This week's edition of "This is Fine" kicks off with a close analysis of an increasingly common phenomenon in mainstream media: supplanting objectivity with personal experience and identity. From Watergate to a recent viral WaPo op-ed, they uncover the fables the press tells itself as copium. Plus: the editors discuss where they turn to for reliable news, the tragic killing of Tyre Nichols, and their favorite stories on TAM this week. For a list of articles referenced in this episode, visit americanmind.org/audio/.

“What Is Truth?”

The American Mind Podcast uncovers the ideas and principles that drive American political life. In each episode, we engage Claremont Institute scholars, co-conspirators, and critics in thought-provoking discussions about the real causes of our current political and cultural reality. We explore these ideas with an eye towards restoring American civic health.

The Roundtable is a weekly show, hosted by our editors and publisher with a unique blend of joviality and intellectually stimulating conversation, boosted by an occasional glass of whisky. Each episode focuses on a handful of topics that carry significant weight in the debate of ideas for the best path of American life, both privately and civically. Of course, we do reserve some time for fun in each show.  

Occasionally, we produce special podcast features on individual topics with commentary from the top thinkers in America today. Think of American Mind Podcast specials as succinct audio-documentaries.

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Scarlet Johansson is "shocked" and "angered" that even though she declined to voice ChatGPT 4.0, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman seems to have plugged an imitation of her voice into the software. And you thought Her was fiction. Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead after his Vietnam-era helicopter crashed, plunging Iran—already in a precarious political position—into an even more uncertain future. What is the U.S.'s position in all this, and how can we play the bad hand we find ourselves holding? Finally, who could forget that Donald Trump is on trial in New York? Certainly not CNN, who can’t seem to find anything else to talk about. The editors discuss what may lie in store for the U.S. before reminding you to read the damn site!   Recommended reading: The Closing of the Internet Mind School Choice Revolutionary  The Virtues of Settler Colonialism Civil Rights Stay Gay

A Dangerous Empire to Lose

The Boy Scouts abandoned manly virtue for DEI and participation medals long ago. This killed enrollment numbers, but the Scouts are doubling down, rebranding to “Scouting America” and advertising their willingness to accept boys and girls (and presumably enbies) just as they are. Meanwhile, Biden’s particular brand of senile venom was on full display when he crossed himself in the name of abortion. In more heartening news, The Guardian's attempt to dox formerly anonymous X poster “Lomez” seems to have backfired spectacularly. The editors read between the lines, before reminding you to read the damn site.   Recommended reading:  Expropriation: The End Game of Anti-Whiteness Bonsai Children Pursuit of Happiness The Great Divergence Scouts' Honor

Borg Scouts

Filled with apparent panic at Biden's low standing among "the youth," the Administration pulled out all the stops this week with a press conference featuring...Mark Hamill? Was that the best they could do? Maybe, as student riots and protests continue to emphasize Biden's rowdy kids problem--not that the Right is quite sure how to respond to campus antisemitism, either. Elsewhere in academia, the rolling replicability crisis continues apace, indicating once again that data worship is a mistake. The editors survey the landscape of new age Star-Wars-ism, free speech unease, and COVID-style crises of authority.

Go See a Star War

As the global intifada marshals its ranks across American campuses, bemused observers are wondering what exactly the protestors want, and whether they'll show up at the DNC this year. Meanwhile, a group called Catholic Answers created and then promptly "defrocked" an "Al Priest" who took a hard line on matters of sexuality but proved remarkably lax in the baptism department. Given that Al language models and image creation tools are being trained on troves of unvetted data from the internet--some of it including child pornography--we might not want to ordain them as our priests. The editors discuss all this, plus the Left's endgame for Trump, before reminding you to read the damn site.

Baptism by Gatorade

 A double-header in Congress this week as Mike Johnson's House passes a foreign aid package with help from Democrats, and the Senate confirms that China's ByteDance will have to sell TikTok to an American company or face exile from the app store. Meanwhile, NPR's new CEO is not only a sinister AWFL censorship enjoyer but a color revolutionary to boot. Is the Right heading off the West's demise at the past, or only just waking up to realize it's already happened? Plus: Trump faces trial for trying to influence an election he was...running in. Would a conviction really be all that bad for him politically? The editors discuss, then remind you to read the damn site.

“What Is Truth?”

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