The Hanania Show

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.richardhanania.comInez and I begin with the question that is on everyone’s mind this week: Is Obama gay? When he said that he made love with men in his mind, was he speaking metaphorically or literally, or at least “literally” in the sense that gay things were literally happening in his imagination, if not real life? This topic is in the news because of Tucker’s interview

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.richardhanania.comInez joins me this week to talk about Mitch McConnell freezing up again, and what it says about old people dominating society more generally. This leads to a discussion on whether we rely too much on medical technology and the extent to which we should accept limits on human nature. We both agree gerontocracy is a problem, but while Inez thinks that the…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.richardhanania.comInez and I talk about the debate last night. I present my theory of what DeSantis is doing, and why I think he’s just trying to be the guy standing there at the end, hoping that Trump collapses. Which is unlikely, but what else is he going to do? We talk about the idea that Vivek is too polished, Inez’s hatred of Nikki Haley and why she bothers me less,…

This week, Inez and I talk about the song taking the world by storm, Rich Men North of Richmond. This sparks a discussion about how much we should be listening to the cries of the masses and seeing them as reflecting upon the elites. Inez wrote a piece on the California Republican Party and how they’ve been “cucking,” as the kids say, and I wonder whether it makes sense for them to do so. We close by debating the value of moving to the center more generally, and in particular the political impacts of abortion. Forewarning: we’ll be paywalling these conversations starting next week, so please consider becoming a paid subscriber in order to keep getting them.Listen here or watch on YouTube.Links* Rich Men North of Richmond* Inez on the California Republican Party* Me on abortion as a political issue, here and here This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.richardhanania.com/subscribe

After a two-week hiatus, Inez and I are back to discuss recent events. My critique of my old views and internet persona have led some to ask about my old research on why public figures shouldn’t apologize. Of course, my view is that if you did something wrong, you should admit it. Even if it was the case that it would have been better for me to reply with defiance, and it most certainly wasn’t, I don’t think I could’ve done so and remained honest with my audience.I talk about the strangeness of Matt Yglesias getting denounced by his followers for having interacted with me on Twitter. The discourse is in a sad state when we can’t have any kind of contact with people we disagree with. I tell Inez that I think that part of the issue is liberals having long existed in a bubble of privilege, where they don’t have to engage with any ideas, or even people, that make them uncomfortable. With Twitter and Substack now supporting free speech, and the declining power of cancellation journalism, power appears to be shifting and the left may find itself forced to become more tolerant by necessity.In this context, we discuss whether we are actually over the worst of cancel culture. I think that we are. Particularly when it comes to influencing the right, left-wing unpersoning campaigns are becoming less effective.At about the 45 minute mark we talk about a recent Tablet piece on Obama. I only read the part about him fantasizing about gay sex, whatever that says about my mental state. But Inez says there’s more in there suggesting that perhaps the former president is having an outsized and inappropriate role in running the country today, which I’m quite skeptical of. But again, she read the piece and I didn’t, so decide for yourself. Finally, we close by talking about the supposedly new track that DeSantis has taken on the question of whether Trump won the 2020 election.Listen here or watch on YouTube: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.richardhanania.com/subscribe

Inez begins by telling me about her recent move within NYC. This leads to a discussion about housing prices and the American dream, which finally transitions to a debate over immigration, nationalism, and social cohesion. We had planned on discussing Trump’s coming indictment for his activities surrounding the 2020 election, but didn’t have time for it. We’ll get to it next week, by which time the indictment is almost sure to have been handed down.The conversation closes with a discussion about Taylor Lorenz, and whether I was correct to praise her bravery on Twitter.Listen here or watch on YouTube.Links:* Me on Substack Reads, Taylor Lorenz a few weeks later* Me praising Taylor Lorenz* Amy Wax and Jason Richwine arguing for immigration restriction This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.richardhanania.com/subscribe

This week, we begin by talking about Twitter having just given me $1,700 for being such a successful influencer. Getting free money from a corporation isn’t something that happens every day, so it was a very pleasant surprise. This leads to a discussion about how each of us uses the platform and what the incentives of this profit-sharing model will mean for how Twitter functions in the future.From there, we talk about Inez’s forthcoming report on what she thinks should be done about student loans. The approach preferred by the left has the problem of letting universities off the hook. Inez thinks it would be good policy and good politics for the right to tie forgiveness to the taxation of university endowments. This strikes me as being at the very least superior to what the Biden administration has been trying to do, and I could find myself supporting it based on the details.Throughout the process, we talk about just how horrible the expansion of higher education has been for society, whether one is thinking about the economy, the labor market, family formation, or the culture more generally. The idea that college is simply bad has become a pretty standard belief among conservatives, and that’s something I’m glad to see. We’ll find if Inez’s proposal goes anywhere and potentially helps us do something about it.Listen here or watch on YouTube:Links* The message you get when Twitter decides to share ad revenue * My Tweet on NYT on student debt* Reuters on Biden’s new plan for student loan forgiveness This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.richardhanania.com/subscribe

