Yascha Mounk and Atul Gawande discuss how a simple system can improve patient outcomes. Atul Gawande is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Atul Gawande discuss how simple checklists can boost survival rates in the operating theater, what it means to have quality of life, and our complicated relationship with mortality. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone . Email:...
Jan 27, 2026•1 hr 13 min
Yascha Mounk and Gašper Beguš also talk about what whale communication and the recent progress on AI tell us about the human brain. Gašper Beguš is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley, where he focuses on interpretable AI and combines linguistics, cognitive science, machine learning, neuroscience, and marine biology. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Gašper Beguš discuss what makes human language exceptional compared to animal communication, whether whales and other ...
Jan 24, 2026•1 hr 3 min
Damon Linker writes the Substack newsletter “ Notes from the Middleground .” He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow in the Open Society Project at the Niskanen Center. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Damon Linker discuss how Trump’s second term has exceeded even pessimistic expectations, why the “adults in the room” from Trump’s first administration were more effective than critics acknowledged, and wheth...
Jan 20, 2026•1 hr
Yascha Mounk and Ian Bassin also report on what they got right—and wrong—over the past decade. Ian Bassin is co-founder and Executive Director of Protect Democracy. He previously served as Associate White House Counsel. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Ian Bassin discuss what democracy defenders got right about Trump’s authoritarian tactics, why institutional actors have failed to resist democratic backsliding, and the underlying drivers behind the global rise of illiberalism. If yo...
Jan 17, 2026•1 hr 3 min
Yascha Mounk and Rebecca Goldstein debate whether our desperate need for significance is a flaw we should overcome—or an essential part of human dignity. Rebecca Goldstein is a philosopher and novelist. Her latest book is The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us . In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Rebecca Goldstein discuss why humans have an instinct to matter beyond mere survival, the different approaches people use to feel significant, and whether th...
Jan 13, 2026•1 hr 8 min
Yascha Mounk and Scott Anderson discuss how economic collapse has created the conditions for regime change—and what this could mean for the country. Scott Anderson is a veteran war correspondent and a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine . His latest book is King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution—A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Scott Anderson discuss whether the current protests could finally topple Iran’s t...
Jan 10, 2026•43 min
In this week’s episode of The Good Fight Club, Yascha Mounk, Amanda Ripley, and George Packer examine the Trump administration’s capture of Nicolás Maduro and the chaotic aftermath in Venezuela, whether Trump’s foreign policy represents a coherent “shock and awe” strategy or a dangerous overreach, and the political outlook for 2026. Amanda Ripley is the co-founder of Good Conflict and author of High Conflict . George Packer is a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The Emergency . Note: Th...
Jan 08, 2026•57 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. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Ivan Krastev discuss international reactions to the Trump administration, Europe’s weaknesses, and the impact of changing demographics worldwide. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone . Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community Podcast ...
Dec 27, 2025•59 min
Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama look back at this year—and make predictions for 2026. 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 why Donald Trump is flagging, whether American institutions are resilient enough to survive, an...
Dec 20, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Kelly Born is the founding director of the Packard Foundation’s Democracy, Rights, and Governance initiative. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Kelly Born explore how AI could impact democracy and society—and how to respond. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone . Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Moun...
Dec 16, 2025•1 hr 3 min
In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk, Timothy Garton Ash, Sabina Ćudić, and Nathalie Tocci explore the relationship between the United States and Europe, the Ukraine peace talks, and whether Europe has any hope of reinvigorating itself. Timothy Garton Ash is the author of Homelands: A Personal History of Europe and writes the newsletter History of the Present . Sabina Ćudić is elected member of the National Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, vice president of the Foreign Relations Commit...
Dec 13, 2025•54 min
Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and professor of law at Harvard Law School. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker . Her latest book is We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Jill Lepore discuss why historians have neglected the story of America, how to fix the toxicity in higher education, and whether we need more constitutional amendments. If you have not yet signed up...
Dec 09, 2025•1 hr 13 min
Richard Thaler is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is the co-author, with Cass Sunstein, of Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness , and is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Richard Thaler explore to what extent humans behave rationally, how nudge theory works, and whether we s...
Dec 07, 2025•1 hr 8 min
Abigail Marsh is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at Georgetown University. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Abigail Marsh explore what to do if a child you know might be psychopathic, whether psychopathy is linked to charisma and success, and how to protect yourself. Wondering if you or a loved one might be a psychopath? Take the quiz ! If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on...
Dec 02, 2025•1 hr 17 min
Sven Beckert is Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University. His most recent book is Capitalism: A Global History . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Sven Beckert explore the origins of capitalism, how this triggered the Industrial Revolution, and whether today we’re in late stage capitalism. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone . Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community Podcast production by Mickey Freeland...
Nov 29, 2025•1 hr 14 min
Dan Wang is a research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and author of Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Dan Wang explore the conflict between the United States as a society of lawyers and China as a society of engineers, what this means for their relationship, and why the two countries are more similar than they may first appear. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phon...
