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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveMana Afsari is a writer and sometime contributor to Wisdom of Crowds, whose career has taken her from the RAND Corporation, to a job as an assistant to a great American poet, to the position of Research Associate at the Aspen Institute's Philosophy and Society Initiative. In January, Mana published an essay titled, “Last Boys at the Beginning of History,” a fascinating reported piece about the young men with intellectual ambitions who joined the National Conservative movement and voted for Donald Trump. The essay went viral and earned praise from both liberals and conservatives. Damon Linker of Notes from the Middleground called it “a remarkable essay that's generated considerable (and well-justified) buzz.”Mana joins Santiago Ramos and Shadi Hamid to discuss the essay and the general question of why ambitious, inquisitive and searching young men are attracted to the MAGA movement. “I am not a right wing zoologist,” Mana says, but it is important to understand where these men are coming form. These young intellectuals are not your average Trump voter. They are not the “DOGE boys,” either. But they are becoming a significant part of the GOP leadership class. Shadi wants to know why an interest in culture and ideas has led these men toward right wing spaces. Mana responds that right wing spaces, at least until recently, had a less politicized approach to culture. Many of these young men are interested in things, like history or cartography, which some suggest are “right-coded.” “Most things that are supposedly right-coded should not be right-coded,” Mana says.And what do they think of Trump? “They don't think of Trump as Odoacer, they see him as Julius Caesar. They don't see him as a barbarian, but as a restorer of the republic.”In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Shadi talks about going to a recent right wing party and says it was “a safe space, it was inclusive”; Santiago asks Shadi if he ever went to right wing parties during the War on Terror; Mana distinguishes the desire for free and open discussion versus the desire to “say whatever you want,” i.e., slurs; and Santiago argues that the Israel-Palestine conflict has made all political sides rediscover the importance of freedom of speech.Required Reading and Listening:* Mana Afsari, “Last Boys at the Beginning of History” (The Point).* Santiago Ramos, “Let Us Now Praise the Supermen” (WoC).* Santiago Ramos, “Do You Know What Time It Is?” (WoC).* Damir Marusic, “Barbarians at the Gate” (WoC).* Shadi Hamid, “Why Half of America is Cheering for Chaos” (Washington Post). * Wisdom of Crowds podcast episode, “The Masculine World is Adrift” (WoC).* Henry Kissinger quote about Trump (Financial Times).* Vittoria Elliot, “The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover” (Wired).* Norman Podhoretz, Ex-Friends: Falling Out with Allen Ginsberg, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Lillian Hellman, Hannah Arendt and Norman Mailer (Amazon). * C. P. Cavafy, “Waiting for the Barbarians” (Poetry Foundation). * Odoacer (Britannica).* Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman, What are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice (Amazon). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Free preview video:Full video for paid subscribers below:
Marc Andreessen and Erik Torenberg discuss the ongoing political and cultural shift in America, covering topics such as preference falsification, the role of DEI in tech and other sectors, the influence of group chats, and the emerging dynamic in politics with highly capable appointments in the new administration. —
Marc Andreessen, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) returns to Moment of Zen to discuss Trump's new administration, the political vibe shift for Silicon Valley, why San Francisco may be the cultural center of the universe, and what comes after wokeness. —
01:00 Racial identity & Yacht Rock - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34280353/ 11:30 Commentary magazine podcast on the criminal violence that liberals say we should have sympathy for the perpetrators, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHbLFcHEvGw 15:00 The February 1963 Norman Podhoretz essay that dare not speak its name 30:00 Why Did Many Conservatives Rebel Against Covid Lockdowns & Vaccines?, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158175 40:00 Zebra murders, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_murders 1:04:00 Kip joins to talk about truth & harm reduction 1:11:00 The close relationship between an Orthodox Jew and his rabbi 1:21:00 Why Sam Harris types despise Donald Trump 1:24:00 GameStop short squeeze, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameStop_short_squeeze 1:28:00 The View tv show, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_View_(talk_show) 1:35:50 Mysterious drones over New Jersey 1:40:50 The Psychology of Conspiracy Theorists, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByOHRqCP_kY 2:06:00 The Antipsychiatry Movement's Long Shadow, https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-antipsychiatry-movements-long-shadow/ 2:14:45 Jay-Z sued for raping 13 yo girl with P Diddy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Z 2:15:00 Jay-Z's Wiki, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Z 2:21:00 Why socialists are cheering the death of an insurance CEO | Reason Roundtable, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEnftm9Gqg0 2:24:50 Is Wokeness An Elite Boondoggle?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbFSFUjtNDA 2:27:40 Symbolic capital 2:34:00 Stay inside during covid unless you are protesting the death of George Floyd, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT4lxJKj0I0 2:43:40 CHIPS Act not working out, https://x.com/JohnStossel/status/1866616382487495049 2:47:00 Why Judaism reveres beards, https://www.commentary.org/articles/meir-soloveichik/why-beards/ 2:58:00 Amy Wax says a second Trump term should overhaul our education, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ5F4Sl0VzQ
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press, 2024) examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation. Dr. Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Dr. Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism. A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We've got a wide ranging GLoP for you this month: everything from who John spent 9/11 with to movie bad guys and losers who end up winning, Alan Bloom, college campus unrest and the best movies about college, Norman Podhoretz watched a dirty movie once and wrote about it. morning routines of the rich and famous, and Jonah's beefs with Fallout and Shogun.
