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Are human beings by nature suspicious of each other? Or is harmonious communal life our default mode? The answer to this question has implications for politics. Today’s episode is a live discussion about just this question, recorded last summer at the Aspen Ideas Festival. The guest is philosopher Tamar Gendler of Yale University, whose work deals with …

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We need to get better at asking for help.

So argues author Leah Libresco Sargeant in her new book, The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto. The core thesis of the book is that “women’s equality with men doesn’t depend on their interchangeability with men.” But the book also has many insights that apply to men as well as women. All of us need to get better at asking for help.

Hosting this episode are Shadi Hamid and Christine Emba, who each bring their political perspectives to bear upon the conversation. Christine asks Leah whether the physical differences between the sexes affect the scope of political equality. Shadi asks whether Leah’s practical proposals, which are rooted in her religious convictions, are feasible in a contemporary society formed by modern ideas. The conversation also touches upon the limits of personal autonomy, as well as the recent discussions about the so-called “feminization” of the workplace.

In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Leah discusses her conversion to Catholicism from atheism; whether or not religion factors into her thinking about the morality of abortion; different strategies for asking for help; why it’s better to ask for help first before you offer help to someone else; and more!

Required Reading:

* Leah Libresco Sargeant, The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto (Amazon).

* Leah Libresco Sargeant’s Substack, Other Feminisms.

* Leah Libresco Sargeant, Building the Benedict Option: A Guide to Gathering Two or Three Together in His Name (Amazon).

* Christine, Rethinking Sex: A Provocation (Amazon).

* Shadi and Kristina Tabor Saccone, “Provocation: Am I Unhappy Because I’m Unmarried?” (WoC).

* Helen Andrews, “The Great Feminization” (Compact).

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“This is one of the greatest historical eras mankind will ever see.”

So says Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason University, renowned author and chairman at the Mercatus Center, a think tank. He is also a writer, and famous podcaster whose books, like The Great Stagnation and Average is Over, which for over a decade have helped readers under…

Yesterday, the philosopher Michael Sandel won this year’s prestigious Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. The million-dollar prize is a lifetime-achievement award given to an individual “whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement.” We were lucky to have Professor Sandel on our podcast last summer, along with his son, fellow-philosopher Adam Sandel, and Wisdom of Crowds’ resident philosopher, Samuel Kimbriel. To celebrate Professor Sandel’s award, we are re-releasing the episode. Enjoy!

— Santiago Ramos, executive editor

A special treat from the Aspen Ideas Festival: a panel discussion about American community and politics, featuring a father–son philosophical duo.

Michael J. Sandel is a professor at Harvard University, where he teaches political philosophy. His famous “Justice” course has been viewed by tens of millions worldwide. His son, Adam Sandel, is a philosopher, award-winning teacher, and holder of the Guinness World Record for most pull-ups in one minute. Together with Samuel Kimbriel, Wisdom of Crowds’ in-house philosopher, they discuss community, democracy, the evolving nature of justice, the importance of constructive visions for community, and the role of music in bridging divides. Tune in for a substantive and inspiring reflection on the meaning of democracy.

Required Reading:

* Adam Sandel, Happiness In Action: A Philosopher’s Guide to the Good Life (Amazon).

* Michael Sandel, The Tyranny of Merit: Can We Find the Common Good? (Amazon).

* Samuel Kimbriel, Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation (Amazon).

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This week we have a very special guest: Robert Malley, a veteran American diplomat and Middle East expert. From advising President Clinton at Camp David to serving as President Obama’s top White House official for the Middle East and then as Biden’s Special Envoy for Iran, Malley has spent decades at the heart of U.S. diplomacy. Today he joins Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss his new book, Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine.

Malley begins the discussion with an arresting suggestion: that the war in Gaza has brought Palestinians and Israelis back to where they were before 1948 — before the twentieth century, even. Looking back at the Oslo Peace Process, Malley argues that liberal peacemaking was too dismissive of those who are motivated by history or faith. Yet it is precisely those attachments — Zionism’s pull toward Eretz Yisrael, the Palestinian longing for the right of return — that define the conflict’s soul. Any peace plan has to take these deep yearnings into account from the get-go.

Shadi insists that resilience itself has become the Palestinians’ act of resistance. Their struggle, refracted now through moral discourse and digital mediation, animates the conscience of a younger America. He predicts that one day this generation will alter U.S. policy in a way that may make peace truly possible — by putting significant pressure on Israel to make concessions it has rarely been willing to make. Malley wonders how one persuades a people that their yearning is wrong; Shadi replies that after genocide, there is no moral equivalency between the competing narratives. And Damir reminds everyone that peace without victory is only surrender.

Given its timeliness — Israel and Hamas are currently deciding whether to adopt Trump’s Gaza peace plan — we are making the episode free for all subscribers. The tail end of the episode has several golden moments: Robert discusses the details of Trump’s peace plan; Shadi asks Robert why he thinks that October 7 was “Palestinian to the core”; Robert explains his support for the Abraham Accords; the real problem with the blockade and sanctions on Gaza; Shadi asks what Obama really believes about the conflict; “Obama is a speech that has been cut mid-sentence”; why Obama’s presidency hurts Shadi more than Trump’s; “Something fundamentally rotten about the foreign policy establishment despite their pretense to morality?”; some Bernie nostalgia; and more!

Required Reading:

* Robert Malley and Hussein Agha, Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine (Amazon).

* Elliott Abrams, “There Never Will Be a Palestinian State. So What’s Next?” (Mosaic).

* Damir, “Hamas’ Bid for Revolutionary Legitimacy” (WoC).

* Shadi, “A Genocide is Happening in Gaza. We Should Say So” (Washington Post).

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Last week, Wisdom of Crowds philosopher-in-residence Samuel Kimbriel wrote an essay about the political use of Christianity within MAGA, contrasting the sincerity of Erika Kirk’s piety with the propagandistic use of the Lord’s Prayer in a recent military recruitment video. Shadi Hamid reflected on Samuel’s piece and more, writing a column about it for the Washington Post. Today, we bring both men together to discuss the central questions of both articles: do Christianity and politics mix?

Damir Marusic adds his own take on the debate, trying to dissuade both Samuel and Shadi from thinking that there is a “true” Christianity that can be saved from the corrupting influence of political power. Shadi says that he does not care whether there is a true version of Christianity: what he wants is a healthy, forgiveness-centered version of Christianity to triumph politically, that is what is good for America. Meanwhile, Samuel talks about the inherent tension between living a radical faith while also being politically successful.

In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Shadi discusses the Islamic idea of politics as a “site of imperfection”; Samuel explains why he is “especially attracted to acts that happen under conditions of scarcity”; Damir explains why he would not want any of his Christian friends to become powerful politicians; the three discuss the difference between the politics of conviction and the politics of responsibility; and more!

Reading and Watching:

* Shadi, “Two Versions of Christianity Battle for America’s Soul” (Washington Post).

* Sam, “What Christianity Isn’t” (WoC).

* Military recruitment video w/Our Father (X).

* Erika Kirk speech at Charlie Kirk memorial (YouTube).

* Matthew Rose, A World After Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right (Amazon).

* Max Weber, “Politics As A Vocation” (Internet Archive).

* Ezra Klein interviews Ta Nehisi Coates (New York Times).

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Today we have a return guest: Jordan Castro. Jordan is a writer and the deputy director of the Cluny Project, a think tank of sorts for cultural entrepreneurs. The last time Jordan appeared on Wisdom of Crowds, we discussed his first novel, The Novelist. Now Jordan has a second book, Muscle Man, about a disgruntled middle-aged academic who tries to find an answer to his frustrations in weightlifting and strength training. It is a hilarious satire of our time, a novel that speaks to our political moment without being political per se.

Shadi Hamid and Santiago Ramos ask Jordan about the themes of his book; frustrated masculinity; how to get out of your head; whether weightlifting is a good spiritual practice; and whether novels can be political. Shadi wonders whether Santiago and Jordan are too negative about modern life. Santiago responds that Jordan’s novel is not about modern man as an abstraction, but about contemporary life, as a concrete challenge. Jordan starts a long disquisition about the works of Søren Kierkegaard.

In our bonus section for paid subscribers, you get the full Jordan Castro take on Kierkegaard; the three men talk about love; Jordan explains marriage; is Sabrina Carpenter wise about love? Santiago and Jordan talk about their respective wedding songs; Shadi wants to know why the Muscle Man main character doesn’t have a girlfriend; and more

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Required Reading and Viewing:

* Jordan Castro, Muscle Man (Amazon).

* Jordan Castro, The Novelist (Amazon).

* Cluny Journal, the Substack of the Cluny Project.

* Our previous episode with Jordan (WoC).

* Santiago’s review of Jordan’s first novel (Commonweal).

* Shadi’s interview with Jordan (Washington Post)

* On Nietzschean ideology, see: Mana Afsari, “Last Boys at the End of History” (The Point).

* The hockey stick graph (Marketplace.org).

* Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground (Amazon).

* Søren Kierkegaard, The Present Age (Amazon).

* Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or (Amazon).

* Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (Amazon).

* Søren Kierkegaard, Works of Love (Amazon).

* Mikhail Bakhtin, “Epic and the Novel.”

* Knut Hamsun, Hunger (Amazon).

* King of Comedy (IMDb).

* Taxi Driver (IMDb).

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

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Today’s guest is Geoff Shullenberger, the managing editor of Compact and a writer whose articles and reviews have appeared in American Affairs, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Atlantis, UnHerd, and more. Last week, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Geoff wrote an incisive piece titled, “The Return of the Assassin.” In it, he observes that the nature of violence has shifted in recent years, away from the mass shooting and towards the targeted political assassination. Why this is the case, and what it bodes for the future, is the subject of this week’s podcast.

The conversation provides historical perspective by comparing contemporary political (or quasi-political) violence to radical groups from the 1960s and 1970s like the Baader Meinhof group, the Red Brigades, the Black Panthers, and figures like Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver. Shadi Hamid distinguishes between left-wing violence (utopian, seeking new systems) and right-wing violence (preservationist, maintaining hierarchies). Geoff challenges this framework, noting that recent shooter profiles don’t fit neatly into these categories. Damir Marusic notes that human beings always want events to “mean” something, but it may very well be that all this violence is essentially senseless.

In our bonus section for paid subscribers, the guys discusses Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver; Geoff explains why he doesn’t think we are on the brink of civil war; was the Charlie Kirk assassination an “honor killing”?; was January 6 a “mobilization”?; what Trump does next; were we living under a liberal dictatorship in 2020?; Damir on “the rotten Democratic Party”; Shadi says: “Nobody is blameless, but that doesn’t mean everyone is equally to blame”; and more!

Required Reading and Viewing:

* Geoff Shullenberger, “The Return of the Assassin" (Compact).

* Geoff Shullenberger, “Popular Justice” (The Point).

* Tom Wolfe, “Radical Chic” (New York).

* Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (Amazon).

* Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver (IMDB).

* Oliver Stone, JFK (IMDB).

* Oliver Stone, Talk Radio (IMDB).

* Eric Bogosian, Talk Radio (Amazon).

* La Verkin City, Utah, United Nations-Free Zone Ordinance.

* Punk rock picture of Oswald and Ruby.

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Our episode this week is more on the serious and somber side. Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk and speculate about its consequences. What are we learning about America and American politics in the wake of that horrible shooting? Is America heading toward low-grade civil war—like the Years of Lead in Italy during the 1970s? Does the Right control the culture and the media—and will it use this event to expand its political power? Does the Left have a problem with violence? Do we even have an opposition party?

In light of how Trump has reacted to the Kirk shooting, Shadi begins with a mea culpa for having criticized the Left for its illiberalism in the past: it looks like the Right is worse. But Damir disagrees: what we are seeing now is an “inversion of what we had a few years ago,” though perhaps a bit worse. Shadi thinks out loud: “you’d think that having power would make you more magnanimous,” while instead, both sides “when they’re winning, they act like they’re losing.”

So what is the prognosis? Shadi thinks the Right is an existential threat to American democracy. Damir says, “we are a turd spiraling down a toilet,” and we are currently on the Right side of the spiral — but “the spiral began before.”

We are making this episode free for all subscribers — the issues discussed touch at the core of our mission at Wisdom of Crowds. As Shadi put it, Charlie Kirk, however different his ideology was from our own, was “someone I could’ve known, who could’ve been at my house.” The episode concludes with discussions of possible civil war, whether political categories make sense with regard to assassinations, and why the Years of Lead might be an apt analogy for what is developing in America right now.

Required Reading and Viewing:

* Donald Trump’s appearance on Fox & Friends (YouTube).

* The Years of Lead in Italy (Wikipedia).

* Shadi, “My Faith in America is Being Sorely Tested” (WoC).

* Ukrainian woman stabbed (ABC).

* Shadi, “Think you’re above conspiracy theories? Don’t be so sure” (Washington Post).

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The Lyceum Movement is a nationwide grassroots organization that aims to build a healthier public discourse by bringing diverse groups of people together to investigate first principles. Every August, Lyceum hosts a big event in Des Moines: the Tallgrass Ideas Festival. And for the last three years, Wisdom of Crowds has been there, hosting a live taping of our podcast.

This year, the Festival’s theme was trust. We hosted an episode about trust and technology, a topic on everybody’s mind. Our two guests were Daniel Corrigan, a philosophy professor at Iowa State University who focuses on the theory and practice of rights, and August Lamm, an artist, activist and writer who has distinguished herself by leading an active creative life completely off the grid — in New York, to boot. This was an engaging conversation about AI, work, time and happiness. I think it’s one of our best this year.

Santiago Ramos starts the conversation with a quote from the late Henry Kissinger, who claimed that trusting AI requires more blind faith than the scientific method. Are we becoming less modern when we trust the “mechanical oracle” of AI? What does it mean to trust AI? Daniel, in his philosophical way, clarifies the terms. We can only trust people, he says, not machines. Machines can be reliable, but not trustworthy. So the question is: do we trust the companies that make the machines? August, for her part, says that we need to go back to first principles. Why do we need these machines in the first place? Why do we need social media? Why do we need AI? Why do we need everything to be so fast?

The episode concludes with some interesting questions from the audience, about AI and natural resources; the difficulty discerning reality from fantasy; and how we can make software better. It’s well worth your time.

Required Reading:

* The Kissinger quote comes from this article.

* Palantir’s one-pound contract with the British NHS.

* Lyceum Movement.

* Tallgrass Festival of Ideas.

* Daniel Corrigan webpage on Philpapers.

* August Lamm’s homepage.

* Santiago Ramos, “The People v. the Oracle” (WoC).

Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe