Non gay friends, writes o senson, are in some ways more conformist than your gay friends issues of sex. But yes, i find them to be often more questioning, more curious and more capable of asking basic questions which makes them better. I think we're certainly more candid about affairs of the heart. There's a frankness and rudeness and sense of humour that is hard to explain outside of its particular context. And finding a way to make yourself popular among certain elites. Is this not something i ever wanted to do? Because i'm onso just that big a socializing person.
Upon learning he was HIV positive in 1993, Andrew Sullivan began writing more than he ever had before. Believing that he didn’t have long to live, he wanted to leave behind a book detailing his best argument for refocusing the gay rights movement on marriage equality and military service. Three decades later and Sullivan has not only lived to see the book published, but also seen the ideas in it gain legal and cultural acceptance. This, along with the fact that the pace and influence of his writing has continued apace, qualifies him in Tyler’s estimation as the most influential public intellectual of his generation.
Andrew joined Tyler to discuss the role of the AIDs epidemic in achieving marriage equality, the difficulty of devoutness in everyday life, why public intellectuals often lack courage, how being a gay man helps him access perspectives he otherwise wouldn’t, how drugs influence his ideas, the reasons why he’s a passionate defender of SATs and IQ tests, what Niall Ferguson and Boris Johnson were like as fellow undergraduates, what Americans get wrong about British politics, why so few people share his admiration for Margaret Thatcher, why Bowie was so special, why Airplane! is his favorite movie, what Oakeshottian conservatism offers us today, whether wokeism has a positive influence globally, why he someday hopes to glower at the sea from in the west of Ireland, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded August 6th, 2021 Other ways to connect
Thumbnail photo credit: Chad Norman