Podcast appearances and mentions of Shadi Hamid

It's been an exceptionally crazy week, even by Trump-era standards. So we decided to experiment with the podcast this week by doing a live-stream recording. Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic discuss whether there is a method to Trump's madness about tariffs and everything else — or whether we have to accept that we are ruled by a Mad King, who himself does not know what he will do from one moment to the next. It's free for all subscribers, so give it a listen!Required Reading:* Shadi's interview with Oren Cass about tariffs (Washington Post). * Janan Ganesh, “The Hopeless Search for Trump's Cunning Plan” (Financial Times). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveIn 2012, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat published Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, a book about how mainstream American religion was devolving into the prosperity gospel, superstitious cults and other forms of heterodox faith. Thirteen years later, the American religious landscape has changed, and Ross wrote a new book tackling a much more basic question: why you should be religious at all. He joins Damir Marusic and Shadi Hamid to discuss that book, which is titled Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious.This new book, Douthat says, “assumes a highly individualist culture” as its audience. This individualist culture is one where each person thinks of whether to believe in a god as a highly personal choice. The culture as a whole can no longer support any one person's faith. The biggest individual challenge to Douthat's thesis in this episode comes from Damir, who says: “I feel most religious people try to get through … happiness and/or meaning. I am not thirsting for those. I am not hungry for them. I feel I'm ok.” Douthat responds by posing a hypothetical: “Suppose you die and you're summoned before the judgment throne of God and God says, ‘Seems like were friendly for arguments for being religious, you weren't one hundred percent convinced, but still: why didn't you go to church?'” Douthat argues that, while he himself is believing Catholic, there are nevertheless many “commonalities of religious experience. [World religions] are not all saying the same thing, but they are real and suggest something.” This makes common ground with Shadi who, as a Muslim, disagrees with Douthat about the divinity of Christ, but who, as a believer, agrees with Douthat that we should all be religious.In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Damir, Shadi and Ross talk about the philosophy of mind; whether AI will ever be conscious; what consciousness is for; whether Daniel Dennett is in hell; and why being lukewarm about whether God exists is a bad idea.Required Reading and Listening:* Ross Douthat, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious (Amazon). * Damir Marusic, “A Lost Sense of Wonder” (WoC). * Nathan Beacom, “The Art of Hiking” (WoC). * John Lennon, “Imagine” (YouTube). * Daniel Dennett, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (Amazon). * Revelation 3:16: “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (King James Version). 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:

In this third episode of the Searching for the Self in an Age of Simulation series, Stephen G. Adubato, host of Cracks in Postmodernity, joins philosopher John Milbank, author Shadi Hamid, and theologian William T. Cavanaugh, to discuss faith and globalization. How does globalization impact religious belief and practice? As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, believers face new opportunities to share their faith and new challenges in maintaining their local religious communities. Stephen G. Adubato joins John Milbank, Shadi Hamid, and William T. Cavanaugh for a compelling discussion on the dynamic interplay between faith and globalization. Thanks to Interintellect for hosting our salon! https://interintellect.com/Subscribe to the Substack: https://cracksinpomo.substack.com/publish/settings

In this third episode of the Searching for the Self in an Age of Simulation series, Stephen G. Adubato, host of Cracks in Postmodernity, joins philosopher John Milbank, author Shadi Hamid, and theologian William T. Cavanaugh, to discuss faith and globalization. How does globalization impact religious belief and practice? As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, believers face new opportunities to share their faith and new challenges in maintaining their local religious communities. Stephen G. Adubato joins John Milbank, Shadi Hamid, and William T. Cavanaugh for a compelling discussion on the dynamic interplay between faith and globalization. Thanks to Interintellect for hosting our salon! https://interintellect.com/Subscribe to the Substack: https://cracksinpomo.substack.com/publish/settings

Since Republicans took over government in January, Democrats haven't been able to find a unified message or opposition strategy. While Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tour the country speaking to massive crowds about fighting billionaires, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is taking heat for supporting a Republican-led budget plan. How can the Democrats get out of the wilderness? Columnists Dana Milbank, Shadi Hamid and Matt Bai discuss the need for a fresh philosophy and a messenger from outside of Washington.Additional reading by our columnists:Dana Milbank: My month of living RepublicanlyShadi Hamid: Why half of America is cheering for chaosMatt Bai: Where is the anti-Trump resistance?Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Recent events suggest that the balance of power is breaking down. Trump is achieving executive supremacy. In less fancy terms, Trump looks like he's becoming a dictator. Rule of law might be slipping away. Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic agree about all this. But they disagree about which recent event is the true inflection point.Shadi thinks it's the Mahmoud Khalil case: it's a straightforward government action against freedom of speech, intended to have a chilling effect on the population. Damir believes it's the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to Nayib Bukele's megaprison in El Salvador: the policy relies on the bogus claim that we are at war with Venezuela, and it's the clearest example yet of executive defiance of the courts. How will we know when the constitutional order has truly taken a knock-out hit? Damir believes that, unless the Supreme Court votes 9-0 against Trump's Venezuelan deportation, the “the cracks [will] start opening” on the balance of powers. “How do you break the Supreme Court? That's the whole game right now. And you break it through pressure, through politics,” Damir argues. “Institutions are just beliefs,” he adds. “If you undermine these beliefs enough, it's over.”Shadi takes the conversation back to January 6 which, in retrospect, seems like it was the best opportunity to take down Trump. “Everyone seemed to make the wrong decision on how to deal with Trump, at precisely the time when it would have mattered most,” Shadi says. Shadi says that he is still surprised that more Republicans did not object to January 6. Damir is upset with how Democrats reached: “They had a theory of what is just and right, but no sense of politics or how to do things. They got the s**t kicked out of them and now the country is suffering for it.” What we are getting with Trump now, Damir says, is “a more lasting tribalism.”We are making this timely episode free for all subscribers.Required Reading:* CrowdSource about the Mahmoud Khalil case (WoC).* Santiago Ramos, “From the Harper's Letter to the Khalil Case” (WoC).* “Deported Brown University doctor acknowledged she attended Hezbollah leader's funeral on visit to Lebanon, source says” (CNN).* “Judge warns of consequences if Trump administration violated deportation order” (Reuters).* En Boca de León - León Krauze, “The scale of El Salvador's new prison is difficult to comprehend” (Washington Post).* “Amy Coney Barrett Sparks MAGA Fury Over Trump Supreme Court Decision” (Newsweek).* “Gavin Newsom and Steve Bannon find surprising agreement on Elon Musk” (CNN).* Machiavelli on Savonarola (The Municipal Machiavelli).Full video of the podcast below:This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! 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

The Trump administration is taking its immigration attacks beyond the border. Federal officials have detained green card holder and Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, and have picked up other legal immigrants returning from travel abroad. What does all of this mean for the legal immigration system? Columnists Dana Milbank, Eduardo Porter and Shadi Hamid discuss the chilling effects of this “hinge moment” in Trump's presidency.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

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:

