The Dissidents

Welcome to a special “Liberal Conversations Series” of the Dissidents Podcast.  In this series we invite guests who have resources, ideas, and viewpoints that will challenge us to reflect on liberal values, what they are, how they are applied, their impact on us as individuals, and why they matter for the larger communities in which we live.   This week, Zander Keig and Elizabeth Spievak discuss the importance of wellness, and wellbeing in complex times.  He gives us an overview of his upcoming course and its usefulness for both the ordinary and the extraordinary in our daily lives.  The course and our discussion are framed in the context of liberal values. Podcast References: https://www.zanderkeig.net/ https://braverangels.org/

In this week's episode Mike and Elizabeth discuss the motivation to appear moral without incurring the losses that may accompany actually behaving morally (like being thought of as a cheater or liar).  In one paper, researchers showed that in order to appear fair in the eyes of others, participants engaged in social deception to disguise their selfish behavior.  In another paper, participants were more unethical and self-serving in ambiguous situations, and in a third paper ambiguity led participants to behave unethically in order to benefit a person for whom they were induced to feel compassion.  Results are discussed in the context of contemporary virtue signaling. Podcast notes: Lönnqvist, J.-E., Irlenbusch, B., & Walkowitz, G. (2014). Moral hypocrisy: Impression management or self-deception? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 55, 53–62. Pittarello, A., Leib, M., Gordon-Hecker, T., & Shalvi, S. (2015). Justifications shape ethical blind spots. Psychological Science, 26, 794–804.  Fang, X., Chen, L., Wang, J., Zhang, Q., & Mo, L. (2020). Do all types of compassion increase prosocial lying? Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 13.

In this week's episode Mike and Elizabeth talk about getting comfortable with discomfort.  We discuss a series of studies in which people who were prompted to seek discomfort as a sign of growth and learning demonstrated increased willingness to engage in challenging activities.  Some spent more time on improvisational exercises, others read more about COVID 19, gun violence, or opposing political viewpoints. The article resonated with us on personal and professional levels, and is quite relevant in this culture of victimhood, anxiety, and discomfort avoidance.  We also link the article to methods commonly used in diversity training. Podcast Article:Woolley, K., & Fishbach, A. (2022). Motivating personal growth by seeking discomfort. Psychological Science, 33(4), 510–523. 

Welcome to a new series of the Dissidents Podcast with your co-hosts, Jennifer Richmond and Brandy Shufutinsky. In this series we explore the radical roots of liberated ethnic studies, how extreme ideology is infiltrating our schools with the aim to indoctrinate instead of educate, and our search for solutions to empower parents, teachers and students, giving them the tools to embrace inquiry and to express their individuality. This week we speak with Amy Lesserman, an English and Social Studies teacher with a long career in the Los Angeles Unified School District. We discuss the importance of more inclusive history curricula to replace current ethnic studies curricula, the exclusionary aspects of liberated ethnic studies, e.g. those of “inconvenient” minorities, and the alarming exodus of students from K-12 public schools. https://empowered-ed.org/

Welcome to a new series of the Dissidents Podcast with your co-hosts, Jennifer Richmond and Brandy Shufutinsky. In this series we explore the radical roots of liberated ethnic studies, how extreme ideology is infiltrating our schools with the aim to indoctrinate instead of educate, and our search for solutions to empower parents, teachers and students, giving them the tools to embrace inquiry and to express their individuality. This week we speak with the President of the Asian American Coalition for Education, Mike Zhao. Zhao, the author of Critical Race Theory and Woke Culture: America’s Dangerous Repeat of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, shares his personal story of living through the Chinese Cultural Revolution, his eventual immigration to the West, and his alarm at seeing similar Marxist trends infiltrating the American K-12 education system.

In this episode Mike and Elizabeth discuss the idealistic hopes of utopianism and the difficulties of implementing them in real life.  Mike covers philosophy, and Elizabeth includes references to some famous psychologists who suggested that their field would be at the center of successful utopian community life. We connect utopianism to current politics and communism. Podcast notes: Nagel, T. (1991). The Problem of Utopianism. Equality and Partiality, 21. https://ilvalues.org/

During this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth discuss a unique study in which, over the course of a week, 5 co authors agreed to be ostracized by the other 4, each for 1 day.  The authors documented their experiences of being targets and perpetrators. Despite  foreknowledge and consent, the co authors reported feeling rejected, confused and guilty. Their work and personal relationships were strained.  The authors advise that, while the project was an important contribution to the field (specifically the psychology of ostracism), future research be undertaken with caution. Mike and Elizabeth agree. Ostracism is so powerful that even obvious and orchestrated simulations have the potential for serious negative outcomes for individuals and groups.  Reference: Williams, K. D., Bernieri, F. J., Faulkner, S. L., Gada-Jain, N., & Grahe, J. E. (2000). The Scarlet Letter Study: Five Days of Social Ostracism. Journal of Personal & Interpersonal Loss, 5(1), 19–63.

Welcome to a new series of the Dissidents Podcast with your co-hosts, Jennifer Richmond and Brandy Shufutinsky. In this series we explore the radical roots of liberated ethnic studies, how extreme ideology is infiltrating our schools with the aim to indoctrinate instead of educate, and our search for solutions to empower parents, teachers and students, giving them the tools to embrace inquiry and to express their individuality. Join us. https://empowered-ed.org/ https://ilvalues.org/

In this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth discuss a recent article on cancel culture. The title of the article, "Blame, then shame," reflects the author's findings that assessment of personal character followed cancellation decisions and demands for apology.  Few participants were interested in debating diverse perspectives.  We talk about what the study's methods and results might mean to further research on cancel culture, as well as our surprise that the project was published.  Kudos to the author and to the journal for starting the process.    Podcast Notes: Thomas S. Mueller (2021) Blame, then shame? Psychological predictors in cancel culture behavior, The Social Science Journal, DOI: 10.1080/03623319.2021.1949552

In this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth talk with Wilfred Reilly, Associate Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University and author of Hate Crime Hoax: How the Left is Selling a Fake Race War and Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About.  We discuss COVID learning loss, affirmative action, race, culture, what modern quantitative methods reveal about privilege, and how to talk about taboo topics. Podcast Notes: Reilly W. (2019). Hate crime hoax : how the left is selling a fake race war. Regnery Publishing a division of Salem Media Group. Reilly W. (2020). Taboo : 10 facts you can't talk about. Regnery Publishing a division of Salem Media Group.