Professor Moshe Sluhovsky, who teaches history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, taught a young Adaam to appreciate the nuance, contradictions, and blind spots of the past. In this episode, he breaks down conflicting historical narratives that have pervaded the academe, gives his perspective on America's newfound historicism, and rants with us about the inaccurate historical movies he loves and we hate.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:* -Intro to Sluhovsky, the professor who taught Adaam why history matters [1:15]* -The conflicting narratives of Colonialism [21:58]* -History, the field that navigates "the complexities of possible stories that could be told" [24:30]* -History, a field ill-equipped for images [40:18]* -Historical movies: the good, the bad, the ugly [45:54]* -The young, contentious project of re-writing American history [59:24]* -On abstract thinking, morality, and politicization today [1:06:56]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Back when Dr. Dawn Carpenter was starting out in the finance world in the '90s, she sought out the organizations trying to do some good in the world. It was an unusual decision back then — and one that allowed her to carve out a niche for herself. Now, the conscious capitalism movement is becoming far more mainstream, and as the host of the "What Does It Profit?" podcast, Dawn has a front row seat. We talk to Dawn about the morality of capitalism, her theological studies and how it applies to her work, and the mystical Oz-like machinations of our economy.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice. Oh, there’s merch, too: mugs, laptop cases, tote bags, t-shirts… the lot. And everything’s on sale. Hurrah for capitalism…?On the agenda:-The virtualized mind -What does it profit? -In the room where it happens-A theological awakening -Conscious capitalism (A podcast begins)-Contributive justiceUncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Perched from his position as a media analyst at the CIA, Martin Gurri noticed — way before most of us — that change was afoot. Starting in the early 2000s, he noticed the new "tsunami" of information coming our way, and he began to see how it was changing, and would forever change, not just our means of communication, but our concepts of authority and power, and even our societies themselves. In 2014, he put down his reflections in a book — The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium — which might as well be the Uncertain Things bible.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:* The 20st century vs the tsunami* From Cuba to the CIA* On Authority, Truth, and Utopia* The long march to somewhere* The border infiltrates the center* The sectarian mind and the force of negation * The nuttiness of the Trump years * What we can do * There are no alternatives to liberal democracy* Short-term pessimist, long-term optimistUncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal returns to the pod in celebration of the release of the English translation of his book, Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization. We pick up where we left off last time, beginning with the role of the journalist, especially in this new vaccine-starved world, meander into Facebook's many failings, and then take a final, chilling turn to the state of the American empire post-Trump.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:* Journalists, vaccines, and the "toilet paper dilemma" [10:27]* Facebook, Silicon Valley, and Freedom of Speech [24:10]* "The West Crumbled in the Trump Years" [39:16]* When the world wasn't watching... [47:15]* "There is no organizing idea for an America-centric world any more." [54:59]* Nationalism vs. populism [1:00:37]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

On Inauguration Day, with J.Lo's oddball rendition of America's favorite commie song still ringing in our ears, Matt Welch graced our uncertain pod with his virtual presence and cathartic rants. Matt — author, Reason Magazine’s editor-at-large, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast, master of "atrocious analogies," and Adaam's touchstone of sanity (among other roles) — joined us for a wide-ranging conversation about Biden, the truth, free speech, podcasts, and the consequences of so-called cancel culture.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:* Inauguration Day: "I'm not the target audience." [6:42]* Living in truth and holding politicians to account [14:11]* Journalists, do your job better [18:44]* Consumers, consume better, too [25:37]* A techno-hippie in the free speech loop hole (Podcasts v. Mass media) [35:03]* Cancel culture and its tattle tales [47:45]* In defense of common sense [1:19:49]* The elephant in the country: the deficit [1:24:56]* Trump and the right's delusional disarray [1:28:04]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Adam Winkler, constitutional law professor at UCLA School of Law, joined us mere hours after Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol. We talk (fittingly) about our history of law and disorder, dive deep into his book We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights (Adam even spins some delightful yarns about Supreme Court high jinks of yore), and unpack all the ways in which corporations have consistently won (and in all likelihood will continue to win) more rights than the rest of us. At least America's future is bright for somebody...Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:* Nation of law and disorder (5:33)* Intro to corporate Rights and Personhood (13:45)* Our corporate origin story (On, Jamestown, Charters, and the founding fathers) (17:40)* Corporations and race (25:20)* The narrative of the corrupt corporation (29:52)* The landmark case of 1809 (37:45)* Railroad (& supreme court justice) high jinks (42:05)* The power of a personality (58:00)* Citizens United, the capstone of a 200-year battle (1:04:27)* "The future of corporate Rights is rosy" (1:07:02)Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Tamler Sommers, philosopher and co-host of Very Bad Wizards, joins us just a few days after the insurrection on the Capitol to explain how we got here (spoiler alert: liberalism's over-emphasis on individualism and dignity seriously failed us). He also walks us through some of the controversial arguments in his book — Why Honor Matters — and describes the ways in which honor cultures actually have a lot to teach us (especially in these crazy Covid times) about courage, community, and responsibility.On the agenda:* Diagnosing Trump's army* Honor: What is it? * Honor v. Religion (see: our interviews w/ Tom Holland and Tomer Persico)* Anti-Maskers: Freedom fighters or Trump tribalists?* Honor's bad rap* What Liberalism Has Wrought — Mass Incarceration* Conflict Resolution in Honor Cultures* Restorative Justice in Theory (See “Can Forgiveness Play A Role in Criminal Justice?” and “Conflicts as Property”)* Vaccine envy, just desserts, and other American depravities* Restorative Justice in Action (Tamler’s inspirations: ”Forgiveness in Justice” & “Conflicts as Property”)* Interrupting violence with honor (and a cameo from The Godfather)* Safety, risk, and damned bicycle helmets * On Covid theater and authoritarian control * Tamler's beef with philosophy Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com. Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Columbia University Law Professor Zohar Goshen joins to discuss his provocative new theory about the root causes of American income inequality. His upcoming publication (co-authored with Prof. Doron Levit) goes beyond the traditional explanations — globalization, automation, taxation — and pushes against a few of Wall Street’s sacred bulls. He also puts forth a pretty nifty solution — one that will never, ever happen, of course.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:* Corporate Governance 101 [6:29]* Born in the 80s: shareholder primacy and income inequality [13:25]* The conventional inequality explanations [19:10]* What went wrong: the pension problem [27:56]* Strong governance is good [37:25]* Strong governance is bad (the Steve Jobs story) [39:38]* The consequences: Capital gains, workers' loss [46:25]* Why changing corporations won't work [1:01:01]* The big break up we need - and is never gonna happen [1:07:42]* The 2008 financial crisis vs today's [1:16:03]* On ESG - Let's rethink that G [1:25:50] Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Indian journalist Yashica Dutt joins us to talk about her memoir, Coming out as Dalit, where she details her journey from rejecting and hiding her "lower-caste" status to embracing it and advocating for Dalit rights. Weaving between Yashica's personal story and India's political history, we cover everything from pre-colonial inequalities, colonial atrocities, post-colonial absurdities, and current-day injustices (from India to Silicon Valley). Oh, and we get Yashica's not-hot take on Isabel Wilkerson's book, too.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.On the agenda:* Hiding my caste and "passing" [7:17]* Reservation and its discontents [21:42]* The absurdities of post-colonial studies [29:13]* Gandhi, not a great guy [39:34]* The backlash to progressive values [52:30]* The conversation about caste vs. race [1:09:09]* Casteism in Silicon Valley [1:22:43]* Isabel Wilkerson's Americanized lens [1:29:09]* Coming out as Dalit [1:35:38]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Chloé Valdary is a paragon of paradox — an identity she relishes in. She gained notoriety for creating The Theory of Enchantment (originally a curriculum for young students, now an alternative to corporate Anti-Racism trainings) and for her heroic (yes, heroic!) ability to maintain nuance and compassion on Twitter (yes, it is possible). Chloé tells Adaam and Vanessa how she pivoted her company in the wake of George Floyd's murder this summer, describes her complicated relationship to critical race theory, and tries to convince Adaam that the human spirit will, indeed, endure this dumpster fire of a moment.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.For more sanity, follow Chloé on Twitter: @CValdary. If you’re interested in diving into the human condition, consider enrolling in The Theory of Enchantment, or visit her homepage to learn more.On the agenda:* Born and raised in a state of paradox [7:10]* The Enlightenment and its promise [12:01]* Disenchantment v. Enchantment [15:17]* The pivot to anti-racism training (and becoming oppositional to critical race theory) [21:09]* Power corrupts, twitter power corrupts absolutely [45:39']* When Biden won, the conversation changed [56:10]* On empathy [1:06:50]* The inevitable ends of CRT and cancel culture [1:14:57]* Israel through the American lens [1:27:21]* Massive convergence [1:33:30]Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe