This week, Yascha Mounk is joined by Mona Charen, Francis Fukuyama, and Ivan Krastev to discuss how the latest revelations about Epstein will affect Donald Trump, the Trump administration’s war on universities, Volodymyr Zelensky’s bill on anti-corruption agencies, and the recent attacks on the independence of the Fed. Mona Charen, syndicated columnist and author, is Policy Editor of The Bulwark and host of two weekly podcasts: The Mona Charen Show and Just Between Us. Ivan Krastev is the chairm...
Jul 26, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Isaac Saul is a politics reporter and the founder of Tangle , an independent, nonpartisan news outlet. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Isaac Saul discuss the importance of exploring both sides of an argument, whether Donald Trump’s executive overreach amounts to authoritarianism, and how to handle immigration. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Mounk & @JoinPersuasion YouTube: Yascha Mounk , Persuasion...
Jul 23, 2025•1 hr 17 min
Yascha Mounk and Dan Williams discuss fake news. Daniel 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 explore whether the term misinformation is defined too broadly, how to judge if something is fake news, and what is meant by ...
Jul 19, 2025•46 min
Steven Teles is a professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. He is the co-author of a number of books, including The Captured Economy , Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites , and Prison Break: Why Conservatives Turned Against Mass Incarceration . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Steven Teles discuss what abundance means in practice, how it fits into a broader policy agenda, and the future of U.S. universities. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and ...
Jul 16, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Yascha Mounk and Alex Thompson discuss who knew what—and when. Alex Thompson is a national political correspondent for Axios and the co-author, with Jake Tapper, of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Alex Thompson discuss when Biden’s mental state first became concerning, the cover up, and the motivations of Biden’s team and of other members of the Democratic Party during that period. Podca...
Jul 12, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Martin Wolf is Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times, London. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Martin Wolf discuss Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” the impact it will have on Trump’s supporters, and whether the United States is facing a looming economic crisis. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Mounk & @JoinPersuasion YouTube: Yascha Mounk , Persuasion LinkedIn: P...
Jul 09, 2025•44 min
Dean Spears and Michael Geruso are economists, demographers, and associate professors at the University of Texas at Austin. Their book After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People is out on July 8, 2025. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk, Dean Spears and Michael Geruso explore whether a higher population really impacts climate change, why more people on the planet means more geniuses, and how we can avoid depopulation. Podcast production by Jack Shields and Leonora Barc...
Jul 05, 2025•58 min
Luke Tryl is the Executive Director of More in Common UK, where he leads the organization’s work on public opinion. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Luke Tryl discuss where Keir Starmer has gone wrong, the reasons behind the rise of Reform UK, and whether time’s up for the Conservative Party. Note: This conversation was recorded on June 6, 2025. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Mounk & @JoinPersuasion...
Jul 01, 2025•54 min
Yascha Mounk and Irshad Manji also discuss how to have dialogue with ideological opponents. Irshad Manji is the founder of Moral Courage College , which equips people worldwide to turn heated issues into healthy conversations and sustained teamwork. Her latest book is Don’t Label Me: How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars . In this week’s episode, Yascha Mounk and Irshad Manji discuss how it feels to become a U.S. citizen during turbulent times, how to have conversations about co...
Jun 28, 2025•33 min
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University. His latest book is Liberalism and Its Discontents . He is also the author of the “ Frankly Fukuyama ” column, carried forward from American Purpose , at Persuasion . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama discuss what the U.S. strikes in Iran mean for global and domestic politics, to what extent Israel is risking its relationship with the United States, and why we should be concerned about AI....
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Yascha Mounk and Peter Hessler describe how China has changed over the last 30 years–and where it might go next. For more than a quarter of a century, Peter Hessler has been a staff writer for the New Yorker . In 1996, he joined the Peace Corps and taught English language and literature to college students in Fuling, a small city on the Yangtze River. In 2019, Hessler returned to China, teaching at Sichuan University during the pandemic. His most recent book , Other Rivers (2024), is about his t...
Jun 21, 2025•1 hr 12 min
Helen Lewis is a staff writer at The Atlantic who writes about politics and culture. Her latest book, The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea , is out now. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Helen Lewis explore what our ideas of genius mean, whether you need to die young to be considered one—and why no one cares about geniuses with boring lives. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Mounk & @J...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Yascha Mounk and Lenore Skenazy discuss why kids should take risks. After letting her 9-year-old ride the New York City subway alone—and creating a media firestorm—Lenore Skenazy wrote the book, “ Free-Range Kids .” Lenore is also a co-founder of Let Grow . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Lenore Skenazy explore why parents are reluctant to let their children take risks, how unsupervised activities help children learn, and how to embrace giving your kids independence. Learn more abo...
Jun 14, 2025•56 min
Shashank Joshi is Defence Editor at The Economist , where he writes on a wide range of national security, defence and intelligence issues. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Shashank Joshi discuss how technology is changing warfare, the latest developments in Ukraine, and the future of Gaza. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Mounk & @JoinPersuasion YouTube: Yascha Mounk , Persuasion LinkedIn: Persuasion ...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Yascha Mounk and Mark Lynas on how to avoid armageddon. Mark Lynas is an author, campaigner and speaker. He is science advisor with the Climate Vulnerable Forum and policy lead with WePlanet, a pro-science environmental advocacy network active in over 20 countries. His latest book is Six Minutes to Winter: Nuclear War and How to Avoid It . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Mark Lynas discuss how likely a nuclear war is, what a nuclear winter would look like, and how to avoid it. Podc...
