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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast Shadi and Damir start talking about the appeals and perils of Pete Buttigieg and end up discussing the dangerous dead ends of meritocratic right-think. Mentioned in the Podcast: Shadi’s tweetstorm about Mayor Pete ( https://twitter.com/shadihamid/status/1203416084189196288 ) Luuk van Middelaar’s latest book ( https://www.amazon.com/Alarums-Excursions-Improvising-Politics-European-ebook/dp/B07PHV1Y4M/ ) “Lanes Are Starting to Emerge in the 2020 Primary” -Nathaniel Rakich, 538 ( https://fivethirty...
Dec 12, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Should Trump be impeached? And is he a transformational president? The Washington Post’s national security reporter John Hudson joins Shadi and Damir to talk high-wire politics. Articles Mentioned in the Podcast: How The Framers Thought About Impeachment – Gary Schmitt ( https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/09/25/how-the-framers-thought-about-impeachment/ ) U.S. Officials Ignored Trump On Syria And We Are All Paying The Price – Aaron Stein ( https://warontherocks.com/2019/10/u-s-officials-...
Dec 03, 2019•2 hr 40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Shadi and Damir talk Europe, its problems of integrating of foreigners, and how European mental reliance on the state as a solution to everything is a long-term problem for the continent. Required Reading: Emmanuel Macron’s interview in the Economist magazine: https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-in-his-own-words-english Riada Akyol in Al-Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/macron-remarks-bosnia-dangerous-191110133224396.html Bruno Maçaes in Politico Europe:...
Nov 15, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast A healthy Shadi and a sick Damir chew over Richard Holbrooke’s complicated legacy, as well as the moral imperatives and political limits of humanitarian intervention. 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
Oct 16, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast What’s that in the air? It’s not autumn. It’s that feeling you get knowing that all we’ll be collectively discussing in the next 14 months is the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Shadi and Damir discuss the fate of our republic in these polarized times. Articles discussed in this episode: How the Framers Thought About Impeachment – Gary Schmitt The Decay of American Political Institutions – Francis Fukuyama The Problem of Donald Trump Didn’t Start With Donald Trump – Damir Marusic This is a publi...
Sep 27, 2019•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Shadi and Damir record an episode in transition, with Shadi just having gotten back from a long trip, and Damir just embarking on one. The nature of nationalism and the idea of “Americanism” come up as a result of being abroad. 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 12, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide kicks off a frenzy of conspiracy theories in the media—and prompts Shadi and Damir to talk through whether we are living through a healthy democratic correction, or something much darker. Articles mentioned in the podcast: Ross Douthat on conspiracies ( https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/opinion/jeffrey-epstein-suicide.html ) YouTube and Bolsonaro ( https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/11/world/americas/youtube-brazil.html ) This is a public episode. If you’d like t...
Aug 11, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the wake of last weekend’s twin mass shootings, Shadi and Damir discuss radicalization, social media, and how the Left’s of denial of religion is creating dangerous blindspots for itself and for our democracies. 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 05, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the inaugural episode of this ongoing experiment, Shadi and Damir talk about how inherent tensions in American identity—between inclusion and assimilation—are being tugged apart in perhaps unhealthy ways. 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
Jul 26, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
