Episode description

My guest today is Yascha Mounk. Yascha is a German born political scientist, author, and lecturer known for his research on the rise of populism and the challenges to liberal democracy. He has authored several influential books, including "Stranger in My Own Country", "The People vs. Democracy", and his new book, "The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time"

A few episodes ago, I had Christopher Rufo on the podcast to discuss his analysis of why wokeness came to dominate so many institutions. Yascha's asking the same question in this book, but he's coming to a different answer. Yascha focuses less on people like Herbert Marcuse and more on intellectuals like Michel Foucault, Edward Said, Derrick Bell, and Kimberlé Crenshaw. We also talk about why there are so many former Marxists in the writing world, but so few people who convert into Marxism later in life. We talk about how Foucault's critique of language differs from George Orwell's critique of language, and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.