Jun 07, 2025•53 min
David Leonhardt is an editorial director for New York Times Opinion . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and David Leonhardt discuss why the left is losing its appeal to the working classes in the United States and in Europe, the flaws in the Democratic Party’s approach to voters, and what U.S. Democrats can learn from the Social Democrats in Denmark. Note: This interview was recorded on March 18, 2025. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | ...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Yascha Mounk and Quico Toro explore what’s holding environmentalists back. Quico Toro is Director of Climate Repair at the Anthropocene Institute, a contributing editor at Persuasion , and writes the Substack One Percent Brighter . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Quico Toro discuss outdated ideas within environmentalism, why we need to decarbonize—and how technology can save us. Podcast production by Jack Shields and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google ...
May 31, 2025•52 min
Steve Stewart-Williams is a professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, and author of The Ape That Understood the Universe (2018), Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life (2010), and The Nature-Nurture-Nietzsche Newsletter on Substack. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Steve Stewart-Williams explore the nature vs nurture debate within psychology, how much impact IQ has on an individual’s success in life, and whether evolutionary psychology can explain politics. Podc...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 12 min
Yascha Mounk and Paul Krugman also explore whether the Euro was a mistake. Paul Krugman is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He was a columnist for The New York Times from 2000 to 2024. In 2008, Krugman was the sole winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to new trade theory and new economic geography. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Paul Krugman discuss the value of economic mod...
May 24, 2025•1 hr 36 min
Katja Hoyer is a visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and is the author of Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire, 1871–1918 and Beyond the Wall: East Germany 1949-1990 . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Katja Hoyer discuss life in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), how it is remembered today—and whether the Wall still has an impact on German politics today. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonor...
May 21, 2025•1 hr 2 min
Frances E. Lee is professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University. In addition to In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us , she is author or coauthor most recently of The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era and Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign . Stephen Macedo is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. His books, in addition to In Covid’s Wake: How Our...
May 17, 2025•1 hr 22 min
Pratap Bhanu Mehta is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi and Laurence Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Pratap Mehta discuss nationalism, radical forms of self-identity, and the likelihood of war between India and Pakistan. Note: The first part of this conversation was recorded on April 30, 2025 with a follow up on May 12, 2025. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora ...
May 14, 2025•1 hr 50 min
Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Effective Public Management at Brookings. William A. Galston is a senior fellow and the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in the Governance Studies program at Brookings. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk, Elaine Kamarck, and William Galston explore why the Democrats aren’t building long-term coalitions, how the Democrats lost the working class, and how centrists in the party can create a compelling offer for...
May 10, 2025•52 min
Rutger Bregman is an historian and author. He is the co-founder of The School for Moral Ambition, a new initiative to mobilize talented professionals to work on the world’s most pressing problems. His latest book, Moral Ambition , explores how we can build lives and careers that make a real difference. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Rutger Bregman discuss what it means to have moral ambition, how to know which causes deserve support—and how to make the world vegan. Email: goodfigh...
May 07, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Kevin Mitchell is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He studies the interplay between genes, brains, and minds. He is the author of Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are and Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Kevin Mitchell discuss the arguments against free will, if evolution supports free will, and how much control we have over our decisions. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland...
May 03, 2025•1 hr 20 min
Claire Lehmann is an Australian publisher and journalist who founded the online magazine Quillette in 2015. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Quillette and contributes regularly to The Australian newspaper. Email: goodfightpod@gmail.com Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Mounk & @JoinPersuasion YouTube: Yascha Mounk , Persuasion LinkedIn: Persuasion Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...
May 01, 2025•59 min
Yascha Mounk and Sarah Longwell also discuss who—if anyone—can save the Democrats. Sarah Longwell is the publisher of The Bulwark , which she helped found in 2019. She regularly conducts focus groups with voters across the political spectrum and hosts the podcast “ The Focus Group ,” which is in its fifth season, and co-hosts “ The Next Level ” podcast and “ The Secret Podcast .” In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Sarah Longwell discuss which voter segments support Donald Trump, what ...
Apr 26, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Ivan Krastev is the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna. His books include Is it Tomorrow, Yet? After Europe , and The Light that Failed: A Reckoning , which was co-authored by Stephen Holmes. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Ivan Krastev explore how Donald Trump is—and isn’t—similar to Mikhail Gorbachev, the impact of the Trump revolution, and whether we’ve finally reached the end of his...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 22 min
Yascha Mounk and Larry Summers also discuss the administration’s tariffs. Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University. He served as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton and the Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Larry Summers discuss why tariffs are so concerning, how Harvard should react to the Trump administration cutting its funding, a...
Apr 19, 2025•51 min
Editor’s Note: This podcast was produced as part of Persuasion’s partnership with the Civil Discourse @ MIT program, at which Coleman Hughes recently spoke on a panel exploring the topic “Should American Society Commit to Colorblindness?” To learn more about Civil Discourse @ MIT, visit the program’s website here , and to see prior episodes in the series click here . Coleman Hughes is a writer and the host of Conversations with Coleman. He is the author of The End of Race Politics: Arguments for...
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr 6 min
