This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThe international drop in baby-making is currently in the headlines, and it’s been constant preoccupation for us at Wisdom of Crowds (including in our latest edition of CrowdSource). It concerns us not only because of the possible long-term economic consequences but also because a people’s inability — or lack of desire — to reproduce itself might be the consequence of serious moral or social problems.Enter philosophers Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman. Anastasia is a professor at University of California at Irvine, while Rachel is managing editor for The Point. Berg and Wiseman have written a book that asks the fundamental question right in the title: What Are Children For? Why should people reproduce? Should people desire to do so? And why has there been a drop in birth rates? What are the issues underneath the decline of fertility in the United States and around the so-called developed world?Damir presses Anastasia and Rachel on the question of false consciousness. Are the young people telling themselves stories or giving themselves excuses instead of just … making a choice? In response, Anastasia and Rachel say that they take a sympathetic approach. They analyze the objective factors that seem to hinder family formation — cost of living, inability to find a mate, fear of the future, etc. — and see whether they truly are insurmountable. As philosophers, their goal is to enhance the free choice of individuals. If what you choose “by inertia” (because it is the cultural default) is not what you would choose if you had thought about things more clearly, then you are not truly free. The conversation runs deep, but it is also extremely relatable for Wisdom of Crowds listeners who, on average, tend to be on the younger side. Stick around for a quasi-defense of Millennials, too. They’re not immature; in fact, they might be too “old” for their age … Enjoy!Required Reading:* What are Children for? On Ambivalence and Choice by Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman (Amazon). * “On Choosing Life,” by Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman (The Point). * Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba (Amazon). * “The Real Reason People Aren’t Having Kids,” by Christine Emba (The Atlantic). * “Wham! Choose Life” T-shirt (Amazon). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

It’s a dog days of summer special! This week, we are releasing a live interview from last April, that’s more timely today than when it was first recorded. Dictators and their sychophants; democracy imperiled by foreign policy misadventures. Sound familiar?For almost a century, American intellectuals of different political stripes have been in thrall to dictators. They’ve either projected utopian ideals on to them, or been seduced by their charisma and alleged effectiveness. The story of left wing intellectuals falling for figures like Stalin or Castro has already been told. In a new book, America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators, Jacob Heilbrunn, author and editor of the National Interest, tells the story of the American political right and its dalliances with overseas despots. Joining Damir as co-host is friend of the pod Professor Jennifer Murtazashvili, head of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets, which graciously supports our work.As usual, Damir veers the discussion towards first principles. Are people more likely to be seduced by dictatorships when liberalism is perceived to be failing? Is liberalism perceived to be failing more often during wartime or peacetime? Just what is attractive about despotism? Should liberals accept that a certain amount of “ineffectiveness” is part and parcel of the liberal order? Tune in for a riveting discussion of these questions and more.Required Reading:* “Apologists without Remorse,” by Jacob Heilbrunn (American Prospect).* America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators by Jacob Heilbrunn.* “Trump’s anti-Ukraine view dates to the 1930s. America rejected it then. Will we now?” by Robert Kagan.* U.S. Military Interventions since 1890 (Evergreen State College).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! 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

Freddie deBoer, a provocative leftist thinker and author, dives into the complexities of democracy within the Democratic Party. He critiques Kamala Harris's elevation as a candidate, questioning whether it was a genuine democratic process. The conversation explores the erosion of grassroots involvement in politics, historical shifts in electoral conventions, and the impact of media on public perception. DeBoer also discusses how deindustrialization has affected voter sentiments and the acceptance of left-wing economic policies, emphasizing the need for deeper democratic practices.

Exploring the significance of the American Constitution in unifying a diverse society, Yuval Levin discusses the challenges of civic decay and the evolution of presidential power. Highlighting the importance of citizen responsibility in driving change, the podcast delves into the impact of primary elections and the challenges within the American party system.

Welcome to summer, dear crowd! This week, we have a live episode for you — live from the Aspen Ideas Festival. Sam Kimbriel recorded this episode with Tamar Gendler, a Dean and Philosophy professor at Yale University, and Erin McFee, a Future Leaders Fellow at the Latin America and Caribbean Centre in the London School of Economics.The subject, very broadly, is forgiveness. Is it good or bad? Do we know what it means? Can one forgive wrongly? And could forgiving foreclose the possibility of achieving justice in this world? 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.liveOn July 1, the Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump, as President of the United States, enjoys “absolute” immunity for “his core constitutional powers,” but that he “enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does if official.” The ruling has an obvious immediate impact on the upcoming presidential elections. But it also suggests far-reaching questions about political sovereignty, and our system of government.In this episode, Sam and Damir get together to hash out the theoretical implications of the Court’s ruling. Joining them is Yale Law professor and friend of the pod Samuel Moyn. Moyn argues that the Court’s decision was as much a product of “comparative risk assessment” of our current and near-future political situation, as it was a theoretical statement about our political system. Damir pushes on the question of the meaning of sovereignty, and what immunity implies in terms of the limits of presidential power. Sam sums up the decision as having reached “the limits of business as usual.”In the bonus section for paid subscribers, the discussion strikes a philosophical note. Sam describes his views about the “Platonic” and “prophetic” sources of law, Damir asks whether Thomas Hobbes is still relevant, and Moyn explains his idea of “collective self-creation.” Law, politics, philosophy, and prophecy — this episode is packed with the drama of our time.Required Reading* Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court Immunity Ruling (supremecourt.gov).* Richard Tuck, The Sleeping Sovereign: The Invention of Modern Democracy (Cambridge). * Eric Nelson, The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding (Harvard).* “Broad Reflections on Trump v. United States,” by Jack Goldsmith (Lawfare).* Plato, Euthyphro (Internet Classics Archive).* Summary of the Kelsen-Schmitt debate (YouTube).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWhat happened on Thursday night was a debacle for Joe Biden and an embarrassment for the nation. About this, our three hosts — Christine, Damir and Shadi — all agree. And they are all angry about it. But who is to blame? Biden himself? The DNC? The media? Trump? All of us?Shadi, Damir, and Christine work through their post-debate anguish and anger — and try to figure out who is responsible for the predicament that the country finds itself in today. “We are gripped by an inability to call balls and strikes anymore,” says Damir. In this episode, they try anyway. Required Reading:* Derek Hudson, “We Need to Talk about Biden” (Wisdom of Crowds).Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveYou might have noticed that Wisdom of Crowds got a facelift this week. We touched up our homepage and added two new features: CrowdSource and Provocations (read more about both here). In this spirit of renewal and relaunch, on the podcast we are getting back to our bread and butter with a classic Shadi and Damir episode. This week’s episode deals with the virtues of resignation. Is giving up ever the right choice to make, either in politics or in one’s personal life? Shadi has been reading a book about “settling” — On Giving Up by Adam Phillips — and he muses on the topic in latest piece in Wisdom of Crowds: “Giving Up is Good for You.” Damir worries that giving up means resignation, a rejection of life, a denial of adventure. He considers Shadi’s mention of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Does Shadi understand the full implications of Nietzsche’s philosophy? Damir wonders. In the bonus section for paid subscribers, the talk turns toward war and geopolitics, where Shadi discusses how wars end in" “settlements” — a form of giving up. Finally, the conversation wraps up with a reevaluation of Damir’s personal philosophy, and a look back at last week’s podcast episode with Phil Klay.Required Reading:* “Giving Up is Good for You” by Shadi (Wisdom of Crowds).* Adam Phillips, On Giving Up.* Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).* Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.* Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals.* Friedrich Nietzsche, The Joyful Science.* Adyashanti official page (YouTube).* Podcast episode with Phil Klay (Wisdom of Crowds). Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

Morality and war. Two words that seem to have nothing to do with each other. Yet as recent events have shown, our conscience pricks us every time we hear news of an atrocity, smarts at every war and rumor of war. Can a war ever be just? Does talk about morality in the conduct of war make any sense?Joining Shadi and Damir to discuss this heady topic is Phil Klay, a novelist and essayist whose first book, the short story collection Redeployment, won the National Book Award in 2014. An Iraq War veteran, his work has focused on themes concerning war, citizenship, and the postwar life of veterans. His latest book is titled Uncertain Ground: Citizens in an Age of Endless, Invisible War. This episode does not have the usual verbal sparring and back-and-forth. The tone is meditative and the questions are profound. Shadi opens the conversation with a direct question: What does morality have to do with war? Phil responds with a description of the Medieval practice of imposing penances on soldiers, even those who fought in just wars. Damir presses Phil with the nagging question of where the “shoulds” and “oughts” come from in Phil’s recent article about the war in Gaza. Phil develops a clear standard for sending citizens of a democracy to war. It is a fruitful idea, which Shadi and Damir chew on for the remainder of the episode. You won’t want to miss this one!Required Reading:* Redeployment by Phil Klay.* Missionaries by Phil Klay.* Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War by Phil Klay.* “U.S. Support for Israel’s War Has Become Indefensible,” by Phil Klay (The Atlantic).* Phil’s interview with the New York Times.* “What Do I Owe the Dead of My Generation’s Mismanaged Wars?” by Phil Klay (New York Times).* Wisdom of Crowds episode with Samuel Moyn.* Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War by Samuel Moyn.* “Uncomfortably Numb” by Damir Marusic (“the Bucha essay”).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! 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.liveThis week, Wisdom of Crowds hosts a fluid discussion about violence and sex in movies, where the “shoulds” of life come from, and whether liberal values can be based on something other than religion. The discussion is more meditative than contentious, an exploration prompted by recent pop culture hits and a probing comment from the Crowd.Violence is entertaining. That’s the conclusion that Damir draws after watching the movie, Civil War, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Christine questions Damir about his taste for violent movies, and wonders whether we are slowly becoming numb to violence, just as we are — as recent studies suggest — becoming numb to sex in film. The discussion moves toward the question of values and where they come from, drawing from a recent reader comment that prompted some soul-searching in the Wisdom of Crowds masthead.In the bonus section for paid subscribers, Damir asks Christine how she can overcome Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity and its values, while he launches into a defense of liberalism based on what he calls “mystery.” Finally, Damir explains why he believes that most moral truth claims “end up in tears.”Required Reading (and Viewing):* Civil War trailer (YouTube).* Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga trailer (YouTube).* The Mad Max movie franchise.* “UCLA Study: Gen Z Wants Less Sex Onscreen, Prefers Platonic Relationships Depicted to Romantic Rollercoasters,” (IndieWire).* The Hays Code.* Lauren Bacall movie line (YouTube).* The Big Lebowski: “Fight a stranger in the alps” (YouTube).* “Why Give a Damn?” by Samuel Kimbriel (Wisdom of Crowds).* Reader comment (Wisdom of Crowds).* Rethinking Sex by Christine Emba.* Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.