Frans de Waal is a Dutch-American primatologist and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior in the Department of Psychology at Emory University. He is the author of, among other books, Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes and Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist.
In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Frans de Waal discuss how primate empathy forms the basis for human morality; the precedent for diversity in human gender and gender roles that exists in non-human primates; and why, despite attempts to separate human behavior from human biology, you can’t have one without the other.

﻿This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

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Podcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan Ruberry

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Frans de Waal on Chimpanzee—and Human—Politics

"The Good Fight," the podcast that searches for the ideas, policies and strategies that can beat authoritarian populism.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.﻿Email: goodfightpod@gmail.comTwitter: @Yascha_MounkWebsite: http://www.persuasion.community

News

Yascha Mounk and Helen Joyce discuss the evidence base for the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in young people.

Helen Joyce is an Irish journalist and the Director of Advocacy at Sex Matters. She is the author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Helen Joyce discuss the findings of an independent review by Hilary Cass of gender identity services for children and young people in the United Kingdom; how government and public health institutions in the UK have come to take a more skeptical view of gender-affirming care for young people than in the US; and the need for a more thoughtful and nuanced approach to trans issues which considers the rights and safety of all individuals involved.

﻿This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.
If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.
Email: podcast@persuasion.community 
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Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Brendan Ruberry

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Helen Joyce on Youth Gender Medicine

Yascha Mounk and Eboo Patel discuss how interfaith work can serve as a model for engaging productively across differences.

Eboo Patel is the founder of Interfaith America and the author of We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy. Patel also served as an advisor on faith to President Barack Obama.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Eboo Patel discuss how the dominant diversity paradigm in many institutions divides individuals into oppressors and oppressed; how universities can draw from the intellectual tradition of pluralism to encourage mutual respect and cooperation; and how university leaders can alleviate the deeply polarized atmosphere that prevails at many institutions around the country.

This conversation is part of a new Persuasion series on the Future of Universities. Universities are in crisis—losing public support, shaken by internal divisions, facing angry donors and alumni, and increasingly straying from their core mission of intellectual curiosity and open inquiry. Persuasion's new series about the future of universities, made possible by the generous support of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, will consist of a collection of longform essays and podcast interviews aimed at helping higher education tackle this crisis. 

 This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.
If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.
Email: podcast@persuasion.community 
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Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Brendan Ruberry

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Eboo Patel on Pluralism

Yascha Mounk and Mike Pesca discuss what real balance ought to look like in reporting hotly contested issues.

Mike Pesca is a journalist and the host of "The Gist", the longest running daily news podcast in history. He spent a decade as a correspondent for NPR, guest hosting “All Things Considered” and “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.”

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Mike Pesca discuss why many news organizations have discarded objectivity in favor of “moral clarity” in recent years; the recent internal upheaval at NPR and the limits to giving every side equal coverage; and whether journalists, academics and other experts ought to consider themselves “defenders of democracy.”

﻿This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.
If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.
Email: podcast@persuasion.community 
Website: http://www.persuasion.community
Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Brendan Ruberry

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Mike Pesca on How the Media Got Polarized

Yascha Mounk and Kwame Anthony Appiah discuss cultivating thick identities (and thick skins).

Kwame Anthony Appiah is a British-Ghanaian philosopher, Professor of Philosophy and Law and New York University, and the “Ethicist” columnist for The New York Times Magazine.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Kwame Anthony Appiah discuss why universities discarded an ethic of common humanity for a new form of identitarianism; how we can recognize and respect individual and cultural diversity without making it the main factor in our interactions; and why faculty must be agents for the change they wish to see in universities.

This conversation is part of the Persuasion series “Universities, Diversity, and Democracy,” a new collection of podcasts and essays, featuring leading voices in higher education, that explores how universities can pursue truth in the spirit of philosophical liberalism and in pursuit of social progress. This series is made possible by the generous support of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

﻿This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.
If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.
Email: podcast@persuasion.community 
Website: http://www.persuasion.community
Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Brendan Ruberry

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Spotify | Apple | Google
Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion
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Kwame Anthony Appiah on the Right—and Wrong—Way for Universities to Handle Identity

Yascha Mounk and Vinay Prasad assess the strengths and weaknesses of America’s public health response.

Vinay Prasad MD, MPH is a hematologist-oncologist and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco.  

In this week’s episode, Yascha Mounk and Vinay Prasad discuss the impact and efficacy of mask mandates and lockdowns; how the stifling of dissenting views among doctors and scientists harmed decision-making; and how we can improve our readiness for the next pandemic.

﻿This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.
If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.
Email: podcast@persuasion.community 
Website: http://www.persuasion.community
Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Brendan Ruberry

Connect with us!
Spotify | Apple | Google
Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion
Youtube: Yascha Mounk
LinkedIn: Persuasion Community
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Frans de Waal on Chimpanzee—and Human—Politics

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