We’ve got a wide ranging GLoP for you this month: everything from who John spent 9/11 with to movie bad guys and losers who end up winning, Alan Bloom, college campus unrest and the best movies about college, Norman Podhoretz watched a dirty movie once and wrote about it. morning routines of the rich and famous, and […]
Historian Ronnie Grinberg's new book Write Like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals couldn't be better "Know Your Enemy" fodder. (Main characters include: Midge Decter and Norman Podhoretz, Diana and Lionel Trilling, Irving Howe, Alfred Kazin, and Mary McCarthy!) These writers, Grinberg shows, built and sustained a novel, secular, Jewish, and masculine concept of the intellectual life, an ideology that would profoundly affected the development of Cold War liberalism, neo-conservativism, Zionism, and right-wing reaction against feminism, gay rights, and black power. As we discovered in this conversation, it's impossible to make sense of the creative and scholarly contributions of the New York Intellectuals — good and bad — without gender as an essential lens. Moreover, Grinberg shows how scholars can easily misapprehend the deeper motivations for neoconservative reaction (among those such as Podhoretz and Decter) if they are not attentive to the centrality of gender, sexuality, and patriarchy in these thinkers' work. Further Reading:Ronnie Grinberg, Write Like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Mar 2024)Sam Adler-Bell, "The New York Intellectuals Were a Boys' Club," Chronicle of Higher Education, Apr 10, 2024Matthew Sitman, "Midge Decter to Howard Meyer, April 15, 1987," Friends and Enemies, Apr 8, 2024B.D. McClay, "Of Course They Hated Her: The Uncomfortable Honesty of Mary McCarthy," Commonweal, Dec 18, 2017William Barrett, The Truants: Adventures Among the Intellectuals (1982)Mary McCarthy, The Group (1963)Tess Slesinger, The Unpossessed (1934)Norman Podhoretz, Breaking Ranks: A Political Memoir (1979)Irving Howe, World of Our Fathers (1976)Further Viewing:D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus,"Town Bloody Hall" (1979)Further Listening:KYE, "Midge Decter, Anti-Feminist Cold Warrior (w/ Moira Donegan and Adrian Daub," Jul 28, 2023KYE, "What Happened to Norman (w/ David Klion)," Jan 16, 2020
In this episode, Matt and Sam join Moira Donegan and Adrian Daub — co-hosts of the new podcast “In Bed With The Right" — for an in-depth look at the life, times, and work of the late Midge Decter, who died in 2022. Decter was inspired by a distinctly conservative, mid-century American reading of Freudian psychology, mobilized in defense of traditional family hierarchies, which made her an important link between neoconservatives and the religious right — unsurprisingly, she helped found or served on the boards of numerous conservative organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, Committee for the Free World, and the Independent Women's Forum, among others. Her essays, books, and memoirs represent an anguished counter-revolt against the sexual liberation movements of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and her trajectory from (ostensible) New Deal liberal to anti-feminist Cold Warrior proves a perfect subject for Know Your Enemy. Decter also was married to Norman Podhoretz (another subject of KYE lore) and the mother of John Podhoretz, current editor of Commentary magazine. A quarrelsome, Jewish conservative with a lively writing style and a fascinating, emblematic life story: what could be better?Further Reading:Midge Decter, An Old Wife's Tale: My Seven Decades in Love and War (2002) —The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women's Liberation (1972)— Always Right: Selected Writings of Midge Decter (2002)— Liberal Parents, Radical Children (1975)— Rumsfeld: A Personal Portrait (2003)— “The Boys on the Beach,” Commentary, Sept 1980.— “Socialism & Its Irresponsibilities: The Case of Irving Howe,” Commentary, Dec 1982.— “Documentation: Sex Education on Trial—What They're Teaching Our Children,” Crisis Magazine, Dec 1, 1998.John Podhoretz, A Son's Eulogy for Midge Decter (1927-2022), Commentary, May 12, 2022.R. R. Reno, “My Memories of Midge Decter,” First Things, May 11, 2022.Jeet Heer, “Farewell to Midge Decter, the Bigot on the Beach,” The Nation, May 13, 2022.Ronnie Grinberg, “An overlooked conservative writer helps explain Trump's enduring appeal,” Washington Post, May 20, 2022.Douglas Martin, “Midge Decter, an Architect of Neoconservatism, Dies at 94,” NYTimes, May 9, 2022.Adrienne Rich, “The Anti-Feminist Woman,” NYRB, Nov 30, 1972. ...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!