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWith the Gaza ceasefire possibly collapsing any minute, we return to the topic of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks and the ensuing war in the Holy Land. Specifically, Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic discuss the tension between a belief in universal human rights, on the one hand, and allegiance to one's ethnic and religious roots, on the other. Joining Shadi and Damir is friend of the pod Peter Beinart, contributing writer for the New York Times and editor-at-large of the magazine, Jewish Currents. In recent years, Beinart has emerged as a leading Jewish voice wrestling with the moral questions surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict. His new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning, describes the different ways that Jews have wrestled with the morality of the war in Gaza. Peter is an observant Orthodox Jew, and this book documents how his criticism of the war has affected (and even broken) several of his friendships in his community.Peter affirms a belief in the universality of human rights and obligations to all human beings. But, he confesses, “there's another voice inside my head: don't be naive, this is a world of power in which people either look out for their own, or nobody looks out for you.” Is it possible to reconcile these two thoughts? Shadi argues for the universalist point of view: given the high number of civilian deaths in the Gaza war, shouldn't it be obvious that our allegiance to universal values should take priority over everything else? Shouldn't we have more “sensitivity for civilian deaths”? Damir presses from the opposite, particularist perspective. He's been reading the Bible. There is, Damir says, a biblical sense for “the destiny of the Israelites to the land” of Israel. Moreover, Damir argues, even if Israel is powerful today, and even if Israel did not need to wage war on the scale that it did in Gaza, not too long ago, Israel actually was existentially threatened by its neighbors. Moreover, Iran is still a real threat today. This is a heart-wrenching, wide-ranging episode that covers several controversial topics: the parallels between the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza; whether Israel can be called an Apartheid state; how to interpret the historical books of the Bible, in particular the Book of Joshua; and much more. In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Peter and our hosts discuss why the Israeli Left is dead and why Yair Lapid supports Trump's Gaza mass expulsion plan; how liberal Americans internalize the ethnic framing of the Israel-Palestine debate; Israel's right to exist; ethnonationalism on the rise around the world; what Steve Bannon really thinks about American Jews; and how to maintain friends with whom you might have deep disagreements. Required Reading* Peter Beinart, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning (Amazon).* Peter Beinart, The Beinart Notebook (Substack).* Peter Beinart, “Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return” (Jewish Currents).* October 2023 podcast episode with Peter: “Peter Beinart on Israel, Hamas, and Why Nonviolence Failed” (WoC).* July 2020 podcast episode with Peter: “Arguing the One-State Solution” (WoC).* “Lapid presents Gaza ‘day after' plan in DC, urges extended Egyptian takeover” (Times of Israel). * The Book of Joshua (Bible Hub).* David Ben-Gurion (Jewish Virtual Library).* Yeshayahu Leibowitz (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).* Micah Goodman, Catch-67: The Left, the Right, and the Legacy of the Six-Day War (Amazon).* Amoz Oz, In the Land of Israel (Amazon).* Simone Weil, The Iliad, or the Poem of Force (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:

