On Friday, December 4, 2020, Shadi and Damir went live on Periscope—Damir from Croatia, Shadi from DC. On their minds: how different cultures react, deal with, and adapt to COVID, how even vaccination is becoming a partisan issue in the United States, and how to think about the state of exception in democratic societies. Check out the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l8elM2Bq7TM This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visi...
Dec 07, 2020•55 min
A glitchy episode (apologies), as Shadi and Damir record across the Atlantic, with Damir in self-isolation and with shaky internet in Croatia. Damir talks about his run-in with the law, and Shadi admits Republicans' rejection of democratic outcomes is bringing out his uncompromising inner partisan. Reading List : Democrats calling for "deprogramming." Shadi's " raw power " first draft. Shadi getting back on-side with the Left (members only). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss thi...
Nov 22, 2020•48 min
Shadi and Damir get together after a long night of watching the results come in from the 2020 Presidential elections and take stock of where they stand. You'll never guess who's the optimist. Reading List: " Everything in its Right Place ," by Radiohead (Kid A) 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...
Nov 05, 2020•57 min
Who poses the biggest danger to our country aside from Trump: the wokes, the integralists—or the Never Trumpers themselves? Aaron Sibarium of the Washington Free Beacon joins Shadi and Damir to talk about his new essay about Weimar Germany, polarization, and the allures and dangers of moral certitude. Reading List " The Weimarization of the American Republic, " by Aaron Sibarium ( American Purpose ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to b...
Nov 01, 2020•1 hr 29 min
What is dissolving the social bonds that tie us together in America? Is liberalism decaying? And is there a "successor ideology" waiting in the wings? Special guest Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, joins Shadi and Damir to talk about Jewish identity and American politics in the waning moments of 2020. Reading List : " Brooklyn's Anti-masking Protests Betray a Broken Culture ," Yehuda Kurtzer ( The Atlantic) " Memory Malpractice ," Yehuda Kurtzer ( Table...
Oct 16, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Why so angry? Shadi and Damir talk about useful idiocy, neoconservatism, and the dangerous temptation of righteousness in politics. Come for Shadi musing about U2 and stay for Damir rhapsodizing about Guy Debord. Reading List : Not the Coen Brothers . " On Romance and Being in a Constant State of Alarm ," Shadi Hamid ( WoC ) " The Biggest Risk to This Election Is Not Russia. It’s Us. " Fiona Hill ( NYT ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...
Oct 08, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Does rhetorical escalation among our elites belie the stability of the nation today? With Amy Coney Barrett nominated for the Supreme Court and partisan rancor at an all-time high, Shadi and Damir pick apart their doubts about the health of our democracy. Reading List : Shadi's prescient tweet " Resisting the Juristocracy ," Samuel Moyn (Boston Review) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscri...
Sep 27, 2020•52 min
The great Nils Gilman of the Berggruen Institute and Noema joins Shadi and Damir to talk about why the upcoming elections feel existential, why our federal government feels increasingly illegitimate, and why Shadi's most recent piece in The Atlantic has annoyed so many people. Reading List: " Human Rights and Neoliberalism ," by Nils Gilman ( LA Review of Books ) " The Collapse of Racial Liberalism, " by Nils Gilman ( The American Interest ) " The Democrats May Not Be Able to Concede, " by Shadi...
Sep 18, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Shadi thinks Damir is getting more worried about our institutions. Damir reveals the depths of his relentless fatalism. All because NPR thought it was a good idea to interview a radical apologist for rioting and looting. Reading List : " One Author's Controversial View: 'In Defense of Looting' ," by Natalie Escobar (NPR) " Between Orientalism and Postmodernism: The Changing Nature of Western Feminist Thought Towards the Middle East ," by Shadi Hamid ( Hawwa ) The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in ...
Sep 11, 2020•59 min
During a livestream, Shadi and Damir talked about the site redesign and relaunch, why it's smart to abandon Big Tech platforms during the upheavals of the Age of Wokeness, how America is definitively not on the cusp of revolution (no matter what the activists might think), and whether violence was likelier if Trump defeats Biden than vice versa. 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...
