Conversations With Coleman

My guest today is Zac Kriegman. Zach was a director of data science at Thomson Reuters before he got fired for posting a fact-based criticism of Black Lives Matter in an internal memo. This is one of the worst examples of Cancel Culture and enforced orthodoxy around the issue of race that I've seen in a while. Zach was fired for pointing to research by Roland Fryer who I just had on the podcast, and others, which showed that there was no anti-black bias in police shootings as well as that DOJ investigations into police departments in certain cases caused an increase in homicides due to the police pulling back.Now as a director of data science at a major media company that has a respected fact-checking wing, part of Zac's job was to ensure that Thomson Reuters was using data accurately and he got fired for doing exactly that. Now he's suing Reuters for wrongful termination. In the meantime, Zac has a substack, where he has posted the memo which got him fired, as well as some other essays. You should definitely go check that out. In this conversation, we talk about the circumstances surrounding his firing and we primarily speak on the substantive issue of BLM and the effect it has had on policing and crime. I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do too. -Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code [20COLEMAN] at Manscaped.com. That’s 20% off with free shipping at manscaped.com and use code [20COLEMAN].-Sign up through wren.co/coleman to make a difference in the climate crisis, and Wren will plant 10 extra trees in your name!-Sign up today at butcherbox.com/COLEMAN to get two, 10 oz New York strip steaks and 8 oz of lobster claw and knuckle meat FREE in your first order.

Psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt discusses humor, offensive jokes, and the pitfalls of social media for serious conversations. They explore the progress America has made on issues like racism and the relevance of protest movements. The episode also touches on Elon Musk potentially buying Twitter and the need for regulation and platform accountability on social media.

Guest Winston Marshall, founding member of Mumford and Sons, discusses his time with the band, the influence of Jordan Peterson on his thinking, cancel culture in the music industry, and the lack of conservative ideologies in art and music.

Guest Sam Koppelman, a best-selling author and top speechwriter, discusses voter fraud, voter ID laws, voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They also explore the 'great replacement theory' and the impact of changes in voting regulations. The chapter on racial disparities in voting wait times addresses the complexity and need for further research.

Roland Fryer, an economics professor at Harvard, discusses his childhood, racial identities, progress against racism, improving education, and systemic racism. They cover topics such as the importance of family influence, high school engagement, racial disparities in police use of force, impact of charter schools, and addressing bias in organizations.

Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff discuss the impact of social media on political polarization and mental health. They also delve into the worsening state of freedom of speech on college campuses, the devastating effects of social media on teenage girls' mental health, and the disproportionate impact on young women. Additionally, they address the negative effects of play deprivation and moralistic communities, and explore potential solutions to the problems arising from social media.

Yascha Mounk, political scientist and associate professor, discusses group psychology, challenges faced by multi-ethnic democracies, threats from the right and left, colorblindness, white identity politics, and the fluidity of racial identity. They also delve into the importance and complexity of diversity, negotiating moral questions through constitutional and legal discourse, affirmative action, the making of the 14th Amendment, and rethinking metaphors of American diversity.

Tim Urban, blogger and author of 'Wait But Why?', joins the podcast to talk about procrastination, the shortness of life, artificial intelligence, political polarisation, stick figure drawings in blog posts, the impact of evolutionary mismatch on political polarization, AI's impact on human professions, navigating backlash and cancel culture, the issue of power and control in important jobs, and finding fulfillment and the dangers of quick fixes.

Frances Haugen, a data engineer, scientist, product manager, and whistleblower, discusses the psychological effects of Instagram on teenagers, the subculture of Tumblr, Facebook's cross-check system, and their policy toward misinformation, including the misapplication of the misinformation label.

Evolutionary biologist and emeritus fellow at Oxford University, Richard Dawkins, discusses topics such as technological progress, the validity of race, consciousness, religion's relationship to happiness, and the concept of memes in this episode of Conversations With Coleman.