Uncertain Things

Jacob Mchangama — author of Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media, lawyer, and founder and director of the Copenhagen-based think tank Justitia — has uncovered an unfortunate, though not too surprising, historical pattern, across cultures and societies: the second we feel under threat in a society, free speech (that supposedly sacrosanct value) goes swiftly by the wayside. In this conversation, Jacob takes us back in time and traces the history of free speech all the way from Ancient Greece to the EU’s recent banning of Russian propaganda — and we unpack a whole lot of hypocrisy along the way. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Adaam’s big mistake [0:00-7:44]-Self-censorship and its consequences [7:45-14:51]-The pro-democracy podcast coalition [14:52-20:15]-On cartoons and Milton’s curse [20:16-25:13]-Free speech through the ages: Greece & Rome [25:14-37:51]-Free speech through the ages: the Middle Ages [37:52-44:18]-Free speech through the ages: from Reformation to Revolution (stopping on Spinoza along the way) [44:19-55:47]-American culture vs. American law [55:48-1:09:21]-A golden age or a free speech recession? [1:09:22-1:13:26]-Banning Russian propaganda [1:13:27-1:22:22]-Liberal democracy: why does it matter? [1:22:23-1:29:30]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

After studying neurobiology in college, Daniel Roy became a professional sleight-of-hand artist slash YouTube magician. He joined us to explore how illusionists exploit our innate psychological and social tendencies in order to make us unwillingly suspend our disbelief. In this in-person conversation, we dive into the topics of misdirection, deception, and illusion — and the ways they resonate with politics, tech, and media today. But it wasn’t all intellectual debate: Daniel also graced us with some real life magic, which you can visually enjoy on our YouTube page.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Getting seriously into magic [5:20-14:12]-Inattentional blindness and the illusion of impossibility [14:13- 27:21]-The magician as social manipulator [27:22-40:56]-When mistakes (and hecklers) happen [40:57-47:10]-The conflict of psychological surrender [47:11-54:44]-Attention capture and the media parallel [54:45-1:05:38]-Magic in the YouTube era [1:05:39-1:24:01]-The mental and ethical challenges of magic [1:24:02-1:53:33]-An audio magic trick! [1:55:29-2:15:31]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Author and political philosophy professor Mark Lilla joined us to debate morality (what makes something good, and how much of it is enough?), innocence vs. ignorance, reactionary passions and nostalgia, the importance of maintaining a private sphere of moral inquiry, and the psychoses of current American politics. We usually ask our “blindspots” question at the end. This time, it captured the entire talk.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Wisely choosing Vico [5:06-6:49]-Losing faith, gaining skepticism, and seeking the goodness of knowledge [6:50-7:56]-Ignorance and bliss [11:59-17:32]-The pros and cons of American populism and dogmatism [17:33-29:12]-How much morality is enough? [29:13-30:06] -Why our government's so dysfunctional [30:07-37:58]-Elitism and activism in the academe [37:59-46:09]-The productive anxieties of American life [46:10-49:36]-The nostalgia party of the right [49:37-1:01:39]-The unserious, crusading left [1:01:40-1:10:54]-The case for indifference [1:10:55-1:15:24]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

You’d think author and speaker Helen Russell — whose professional obsession for the past few years has been happiness — would be loathe to discuss the topic of sadness. Au contraire. As she’s learned more about what it takes to be happy, she’s discovered it relies on perfecting the lost (at least in America) art of being sad. We talk with Helen about her book How to be Sad, discuss why American culture is particularly bad at embracing melancholy, and discover what we could all learn from those strapping Danes.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Making Space for Sadness, in all its flavors [3:51-9:14]-Cross-Cultural Comparisons [9:15-12:54]-Gender and the emotions we're allowed to access [12:55-17:54]-The emotional burden of an artless life [17:55-23:48]-Our atrophied social connections [23:49-29:24]-Inequality, addiction, and social media [29:25-36:54]-Raising kids and deciding to have them in the first place [36:55-44:21]-Sadness taboos and rituals [44:22-48:33]-Diagnosing Brexit (and other dark times) [48:34-53:58]-Sadness Post-Script [54:28-1:24:32]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

