Frames of Space

Karin Tamerius is a psychiatrist, a political psychologist, and the founder of Smart Politics. She writes the Substack "The Smart Politics Way," which has quietly become one of the most thoughtful guides to how we talk about—and think about—politics. The truth is, we’re living in a time where the news cycle is relentless. It’s not just a daily onslaught of information; it’s a constant barrage of developments, policies, and crises that seem to demand our immediate attention. And while it’s natural to feel concerned about the state of the world, I can’t help but wonder: are we handling this in the best possible way? What Karin argues is something deceptively simple: our brains were never built for politics. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about why the human brain is not hardwired to deal with politics in a productive way, how empathy shapes peoples' political beliefs, and the kinds of discipline that people can engender within themselves to deal with the news cycle. Show Notes "Your Brain Isn't Built for Politics—Here's What to Do About It" by Karin Tamerius, The Smart Politics Way "Talking with Trump Voters Seems Hopeless—But It's Not" by Karin Tamerius, The Smart Politics Way

Mónica Guzmán is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times. She is also host of the podcast "A Braver Way," and an advisor for Public Practice at Braver Angels. Her beat is bridging political divides, and how to model good-faith political disagreements across the aisle. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about the pervasiveness of fear in American politics, what couples therapy has to do with understanding political differences, and how to make use of political consumption.

Stephanie Murray is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and the author behind the Substack "Family Stuff." Her beat involves covering many of the intricacies and data points behind parenting and child-rearing, particularly the decline in birthrates throughout much of the developed world. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about the explanations for why people aren't having as many kids, why lower fertility rates are such a big deal, and her own experience as a mother of three. Show Notes "Welcome to Family Stuff" by Stephanie Murray, Family Stuff "Stephanie Murray: Promoting Parenthood in a Free Society" from The Human Progress Podcast "A Pro-Natalism for Normies" by Patrick Brown, The Dispatch

Charlotte Swasey is the writer behind the Substack "Medium Data," which examines the intricacies of polling and political analysis to generate upcoming election forecasts and predictions for Democratic politicians. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about the Senate forecast for the 2026 Elections, the gap between the perception and reality of Democratic policies, and how politicians could approach controversial issues like immigration.

Dylan Matthews is a senior correspondent at Vox and one of the key writers behind Future Perfect, a section of the site dedicated to exploring ways to make the world better through evidence, reason, and moral philosophy. If you look at his body of work, you’ll find that he’s written about everything from AI risk to tax policy to foreign aid spending. And that eclecticism is part of what makes him so compelling. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about the extent of negativity bias in journalism, the positive effects of George W. Bush's presidency, and the future of artificial intelligence in society. Show Notes "Why the news is so negative — and what we can do about it" by Dylan Matthews, Vox "We’ll miss globalism when it’s gone" by Dylan Matthews, Vox "What would a world without foreign aid look like?" by Dylan Matthews, Vox   You can find my Patreon page here.

Matthew Adelstein writes the Substack "Bentham's Newsletter" under the alias "Bentham's Bulldog." He is the rare thinker who will, in one breath, defend a rigorous logical case for the existence of God, and in the next insist that we should worry more about shrimp than about most public-policy debates. His outlook isn’t contrarian for sport; it’s the consequence of three guiding hunches he’s written about: that our moral circle is still way too small, that good arguments should beat gut feelings even when they get weird, and that tribal loyalty is the mind-killer. Follow that recipe and you end up somewhere delightfully off-map—and that’s exactly where this conversation goes. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about the philosophical arguments for the existence of God, the merits of utilitarianism, and whether or not we should kill animal predators to prevent them from killing other animals. Show Notes "The Ultimate Guide To The Anthropic Argument" by Bentham's Bulldog, Bentham's Newsletter "Islam Is Very Implausible" by Bentham's Bulldog, Bentham's Newsletter  

Katherine Dee is an internet culture reporter who writes the Substack "default.blog," which observes the quirks and tendencies of various subcultures on social media. In this episode, I got a chance to talk with her about her history covering different facets of the internet, how she approaches AI, and the different incentives of online interaction compared to in-person interaction. Show Notes "The Billionaire, the Influencer and their Baby" by Katherine Dee, Wisdom of Crowds "Internet Overexposure Syndrome" by Katherine Dee, Comment

Jessica Grose is an opinion writer for The New York Times. What I admire about Jessica's writing is that she doesn’t just cover politics as a horse race or culture as a meme war; she zooms into the kitchen tables, classrooms, and waiting rooms where policy choices land on real bodies. Her beat is ​parenthood and education, faith and loneliness, COVID aftershocks and TikTok doom-scrolls — basically, all the places where our ideals crash into our everyday lives. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about how our social media has been affecting kids, how student performance has changed in recent years, and the ways that modern medicine has become a victim of its own success. Show Notes "Parents Don’t Know It but K-12 Students Are Falling Into ‘the Honesty Gap’" by Jessica Grose, The New York Times "Measles, MAHA Moms and Robert F. Kennedy Jr." from The Opinions

Micah Sifry is a writer and organizer behind the Substack "The Connector." He has decades of experience in covering how technology is changing politics, and how to participate productively in the political process. In this episode, I got a chance to talk with him about the history of mass protests in the US, the recent authoritarian cuts to government spending, and public perceptions of government service. Show Notes "A Different Kind of Anti-Trump Resistance Is Brewing" by Micah Sifry, The New York Times

Announcement: this podcast will be publishing episodes twice as often as before (so every single week on Thursdays) for the next several weeks at least, and hopefully for longer. Count yourself lucky in that regard :) Noah Smith is an economist who writes the Substack "Noahpinion" and co-hosts the podcast "Econ 102." He is known for his commentary on economic issues like inflation, trade policy, deficit spending, and more. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about Trump's latest tariffs, how harmful they will be for all of us, and how the economic world order is changing.