Inez and I begin by discussing two major Supreme Court cases from last week, SFFA v. Harvard, on affirmative action, and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, on whether a private business can be forced to create a website for a gay wedding. We talk about how the affirmative action decision impacts the incentives of universities, and how its holdings might find their way into other areas of law.This leads to a broader discussion about free speech and when it’s justified for government to tell social media companies they can’t censor users. I take the problem of false information and bad actors much more seriously than Inez does, although I definitely understand her point and feel conflicted on this issue. I just really hate government interference in the market! By all means, crush CRT, LGBT, and everything else in public schools and cut off their funding, but I find it very hard to get myself to support the state telling private actors what to do under almost any circumstances. I just love liberty and freedom too much. As we find out, I’m much more inclined than Inez is to agree with the Goldwater position on the Civil Rights Act. It seems to me that her worry about modern discrimination against conservatives has led her to take a more left wing position on whether the federal government should have told private actors in the South who they could associate with in the 1960s. This just confirms my fear that as soon as you start to accept any arguments for government intervention, it’s the first step towards communism/civil rights, or god forbid, industrial policy. If we could silo the censorship issue and simply work on that I would be reassured, but I worry about general anti-market trends on the right.We close by talking a bit about Vivekmania, which is taking the Republican primary by storm. This conversation touches a bit on generational differences and aesthetics, and his strengths and weaknesses as a candidate. Listen here or watch us on YouTube.Links:* My immediate reaction to SFFA v Harvard* My thread on how markets are the cure to discrimination* Goldwater speech on the Civil Rights Act* My appearance on Vivek’s podcast* My take on Vivek right before he jumped in the race* Vox on Vivek (and me)* Vivek video at Moms for Liberty This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.richardhanania.com/subscribe

Inez joins me one day early this week, as she’s traveling on Thursday.We talk about the coming decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, wondering what the more moderate decisions of the Court over this term imply for what it will do about affirmative action. The way I see it, the previous cases indicate that either the justices have been chastened by Dobbs or that they’re building good will to finally strike down affirmative action. The second half of the podcast revolves around unlovable men, and how hard life is for them. Inez and I seem to agree a good bit on sex roles, male/female differences, and where society has gone wrong. I talk about the shift from PUA to incels in our culture, and how that reflects a more general increase in mental illness over the last decade and a half. I also express my discomfort with the idea of turning low status men into a new identity group that we need to have compassion towards. Conservatives usually understand how self-defeating and limiting such an approach can be in other contexts. We get into the pluses and minuses of putting the focus on individuals changing their behavior versus more systematic efforts. I recommend people here read my article How I Overcame Anxiety if you haven’t already.Listen here or watch on YouTube.Links:* Me, “SCOTUS Must Go for the Heart of the Race State”* Me, thread on the impacts of getting rid of affirmative action in California and Michigan* SCOTUS getting its liberal rulings out of the way?* William Deresiewicz, “Unfuckable Hate Nerds” (Tablet)* Inez, “Gender Crisis is Really a Marriage Crisis” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.richardhanania.com/subscribe

This week, Inez and I begin on the OceanGate tragedy, and the reaction to it. We have similar intuitions about the story, which is that society progresses through risk taking and pushing the frontiers of science and technology, and that often involves doing things that are risky and dangerous. One can’t both want a more dynamic civilization and then demand government regulation every time something goes wrong. Ezra Klein wrote a recent op-ed on DeSantis’ latest book, and also had a podcast discussion about it with Carlos Lozada. Inez talks about her experience with the Tea Party, and I present my own, more jaundiced perspective of the movement and its motivations. We discuss the implications and meanings of Birtherism with the advantage of a decade of hindsight.I ask whether Klein has a point about the lack of positive vision in the DeSantis campaign. Inez questions whether this is something you need to win, and I think the idea that you do has deep roots in American history. I argue that she may be more negative about American society than most other people are, but we come to an agreement that if DeSantis did actually come to power, there would be costs to trying to undertake radical change.Listen here or watch on YouTube.Links:* CBS report making the trip to the Titanic six months ago* Me on the relationship between commercial travel and scientific progress* Klein op-ed on reading DeSantis’ book, podcast on the topic* HW Brands, Heirs to the Founders This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.richardhanania.com/subscribe