Reading list for episode:* “John Pistelli,” by Blake Smith* “The Souls of Yellow Folk, by Wesley Yang,” by John Pistelli* “The Souls of Yellow Folk—A Review,” by Daniel Oppenheimer* “Platonic Complex: Why Do the Intellectuals Rage?"“ by John Pistelli* “The Face of Seung-Hui Cho,” by Wesley YangCritic, novelist, and sorta-academic and I have two things on our agenda for this episode of the podcast. The first is , the author of the 2018 essay collection The Souls of Yellow Folk and arguably the single most influential writer of the past decade when it comes to articulating the basic premises of the more substantive anti-woke perspective. John and I both wrote early reviews of Yang's book, and both of us have remained relatively close Yang-watchers.My review, though it included a few modest criticisms of the book, was immensely admiring. Of the book's centerpiece essay, “The Face of Seung Hi Cho,” I wrote:There aren't many essayists alive today who can sustain the level of brilliance Yang maintains in the essay for as long as he does. Zadie Smith can do it. Dave Hickey and Joan Didion could do it once, but are too old now. David Foster Wallace could do it, but although he should be alive, he is not. Ta-Nehisi Coates looked like he was on his way toward being able to do it, but he made other choices. A few other writers, maybe, but not many.The essay doesn't just teem with sentence-level excellence. Through all the micro-level fascination Yang has a larger point to make about what it is like to be an unlovable young man in America, a loser in the sexual and cultural marketplace, and the ways in which that loserdom intersects with and reinforces the experience of Asian-American-ness.John's review of Yang's book is a much more mixed assessment. He thinks some of it is brilliant, some not, and in general takes it to task for being a rather slapdash collection of things that don't entirely hang together. He also makes the case (accurately I think, though I don't have the theory background to confidently affirm) that Yang misdiagnoses the theoretical ancestry of wokeness and identity politics. For Yang it is post-structuralist theory that sets the stage. John writes:A deeper flaw … makes itself known in the concluding pages of this book, when in essays from 2017 Yang provides a detailed critique of the social justice left. He accuses its activists of having absorbed a set of lessons from poststructuralism that posit both language and institutions as nothing other than vectors of power, obviating the old liberal ambition to reform institutions by using language to persuade a majority to abandon its prejudices and alter its practices. By contrast to the social justice left's radical ambition to bring in an egalitarian millennium through linguistic and institutional engineering, Yang concedes the manifold injuries social life deals to those who have lost its lottery while also worrying that attempts to reduce harm through new forms of undemocratic social control may only entrench new hierarchies under the false labels of peace and equality.Why do I call this theory flawed? … Social-justice theory comes ultimately from Marxism, which is the attempt to overcome existential alienation by altering power relations within political and social institutions. Marx began as a Romantic rebel and ironist, hailing Prometheus and imitating Sterne, until he became convinced that his alienation could be ameliorated through a total social transformation, one premised on what we now call identity politics. What differentiated Marx's scientific from his precursors' utopian socialism was precisely the identification of a mechanism—in the form of a social class—that could effect the transformation of an inegalitarian society to an egalitarian one. A social class whose exploitation was the engine of the entire system could, by resisting that exploitation, bring the system to a halt; having been exploited, this class would not replicate exploitation in its turn but rather abolish the class relation as suchJohn and I talk about the brilliance of Yang at his best; his snarky aside, in his review, about my review; his subsequent penance for his snarky aside; the possible connection between Yang and old school neocon Norman Podhoretz; and Yang's recent descent into anti-trans, anti-woke monomania.The other thing on our agenda is the emergence of a newly influential cohort of writer intellectual types who earned their PHDs in humanities fields—in particular English and English-adjacent departments—who are exerting influence primarily through non-academic channels. They are writing for high or middle brow magazines—The Point, Compact, American Affairs, Tablet, etc—or, as in John's case, they're writing the vast majority of their words for their own websites and newsletters. I proposed this to John in an email exchange before our conversation, and he wrote:I do see what you're getting at with the post-/para-academic set and the full emergence of the humanities into the online public sphere. ... I would personally draw a distinction between people I see as trying to transmit to the public the current ethos of their academic fields ( would be the chief example here, probably also and Jon Baskin) and more strictly renegade figures making a public bricolage of academic theories past and current extra-institutional or countercultural energies (e.g., Geoff Shullenberger and, well, me), with Blake Smith and JEHS somewhere in the middle). From the perspective of a certain kind of, say, economist, though, this might be the narcissism of small differences, as we're all talking various sorts of unverifiable gibberish! (Not meant as self-deprecation: I am only interested in unverifiable gibberish.)Some of these folks have academic posts, but often rather marginal ones (John is adjunct at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, for instance; is at the City University of Paris). Other have left the academy entirely. That these people constitute a coherent group, I should say, is very much a hypothesis in progress. I described it to John, when inviting him on the podcast, as a "very wobbly, inchoate hypothesis." My hope is that it is slightly less wobbly and inchoate by the end of our discussion. John is the author of four novels—The Class of 2000, The Quarantine of