J. D. Vance delivers a seismic geopolitical speech at the Munich Security Forum. Vance, Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy get into a shouting match before television cameras. Relations between the United States and Europe are deteriorating before our very eyes. In one of our best episodes of the year so far, we invited the great Ivan Krastev to help us understand what is happening.Ivan is one of the brightest minds in Europe — an incisive analyst, historian of ideas, and ever-present track-two diplomat who is always talking to absolutely everyone. He is chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria and Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He writes regularly for the Financial Times and the New York Times.Ivan tells Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic that Trumpism, and its policy toward Europe is not conservative or isolationist, but “a revolutionary movement.” This revolution is what reconciles the populist and libertarian elements of Trump's administration: “You're trying to fight bureaucracy by concentrating power in a charismatic leader. Less state, more emperor.” You can see this, Ivan argues, in the way Trump runs his coalition like an imperial court, where opposing figures — like Steve Bannon and Elon Musk — vie for the attention of the emperor. You can also see it in the fact that Trump himself says contradictory things: “A charismatic figure can contain contradictions.”What does this mean for Europe? “Empires fall when the center sees itself as a hostage not as a hegemon,” Ivan argues, and Trump, along with Republicans, long to divest themselves of the Empire. This means applying pressure on Europe to bend to its demands — be it about Ukraine, or Greenland, or immigration. It also means that, inadvertently, Trump has reawakened European nationalism: “The new European politics is nationalist, the populists are internationalist.”This is a rich episode, full of insightful koans from a longtime observer of international affairs. Damir takes the conversation in the direction of what exactly fuels the Right and its “enthusiasm for destruction.” Shadi presses Ivan on the recently overturned elections in Romania, and what this means about the future of European democracy.In our bonus section for paid subscribers, the three men discuss why charismatic political leaders can live with contradictions; the “fast track between [political] office and prison”; how Trump has inadvertently created a new US-European consensus on immigration and state intervention in the economy, and why “you can't stop a revolution by defending institutions. You need your own version of tomorrow.”Required Reading and Viewing:* J. D. Vance's speech at the Munich Security Forum (Foreign Policy). * Zelenskyy, Trump and Vance press conference (C-Span YouTube page). * Ivan Krastev and Leonard Benardo, “Democracy Has Run Out of Future” (Foreign Policy).* Shadi Hamid, “Why Half of America is Cheering for Chaos” (Washington Post). * “EU parliament votes to condemn overturning of Roe v. Wade” (Axios).* German Revolution of 1918-1919 (Brittanica). * Leo Strauss, “German Nihilism” (archive.org).* Daniel Kehlmann, German writer (Wikipedia).* “The Gender Gap is Growing and it Bodes Badly for American Politics and Culture” (The Hill). * 2024 Romanian Elections (Wikipedia).* Ezra Klein, Why We're Polarized (Amazon). * Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991 (Amazon). * N.S. Lyons, “American Strong Gods: Trump and the End of the Long Twentieth Century” (The Upheaval).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live“Something is happening here and you don't know what it is,” goes the Bob Dylan track from 1965. That song was directed at the squares who weren't yet hip to the Sixties. It sounded foreboding then, and it sounds foreboding now, because something is happening, again — something perhaps as great and consequential as the cultural changes of Dylan's time. For several years now, people have been speaking about a cultural “vibe shift.” The MAGA electoral victory appears to have been the culmination of that shift. The Trumpist victory has ushered in a new political elite and with it, a cultural style that is more transgressive, crude, and rude than the once-liberal American mainstream. Helping us understand what's happening is this week's special guest, Sean Monahan, one of the most perceptive cultural forecasters of our time. If you've ever used the term “normcore,” or if you've heard someone talk about a “vibe shift,” you've been influenced by Sean. And if you haven't heard those terms, then you're about to learn a lot about American culture in this episode. Sean is a writer, trend forecaster and brand consultant, whose Substack, 8Ball, is an oracle of cultural insight.Sean joins Christine Emba and Shadi Hamid and they all get deep about vibes. What is a vibe? Can it be defined? If it can't, then how is it a useful concept? Is it based on material conditions? How long does a vibe last? But the conversation soon ventures beyond these theoretical generalities. Shadi wants to know whether American culture has fundamentally shifted to the right since the rise of Trump. Christine detects a mean streak to this new culture: a certain cruelty or at least, ruthless competitiveness. Sean puts things in perspective, explaining how generations create, condition, and then abandon trends, and how the weird period of Covid lockdown had a unique effect on trend creation, one that still affects us to this day. He also describes the new aesthetic of the Trump era, which he believes is based primarily on desire for money, and which he has dubbed, “Boom Boom.”In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Sean discusses why religion has become attractive to young people, especially young men, whether he sees good vibes or bad vibes in the near future, and whether he believes most Americans actually like Trump and DOGE.Required Reading:* Sean Monahan's Substack, 8Ball.* Sean Monahan, “Anatomy of a Vibe Shift” (8Ball).* Sean Monahan, “Boom Boom: Anatomy of a Trend” (8Ball).* Sean Monahan, “The Counter Elite Won the Meme War” (8Ball).* CrowdSource: “Truth and Vibes” (WoC).* Famous 2022 article from New York Magazine: “A Vibe Shift is Coming” (New York).* W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change (Amazon).* Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction (Amazon).* Mana Afsari, “Last Boys at the Beginning of History” (The Point).* Saddle Creek Records.* Bright Eyes (Saddle Creek).* “Cottagecore Aesthetic, Explained” (Country Living).* MySpace.* Matthew Walther on the origin of “Woke Capital” (American Conservative).* “Dimes Square” (Know Your Meme).* Alex P. Keaton (Wikipedia).* Gordon Gecko (Wikipedia).* Patrick Bateman (Wikipedia).* Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho (Amazon).* American Psycho film (YouTube).* Graeme Wood, “How Bronze Age Pervert Charmed the Far Right” (The Atlantic).* “Yosemite Locksmith: 'The People Who Fired Me Don't Know What I Do'” (MSN).* “Garry Tan for mayor? ‘Never, or 20 years from now,' Y Combinator chief says” (San Francisco Standard).Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live“I am done saying, ‘impossible',” announces Damir Marusic. At least, with regard to what Trump might do or could do in the near future. We are still in the midst of a major shakeup in the administrative state. The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is combing through Treasury data and cutting government personnel. Trump is delaying the distribution of federal funds. Trump's policies have full support of the GOP-majority Congress. Meanwhile, the White House foreign policy agenda has upended three years of support for the Ukrainian war cause and, apart from that, is strikingly imperialistic — annexing Greenland and “owning” Gaza are stated objectives. Will Trump become a dictator?Shadi Hamid believes that Trump won't become a dictator — America is too big for a dictator — but he very will might signal the end of the “liberal” part of our liberal democracy. Damir fears that, by the end of Trump's second term, Congress will become a vestigial representative body with littler power, like the Senate in the Roman Empire. Both worry that the demise of democracy could come in a subtle, slow way — a “boiling frog” scenario.Shadi and Damir move on ask whether what's happening is what Trump's voters asked for. Why is Trump popular right now? Why do people want to break the state? Shadi says, “[Trump voters] believe that the system is fundamentally broken. Certainly, for a majority of Americans, the system is broken.” Damir partially agrees, but adds: “It's a lot more resentment-based … Not really an idea that ‘the system is broken' for me, but that it's populated by those people over there, and it's time to hurt them.” But why so much resentment? In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Shadi talks about the Democratic Party's potential to resist Trump and why the working class likes Trump (hint: it doesn't have to do with economics). Damir brings up the famous book, What's the Matter With Kansas by Thomas Frank, and explains why he thinks it misses the mark.Required Reading:* Shadi Hamid, “How to Break Up with the News” (Contentions).* CrowdSource about the possible constitutional crisis (WoC).* Democratic Party favorability ratings among young people (YouGov).* “How Biden is continuing to cancel student loan debt despite Supreme Court ruling” (CNN).* Tyler Cowen, “Trumpian policy as cultural policy” (Marginal Revolution).* Christine Emba's piece engaging with Cowen's article (WoC).* Shadi's post about the “The System is collapsing” meme (X).* David Polansky's reply to Shadi's post (X).* Lee Hockstader, “In Germany's elections, a last, best chance to hold off extremists” (Washington Post).* Thomas Frank, What's the Matter with Kansas (Amazon).Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks with Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid. A native Pennsylvanian of Egyptian ethnic background, and Islamic faith, Hamid completed his Ph.D. in politics at Oxford University. He is an assistant professor at Fuller Seminary, co-host of the Wisdom of Crowds podcast and website, and now the author of his own Substack and a recent book, The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea. Hamid is also the author of Temptations of Power: Islamists & Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East and Rethinking Political Islam. Hamid and Razib discuss the tail end of the war in Gaza, from the explosion of 10/7 and the wave of atrocities against Israelis surrounding the Palestinian enclave, to the brutal counter-attack that has resulted in tens of thousands of Gazan civilian deaths. While Hamid points to the deep structural issues that divide the two parties, and make final resolution of the conflict difficult, Razib highlights the many pitfalls of third parties becoming involved in such a highly polarized and fraught topic. They also discuss the growing identification of the global Left, including American progressives, with the Palestinian cause, the difficulties of grappling with and containing anti-Semitism within the movement. Though Israel's counter-offensive is finally reaching a denouement, Hamid strikes a fundamentally pessimistic note about long-term possibilities. Then they pivot to domestic politics, and recent cultural trends that culminated in a Trump victory in the 2024 USelection, and the alienation of many nonwhites in the Democratic coalition from the hegemony of woke cultural elites. Hamid reiterates his long-standing critiques of racial identitarianism on the Left, and the irony that the progressive awareness of racial minorities only tends to extend to them when these minorities cosign woke nostrums. In contrast to the seemingly interminable nature of the conflict in the Middle East, Razib and Hamid both see hope for a path forward with reduced racial polarization and a reorientation of politics around substantive material interests rather than symbolic racial or ethnic categories.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveDonald Trump and Elon Musk are moving quickly, so we decided to release this episode a few days early. In a half-week of alarming developments, Trump has announced that the United States might send troops to Gaza to transfer the Palestinian population to Egypt or Jordan, and to aid in reconstructing the country. Elon Musk has become the undertaker of government agencies, the wrecker of the civil service. Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has effectively shut down USAID, offered payouts to members of other agencies, and more.In an effort to make sense of all this, Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic are interrogated by WoC executive editor, Santiago Ramos. Is Trump serious about Gaza? What do his statements suggest about the possible endgames for the Gaza war and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian question? Was Shadi wrong to suggest that Trump might be better on this question than Biden was? Is Trump acting according to what he thinks is the national interest? Or is this a random shot in the dark?The second issue — DOGE — prompts a more serious set of questions. Are we in a constitutional crisis? If not now, then will we be one in a few months time, when the judiciary steps in to check DOGE? Why exactly are Trump and Musk interested in hollowing out the administrative state? Are we in a watershed moment in American history? Is there anything that we can do to preserve the rule of law?In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Shadi explains why he believes that ideology is driving Trump and Musk, rather than just the desire for power; Damir argues that he concept of punishment is essential to justice; and Santiago describes the difference between Louis XIV and Napoleon.Required Reading* “Trump Proposes U.S. Takeover of Gaza and Says All Palestinians Should Leave” (New York Times).* Marco Rubio on Trump's Gaza comments (NBC).* Rich Kushner's February 2024 comments on “waterfront property” in Gaza (The Guardian). * Shadi's post about Trump v. Biden on Gaza (X).* Damir Marusic, “Brushfire of the Vanities” (WoC).* Liam Cunningham post (X).* Patrick Deneen (Communia)'s two X posts: first and second.* Patrick Deneen, Regime Change: Towards a Postliberal Future (Amazon). * Patrick Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed (Amazon). * John Ganz, “Groyperification” (Unpopular Front). * Gabe Fleisher, “When I Will Call Something a ‘Constitutional Crisis' ” (Wake Up to Politics). * Thomas Edsall, “ ‘Trump's Thomas Cromwell' Is Waiting in the Wings” (New York Times). * Jack Goldsmith Bob Bauer, “The Trump Executive Orders as ‘Radical Constitutionalism' ” (Executive Functions). Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live“The weird right wing men are coming out to the fore in joy,” announces Shadi Hamid. “They're strutting more than they did in 2016,” observes Damir Marusic. “The counter-elite is becoming the elite,” says Shadi. “There is gonna be a bloodbath,” says Damir: “They will soon be drinking from a fire hydrant of sewage.”Two weeks have passed since the Trump inauguration, as well as its attendant galas, balls and parties. Damir and Shadi have trained their weary eyes upon the new class of upstart right wingers arriving in the capital for a punchdrunk power-hungry scramble. There are the tech bros, the trad intellectuals, the libertarians living in unrecognized mini-states, the crunchy RFK-supporters, and who knows what else. All want a piece of the pie that Emperor Trump is slicing before them.Shadi believes that a cultural shift has taken place — that Trump is not only a new president, but the usher of a new moment in American culture. “Something has changed,” says Shadi. “Liberal dominance of instutions seems weak and pathetic,” in retrospect, he adds. “The perception of dominance can collapse quickly.” Damir disagrees. “It was not a cultural shift,” he says. It was a repudiation of liberal overreach on cultural issues, and a “light-to-heavy insanity and a lot of stress on our institutions.” The Right is reactionary, Damir concludes, and as soon as they propose a positive program, their popularity will drop.In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Damir and Shadi discuss the difference between “mysterious cultural forces” and “the wisdom of crowds,” Damir further explains why he believes the Right is not as powerful as they think they are, and Shadi tells us about an upcoming spiritual quest. Required Reading:* Liberland official website.* Curtis Yarvin interview (New York Times). * Mana Afsari, “Last Boys at the Beginning of History” (The Point). * Who is Chris Rufo?* Mark Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan Experience (YouTube). * Christine Emba, “Zuck is the Zeitgeist” (WoC). * The Harper's Letter (signed by Shadi). * Richard Reeves on the podcast: “The Masculine World is Adrift” (WoC). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveOn the eve of Donald Trump's second inauguration, Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic sit down to discuss the state of the Right and the Left in American politics. The conversation picks up where the last podcast episode left off, in a discussion about Damir's apparent rejuvenation in the wake of Trump's victory. Given that he didn't vote for Trump — in fact, he didn't vote for anybody — why is Damir smiling?Shadi suggests that “Democrats needed this defeat to learn important lessons.” Damir is not so sure that they will learn them. But one of the reasons he is giddy is that they will get their comeuppance for the political “villainy” of Russiagate, the Biden health coverup and other misguided Democratic gambits. Shadi, in turn, notes that many of his center-left acquaintances seem surprisingly at peace with the new government, and ready to entertain new ideas. “Very rarely did I hear despair,” he reports.Both Shadi and Damir go deeper by asking about the status quo of the Left and the Right. Damir thinks that Trump has “cleared the field” of the conservative movement's Reaganite past, and that the Right is now ready to debate issues in a more realistic way. Shadi laments that the Left has become boring by being too certain that they are correct about everything: they are the party of “facts, data and progress,” and think that they have “resolved all the big ideological debates.”In our bonus content for paid subscribers, Damir discusses what he means by “tragic liberalism,” Shadi explains why he thinks atheism is over, and our hosts discuss the best and worst things that could happen during the second Trump presidency.Required Reading and Listening:* Damir, “We'll Have to Rethink Everything” (WoC).* Shadi, “Trump's ‘madman theory' worked in Gaza when all else failed” (Washington Post).* Christine, “Zuck is the Zeitgeist” (WoC).* Santiago questions Damir about his newfound conservatism (WoC).* Tara Isabella Burton, “Believe for Your Own Sake, Not for ‘the West'” (WoC).* Ezra Klein and Nate Silver on “peak Trump” (X).* Elon Musk is an ‘Evil Person,' Steve Bannon Says” (New York Times).* “Corporate America embraces a new era of conservatism under Donald Trump” (Financial Times).* “How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge” (Wall Street Journal).* David Brooks, “Why People Are Fleeing Blue Cities for Red States” (New York Times).* Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream (Amazon).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveIn 2024, over 77 million Americans voted for Donald Trump. Friend of Wisdom of Crowds Michael Brendan Dougherty, a writer and conservative commentator at the National Review, was one of them. However, MBD (as he is known) did not vote for Trump in 2020 nor in 2016. In fact, he was an early conservative opponent of Trump. In 2016, MBD wrote: “[Trump] is clearly a product of a decadent society, not the scourge or redeemer of one.” MBD did not disagree with Trump on his main issues: trade, immigration, and a restrained foreign policy. But he did not believe that the man has the character fit for office.So, what happened? Did MBD change his principles, or did Trump live up to them? Why did MBD vote for Trump, and what does that tell us about the process of picking a candidate, and of the formation of political judgment in general?Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic join MBD to discuss this question and much more. Did MBD change his mind about Trump's character? Which of Trump's first term achievements turned MBD into a supporter? What can we expect from a second Trump term — both in domestic policy, as well as in the increasingly dangerous international scene? In the course of discussing these questions, MBD defines the “working class” in American terms, and talks about his own experiences working in a chemical factory.In the bonus portion for paid subscribers, MBD explains the complicated relationship that pro lifers have with Trump, and debates whether the #Resistance movement will return.Required Reading and Listening:* Our 2021 podcast episode with MBD (WoC).* “The Case Against Esoteric Trumpism” by Michael Brendan Dougherty (The Week).* “My First Vote for Trump” by Michael Brendan Dougherty (National Review).* My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son's Search For Home by Michael Brendan Dougherty (Amazon).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

