Yascha Mounk returns for round two! If you missed part one of our conversation with the political theorist, writer, and podcaster about his latest book, The Identity Trap, stop now and listen to that episode first. 

We pick up where we left off last time and get deep into debate about strategic essentialism, the privileging of marginalized voices, and the incoherencies of standpoint theory. We also ask Yascha why he disagrees with John McWhorter’s theory that the proponents of the Identity Synthesis are members of a new religion. Plus, Yascha plays relationship counselor for your sparring hosts and his dog finally gets outside. 

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On another note, we will be attending Yascha’s Oct 4 talk at the Streiker Center in NYC. See you there?

Also check out:

-Our talk with James Kirchick about the contradictions of our current gender debates.

-Our talk with Yuval Levin on the moral failure of civic institutions in the age of narcissism.

-Our talk with Tom Holland about his lost faith in liberalism.

On the agenda:

-Re-capping Round 1 [0:00-3:03]

-On Justice, essentialism, and race (the implications of standpoint theory) [3:04-15:12]

-Who Gets to Speak for their Race? [15:13-23:49]

-The Catastrophes of Unsalvageable Liberalism [23:50-32:15]

-On intention and persuasion [32:16-42:03]

-The woke religion? [42:04-50:31]

-The Identity Synthesis [50:32-54:43]

-Outtake: Against Monocausal Explanations [55:00-57:25]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

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