St. Sebastian House, Portraits and Ashes, and The Ecstasy of Michaela—as well as diverse short fiction, poetry, and literary and cultural criticism that has appeared in many venues. He writes a weekly newsletter on literature, culture, and politics at SubStack. A longtime teacher with a Ph.D. in English, he has uploaded the lectures for two full university literature courses at YouTube, alongside other lectures, audio essays, and audio fiction. His fifth novel, Major Arcana, is currently being serialized for paid subscribers to his newsletter. I reached out to John after , a writer we both follow, wrote a whole post on his newsletter about how great John is. Here's a bit of what Blake wrote about John:John Pistelli is my favorite critic—one of the few people I ‘read,' in the sense of regularly checking his substack/tumblr (GrandHotelAbyss) and recommending to my friends (I am a very poor ‘reader'; I don't have much room in my head for contemporaries, or maybe I already have too much room devoted to them and have to tetchily defend the cramped remainder from my own tendency to envy, revile, etc., them—one of the reasons my Twitter is locked!). He's erudite—with an easy, expansive mastery over the modern canon and its scholarly-critical adjuncts—and abreast of ‘internet culture' in ways that I'm not but (mostly) appreciate someone else being (more from the implied ‘however' later).Eminent Americans is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Eminent Americans at danieloppenheimer.substack.com/subscribe
This month we discuss Norman Podhoretz's memoir Making It. The book was first published in 1967 and then was reissued in 2017 by the New York Review of Books. Making It was controversial upon publication—friends like Jason Epstein even warned Podhoretz against publishing it. Making It chronicles Podhoretz's rise from Jewish Brooklyn, to Columbia University, on to Cambridge University, and then to joining the exclusive community of New York Intellectuals. He frames his story with the themes of success, American identity, and the intellectual life. Our conversation here takes up all of these themes and a few more. We discuss why the book proved controversial initially, Podhoretz's reflections on the question of success, his judgments about the role of the critic, and his understanding of the immigrant bargain as success becomes a real possibility. Our guest is Fred Bauer. Fred has written for a number of publications, including National Review, City Journal, The Weekly Standard, The American Conservative, Genealogies of Modernity, and elsewhere. His interests include contemporary American politics, accounts of identity, and the role of social and ethical commitments for liberty.
00:30 We are gathered here in the sight of God, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=144407 05:00 Conservative Claims of Cultural Oppression: The Nature and Origins of Conservaphobia 2, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=144294 24:00 Tucker Carlson on possible war with China over Taiwan 1:15:30 Robert Malone - A vaccine scientist's discredited claims have bolstered a movement of misinformation, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01/24/robert-malone-vaccine-misinformation-rogan-mandates/ 1:17:00 Bob Saget, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Saget 1:18:20 Publications on the right such as American Greatness are unreadable 1:24:50 David Remnick at the New Yorker 1:28:25 Laurene Powell Jobs 1:30:00 Norman Podhoretz and John Podhoretz and Commentary magazine 1:31:00 Why is the LA Times so boring? 1:35:00 Matt Yglesias, restaurants, productivity, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Yglesias https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/30/florida-hospital-conservatives-sarasota-election/ https://www.takimag.com/article/monkeypox-the-new-aids/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/27/monkeypox-gay-men-vaccine-treatment/ https://www.takimag.com/article/the-truth-is-out-there/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/medical-training-goes-woke-association-of-american-medical-colleges-doctors-11658871789?mod=hp_opin_pos_1 https://www.wsj.com/articles/public-life-is-crazy-but-americans-arent-performance-politics-media-private-mind-drama-ideology-theater-king-lear-11658934538?mod=opinion_lead_pos6 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/opinion/environment/energy-crisis-oil-gas-fracking.html Conservative Claims of Cultural Oppression: The Nature and Origins of Conservaphobia: https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=144168 REVIEW: The Star Chamber of Stanford: On the Secret Trial and Invisible Persecution of a Stanford Law Fellow, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=143937 Stanford Star Chamber, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=143824 Reaction to Stanford Star Chamber, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=143994 https://ronyguldmann.com/ My Best Work: https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=143746 Mind, Modernity, Madness: The Impact of Culture on Human Experience, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=143670 Professor of Apocalypse: The Many Lives of Jacob Taubes, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=143590 http://vouchnationalism.com https://postkahanism.substack.com/p/the-failure-and-importance-of-kahanism?s=r Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSFVD7Xfhn7sJY8LAIQmH8Q/join https://odysee.com/@LukeFordLive, https://lbry.tv/@LukeFord, https://rumble.com/lukeford https://dlive.tv/lukefordlivestreams Listener Call In #: 1-310-997-4596 Superchat: https://entropystream.live/app/lukefordlive Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/lukeford/ Soundcloud MP3s: https://soundcloud.com/luke-ford-666431593 Code of Conduct: https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=125692 https://www.patreon.com/lukeford http://lukeford.net Email me: lukeisback@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter.com/lukeford Support the show | https://www.streamlabs.com/lukeford, https://patreon.com/lukeford, https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback Facebook: http://facebook.com/lukecford Feel free to clip my videos. It's nice when you link back to the original.