Acts of violence have promoted discussions of self-defense, corporate greed, national healthcare, homeless funding, and political will. The Gist rejects being thrust into that discussion at the point of a gun, but has some insights to offer to the current debate. Plus, the return of Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid to discuss Israel, Gaza, morality, and security. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shadi Hamid, Washington Post columnist and co-host of the Wisdom Of Crowds podcast, discusses Israel's regard for innocent lives and if the United States would conduct a war in the way the Israelis do. Plus, the island nation of Nauru gets paid off by the Australians not the play footsy with China. And the Syrian navy is sunk, their chemical weapons cache has been destroyed, and no, Israel is not waiting for a thank-you note. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveLast week, President Biden granted his son, Hunter Biden, “a full and unconditional” for any and all offenses from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024. Because Hunter Biden has been a politically charged figure since the first Trump term, and because President Biden repeatedly promised that he would not use his power to protect his son, the presidential pardon was, for many, a strategic and moral mistake — an act of hypocrisy, in short.In this week's episode, Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic question the assumptions that Biden's critics are making. Is political hypocrisy inevitable? Might it actually be a good thing? Shadi has written extensively on the topic of hypocrisy, defending it in a unique way. Damir pushes back against Shadi's moral interpretation of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is not primarily a failure to live up to one's morals, says Damir, but the failure of a powerful figure to live up to their morals. “Biden's problem is that he did it [the pardon] so visibly,” says Damir.The conversation progresses to a discussion of the how Islam and Christianity deal with hypocrisy. It becomes a discussion about hypocrisy and international justice, where Damir asks whether international law can be said to exist if it cannot be universally enforced. Perhaps, Damir suggests, Shadi is less of an advocate for international human rights as he is a booster of American imperialism. It's a classic Shadi-and-Damir give-and-take.In our bonus portion for paid subscribers, Shadi and Damir discuss whether the Department of Justice is ever truly independent of partisan politics, and explore an alternative history where the Democrats never pursued the Russiagate investigations against Donald Trump. Required Reading:* “Biden pardons his son, Hunter, after repeatedly saying he would not” (Reuters).* Shadi: “Can Hypocrisy Be Justified?” (WoC).* Shadi: “Why America Needs Hypocrisy” (WoC).* King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. * “ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova (International Criminal Court).* “Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel's challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant” (International Criminal Court). * Jason Willick post (X).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