Sep 04, 2020•1 hr 5 min
It's summer. Damir rings up Shadi to talk about the pleasure of writing and the pain of exercising, before the conversation takes a much darker turn. Required Reading: Islamic Exceptionalism , by Shadi Hamid That Mohammed Tweet , by Shadi Hamid 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...
Aug 14, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Stand up straight! The Washington Post 's Christine Emba joins Shadi and Damir to ponder the positive aspects of the woke wars, the role of ideas in furthering social change, and the virtues of lukewarm takes. Reading List: " Why George Floyd Died ," by Rod Dreher ( The American Conservative ) 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...
Aug 06, 2020•1 hr 21 min
Are we reaching a tipping point in our politics, and is the very legitimacy of our democratic system is being called into question? The Week 's Damon Linker joins Shadi and Damir to discuss how a desperate narrative seems to be taking a hold on the Right, its historical antecedents, and whether the threat comes from an illiberal ideology or if our Union has always been more precarious than we thought. Reading List: " When Conservatives Become Revolutionaries ," by Damon Linker ( The Week ) " Dem...
Jul 30, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Jamie Kirchick of the Brookings Institution and author of The End of Europe joins Shadi and Damir to talk race, anti-semitism, morality, and the ever-multiplying claims to universal rights that are driving the turmoil shaking Western societies to their cores. Come for Damir's tinnitus, and stick around to find out if Shadi will end up a neo-neocon as the woke brigades take over the Left. Reading List: " The Man Who Opposed Hate ," by James Kirchick (Tablet) This is a public episode. If you'd lik...
Jul 23, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Peter Beinart joins Shadi and Damir to discuss his recent essays for Jewish Currents and the New York Times , in which he argues that with the two-state solution a dead letter in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the only possible path forward is making a case for a bi-national state. Is this a tactical maneuver to expand the Overton Window to unblock the status quo? A desperate attempt to prevent Israel from considering worse solutions? Or a moral case energized by the ascendance of the...
Jul 16, 2020•56 min
Shadi and Damir sit down their friend Robert Nicholson, Founder and Executive Director of the Philos Project (and one of the small handful of people who witnessed the birth of the idea for this podcast with his own eyes). Recently back from a trip to Minneapolis, Robert discusses facing up to our deep national dysfunctions as someone who has worked abroad, and how religion might end up being the best bridge we have across our gaping racial divides. This is a public episode. If you'd like to disc...
Jul 09, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Shadi quizzes Damir about his belief in the possibility of progress and social change, before the conversation spins off into a discussion about the creative process, selling out, and the nature of success. Reading (Listening) List: " How a Great Power Falls Apart " by Charles King ( Foreign Affairs ) " The Problem With Music " by Steve Albini ( The Baffler ) " Atmosphere " by The Oranges Band This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus e...
Jul 02, 2020•1 hr
On June 23, Shadi and Damir went live on Periscope to discuss Shadi's latest piece for the Atlantic , the tension between political change and negative externalities, their new Patreon account, and plans for a newsletter. 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...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Shadi talks through his inner conflicts. Damir responds by minimizing the reality of what is happening. Also: why Americans are all fundamentalists (whether secular or religious), the appropriateness of activist-journalism, the empty symbolism of woke politics, and whether the New York Times should(n’t) be our lodestar. Reading List: “ Our Deathwish ” by Jacob Siegel ( Tablet ) “ The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution ”, by Shadi Hamid ( The Atlantic ) Waverley , by Sir Walter Scott This is a pub...
Jun 16, 2020•50 min
The former President of Georgia joins Shadi and Damir to talk about how tricky reforms—such as police reforms—can succeed (and fail), about how identity is a slippery thing in the post-Soviet space, about liberalism, illiberalism, and Western haughtiness, and about his encounters with Donald Trump when he was just another rich guy with a political itch. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscr...
Jun 08, 2020•59 min
Very special guest Michael Signer joins the podcast to talk about his new book recounting his time serving as mayor of Charlottesville during the violence of August 2017. With America in upheaval, it's an appropriate time to revisit that sad bit of recent history, but also an opportunity to think about what's gone wrong with our politics, and what, if anything, can be done to fix it. A rich discussion. Reading List: Cry Havoc: Charlottesville and American Democracy Under Siege , by Michael Signe...