On May 9, the cultural commentator Midge Decter passed away. The author of essays and books, an editor of magazines, and a mentor to generations of writers, Decter was subtle, clear, and courageous in her thinking. Though a member of the Democratic party for most of her life, Decter was an anti-Communist liberal who gradually became more conservative over time, becoming, along with her husband, Norman Podhoretz, a leading neoconservative. On this week's podcast, her son, John Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary magazine, joins us to reflect on her life. He recently published a eulogy for her in which he wondered what in her background could explain her style, force, and view of the world. Decter wasn't born into a family of ideas and argument, yet that was where she made her indelible mark. In conversation with Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver, Podhoretz thinks about his late mother's life and work. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Even if you only count until 1985, Lebanon was Israel's longest war and so it's no surprise that it left some of the deepest impressions. The birth of Peace Now, the murder of Emil Gruzweig and the personal struggles of soon-to-be famous Israelis like Avraham Burg and Donniel Hartman all illustrate how far Israel's social fabric was stretched by the conflict. Across the ocean in America Jews like Norman Podhoretz and the rabbis of the CCAR are asking about their support for the Jewish State, and the world media is focused on Lebanon. When this war ends, the story will be far from over.
Even if you only count until 1985, Lebanon was Israel's longest war and so it's no surprise that it left some of the deepest impressions. The birth of Peace Now, the murder of Emil Gruzweig and the personal struggles of soon-to-be famous Israelis like Avraham Burg and Donniel Hartman all illustrate how far Israel's social fabric was stretched by the conflict. Across the ocean in America Jews like Norman Podhoretz and the rabbis of the CCAR are asking about their support for the Jewish State, and the world media is focused on Lebanon. When this war ends, the story will be far from over.
In 2016, America's "Silent Majority" was no longer so silent. Their tongues untied by the gruff and ruff skyscraper builder, casino owner, turned reality TV star, turned presidential candidate Donald Trump. Trump gave them permission to boldly embrace values and beliefs that they had been told was not only unjust, but ultimately, Un-American. The previous president said it was time for America to lead from behind, and the values they had grown up with and cherished were no longer a fit for a world that was embracing a multitude of identities, along with an emphasis on ending cultural entitlements that went along with belonging to the middle/working class.They were told that their ideas were outmoded and that they would have to be re-educated in order to have a seat at the table in Obama's America.Trump changed all of that and with the bold sense of permission he channeled, the deplorables awakened. Their liberal animus was unleashed and America found itself in the midst a cultural war that cut so deep and wide, that friends and families were ripped asunder by the shearing force of extremely disparate political views.But was this a byproduct of social sublimation via political correctness and an extreme overcorrection as a result or was there something else going on?Were both sides, the left and the right, collective manifestations of the Neoliberal vs Neoconservative paradigm that had grafted itself upon the everyday life and political theory of easily programmed masses?In this version of The Friday FARcast, I take a look back at when the Neocons broke from their liberal counterparts, who the modern descendants of their paleo-conservative aggression are and if we're just pawns in their ever changing game of thrones.
Jussie Smollett. Michael Nesmith dies at age 78. The influence of Norman Podhoretz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
👉 Miguel Anxo Bastos plantea en su exposición el derecho a excluir o discriminar, desde la perspectiva del conservadurismo, menciona la idea que tienen sobre propiedad privada, comunidad, tipos de conservadurismo que existen e ideas que proponen sus escuelas: ordoliberal o de Friburgo representada por Frank Mayer, Wilhem Röpke, Walter Eucken y Alfred Müller-Armack; el paleoliberalismo o derecha vieja, que representan Albert Jay Nock, Rose Wilder Lane, e Isabel Paterson; el neoconservadurismo con aportes de Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Rosenthal Decter, Max Boot, Charles Krauthammer y Harold Bloom. Finalmente, explica sobre el surgimiento del liberalismo, sus autores y diferentes corrientes que han surgido. Link al vídeo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY4-YQwC8t4 🎤 INTERVIENEN: - Miguel Anxo Bastos 💘 NOS APOYAN: - InkyBranding: empresa especializada en dar a las marcas para posicionarlas en Internet. - Primera consultoría gratis (30 minutos). - www.Inkybranding.com 🔔 NUESTRAS REDES Y DEMÁS: - Tienda: - https://www.latostadora.com/escueladeserpientes/ - https://www.spreadshirt.es/shop/user/escuela+de+serpientes/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/escueladeserpientes - Twitter: https://twitter.com/de_serpientes - Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/escuela_de_serpientes - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escueladeserpientes/?hl=es - Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/podcast-escuela-de-serpientes-a04023201/ - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyWmd7SjTQJlgvKLCKY6dMA - EMAIL: escueladeserpientes@gmail.com - Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/cPvFyjUHH2EzMWQ0 - Compatibles con Alexa y con Google Home a través de las aplicaciones de Ivoox, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Spreaker, Podimo y Stitcher, por poner varios ejemplos.
The changing culture of American Jewry after the Yom Kippur War in Israel and the Vietnam War meant leaving old neighborhoods, a surge in Zionism and new developments in the Jewish community like the Havurah movement. We explore the publication of the First Jewish Catalog: A Do-It-Yourself Kit edited by Richard Siegel, and Michael and Sharon Strassfeld and the shift from left-wing liberal to neo-conservative in the writings of Commentary Magazine editor Norman Podhoretz. Plus, Rav Mike gets personal and talks about his own Jewish upbringing.
The changing culture of American Jewry after the Yom Kippur War in Israel and the Vietnam War meant leaving old neighborhoods, a surge in Zionism and new developments in the Jewish community like the Havurah movement. We explore the publication of the First Jewish Catalog: A Do-It-Yourself Kit edited by Richard Siegel, and Michael and Sharon Strassfeld and the shift from left-wing liberal to neo-conservative in the writings of Commentary Magazine editor Norman Podhoretz. Plus, Rav Mike gets personal and talks about his own Jewish upbringing.
https://www.amazon.com/Enlarging-America-1930-1990-Traditions-Literature/dp/0815605404/ Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSFVD7Xfhn7sJY8LAIQmH8Q/join 90% of my livestreaming is here exclusively: https://dlive.tv/lukefordlivestreams Listener Call In #: 1-310-997-4596 Superchat: https://entropystream.live/app/lukefordlive Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/lukeford/ Soundcloud MP3s: https://soundcloud.com/luke-ford-666431593 Code of Conduct: https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=125692 https://www.patreon.com/lukeford http://lukeford.net Email me: lukeisback@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter.com/lukeford Support the show | https://www.streamlabs.com/lukeford, https://patreon.com/lukeford, https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback Facebook: http://facebook.com/lukecford Feel free to clip my videos. It's nice when you link back to the original.
In November of 1945, the American Jewish Committee established a new, independent magazine of Jewish ideas, with the goal of explaining America to the Jews and the Jews to the America. This month, Commentary marks 75 years of publishing about everything from culture, politics, and history to foreign affairs, Israel, and Jewish thought. During that time, it has proven to be one of America’s most influential journals of public affairs and central fora for great Jewish debates. The late Irving Kristol is said to have called it the most important Jewish magazine in history. He was probably right. In the history of American Jewish letters, Commentary is responsible for bringing Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, and Cynthia Ozick to the attention of the reading public. During the Cold War, the magazine fought against the then-reigning foreign-policy paradigms of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Not one, but two separate Commentary essays helped secure their authors’—Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jean Kirkpatrick—appointments as United Nations Ambassadors. And in the field of Jewish and Zionist ideas thought, the magazine has over the years published such leading Jewish scholars as Gershom Scholem, Emil Fackenheim, Leon Kass, and Ruth Wisse. Commentary was for many years edited by the legendary Norman Podhoretz, who was followed by Neal Kozodoy (now Mosaic’s editor-at-large); it is now led by John Podhoretz, the guest of this podcast. In this conversation with Mosaic Editor Jonathan Silver—inspired by the magazine’s 75th anniversary issue—Podhoretz looks back at his own history with Commentary, reflects on the work of an editor, recalls how Commentary shaped American Jewish history, and articulates why Commentary still matters three-quarters of a century after its birth. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Listen now | My guest today on the podcast is Ruthie Blum! Ruthie is originally from New York, and is the daughter of journalists and authors Midge Decter and legendary editor in Chief of Commentary Magazine, Norman Podhoretz. Since she immigrated to Israel in the late 70's, she's become a very well known journalist and pundit in her own right, and as you'll probably hear - despite my attempt to listen to ALL my guests no matter what - I agree with maybe 1 percent of what she says. Get on the email list at amikaufman.substack.comSupport the show (https://ko-fi.com/otherwiseoccupied)
Making It is Norman Podhoretz's 1967 memoir about his journey from the working-class neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn to his heady ascent in the New York literary scene of 1950s and '60s. It's also a fascinating psychological study of a man on the cusp of converting from Cold War liberalism to what came to be known as neoconservatism—a shift driven, at least in part, by the cool reception of this book. Making It proves a fascinating text through which to understand not just one conservative mind, but multiple generations of New York intellectuals, the neoconservative movement, and the politics of grievance, self-pity, and narcissism that have come to define much of conservatism in the Trump era.Sources Cited:David Klion, "The Making and Unmaking of the Podhoretz Dynasty," Jewish Currents, Dec 19, 2017Norman Podhoretz, "My Negro Problem — And Ours," Commentary, Feb 1963Janet Malcolm, "‘I Should Have Made Him for a Dentist'" New York Review of Books, Mar 22, 2018Louis Menand, "The Book That Scandalized the New York Intellectuals," The New Yorker, Apr 24, 2017Benjamin Moser, "My Podhoretz Problem — And Ours," Jewish Quarterly, Dec 5, 2018Lee Smith, "Making It," Tablet, Jan 16, 2019
On November 10, 2019, Norman Podhoretz—longtime editor of Commentary and one of the founding fathers of neoconservatism—will receive the Tikvah Fund’s 2019 Herzl Prize at the 3rd Annual Conference on Jews and Conservatism. Podhoretz is a true renaissance man, whose has written on everything from culture to politics to Jewish affairs. In one of the earliest episodes of the Tikvah Podcast, we were privileged to have him join our executive director, Eric Cohen, for a conversation on his 2007 essay, “Jerusalem: The Scandal of Particularity.” Originally delivered as a lecture in Jerusalem, the piece is a reflection on the meaning of the holy city and the mystery of Jewish chosenness. This week, we rebroadcast this conversation in honor of our Herzl Prize Laureate and his enduring contributions to conservatism, America, and the Jewish people. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