Nov 27, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Nate Soares is president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and co-author, with Eliezer Yudkowsky, of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All . He has been working in the field for over a decade, after previous experience at Microsoft and Google. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Nate Soares explore why AI is harder to control than traditional software, what happens when machines develop motivations, and at what point humans can no longer c...
Nov 25, 2025•1 hr 30 min
Edward Luce, Russell Muirhead, Lauren Harper Pope, and Yascha Mounk on this week’s news. In this week’s conversation, Ed Luce, Russ Muirhead, Lauren Harper Pope, and Yascha Mounk discuss the recent Saudi visit and what it says about Donald Trump’s broader foreign policy, the direction of the MAGA movement, and the fallout in the Democratic Party from Marie Gluesenkamp Perez challenging Chuy Garcia’s succession scheme. Edward Luce is the U.S. national editor and a columnist at the Financial Times...
Nov 22, 2025•45 min
James Loxton is a Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the University of Sydney. He is the author of Authoritarianism: A Very Short Introduction . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and James Loxton explore different types of authoritarian regimes, why they fail, and whether the United States passes the fear test. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone . Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community Podcast production by Mi...
Nov 18, 2025•1 hr 13 min
Yascha Mounk and William MacAskill also discuss artificial intelligence. William MacAskill is a moral philosopher and cofounder of the effective altruism movement. He's the author of Doing Good Better and What We Owe the Future . He is a Senior Research Fellow at Forethought Research and works on preparing society for rapid AI-driven technological change. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and William MacAskill discuss the arguments for effective altruism, the motivations of Sam Bankman-F...
Nov 15, 2025•1 hr 27 min
Shadi Hamid is a columnist at The Washington Post and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Hamid’s new book is The Case for American Power . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Shadi Hamid explore why the world still needs America, how to improve U.S. foreign policy, and to what extent their views on the Iraq War have changed. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone . Email: le...
Nov 11, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Yascha Mounk and George Packer discuss autocracy in literature and real life. George Packer is an award-winning author and staff writer at The Atlantic. His latest book is The Emergency . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and George Packer discuss authoritarianism in fiction, living humanist virtues in morally complex times, and how the Democrats can defeat Donald Trump. Note: This conversation was recorded on October 21, 2025. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so ...
Nov 08, 2025•57 min
In this conversation, Sam Kahn, Mike Pesca, Christine Rosen, and Yascha Mounk discuss what the election results mean for the direction of the Democrats, what the Heritage Foundation scandal shows about anti-Semitism on the right, and Dick Cheney’s mixed legacy. Sam Kahn is associate editor at Persuasion and writes the Substack Castalia . Mike is the host of The Gist , the longest-running daily news and analysis podcast in existence. Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise I...
Nov 06, 2025•50 min
Joseph Heath is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Trudeau Foundation, Heath is the author of several books, including Enlightenment 2.0 and The Machinery of Government . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Joseph Heath discuss the death of Western Marxism, approaches to equality, and how to create an equal society. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this lin...
Nov 04, 2025•1 hr 29 min
Richard Aldous, Sabina Ćudić, and Damon Linker join Yascha Mounk to dissect this week’s news. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk, Richard Aldous, Sabina Ćudić, and Damon Linker explore the future of the Democratic Party, from midterm predictions to the unstoppable rise of Zohran Mamdani, the impact of the ongoing government shutdown, and the recent meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Richard Aldous is Eugene Meyer Distinguished Professor of History at Bard. His latest books are T...
Nov 01, 2025•47 min
Yascha Mounk and Geoffrey Hinton discuss how AI works—and why it’s a risk. Geoffrey Hinton is a cognitive psychologist and computer scientist known as the “godfather of AI.” He was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with John Hopfield. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Geoffrey Hinton discuss what neuroscience teaches us about AI, how humans and machines learn, and the existential risks of AI. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following ...
Oct 30, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Francis Fukuyama, Mona Charen, and Yascha Mounk dissect this week’s news. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk, Francis Fukuyama and Mona Charen discuss Trump’s latest actions, from demolishing the East Wing of the White House to demanding compensation from the Justice Department; whether the Trump administration’s bombing boats in Venezuela might lead to further military action; and the link between social media and populism. Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanf...
Oct 25, 2025•41 min
Lulu Cheng Meservey is the founder of Rostra , advocate of going direct, and writer of Flack . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Lulu Meservey explore why the traditional communications playbook is no longer effective, why so many politicians come across badly on TV, and how to be a great leader. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone . Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and L...
Oct 23, 2025•54 min
Randall Kennedy is the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School where he teaches courses on contracts, criminal law, and the regulation of race relations. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Randall Kennedy discuss the history of racism in the United States, the shortcomings of critical race theory, and whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about the trajectory of racism in America. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link ...
Oct 21, 2025•58 min
Yascha Mounk and Quico Toro explore why we fall for them—and how to protect ourselves. Quico Toro is a contributing editor at Persuasion, the Director of Climate Repair at the Anthropocene Institute, and writes the Substack One Percent Brighter . He is the author, with Moisés Naím, of Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses . In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Quico Toro explore whether fraudsters are motivated by self-decept...
Oct 18, 2025•1 hr