People Love Dead Jews. That's the title of novelist and literary scholar Dara Horn's provocative book, which explores the ways in which non-Jewish societies exploit Jewish histories and atrocities to "flatter" themselves and erase Jewish realities. In an episode filled with more ghoulish humor than usual, we follow Dara’s journey of uncovering a troubling (and often truly absurd) history. We also can’t help ourselves and go meta: not only raking on the media (as we’re wont to do) but also nerding out about the difference between Jewish and Western literary narratives.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Memorializing dead Jews, erasing living Jews [9:44-26:35]-Why does empathy require similarity? [26:36-30:33] -Jews disrupting historical narratives [30:34-34:54] -Anti-semitism, assimilation, and Jewish agents of erasure [34:55-42:38] -"I spent 20 years not writing this book" [42:39-49:29] -How I'm Supposed to Respond to Anti-Semitism [49:30-53:23] -Victim Blaming to Feel Good [53:24-58:46]-Holocaust museums have failed [58:47- 1:05:56]-What Readers Want (Resolution not Ambiguity) [1:05:57-1:20:00]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Matt Taibbi thrives on the absurd. He used to revel in journalism's culture: caustic, independent, collaborative, and adversarial to those in power. Now, the former Rolling Stone writer and author of Hate Inc. sees little to love in the toxic, "credentialist" media world. We discuss Matt's transition to Substack (the future!), the psychotic break Trump inspired in "mainstream" media, and the future of our broken industry.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Journalism cultures, past and present* [3:38-20:22] -Protest subscriptions, absurdism, and economic anxiety [20:33-37:14]-Gerrymandering hate and victimhood [37:15-45:39]-The pernicious chaos of totalitarianism [45:40-50:01]-A Trump-induced psychotic break [50:02-1:01:54]-Tech troubles [1:01:55-1:05:35]-What's Next for Media? [1:05:36-1:09:05]-The Blindspots Q [1:09:06-1:14:25]For more media musings……check out our conversations with Batya Ungar-Sargon, Nancy Rommelmann, Matt Welch, and Katie Herzog.Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Anthony Gottlieb is a historian of ideas, the former executive editor of The Economist, the author of The Dream of Reason and The Dream of Enlightenment, and the George R.R. Martin of the history of philosophy. He tells us why he kept a poster of Wittgenstein in his dorm, how journalism forced him to unlearn the bad prose of academia, what is the quality that defines a successful philosopher, and why he thinks the liberal foundations of the West remain firm (Adaam is less certain).Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreonfor behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Coming up at the Economist [3:55-10:00]-Bertrand Russell, boyhood idol [10:01 - 15:34]-On Hume and Religion [15:35 - 21:24]-Philosophizing in Uncertain Times [21:25 - 28:21]-The Power of Charisma [28:22 - 39:10]-Wrestling with Wittgenstein [39:11- 44:12]-The Enlightenment Project's Legacy [44:13 - 56:16]-On Skepticism, Self-Awareness, and Philosophy Today [56:17 - 1:04:26]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Film critic, YouTube influencer, and sci-fi author Lindsay Ellis joins us to talk about her new novel and the complexities of human-alien relationships. But, in typical Uncertain Things fashion, we couldn't help but ask Lindsay about the f*ed up nature of today's social media landscape — one that cripples artists and rewards very bad behavior indeed. Plus, Lindsay gives us her guide for distinguishing between good and bad faith criticism, diagnoses Hollywood's TV problem, and hints that the future is books.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreonfor behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Aliens vs. transhumanism [06:33-11:10]-Dealing with bad faith critics [11:11-19:04]-The algorithm effect [19:05-22:51]-The artist/audience disconnect [22:52-28:11]-Hollywood's TV problem [28:12-30:35]-Scarred by the content machine [30:36-35:07]Check out Lindsay’s novels Axiom’s End and Truth of the Divine. And as promised, here’s Lindsay’s take on Mel Brooks and satire and The Beauty and the Beast remake.Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Nancy Rommelmann is a fiery (but mostly peaceful) writer and reporter. She’s also the co-founder (along with Matt Welch) of Paloma Media — a home for "the growing number of misfit creators who no longer fit neatly in our cramped categories of media, politics, and culture." Nancy made the trek to Queens for an in-person (!) conversation where she shared her journalism war stories, her ire about Donald MacNeill, Jr., and her musings on beauty as a commodity.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-Intro to Nancy [00:00 - 4:00]-Our anti-natalist debate w/ Jacob Siegel, to be continued [4:01 - 6:00]-Settling in [6:01-16:27]-Deconstructing Portland [16:28 - 35:40]-The NYT vs. The Donalds [35:41 - 1:02:06]-Creating Things in the Chaos [1:02:05 - 1:11:14]-The Beauty Blindspot [1:11:15 - 1:32:09]-Blindspots on the Left & Right [1:32:10 - 1:39:24]-People Will Surprise You [1:39:25 - 1:44:17]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

We live in a society enamored with divisions, but Nicholas Christakis lives by the outlandish idea that humans are fundamentally similar — and has devoted much of his career to uncovering the universals of social experience. (He's a lumper, not a splitter.) The Yale professor and author of many books — including Blueprint and Apollo's Arrow — unpacks his fascinating findings in evolutionary biology, describes the price we pay for the spread of ideas (namely, germs), and reflects on that now infamous moment on the Yale quad six years ago.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:-The asymmetry of celebrity [5:46-13:41]-The perception and reality of inequality [13:42-23:24]-Against the ascendant emphasis of difference [23:25-43:21]-Lumpers and splitters [43:22-49:50]-The social suite: How genes shaped our societies [49:51-1:07:10]-Why utopias and other intentional communities fail [1:07:11-1:14:16]-Prestige hierarchy and teaching [1:14:17-1:18:24]-Reflecting on the Yale incident, six years later [1:18:25-1:31:03]-On Covid (the price we pay for the spread of ideas) [1:31:04-1:37:42]-Distrusting institutions [1:37:43-1:45:26]-Blindspots on the left and the right [1:45:27-1:49:22]-Bonus: Can culture change our genes? (On exophenotypes) [1:49:39-2:01:35]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe