Wisdom of Crowds

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThis week, Berlin-based journalist and New York Times Magazine contributing writer Elisabeth Zerofsky joins us to discuss how Russia's invasion of Ukraine has changed Europe. What explains the righteous fury of previously pacific Germans? Shadi asks Elisabeth and Damir what a "red line" in Ukraine could possibly be—or if it even exists. For example, how might the United States respond in hypothetical scenarios of large-scale massacres and the leveling of entire cities.In the subscriber-only portion of the conversation, we debate whether Europe has a preference for white—and specifically non-Muslim—refugees. "Anti-immigrant" leaders on the far-right are, all of a sudden, discovering a soft spot for migrants. Are Europeans racist? Perhaps, the argument goes, it's easier to integrate Ukrainians because they are secular, culturally similar, and look like "us." Can that ever justify the double standard? Shadi decides to do away with caution and make a rather controversial argument.Required Reading- "Negotiating with Madmen" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)- "On Putin, Rationality, and Believing In Heaven" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds)- Is EU Concerned? Twitter account- "Gerhard Schröder Casts a Dark Shadow over Berlin's Foreign Policy"  (Spiegel)- Benjamin Wittes' tweet- "Why John Mearsheimer Blames the US for the Crisis in Ukraine" by Isaac Chotiner (New Yorker)- Michael Cecire and Damir's Twitter exchange

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Shadi and Damir sit down again, four days into the war in Ukraine, to look at where things stand, and where things could be going. We talk best- and worst-case scenarios, why the West can’t get militarily involved, and why the Europeans in particular are so white-hot furious about Putin's invasion.

Shadi and Damir sat down to do a quick episode today as Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine. They talk about how the world got to this point, what we in the West could have done differently, what could happen next, and what it means for the future of America. We hope you find this real-time attempt at analysis useful and helpful.Required Reading- "Negotiating with Madmen" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds)- "America’s role in the Russia and Ukraine situation" (AP) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveFrom Leon Trotsky to Sayyid Qutb to the Founding Fathers, Shadi and Damir discuss revolution in all its forms. The guys argue about the importance of ideas, the role of violence, and how order is legitimized. Can democracy keep the peace? Part 2 of our conversation is available here for subscribers. Shadi and Damir turn their attention to the revolutionary impulses on both the conservative right and the woke left. While the intellectuals behind these movements likely don't consider themselves to be advocating for the overthrow of our system, does that mean they are fine operating in the system? Or are we approaching a tipping point of revolutionary impulse in America? Subscribe here to listen. Members will also gain access to other paid content, including weekly bonus episodes, Q&As with Shadi and Damir, and our full archive of Friday Essays. Required Reading The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky, by Isaac Deutscher (Amazon) The Democracy Essays (Wisdom of Crowds) "Am I a Trotskyite?" by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds) Hitler: A Global Biography, by Brendan Simms (Amazon) Terrorism and Communism: A Reply to Karl Kautsky (Revolutions), by Leon Trotsky, Foreword by Slavoj Žižek (Amazon) "Taking People as They Are: Islam as a 'Realistic Utopia' in the Political Theory of Sayyid Qutb" by Andrew F. March (American Political Science Review) "The Philosopher of Islamic Terror" by Paul Berman (New York Times) "Liberalism Has an Unhappiness Problem" by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds) "Sohrab Ahmari on Liberalism, Tradition, and Political Catholicism" (Wisdom of Crowds)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveIn this week's episode, we were joined by our friend Aaron Sibarium, a reporter for the Washington Free Beacon. Aaron recently reported a piece showing how three states were rationing COVID drugs on race-based criteria. The article made a splash. Fox News covered the story, Trump referenced it in a speech (sloppily as always), and Twitter tried to rebrand it as a right-wing talking point.Prioritizing woke ideology over medical realities can cost lives. But we tried to stay true to the Wisdom of Crowds ethos and made our best faith effort to ask whether race-based triage can ever be justified on practical or philosophical grounds. Is this the result of good intentions going off the rails, or is something more sinister at work?Required Reading:- "Food and Drug Administration Guidance Drives Racial Rationing of COVID Drugs" by Aaron Sibarium (Washington Free Beacon)- "Hospital System Backs Off Race-Based Treatment Policy After Legal Threat" by Aaron Sibarium (Washington Free Beacon)- "Hospitalization and Mortality among Black Patients and White Patients with Covid-19" (New England Journal of Medicine)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveIt used to be called "political correctness." It had its heyday in the 1990s, then it went underground. While we weren't paying attention, an entire architecture of speech restrictions was being built on campuses across the country. Greg Lukianoff, CEO of FIRE and co-author of the bestselling The Coddling of the American Mind, joins us to discuss what he calls the "second great age of political correctness."When people say cancel culture isn't real, are they arguing in good faith? One part of the story is the lack of diversity in American universities—in disciplines like anthropology, the ratio of liberal to conservative professors is 42 to 1. If we care so much about diversity, why don't we seem to care viewpoint diversity?Required Reading:- "The Second Great Age of Political Correctness" by Greg Lukianoff (Reason)- "How To Keep Your Corporation Out of the Culture War" by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff (Persuasion)- "The Polarization Spiral" by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff (Persuasion)- The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education- The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium by Martin Gurri- Manliness by Harvey Mansfield

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThis week we were joined by Sam Adler-Bell, cohost of the Know Your Enemy podcast. We examined the New Right, their earnestly held belief that liberals have already won the battle for the soul of the country, and America's crisis of legitimacy. Is it even worth trying to bridge the gap between left and right on cultural issues?Required Reading:- "The Radical Young Intellectuals Who Want to Take Over the American Right" by Sam Adler-Bell (New Republic)- "Young, Radical, and on the Right (w/ Nate Hochman)" by Know your Enemy- "Shadi Hamid on Being an Anti-‘Woke’ Progressive" by Matt Lewis- "Michael Brendan Dougherty on Identity, Culture, and the False Promise of Liberation" by Wisdom of Crowds- "Ross Douthat on Decadence, Wokeness, and UFOs" by Wisdom of Crowds" by Wisdom of Crowds- "Sohrab Ahmari on Liberalism, Tradition, and Political Catholicism" by Wisdom of Crowds- Trump’s Full Inauguration Speech 2017 

What was it like to live through the fall of Kabul? How should we think about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan? And with famine enveloping the country amid an unprecedentedly severe state collapse, how should we approach—and deal with—the ruling Taliban authorities?This week we are joined by Dr. Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Dr. Omar Sadr, both of the newly-launched Afghanistan Project at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Governance and Markets, to talk about what lies ahead for the long-suffering Afghan people.Recommended Reading:- "Afghanistan: a Vicious Cycle of State Failure" by Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili- The Afghanistan Project - Center for Governance and Markets, University of Pittsburg- "Afghans at risk of near-universal poverty, UN report warns" by Peter Beaumont (The Guardian)- "In Afghanistan, the threat of widespread famine looms as drought and hunger continues" by All Things Considered (NPR) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

As Biden struggles to get his massive spending bill passed, WoC's former Associate Editor Matt Winesett joins Shadi and Damir to talk about guns, gentrification, opera, the race for Governor of Virginia, and the sad state of the Republican Party. Required Reading: Matt's essays at WoC. "Trump's Look Backward Poses Peril for GOP," by Gerald F. Seib (WSJ). The Citizen app. "Glenn Youngkin's Viral 'Child' Ad is Missing Important Context," by Glenn Kessler (WaPo). "Nice Woke Parents" (Wisdom of Crowds). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

Damir and Shadi talk about health security theater during this latest phase of the pandemic, before going on to discuss how technocratic approaches tend to worsen and exacerbate polarization in democratic societies. Also: can anyone make a moral case for democracy without recourse to God? Required reading: The Islamic World Today: Issues and Perspectives (Brigham Young University) "The danger of bringing religious zeal to the political realm," by Shadi Hamid (Deseret News). "One in 5,000," by David Leonhardt (NYT). Public Opinion, by Walter Lippmann. "Limits to Democracy," by Roger Scruton (New Criterion). "Solutionism Is Not the Solution," by Damir Marusic (WoC) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe