Wisdom of Crowds

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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).

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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).

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

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American Primeval on Netflix. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. Ballerina Farm on Instagram. American culture is living through a Mormon moment. It is a sign that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing in confidence and strength. But what are the drawbacks to becoming mainstream? What are the trade-offs involved in American liberalism? What can those of us who are not part of the LDS Church learn from the Mormon moment?

Here to discuss this and more is Zachary Davis, the Executive Director of Faith Matters and Editor of the LDS magazine Wayfare. Zach is also a veteran podcaster, having hosted the podcasts Ministry of Ideas and Writ Large.

The discussion begins with Santiago Ramos asking Zach for an account of LDS history, contrasting it with its depiction in American Primeval, the Netflix show. Christine Emba then asks about the various pop culture phenomena that have emerged within LDS culture. The conversation covers recent LDS history, as well as reflections on the costs of assimilation and how American liberalism can benefit from the growth of the LDS Church.

In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Christina and Zach discuss Ballerina Farm; Zach explains LDS attitudes toward Trump; Santiago asks Zach whether he has hope for the future of America; Zach explains that Mormons believe the American Constitution is a sacred document; why Mormons love Muslims; rethinking first (theological) principles; and more!

Required Reading:

* Wayfare magazine.

* McCay Coppins, Romney: A Reckoning (Amazon).

* Jonathan Rausch, Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy (Amazon).

* Jon Krakauer, Under the Banner of Heaven (Amazon).

* Public polling re: LDS (Pew Research).

* American Primeval (Netflix).

* Ballerina Farm (official website).

* Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (Hulu).

* The Soloists (Substack).

* Romney’s 47 percent comment (MSNBC).

* Utah rankings (U.S. News and World Report).

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President Donald Trump federalized DC law enforcement this week, raising all sorts of questions — about democracy, authoritarianism, sovereignty and legitimacy — that are natural fits for us to discuss here at Wisdom of Crowds.

Yes, Trump’s use of emergency powers to justify the takeover is constitutional, even if he is stretching the concept of what counts as an emergency. But Damir Marusic feels like things took a much darker turn this week, and nobody seems to have noticed. Weren’t people in the streets at the mere suggestion that Trump would deploy troops to American cities four years ago — when doing so was arguably much more justified? Shadi Hamid thinks many Democrats are just too disgusted by their own party to be able to muster a response. What’s the point? Anyway, like most Trump stuff, this is all just theater — Potemkin policing. Our democracy is still fine, isn’t it?

…isn’t it?

Required Reading:

* “Trump has brilliantly orchestrated a legal coup,” by Kathleen Parker (WaPo).

* “Donald Trump, DC Police Commissioner,” b y the Editorial Board (WSJ).

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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“ ‘Barbarism’ is a word that keeps coming to my lips lately,” writes Damir Marusic in a brilliant new article this week. Barbarism seems to be the only real word that describes what comes after the liberal international order. But Damir isn’t pointing to the supposed barbarism of our enemies. His article points to the ways that we in the West — and in the United States — are becoming coarser and more egocentric. Like the poet said, barbarism begins at home.

Shadi Hamid interrogates Damir about his piece in Socratic fashion. Is Damir maybe making a moral equivalence between the Trumpist Right and the hapless Left? While it’s true that the Left isn’t very effective, it can hardly be said to be barbaric. In the course of his answer, Damir discusses Alligator Alcatraz as the symbol of new American barbarism: kind of silly, but also, openly cruel.

For Damir, barbarism isn’t just Nazism; it is the strong turn toward selfishness and narcissism that has taken place since the middle of the twentieth century. And he has a theory of why the turn took place: secularization and the death of God. On this point, Shadi agrees, but he still has questions. Is it political structures or innate nature that make us turn toward evil? If it is the former, how can politics help in this moment to keep us from becoming truly barbaric? It is a timely and intense conversation.

In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Damir and Shadi discuss why “war is a force that gives us meaning”; Shadi compares violence to orgasms; Damir’s Calvinist sympathies make an appearance; Damir opposes “vulgar Nietzscheanism” with a “moral law” forged out of our “broken humanity”; Shadi wonders if Damir has finally become a moralist; can morality survive Pax Americana?; Gaza and barbarism; Christopher Hitchens and faith; the origin of the phrase, “Beyond the pale”; and more!

Required Reading:

* Damir, “Back to Barbarism” (WoC).

* Thérèse Delpech, Savage Century: Back to Barbarism (Amazon).

* Curzio Malaparte, Kaputt (Amazon).

* Friedrich Nietzsche, “The Parable of the Madman” (Fordham University).