On this episode of “Impromptu,” Opinions columnists Shadi Hamid and Heather Long talk with Style columnist Monica Hesse about what's really behind the baby bust and whether we just need to prepare for a lower fertility future. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Lots of religions embrace the idea of hell – a place of eternal punishment for wrong doers. But where did that idea come from? How has it changed through time? And how does a belief in it (or not) affect us while we're alive? We'll talk with Bart Ehrman about the history of beliefs in hell from ancient Mesopotamia through modern Christianity. And with Shadi Hamid about why he thinks it can be a good thing for people to believe in hell, and how that belief shapes our political and social lives.  Bart Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the author of Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife and Journeys to Heaven and Hell: Tours of the Afterlife in the Early Christian Tradition. Find out more about Bart's work, including his many other writings about the New Testament and early Christianity, at his website.Shadi Hamid is a columnist at The Washington Post, a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and a research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThe Declaration of Independence affirms that all human beings are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Yet the Declaration is silent about who this Creator is. Is it the Jewish deity or the Christian God? Or is it the god of the philosophers — the blind watchmaker of the Enlightenment? The Constitution, on the other hand, doesn't mention the divine at all, except for the phrase, “Year of Our Lord.”Mainstream liberals and conservatives, whatever they may think of the silence regarding God in our founding documents, believe in the American experiment. But as Jerome E. Copulsky writes in his new book, American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order, throughout American history there have been those who do not, radical groups who opposed the American project, root and branch, for being liberal, as opposed to Christian. In his book, Copulsky, professor at Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, writes about the Loyalist churchmen who opposed the American revolution, the proslavery theologians of the 19th century, the “Theonomist” theocrats of the 20th century, and the “Integralists” of our own time.Jerome joins Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss his book, but as often happens in Wisdom of Crowds, the conversation takes an unexpected turn. Early on, Shadi presses Jerome to specify exactly what a secular liberal Founding really means for religious practice in the public sphere. Then Shadi submits his own interpretation of the modern state as an inherently secularizing force.Damir brings the question of the secularity of the American project to bear upon current events. To what extent was the American liberal state ever “neutral”? Or is technocratic liberalism the default, unspoken “religion” of the American state? Or was it, until Donald Trump came along? And is Trump, by filling his cabinet with representatives from various American ideologies, violating liberal neutrality, or simply exposing it for the fiction that it always was?In our bonus content for paid subscribers, Jerome discusses the National Conservative movement, as exemplified by intellectuals like Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule, and its influence on Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. In the second Trump term this movement will have unprecedented access to power and, Jerome argues, pose a serious challenge to — and even a “betrayal” of — the American system.Required Reading* American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order by Jerome E. Copulsky (Amazon)* The Declaration of Independence (National Archives). * The Constitution of the United States (National Archives).* Everson v. Board of Education (FindLaw).* George Washington's Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island (National Archives). * We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition by John Courtney Murray, S.J. (Amazon).* Common Good Constitutionalism by Adrian Vermeule (Amazon).* Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future by Patrick Deneen (Amazon). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveOfficial WoC house philosopher Samuel Kimbriel joins Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss the role that ideas had in the recent elections. Specifically, they focus on whether it was bad ideas or bad political strategy that doomed the Dems.Sam insists that the Democrats failed because liberalism as we understand it has become weak, devoid of ideas and moral persuasion. Liberals, Sam insists, constantly shift from wanting to be a player in the political contest, to a referee of the same. They argue for their side and its views, until they start losing in the contest. If they start losing, they shift to a referee role, and try to rule out the legitimacy of certain opposing ideas (for example, immigration restrictionism). What we need, Sam says, is a renewed liberalism that is unafraid to make moral claims — one that plays and plays well, without tying to also be the referee.Damir disagrees. He isn't sure whether what happened on November 5 will be seen as revolutionary — that is, an overthrow of a previous order — or merely “an empty, peasant backlash,” though he is leaning toward the latter. Regardless, “what happened is a failure of rulership, not ideas,” he says. “It was not a failure of metaphysics, but of arguments.”Shadi stands between Sam and Damir, sometimes as referee, sometimes as a player on Sam's side. He supports democracy and the idea of moral politics. And he believes that Damir “always attacks us [Sam and Shadi] for having beliefs,” while hiding or being in denial of his own implicit metaphysical convictions. In the bonus segment for paid subscribers, Sam and Shadi corner Damir into finally admitting that he does indeed have metaphysical convictions of his own, even if that conviction is materialism. Damir talks about how he's reading the Bible this winter, and he gives us his own definition of the word “politics.” It's a rollicking discussion that you won't want to miss!Required Reading:* Western Civilization: Paleolithic Man to the Emergence of European Powers — the textbook Sam cites at the beginning of the episode (Volume I, Volume II). * The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea by Shadi Hamid (Amazon). * “Republicans See a Better Economic Outlook. Now It's Democrats Who Don't” (New York Times). * Sam's piece on the French Revolution and the contemporary Left (WoC). * Ordinary Vices by Judith Shklar (Amazon). * Damir's piece about peasant revolts (WoC).* “How the Ivy League Broke America” by David Brooks (The Atlantic). * “A Letter Concerning Toleration” by John Locke (WikiSource). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

Tuesday night's election has left us with total Republican control of all three branches of government. What does this mean for the immediate future of the Republic? Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic get together to discuss. We are releasing this episode early and completely free for all subscribers.Will Donald Trump become a dictator? What is he capable of? What might be the worst aspects of his second term? Damir discusses mass deportations as the biggest risk. Shadi worries about Trump's foreign policy in the Middle East. More than that, Shadi worries about a Donald Trump who all of the sudden has everything he's ever wanted — a revenge victory — and finds it still unsatisfying. “What now?”Damir and Shadi are not very fond of the Harris-Walz campaign. Shadi laments that Harris never seemed comfortable on the campaign trail, and could never quite communicate authenticity. Damir says that Walz is an irrelevant politician, a “weirdo” with no discernible contribution to the Democratic cause. Two minds trying to figure out where things stand in the wake of what seems to be like a momentous election. The first of many attempts at Wisdom of Crowds where we will try to read the signs of the times.Required Reading:* Tim Alberta on the dysfunction in the Trump campaign (The Atlantic).* Politico piece why Kamala lost (Politico).* Shadi: “The Democrats can't blame anyone but themselves this time” (Washington Post). * Turkish migrant interview (YouTube).* “What Do Men Want?” podcast with Shadi and Richard Reeves (Washington Post). * Megan McArdle, Jim Geraghty and Ramesh Ponnuru podcast: “Are Republicans Kamala-curious? Not so much.” (Washington Post). * Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and James Hohmann podcast: “Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and James Hohmann” (Washington Post). * Andrew Sullivan's Election Night Notes on Substack.* Donald Trump's interview with the Wall Street Journal editorial board.* Barack Obama roasts Donald Trump at the White House Correspondent's Dinner (YouTube). Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! 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

Shadi Hamid is a columnist and Editorial Board member at The Washington Post and a research professor of Islamic Studies at Fuller Seminary. He has authored several books, including The Problem of Democracy and Islamic Exceptionalism. Hamid is also the co-founder of Wisdom of Crowds. Dr. Samuel Kimbriel is a political philosopher, author, and founding director of Aspen's Philosophy & Society Initiative. He is the author of Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation. He writes widely on solidarity, ideology, democracy, power, and trust for outlets including The Washington Post and BBC. Kimbriel is Contributing Editor at Wisdom of Crowds. In this special episode of Templeton Ideas, Shadi and Samuel join David Nassar, VP of Strategic Engagement at the John Templeton Foundation, to discuss what makes for a good society, where beliefs come from, and how disagreement can help us grow. What's the key ingredient to accepting differences? Listening. Find out why in our article “To Cultivate Humility, Lend an Ear.”  Want to hear more Templeton Ideas? Listen to David Nassar's interview with Jeffrey Rosen, President of the National Constitution Center “What the Founders of America Can Teach About Happiness” What did you think of this episode? Let us know with a rating and a review! Join the conversation on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.   

Uzair talks to Shadi Hamid on the US elections and the difficult choice American-Muslims are having to make in this cycle given the choices on offer. Shadi shared his own thoughts on how the Biden administration utterly failed when it comes to stopping the ongoing orgy of violence in Gaza. We also talk about why Kamala Harris has failed to engage with the community during the campaign, and the threat Trump represents to both Arab and Muslim lives at home and abroad. Shadi Hamid is a columnist at the Washington Post and author of the book The problem of democracy: America, the Middle East, and the rise and fall of an idea. He also co-hosts the podcast The Wisdom of Crowds. Episode Links: - https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/shadi-hamid/ - https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Democracy-America-Middle-East/dp/0197579469 - https://wisdomofcrowds.live/podcast Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 3:00 Is this an inflection point for Muslim-Americans? 11:28 Democrats v. Republicans 18:10 Why do people think Trump is better? 24:50 Democrat's failure to engage 32:45 US policy on democracy 40:15 Nuance and politics 44:25 Engaging on foreign policy 50:29 Conclusion Reading recommendations: - Light Years by James Salter - The Study Quran