Jun 04, 2020•1 hr 13 min
Shadi and Damir live-streamed an episode as a weekend of violent protests around the country wound to a close. Our episodes are never scripted or prepared, but in this case we are interacting with our audience on Twitter's Periscope in real time to help guide the conversation. Also, please excuse the audio quality. 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...
Jun 01, 2020•56 min
Shadi and Damir discuss how Trump's unabashed contempt for expertise has encouraged his opponents to latch onto expert opinion—and how this could boost Trump if the economic opening goes even tolerably well. Reading List: " What a Maskless Trump Says About His Re-Election Strategy " by Henry Olsen ( WaPo) " In Search of Lost Time " by Peter Pomerantsev ( The American Interest ) " Pandemics Kill Compassion, Too " by David Brooks ( New York Times ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discus...
May 28, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Shadi and Damir talk about their conflicted feelings about recording the previous episode in a room together, the dangers of optimism about the recovery, what the "new normal" in successful South Korea looks like, why America in all likelihood won't ever be able to get there, and why that might or might not be OK. Reading List: Shadi's tweet thread about why America can't be like South Korea. Michael Kim's tweet thread about the reality in South Korea. Man lectures BoJo in a park . This is a pub...
May 20, 2020•54 min
The Atlantic Council's Benjamin Haddad joins Shadi and Damir to talk social distancing, the coronavirus response on both sides of the Atlantic, and how elites' ever more fervent love of experts could lead them to political disaster. Reading List: Le paradis perdu: L'Amérique de Trump et la fin des illusions européennes , by Benjamin Haddad (Grasset) " The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution ," by Shadi Hamid ( The Atlantic ) " Social Distancing Isn't Going To End Soon. So How Do We Live With It? "...
May 14, 2020•1 hr 1 min
In the third week of lockdown, Shadi and Damir talk about the Beatles versus the Stones, how the 1960s represent a kind of dangerous idealism grounded in universal values, and how there’s no escaping politics. Reading List: “ The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution ,” by Shadi Hamid “ It’s imperative for the U.S. and China to work together on the coronavirus pandemic ,” by Michael McFaul Jennifer Rubin’s Political Mathematics “ National Identity is Made Up ,” by Max Fisher and Amanda Taub This is ...
Apr 03, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Catastrophe and resilience, human and economic costs, and the future of democratic politics: Shadi and Damir hunker down for an intense coronavirus podcast (while of course observing appropriate social distancing protocols). Reading List: “ Pandemics Kill Compassion, Too ,” by David Brooks “ The Wuhan Virus and the Imperative of Hard Decoupling ,” by Andrew Michta “ The Coronavirus Called America’s Bluff ,” by Anne Applebaum This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subs...
Mar 18, 2020•1 hr 6 min
In the shadow of Bernie Sanders’ underperforming on Super Tuesday, Shadi and Damir welcome author Ben Judah to the podcast to talk about the enduring promise of left-populism in an Age of Trump. Relevant Reading: “ Left Populism and the Rediscovery of Agonistic Politics, ” by Shadi Hamid “ Traditional ‘foreign policy’ no longer exists. Democrats are the last to know ,” by David Adler and Ben Judah “ Hawks say Sanders will be weak on Russia. But Putin should fear a President Bernie ,” by Ben Juda...
Mar 08, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Shadi and Damir talk about how racism, virtue signaling, the fundamental illegitimacy of the Chinese state, and how both consensus and irreconcilability can be fatal for democracy. Reading List: “ China is the Real Sick Man of Asia ” by Walter Russell Mead “ Birth of the Nations ” by Damir Marusic “ It’s Not About Britain. It’s About Europe ” by Damir Marusic “ The dark side of consensus in Tunisia: Lessons from 2015-2019 ” by Sharan Grewal and Shadi Hamid “ After Europe ” by Ivan Krastev This i...
Feb 13, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Author and essayist Peter Pomerantsev and Karina Orlova of Echo of Moscow Radio join Shadi and Damir to talk about the Russian soul, imperialism, historical memory, opioids, and bad cocaine. (It’s a lot less depressing than it sounds!) Reading List: This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality , by Peter Pomerantsev Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia , by Peter Pomerantsev Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets , by Svetlana Alexiev...
Jan 26, 2020•1 hr 6 min
