The Good Fight

Shadi Hamid is a columnist at The Washington Post and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, where he co-directs the Faith and Future of Democracy Initiative. He is the co-author, with Matthew Kaemingk, of Can Religion Save Democracy?: How More Faith—Not Less—Can Heal Our Public Life.

Matthew Kaemingk is Professor of Public Theology at Theological University Utrecht and a senior fellow at Georgetown University where he co-directs the Faith and Future of Democracy Initiative.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk, Matthew Kaemingk, and Shadi Hamid discuss why the decline of religion has turned American politics into a kind of holy war, whether the Democratic Party can make room for voters with traditional religious convictions, and how secular European societies should accommodate their conservative Muslim minorities.

Note: This episode was recorded on September 29, 2026.

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Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay.

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Yascha Mounk and Martin Wolf discuss whether democracy can recover from the damage of populism, the risk of an AI bubble, and why France could spark the next euro crisis.

Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at The Financial Times. His latest book is The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, now out in paperback with a new chapter on Donald Trump's second term.

In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Martin Wolf discuss whether democratic capitalism can recover from the damage done by populists like Donald Trump, how artificial intelligence might upend both the economy and humanity's control over its own fate, and whether a bursting AI bubble or France's fiscal woes could trigger the next financial crisis.

Note: This episode was recorded on November 3, before the election results were available.

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Podcast production by Jack Shields and Leonora Barclay.

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Yascha Mounk, Larry Diamond, and Arlie Hochschild debate whether the blue wave marks the end of the MAGA era or merely a pause.

In this week’s episode of The Good Fight Club, Yascha Mounk, Larry Diamond, and Arlie Hochschild explore what the Democrats’ historic midterm landslide reveals about Donald Trump’s waning hold on American voters, how Democrats can balance accountability with a positive agenda ahead of 2028, and whether democratic institutions have proven more resilient than many feared. 

Larry Diamond is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, and is the founding coeditor of the Journal of Democracy.

Arlie Hochschild is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her latest book is Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right.

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Yascha Mounk and Dan Williams discuss the impact of AI on society, education, and politics.

Dan Williams is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sussex. He writes the Conspicuous Cognition newsletter, which brings together philosophical insights and scientific research to examine the forces shaping contemporary society and politics.

In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Dan Williams discuss whether AI is a genuinely transformative technology or just another tool, how the temptation to outsource thinking to AI may be eroding the cognitive skills of young people, and why the political battles we are actually having about artificial intelligence are not the important ones.

This podcast was recorded at a live event in partnership with Halcyon International School.

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Podcast production by Jack Shields and Leonora Barclay.

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Yascha Mounk and Malcolm Gaskill debate what the Enlightenment got wrong about the so-called age of credulity.

Malcolm Gaskill, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at the University of East Anglia, is the author of seven books, including Witchfinders, Between Two Worlds, and The Ruin of All Witches. 

In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Malcolm Gaskell discuss how premodern people understood the boundary between the natural and supernatural worlds, why historians are right—and wrong—to complicate the Enlightenment's story of progress, and what the persistence of superstition tells us about human nature.

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Yascha Mounk and James Marriott explore what happens when a civilization turns its back on books.

James Marriott is a London Times columnist and the author of the Substack Cultural Capital, covering society, ideas, and culture. He is the author of The New Dark Ages: The End of Reading and the Dawn of a Post-Literate Society.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and James Marriott discuss whether the decline of reading is as severe as the data suggests, whether television or social media is more to blame, and why this is bad news for democracy.

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Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay.

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Yascha Mounk and Eliot Cohen delve into the lost meaning of “strategy” and why Trump's Iran gambit went off the rails.

Eliot A. Cohen is the Arleigh Burke chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His latest book is The Strategist: How to Think About War and Politics.

In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Eliot Cohen discuss what genuine strategic thinking requires, why America's war with Iran represents a failure of strategy rather than of military capability, and what Winston Churchill's wartime memoranda reveal about what good strategy actually looks like.

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Yascha Mounk and David Deming discuss how artificial intelligence will transform research, teaching, and the economic foundations of higher education.

David Deming is the Danoff Dean of Harvard College and an economist. He writes a Substack called Forked Lightning and hosts a podcast called The Context Window.

In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and David Deming discuss why AI may force universities into a new era focused on community and virtue rather than knowledge or expertise, whether the business model of American higher education is facing existential or merely serious pressure, and how professors and students should rethink learning and assignments in an age when AI can do much of the traditional academic work.

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Podcast production by Jack Shields and Leonora Barclay.

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Yascha Mounk, Owen Zidar, and Eric Zwick examine how America's hidden fortunes are built on garage doors, car dealerships, and beverage distribution.

Owen Zidar is a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. 

Eric Zwick is the Joel F. Gemunder Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk, Owen Zidar, and Eric Zwick discuss why the real concentration of American wealth lies with small business owners rather than tech billionaires, and whether entrepreneurship remains a viable path to upward mobility.

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Podcast production by Jack Shields and Leonora Barclay.

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Yascha Mounk and Luis Garicano examine why Europe missed the tech revolution—and how it might catch up.

Luis Garicano is Professor of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and a co-founder of The Rhine Group.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Luis Garicano discuss why Europe has failed to produce world-leading technology companies, whether labor market rigidities and a fragmented single market explain Europe’s innovation deficit, and how much culture versus institutions are to blame for European risk aversion.

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Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay.

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