For the past year, Shadi Hamid has been an outspoken critic of Israel's war in Gaza — and the Biden administration's complicity. Now he, like many others, is baffled by the Harris campaign's disregard and seeming disdain for Muslim and Arab voters. In a week is election day, and he is wrestling with the moral and political implications of the choice at hand.In our pages earlier this week, Shadi and Haroon Moghul debated the merits of voting for Harris or not voting at all. You can read their full exchange here. This podcast episode continues that conversation, but goes deeper. It is, in essence, about voting: is there a duty to vote? In a two-party system, must we accept the lesser of two evils? Moghul is director of strategy at The Concordia Forum and author of Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future. Haroon shares all of Shadi's misgivings about Trump and Harris, and has publicly chosen not to vote. “I don't think you can get to democratic ends with a candidate who is at war with democracy,” Haroon says, “and I don't just mean Trump, I mean Harris.” Shadi, on the other hand, takes a more pragmatic point of view: Sitting an election out doesn't do anything real; it would be better for Muslim and other pro-Palestine voices to continue supporting the Democratic Party, hoping to influence it from within. Meanwhile, Damir Marusic applies his trusty sense for realpolitik to the question. He challenges Shadi, arguing that he's conflating two very different strategies: electoral pressure and intra-party influence. He questions Haroon whether there is an actual “theory of a change” behind his choice not to vote. This is a passionate discussion, not so much about electoral politics as about the first principles undergirding citizenship. And it also asks an intensely personal set of questions: how do we ultimately make what can seem like an impossible choice? Required Reading and Viewing:* Shadi Hamid and Haroon Moghul debate: “Should Americans Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?” (WoC).* Haroon Moghul, “What I Told My Muslim Students about Gaza” (WoC).* Biden's comments admitting Israel's “indiscriminate bombing” while also saying “we're not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel.”* “Prominent Muslim Democrat Demands Answers After Being Kicked Out of Harris Rally in Michigan” (Democracy Now!)* “Trump in Michigan makes play for Arab American and Muslim voters angry over war in Gaza” (CNN).* An emotional debate with our friend and Christian Zionist Robert Nicholson weeks after Oct. 7 (WoC). * Haroon Moghul, Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of the Muslim Future (Amazon). Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! 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

An emergency pod: “War, or something resembling war, is breaking out in the Middle East,” says Shadi Hamid. A year after the October 7 massacre, Israel has all but destroyed Hamas. Last month, it killed Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, thus decapitating that terrorist organization. This week, it launched an invasion of southern Lebanon. In retaliation, Iran — the longtime backer of Hezbollah — has lobbed a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel. We decided to release the podcast early this week, before it is overtaken by the swiftly-moving events. What is this war about? What should the US do about it? Does anyone in the US political class truly believe that the Arab world is capable of democracy? Were the Abraham Accords foolish — or racist? How do you define a “rogue state”? What is Netanyahu right about?Joining Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss these questions is Matt Duss, Executive Vice President of the Center for International Policy, co-host of the Undiplomatic Podcast, and former foreign policy advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders. “A lot of [Arab Americans] are not going to pull the lever for Kamala Harris,” Shadi reports. Matt lambasts the “racist logic” of the Abraham Accords, which swept the Palestinian question aside and decided that “this is the best [America] can hope for, deals with modernizing autocrats.” Damir applies a realpolitik analysis, explaining the Israeli military strategy and arguing that American and European diplomats have no choice but to strike deals with the autocrats that rule the world. Shadi responds: “Realpolitik is supposed to be effective.”It's a passionate, intense discussion that strikes at the core preoccupations of Wisdom of Crowds: justice, war, and the state. Free for all subscribers: You will want to listen to the whole thing.Required Reading:* Shadi's responses to subscribers' provocations about the Middle East (WoC). * Bruno Maçães' article on the end of Western hypocrisy (Time).* Jeffrey Goldberg's 2016 article on “The Obama Doctrine” (The Atlantic). * James Baldwin on the Dick Cavett Show (YouTube). * The Abraham Accords (US State Department). Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! 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

Many economists and politicians are alarmed that Americans, like others around the world, are having fewer kids. But, apart from wanting a growing labor force, is this really a problem? Opinions columnists Shadi Hamid and Heather Long talk with Style columnist Monica Hesse about what's really behind the baby bust and whether we just need to prepare for a lower fertility future. Read more from our columnists about this topic in the Washington Post:Editorial board: A reader quiz on world birthrate -- and what it means for the futureMonica Hesse: The birth rate is still sluggish. Don't blame the birth givers.

The evidence is in. American men are facing a crisis — in health, in education and in the labor force. But under all of that runs deeper trends — disconnection, loneliness and a lack of role models. Columnists Theodore Johnson and Shadi Hamid talk with Richard Reeves, founder of the American Institute for Boys and Men, about the dueling visions of masculinity on the political stage and a hopeful way forward for the modern man. Check out some of the work Richard Reeves mentioned in the show:“Men are having a health crisis. Why aren't we paying attention?”“The State of Working Class Men”And read more from Washington Post Opinions on this topic:Theodore Johnson: “I grappled with masculinity. My mother showed me the truth.”Christine Emba: “ Men are lost. Here's a map out of the wilderness.”Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

On this episode, we are joined by Elizabeth Oldfield to discuss her newly-released book Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times. After beginning her career covering religion for the BBC, Elizabeth for a decade ran a London-based think tank called Theos, which seeks to stimulate the debate about the place of religion in society, challenging and changing ideas through research, commentary and events. Under her leadership, its staff increased tenfold—and still supports podcast she hosts today, "The Sacred." Joining Elizabeth is Damir Marusic, a resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Europe Center and an editor at The Washington Post. Along with Shadi Hamid, a longtime friend and advisor to Faith Angle, Damir co-founded the podcast "Wisdom of Crowds." Damir writes extensively on US politics, polarization, US foreign policy, and European affairs. Bringing a non-religious vantage point, he highlights with Elizabeth key themes in Fully Alive and the two get right into it, not mincing words even when there are differing views of sin, grace, evil, and the possibilities for human community.   Guests Elizabeth Oldfield Damir Marusic   Additional Resources Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times, by Elizabeth Oldfield "The Sacred" Podcast, with Elizabeth Oldfield, a Theos Think Tank podcast  Fully Alive Substack, with Elizabeth Oldfield Wisdom of Crowds Podcast and Substack, with Damir Marusic and Shadi Hamid      

There's a lot to process, pick apart, and debunk from Donald Trump's 92-minute-long speech at the Republican National Convention. In the latest episode of Mehdi Unfiltered, Mehdi looks past the more ‘somber' version of Trump that the world saw at the start of his speech, and unpacks just how concerning the rest of it was. Two former Trump administration officials join Mehdi to talk about the moments that stood out to them: Olivia Troye, who previously served as advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence, and Sarah Mathews, Trump's former Deputy Press secretary. In the conversation, they talk about what they regret most from working in Trump's first administration, the lessons they've learned from being on the inside, and their biggest warnings to Republicans, Democrats, and everyone in between about what could come in a second Trump White House. Mehdi also debates Washington Post columnist and Editorial board member Shadi Hamid, who feels Trump does not pose the level of threat everyone else sees in a potential second term. Should we have faith in U.S. institutions to withstand a Trump-style autocracy? What exactly could Project 2025 do? And what's the matter with the Democrats? Watch the full show above and let us know what you think in the comments!You can find Shadi Hamid's Notebook here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zeteo.com/subscribe

