The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

Anna Gát: Building an Intellectual Platform for the Politically Homeless

Aug 21, 2024

In this engaging discussion, Anna Gát, founder of Interintellect, shares her vision of reviving salon culture for modern times. She explains how her platform facilitates fascinating conversations among participants from diverse backgrounds. Gát reveals how her upbringing in post-communist Hungary shaped her worldview and ambitions. The talk also highlights her new podcast, The Hope Axis, which aims to promote hope amidst political divides. Listeners will discover the importance of civil discourse and community in today's shifting cultural landscape.

51:10

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Episode guests

Anna Gát

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Quick takeaways

Interintellect reinvents French salon culture by fostering global, civil discussions on arts, science, and philosophy through diverse online and in-person events.

Anna Gát's experiences in post-communist Hungary inspire her belief in free cultural exchange and the importance of hope to combat societal despair.

Deep dives

Reinventing Salon Culture

Interintellect seeks to revive the concept of French salon culture for the modern era by providing a platform for artists and intellectuals to engage in meaningful discussions. The platform allows diverse participants from around the world to connect over shared interests, with events featuring notable figures such as Steven Pinker and Esther Perel. This initiative fosters a sense of community where individuals can form connections without traditional academic or cultural gatekeeping. The goal is to create a curated marketplace for enriching conversations that transcend geographical boundaries and encourage intellectual collaboration.

Intro

2min

Exploring Inter Intellect: A Modern Intellectual Community

2min

Reviving Salon Culture: Discussions of Art and Politics

18min

Monetizing Community: From Festivals to Online Cities

3min

Exploring Alternative Retirement Strategies

2min

Cultivating Open Dialogue

6min

The Hope Axis: Navigating Political Ideologies

19min

If you ever wanted to live in a world of endlessly fascinating conversations about the arts, science, and philosophy, you're going to love today's guest—Anna Gát. She's the person behind a platform* called Interintellect, which hosts hundreds of online salons a year. While some of them feature superstars like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, relationship guru Esther Perel, and economist Tyler Cowen, all of the salons are built around civil yet engaging discussions on interesting cultural ideas.

Interintellect's stated ambition is to reinvent French salon culture for the 21st century, and the platform is increasingly hosting in-person events too. Reason's Nick Gillespie talks with Gát about why she started Interintellect, how it grew to have tens of thousands of participants all over the world, and how her new podcast, The Hope Axis, fits into her vision of a future marked by optimism (guests on the podcast have included economist Noah Smith, online-culture analyst Katherine Dee, and Quillette founder Claire Lehmann). They also talk about how her early years in post-communist Hungary shaped her worldview and ambitions.

*CORRECTION: The original text implied that Interintellect requires a membership to participate in events. While there is a membership tier, virtually all Interintellect events are open to the public.

0:00—Introduction

1:29— Interintellect : a public marketplace for intellectual salons

3:31— Gát's background & vision

14:05— Interintellect's scope of events

19:05— A perpetual festival with multiple paths for participation

23:38—Ad: Bank On Yourself

25:30— An apolitical self-moderating cultural community

27:52— Interintellect's global reach

31:39— "The Hope Axis" podcast

37:07— Why is 'doomerism' so appealing to millennials?

42:32— Using the hope axis to defeat "no way out" mentality

45:55— Gát's intellectual heroes

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