-of-the-angry-history-postdoc

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(00:52) Twitter Blow-Up: David Austin Walsh controversy

(04:10) Elite Overproduction and academia

(08:09) Racial Disparities in academia

(14:12) Sponsor: Beehiiv

(15:23) Elite overproduction’s implications for politics and academia

(20:46) Right-Wing muckrakers and progressive institutions

(30:37) Misconceptions about Barack Obama

(31:08) The Rise of Mike Solana

(33:00) Evolution of progressive and conservative labels

(38:33) Smartest leftist

(40:48) American Roots of Wokeness

(54:20) Future of Conservatism

(59:59) Wrap