SEASON 2 EPISODE 215: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: It is now my expectation that if by next week President Biden has not withdrawn from the presidential race, a coterie of key Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries will publicly announce that they and their caucuses cannot support his candidacy. The first true dam break in that process occurred Saturday, but only became known last night when ABC News reported that Schumer went to the president's Delaware home and "forcefully made the case that it would be better for Biden, better for the Democratic party, and better for the country if he were to bow out of the race." The Schumer office issued something less than a non-denial denial and the White House press office put its head down and shouted full steam ahead. But the Schumer news followed a day in which it became more and more apparent that those key Democrats no longer care if this becomes public. Congressman Adam Schiff, soon to be Senator from California, publicly called for Biden to step aside. More and more ugly details emerged from a Zoom call between the president and House Democrats. A really startlingly tepid defense of Biden's continuing on the ticket by Bernie Sanders was published by The New Yorker. And it was revealed that Schumer and Jeffries working in concert got that "virtual roll call" confirming Biden's nomination delayed into August. There was also new polling (65% of Dems want a new candidate, Associated Press) that wasn't so new (66% of them wanted one in April, Pew Research).  And then there was that weirdly timed presidential positive test for COVID yesterday in Las Vegas forcing the cancellation of a speech and a trip back east. From all I can tell that's what it is: the virus. Your willingness to compare it to the "cold" President Kennedy suddenly developed while on a campaign tour during The Cuban Missile Crisis is up to you. ALSO: Five days after the assassination attempt and we now have to assume that Trump is LYING about getting shot. That he was SHOT AT, is not in doubt. That the blood came from - in the unfortunate phrase he himself chose – his EAR BEING PIERCED, by a bullet – has been verified… by absolutely nobody. Nothing from Butler Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania. Nothing from the Secret Service. Nothing from the Department of Justice. Nothing from ANY branch of government. Nothing from the FBI even though it has gone to unusual lengths of confirming the INVESTIGATION is of an assassination attempt AND domestic terrorism AND they've broken into the shooter's phone AND they know there were eight shots AND they know who ELSE was shot AND they released names AND Nothing from ANY news organization, each of which has cleverly and almost ARTISTICALLY avoided saying Trump WAS shot and avoided saying Trump WASN'T shot.  The entire official medical report from the Trump campaign is that he is quote “fine,” unquote. 100 hours and they can't get an anonymous statement from a hospital. We now have to assume he's lied about something about the attempt. B-Block (25:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: It's been awhile. Time for Ted Cruz to make a jackass out of himself again. The Washington Post editorial writer with the unfortunate name of "Shadi" asks if Trump not dying was "God's will." And CNN must fire Van Jones. Its remaining 837 viewers will accept no less. C-Block (37:10) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The onetime American counter-culture soccer star Alexi Lalas is now just another D-list "celebrity" at the Republican Convention. But once he was the straight man in an ESPN commercial that rings through the ages.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As trust in institutions plummets and many people search for shared values, what is the state of American identity? This bonus "Impromptu" episode features a live discussion between Opinions columnists Shadi Hamid and Jason Willick and the hosts of "Post Reports" Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi about the importance of identity in a changing world.For more from our colleagues in the newsroom, listen to "Post Reports," a daily afternoon podcast, where you can hear deep dives into the biggest and most important stories of the day. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

As trust in institutions plummets and as many people search for shared values, what is the state of American identity? Today, in a special episode of “Post Reports,” we feature a live discussion about the importance of identity in a changing world. Read more:In a live podcast taping, “Post Reports” hosts Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi sit down in Seattle at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival with Post Opinions columnists Shadi Hamid and Jason Willick. They rethink American identity and whether, during these fractured times, we are creating more opportunities to understand each other – or becoming more distant?For more from our Post Opinions colleagues, listen to their podcast “Impromptu.” Each week, columnists get into it, with conversations about ideas and debates they can't stop thinking about. Listen and follow here. Today's show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon and edited by Monica Campbell. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Do Arab Americans support pro-Palestine protests because of identity politics? What about American Jewish support for Israel? Are both groups being “tribal” or are they fighting for universal values — as they understand them?Recently, policy guru and Ur-Blogger Matt Yglesias pointed out that some of the political thinkers who, just a couple years ago, were aligned in opposition to identity politics today find themselves on opposite sides over Palestine. One of the names Matt mentioned was our own Shadi Hamid. What happened?Matt joins Damir, and Shadi to figure it out. In their conversation, they discuss the demands of pro-Palestine protestors, whether conditioning aid to Israel would be effective, whether global justice claims are “nonsense,” and of course the nature of identity. Why do we believe what we believe, and how do come to hold the positions that we hold? Towards the end of the episode, the conversation gets more personal, when both Shadi and Matt go deeper on how their own religious identities have been affected by the Gaza war. Matt, a liberal Jew who supports a two-state solution, says: “Playing dice with the existence of Israel is dangerous, it's a lot for my heart.” NOTE: We felt the final 20 minutes of the conversation with Matt were fascinating and surprising in the best way possible, capturing something important about this American moment — so we are dropping the paywall and making the full episode available for all subscribers. We hope you enjoy it. Required Reading:* Slow Boring, Matthew Yglesias' Substack. * “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate,” AKA “The Harper's Letter” (Harper's).* Martin Luther King, Jr. and Israel (Washington Post).* “Israel's Two Wars” by Matthew Yglesias (Slow Boring).* Shadi's tweet, drawing on his book The Problem of Democracy, on how U.S. support for Israel undermines Arab democracy: “Our relationship with Israel distorts U.S. policy in the Middle East. We support Arab dictators in part because they are more likely to accept Israel's dominant position in the region. Democracy, however, would elevate anti-Israel parties to power.”* Matt Yglesias on X: “It's interesting that a bunch of people who I read who four years ago were in agreement about the perils of identity politics now sharply disagree about Israel/Palestine and the disagreements exactly track Jewish vs Arab or Muslim backgrounds.”* The Mexican-American War. 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

Campus protests across the country have renewed Americans' attention on the Israel-Gaza war and are scrambling U.S. politics, particularly on the left. Senior Opinions Editor Amanda Katz speaks with columnists Dana Milbank and Shadi Hamid about how their views have evolved since Oct. 7, whether there's a double standard on free speech, and what the protests could foreshadow for the upcoming presidential election, particularly among young people.(Note: This episode was recorded Monday, April 29 and does not reference events that took place after)Read some of the columns referenced in this episode. Dana Milbank wrote on what it felt like for him in the weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks: “It's a lonely time to be a Jew in America” Shadi Hamid wrote about the recent Israeli aid bill and some Democrats' changing views: “Why it matters that some Democrats voted against aid for Israel”

Danny recently appeared on Shadi Hamid's The Disagreement podcast to discuss what America's role on the global stage should be. The conversation broaches US involvement in Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Middle East, alternatives to hegemony, and whether the US is “the good guy”.Also check out Danny and Shadi's initial debate from two years ago. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

What role should the United States be playing on the global stage?Shadi Hamid is an American author and political scientist, who is currently a columnist and member of the Editorial Board at The Washington Post. He is also a host on the Wisdom of Crowds podcast.Daniel Bessner is the Annett H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Associate Professor in American Foreign Policy at the University of Washington. He also co-hosts the American Prestige podcast. Today we ask a wide range important questions about American power:To what extent should the U.S. be involved in Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Middle East?Are we the good guys?What are the alternatives to American hegemony?This conversation is a sequel to an extended disagreement between Shadi and Danny on The Wisdom of Crowds podcast two years ago. It's definitely worth a listen. Show NotesU.S. role in promoting democracy abroad [04:12]The historical record of U.S. interventions [09:39]How many democracies are there in the world? [12:20]What metrics measure democracy? [13:24]U.S. policy toward Ukraine [15:28]Possible motivations for Russia's invasion [17:41]Is perception of American strength a deterrent? [20:25]Comparing Russia, China and the U.S. [24:50]China-U.S. conflict [39:44]Israel and Gaza [41:36]Steelmanning [51:24]

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThis week's podcast is a recording of a live event. Rachel M. Cohen, a senior policy reporter for Vox, recently published an essay where she asks: “To our generation, being a mom looks thankless, exhausting, and lonely. Can we change the story?” As listeners know, this question speaks right to the heart of Wisdom of Crowds. Christine and Shadi invited Rachel to discuss her piece before a live audience in Washington, DC on March 20. The topics of conversation included marriage, singleness, hope, dread, and love. For paid subscribers, the bonus content is an intense Q&A with the audience, where the Crowd challenges the panelists on several points.Required Reading:* “Why Millennials Learned to Dread Motherhood,” by Rachel M. Cohen (Vox).* “Men are Lost. Here's a Map Out of the Wilderness,” by Christine Emba (Washington Post).* Shadi Hamid, “The Dilemmas of Living in a Post-Religious World” (Washington Post).