In this special edition of the American Mind podcast, we explore the intellectual roots, political and societal implications of and the antidote to what the Claremont Institute believes is the great threat to America: multiculturalism. The podcast features Claremont Institute President Ryan Williams, Chairman Tom Klingenstein and scholar Charles Kesler, as well as the likes of David Azerrad, Lord Conrad Black, Allen Guelzo, Roger Kimball and Norman Podhoretz. It is narrated by James Poulos, Executive Editor of the American Mind and produced by ChangeUp Media. *** Works Referenced & Related Readings (In Order of Appearance): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPfwLh5pyy4 https://americanmind.org/feature/multiculturalism-vs-america/ https://americanmind.org/discourse/algorithms-of-suppression/ https://americanmind.org/essays/defend-america-defeat-multiculturalism/ https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed39.asp https://americanmind.org/essays/our-house-divided-multiculturalism-vs-america/ https://claremont.org/crb/article/patriotism-vs-multiculturalism/ https://www.claremont.org/crb/article/the-crb-interview/ https://youtu.be/0WzDYy7IR2Y?t=2400 https://americanmind.org/features/winning-the-new-irrepressible-conflict/trump-vs-multiculturalist-insurrection/ https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1193&context=llr Visit The American Mind for more great content. And if you have feedback for us, we'd love to hear from you at americanmind@claremont.org
Only a very few guests warrant two segments on the Ricochet Podcast aka, America's Most Trusted Podcast® and one of those people is the great Norman Podhoretz (around these parts, we call him “The Podfather). We talk to Norman (who's a sprightly 89) about his recent conversion to a supporter of the President, the history of the Conservative movement, how he may have singlehandedly invented the... Source
“It is not for nothing,” Norman Podhoretz once wrote, “that a cruel wag has described…services in a Reform temple as ‘the Democratic Party at prayer.’” The truth to which this old quip points is not simply that most American Jews are liberal, but that too many Jews use the faith of their ancestors as window dressing for their left-wing politics. This ought to perturb Jews of all religious persuasions, conservatives and liberals alike. In January of 2018, Jeffrey Salkin, a Reform rabbi and the spiritual leader of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Florida, penned a piece in Commentary calling on his liberal Jewish colleagues to abandon what he called a “Judaism of slogans.” Far too often, Rabbi Salkin argues, progressive Jews make sloppy use of Jewish texts in order to justify the political positions they already hold. This kind of lazy sloganeering, he writes, fails to do justice to “a people with an unparalleled tradition of religious scholarship and spiritual breadth.” In this podcast, Rabbi Salkin sits down with Tikvah’s Jonathan Silver for a conversation about the uses and misuses of Judaism in politics. They unpack some of the most common slogans used by Jewish activists and show how the source texts are far too complex to fit on a bumper sticker. They also explore the place of social justice activism in liberal Judaism and ponder the tensions and future of the Reform Movement in America. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble as well as “Baruch Habah,” performed by the choir of Congregation Shearith Israel.
Another Saturday edition of the Ricochet Podcast with a super-sized running time and a legendary guest: The Podfather himself, Norman Podhoretz, whose seminal book Making It has just been re-released to mark its 50th anniversary. We talk about the book, and about the world, both past and present. Also, in-fighting at the White House, North Korea saber rattling, and what was your first concert? Source
With Norman Podhoretz, you can talk about practically anything – so Jay does. They talk about writing, of course. Few do it as well as NPod. They talk about his friend Shakespeare, and his friend Yeats. They talk about novels. (Podhoretz rates “Anna Karenina” number one.) They talk about music and ballet. Even math and science. And also politics, including Trump. And Europe – its fate. Source
Sept. 18, 2016 - Deplorable Propaganda, ALT Right Agenda, & The Media Framing Effect On This 3rd Episode of The Propaganda Report. Episode 3 of the Propaganda Report with WSB 750's Monica Perez, and Brad Binkley On Today's Episode, A Basket of Deplorable Propaganda The Media Framing Effect The "ALT Right" Agenda Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Moving Towards A One Party System What To Look Out For Two corrections: (at marker 26:55) Stalin & Hitler didn’t like each other in the end (they liked each in the beginning); (at marker 29:47) Irving Kristol partnered up with Norman Podhoretz, not his son John. SHOW NOTES by Monica Perez https://themonicaperezshow.com/2016/09/20/propaganda-report-episode-3-american-right-alt-right-european-right-podcast-and-video/#more-23369 Les Déplorables Hillary Clinton names the five phobias of Donald Trump’s political supporters. http://www.wsj.com/articles/les-deplorables-1473895470 Donald Trump Promises Tax Cuts, Offset by Robust Growth Skeptics in both parties question whether policies will deliver predicted GDP and employment gains http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-lays-out-more-details-of-economic-plans-1473955537 Republicans Are Slow to Back Donald Trump’s Paid Maternity-Leave Plan Democrats criticize the proposal as insufficient compared with what Hillary Clinton is offering http://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-are-slow-to-back-donald-trumps-paid-maternity-leave-plan-1473895995 Fiscal Policy Makes a Quiet Turn Toward Stimulus Shift in political winds toward populism weakens appetite for austerity http://www.wsj.com/articles/fiscal-policy-makes-a-quiet-turn-toward-stimulus-1473870699 The Great Unraveling: A Wall Street Journal series examining the economic roots of America’s populist discontent In Places With Fraying Social Fabric, a Political Backlash Rises Donald Trump gets strong support where churches, civic groups and safety net are in trouble; discombobulated Reading, Pa. http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-places-with-fraying-social-fabric-a-political-backlash-rises-1473952729 Boy With BB Gun Fatally Shot by Police in Ohio Columbus mayor urges calm as department and county prosecutor investigate the shooting http://www.wsj.com/articles/boy-with-bb-gun-fatally-shot-by-police-in-ohio-1473951220 Philippine President Duterte Ordered Killings as Mayor, Senate Witness Says In televised Senate hearings, man says he participated in a death squad under Duterte’s command http://www.wsj.com/articles/philippine-president-duterte-ordered-killings-as-mayor-witness-says-1473931292 Dick Morris – prescient or programming? Power Grab: Obama’s Dangerous Plan for a One Party Nation, http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/one-party-nation-democrats/2014/09/23/id/596454/ http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/one-party-nation-democrats/2014/09/23/id/596454/ Abandoning the White working Class Report from Iron Mountain Irving Kristol’s Autobiography of Neo-Conservatism The Use of Knowledge in Society, by Friedrich Hayek Dollars for Terror synopsis A Force That Has Changed The Political Scene, by Sen. John F. Kennedy Cracking the Code on MH370
I met Dan Oppenheimer soon after I moved to this here Pioneer Valley in 2005. We ended up writing a blog together, Masculinity and Its Discontents (M.A.I.D.) for several years while I was in grad school and he was the arts writer and anonymous advice-giver, as Dear Dexter, for our region’s alternative weekly, the Valley Advocate.This year, his long awaited and much longer toiled-over book, Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Century was published by Simon and Schuster to the kind of fanfare authors of such books dream of, with reviews and features everywhere from the Atlantic to the New Republic, the New Yorker, Time Magazine and the New York Times Book Review.Exit Right explores the lives and careers of six major 20th Century figures - Whittaker Chambers, James Burnham, Ronald Reagan, Norman Podhoretz, David Horowitz, and Christopher Hitchens - who moved from the political right to the political left, often quite suddenly. It’s a really fascinating read, which I mention especially because you might want to go check it out, seeing as Dan and I talked about jealousy and fame and ambition and podcasting and filmmaking and Morris Dickstein and a bunch of other stuff, but hardly at all about the book.We talked on the phone for the first time in a long time, in June.If you're digging what we're laying down please pass it on, and please please please rate and even review us on itTunes. Thanks! 15 Minutes is also on Twitter and Instagram at @15minsjamieb.Also, as mentioned, you can find my essay "Peep Show," which Dan mentioned (warning adult content blah blah blah, here:http://jamiebergerwords.com/peep-show/"See" you next time! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In today’s episode, we hear a June 29, 2016 interview with Daniel Oppenheimer, a writer and documentarian, and the author of Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Shaped the American Century. In his book, Daniel Oppenheimer writes about the political conversions of six figures whose names might be familiar—Whitaker Chambers, James Burnham, Ronald Reagan, Norman Podhoretz, David Horowitz, and Christopher Hitchens. Though each of these figures defected from the left in one if not all ways, their stories are certainly not identical: whereas Chambers and Burnham were both committed Marxists at one point, Reagan was never really of full-fledged lefty. And Hitchens, though a supporter of the Iraq War and a friend of neoconservatives, always bristled at the accusation that he was in any way on the Right. Still, despite the differences between these figures, studying their respective apostasies can reveal something valuable and instructive about the changing political landscapes of the 20th century. And in a broader sense, the question their stories raise is really about us, today: how and why, our guest Daniel Oppenheimer asks, do we come to believe in certain political positions at all—either on the left, the right, or somewhere in the middle?
At the beginning of this podcast, Jay says roughly the following: “Norman Podhoretz and Bill Buckley had the greatest influence on me, politically. But I absolve both of them of responsibility for my errors.” In the course of this 'cast, Jay talks with N. Pod. about matters literary, political, and personal. They start with Shakespeare – and go on to Yeats, Dickens, and some other fellows... Source
The Attacks on the Neo-Conservatives in the US: Where does Anti- Semitism Start?
The Attacks on the Neo-Conservatives in the US: Where does Anti- Semitism Start? (pt. 2)
Direct link to MP3 file This week, two giants grace us with their presence and wisdom. First the great Norman Podhoretz (or as we like to call him, “The Podfather”) stops by to talk about Syria and the Obama Administration's fumbling toward a resolution. Then, our old friend, David Limbaugh, joins to school us on the fundamentals of the conservative movement. Bracing! Music from this week's... Source