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Women and men are having a hard time finding each other. A lot of women are giving up on finding a mate. Some women with mates are worried that their men don’t have any friends. Everyone hates dating apps. People are having fewer babies.

These are among the many depressing stories that the media is telling about love and marriage today. How true are they…

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Dead almost six years, Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news. The sordid details of his crimes, and the elaborate conspiracy concerning elites that he may or may not have been a part of, have become a central issue within the MAGA coalition. Conspiracy theories in general are now a part of daily political life. None of us can escape them. Most of us probably half-believe in at least one of them. Why is that?

Today’s guest is the writer Matthew Walther, editor of The Lamp, biographer of John Henry Cardinal Newman, and a columnist for The New York Times. He has written extensively about Epstein, Russiagate, and the place of conspiracy theories in American politics. He joined Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to ponder the Epstein saga and its potential to hurt Trump’s coalition.

“We live in an awesome country, why do we have to make up stories about a decline that doesn't even really exist?” Shadi says near the beginning of the conversation. Walther explains how conspiracy theories are politically useful, and how they “almost on a dime can become useful to one side or another.” Damir agrees about the bipartisan nature of conspiracy-mongering: “For the Left it was the Pee Tape, and for the Right it’s this [Epstein] stuff.”

The conversation goes deep into the nature of conspiracy theories and the psychological need they satisfy. Epstein, Stop the Steal, Russiagate and of course, the Kennedy assassination are all discussed. Walther quotes the English philosopher Gilbert Ryle as a guide: “A myth is, of course, not a fairy story. It is the presentation of facts belonging to one category in the idioms appropriate to another. To explode a myth is accordingly not to deny the facts but to re-allocate them.”

In our bonus section for paid subscribers, the gang discusses the work of Seymour Hersh; Damir and Shadi argue whether the Democrats have ever had a cult of personality equivalent to that of Trump; Matthew argues that Obama is a lot like Trump; Matthew explains why Nixon was “the last, great technocratic leftist”; Shadi distinguishes emotional versus material self-interest in order to explain why MAGA won’t break with Trump; Damir and Shadi disagree about technocracy; and more!

Required Reading:

* Matthew Walther, “Sorry, This Epstein Stuff Isn’t Going to Hurt Trump” (New York Times).

* Matthew Walther, “The Pointless Triumph of a Hapless President” (New York Times).

* Matthew Walther, “The Jeffrey Epstein case is why people believe in Pizzagate” (The Week).

* Matthew Walther, “The most respectable conspiracy theory in Washington” (The Week).

* Matthew Walther refers to Paul Fussell’s concept of “high proles” in “Talking About Class in America” (American Conservative).

* Jonathan Chait, “What If Trump Has Been a Russian Asset Since 1987?” (New York).

* “The CIA Reveals More of Its Connections to Lee Harvey Oswald” (Washington Post).

* Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind (Amazon).

* Musa al-Gharbi, “No, America is not on the brink of a civil war” (The Guardian).

* “Airline Deregulation: When Everything Changed” (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum).

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What is happiness? Why are so many Americans — by their own admission — unhappy? These are the central questions in this special episode, live from the Aspen Ideas Festival.

At the festival, our house philosopher, Dr. Samuel Kimbriel, hosted a discussion with three distinguished thinkers. Adam Sandel is a philosopher and assistant district attorney in Brooklyn whose latest book is titled Happiness in Action: A Philosopher’s Guide to the Good Life. Agnes Callard is a philosophy professor at the University of Chicago who just published Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life. Finally, David Brooks is a well-known opinion columnist for the New York Times whose 2016 book, The Road to Character, explores the development of a good personality.

Samuel sets the stage by reading off startling statistics showing that Americans are by and large less happy today than they were even five years ago. Adam advances the idea that what makes us happy is “an activity for the sake of itself, [an] activity that is intrinsically fulfilling in the moment.” This could be sports — he cites Roger Federer as an example of a happy man, at least during tennis tournaments.

Callard counters: “We can’t will ourselves to do a thing for its own sake. When we know what the good is, we will do it for its own sake. Until then, we have to inquire.” She proposes an “intellectualist” approach to happiness, arguing that a life of inquiry is the best prelude to happiness.

Brooks enters the fray by arguing against Callard’s intellectualist approach, saying that what moves human beings is “intensity” and “surrender,” and that the things that bring us joy are necessarily plural, not singular. Callard argues back, contending that Brooks confuses those things which human beings want with those things that are actually good.

It’s a rollicking discussion complemented by Samuel’s deft moderation and questions from the audience concerning grief, internal versus external goods, and the common good. Free for all subscribers — you will not want to miss this episode.

Required Reading:

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

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

* Agnes Callard, Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life (Amazon).

* David Brooks, The Road to Character (Amazon).

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