Almost four months since Hamas' barbaric attacks, Israel's bloody operation in Gaza is still ongoing, with civilian casualties mounting by the day. The war has dominated our news feeds and dinner table conversations, and opened up rifts that cross traditional partisan lines. Three of our columnists — Jason Rezaian, Alyssa Rosenberg and Shadi Hamid — got together to discuss if the war is changing how they think about America, its moral standing in the world and what it means to be an American. Keep listening for updates on more conversations coming from the Opinions team at The Post. Capehart will be back with a new episode next week.

If these Islamist organizations want to stay in these contexts and keep playing the democratic game, they need to commit to the democratic game in the longer run.Sebnem GumuscuSupport the podcast on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Sebnem Gumuscu is an associate professor of political science at Middlebury College and the author of Democracy or Authoritarianism: Islamist Governments in Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:31What is Islamism - 2:48Liberal and Electoralists - 19:23Role of Elites - 35:16Islamism in the Long Run - 37:09Key LinksDemocracy or Authoritarianism: Islamist Governments in Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia by Sebnem Gumuscu"How Erdoğan's Populism Won Again'" by Sebnem Gumuscu and Berk EsenFollow Sebnem Gumuscu on X @sebnemisbackDemocracy Paradox PodcastBerk Esen and Sebnem Gumuscu on the Disappointing Elections in Turkey… or How Democratic (or Autocratic) is Turkey Really?Shadi Hamid on Democracy, Liberalism, and the Middle EastMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie discuss the recent Congressional hearings on antisemitism and free speech on campus. Plus, NaNoWriMo updates (sorry). To support the show and get extra content and much more, become a Primo. To get our very popular merch, shop here.Jonathan Chait: “The College Presidents Were Right About Campus Antisemitism”NYT: “College Presidents Under Fire After Dodging Questions About Antisemitism”“FIRE to Congress, university presidents: Don't expand censorship. End it.”Jesse cosplays as an Ivy president: Representative Stefanik, our conduct codes attempt to balance free speech, which is an important value to our university, with the safety and well-being of students. Because of this balance, which can be tricky, there might be instances in which truly grotesque statements — statements that I, as the president of the university, denounce unequivocally — fall beyond the scope of what we can punish. In certain instances, yes, that could even include calls for genocide. Our conduct codes are written in a manner in which a student or student group could be punished for these statements if they targeted individual students or student groups in a pervasive manner, or if they constituted a true threat or incitement to violence, but it really is context dependent. I know that's an unsatisfactory answer, but it's the only answer I can give you as a representative of my university. As an individual, of course I find calls for genocide against any group, and particular a group like Jews that have faced genocide in recent history, unbelievably offensive. But that's a different question from what powers I have to punish these statements without running afoul of our own conduct code, which could lead to legal trouble for my university.Shadi Hamid thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1732419156828463382.htmlLee Kovarsky, UTexas law prof, thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1732423346380521593.html To hear more, visit www.blockedandreported.org

* The editorial board of the Washington Post * What what wrong with the cease fire * On culpability* Can there *be* a negotiated settlement?* Is it really “the occupation”? * That wild 2022 video from Jenin that Moynihan mentioned* You're going to be defrocked* Being handcuffed by “the Nahkba”* The insane rape conspiracy theories—and why they exist* Are all these people pro-Hamas?* Mrs. Gay Goes to Washington* Choose different words, dummies* Are you allowed a moral mulligan?* The Calvin Principals* And much, much more This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethefifth.substack.com/subscribe

On this week's episode of Lever Time, David Sirota is joined by author and Washington Post Editorial board member Shadi Hamid to discuss the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza, specifically how this current iteration of the decades-long hostilities is being debated, protested, perceived, and exacerbated by people in America and across the globe.In what has already been a bitterly polarizing decade in American history, the deadly conflict unfolding in Israel and Gaza has somehow managed to intensify that division. While there has been some progress, like the growing number of elected officials who support a permanent ceasefire agreement, the majority of our public discourse surrounding this crisis is heated and unconstructive. But an issue like this requires patience, humility, and a lot of listening. That's true from the holiday dinner table to the White House.In today's discussion, David speaks with Shadi about why this particular conflict has drawn more global attention and instigated more public debate than other global conflicts. They also discuss reconciling the right to exist for both Israelis and Palestinians, how to construct a practical path forward that can meaningfully address genuine grievances, and what the changing politics of Israel-Palestine inside the Democratic Party might mean for the 2024 election.A transcript of this episode is available here.Links: The Problem Of Democracy: America, The Middle East, And The Rise And Fall Of An Idea (Brookings, 2022)BONUS: Last week's bonus episode of Lever Time Premium, exclusively for The Lever's supporting subscribers, featured our interview with journalist and author Cole Stangler about his new book Paris Is Not Dead: Surviving Hypergentrification in the City of Light. Cole's book explores how gentrification has affected the cultural makeup of Paris, and the public housing policies that have helped maintain the city's diverse, working-class character.If you'd like access to Lever Time Premium, which includes extended interviews and bonus content, head over to LeverNews.com to become a supporting subscriber.If you'd like to leave a tip for The Lever, click the following link. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. levernews.com/tipjar

Shadi Hamid is a member of the Washington Post editorial board, co-host of Wisdom of Crowds, and author of The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea. He joins Jamie to debate whether the United States should pressure Israel to push for a ceasefire, if there's hope to rebuild Gaza with Hamas still in power, and what the realistic paths are for a lasting solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Show Notes: -Shadi Hamid's profile at the Washington Post -Shadi's vision for a ceasefire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zack Beauchamp, a Vox senior correspondent who writes about democracy and Israel, speaks with Shadi Hamid, a columnist at The Washington Post, research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary, and author of The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea. They discuss the October 7 attack, the subsequent war in Gaza, what it means for Israelis and Palestinians, and how Jews and Muslims in the United States can find common ground amidst their communities' grief. This conversation was recorded on November 2, 2023. Host:  Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent at Vox  Guest: Shadi Hamid, (@shadihamid), columnist and Editorial Board member at The Washington Post, research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary, and author of The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea.  References:  “Reducing Hamas's terrorism to a problem of ‘evil' is a mistake” by Shadi Hamid (The Washington Post, Oct. 2023) The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea by Shadi Hamid (Oxford University Press, 2022) “Everything you need to know about Israel-Palestine: A comprehensive guide to the basics of the world's most controversial conflict” by Zack Beauchamp (Vox) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by:  Engineer: Rob Byers Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Headlines for July 07, 2023; Bill McKibben: Climate Crisis Needs Urgent Action as Earth Records Hottest Temps Ever; “Double Agents”: Lobbyists for Big Tech, Universities & Eco Groups Also Work For Fossil Fuel Industry; Guatemalan Elite Tries to Overturn Democracy, But Anti-Corruption Candidate to Stay in Runoff Election; “Directly Complicit”: Shadi Hamid on How Obama Greenlighted 2013 Egypt Coup, Killing the Arab Spring

Megyn Kelly is joined by National Review's Charles C.W. Cooke, host of The Charles C.W. Cooke Podcast, to talk about Trump somehow having dinner with anti-Semite Nick Fuentes, the reality of who Fuentes really is, Kanye "Ye" West's relationship with Trump, what this dinner says about Trump's 2024 prospects, the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in our culture with Kyrie Irving and Ye, whether the 2024 GOP field will be large or not, media unsure how to deal with "non-binary" Colorado Springs shooter, attempts by the press to place blame on conservatives, and more. Then Shadi Hamid, author of "The Problem of Democracy," joins to discuss the reality of American exceptionalism and our democracy, freedom protests in Iran and China, the test of the Trump era and how some on the left failed, the inability for both sides to accept election results, how Trump drove some on the left crazy, an out-of-control executive branch, the problem with anchoring lives to politics, the need to not make political opponents into enemies, his viral debate on MSNBC over election deniers on the left, and more.Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKellyTwitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow Find out more information at: https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow