When writer and podcaster Meghan Daum released her book The Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars in 2019, she didn’t get canceled, per se. But its reception among her liberal friends was… frosty. Readers charged that Meghan had been captured by the IDW; reviewers painted her as out of touch; event organizers sent nary an email. Meghan has since made a new media home for herself, interviewing people and broaching topics on her “Unspeakable” podcast. Her fellow “heterodox” listeners love her for it. And we loved chatting with Meghan about some of her (and our!) favorite topics: what the left and right won’t talk about, feminism, book clubs, podcasts, humor, self-censorship, and more.

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On the agenda:

-Feminism and the problem with everything [7:25-14:44]

-Victim narratives and the “injustice” of biology [14:45-24:12]

-“The most miserable writing experience of my life” [24:13-31:17]

-Not canceled [31:18-39:07]

-Unspeakable topics [39:08-43:57]

-What the left and right control [43:58-48:40]

-Media Divides [48:41-53:19]

-Closing ranks around ideologies [53:20-59:46]

-Loneliness, book clubs, and the women of the IDW [59:47-1:12:40]

-A tangent on peace privilege [1:12:41-1:16:03]

-Meghan’s journey into the heterodox universe [1:16:04-1:25:51]

-Funny in the backchannels [1:25:52-1:34:15]

-Blindspots. Stereotypes, and self-censorship [1:34:16-1:42:10]

-Heterodoxy 2.0 [1:42:11-1:45:50]

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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