The Good Fight

William Deresiewicz is an American author, essayist, and critic. He taught English at Yale University from 1998 to 2008. He is the author, among other books, of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life.In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and William Deresiewicz discuss how the intensely meritocratic nature of elite universities prioritizes striving over deep learning; the instrumentalization of traditional pursuits to the detriment of mastery; and how broader cultural transformations frustrate deep immersion in art, friendship, and learning.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ed Luce is the US national editor and columnist at the Financial Times. He is also a member of the Persuasion board of advisors.In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Ed Luce discuss the prospects for Trump (and Trumpism) in the near future; why America no longer feels like a “can-do” nation; and whether America can defend its values in the world while avoiding escalation with China.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Timothy Garton Ash, a distinguished historian, is Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. His latest book is Homelands: A Personal History of Europe.In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Timothy Garton Ash discuss the hopes and delusions of the “post-Wall” era; a critical analysis of two of Europe’s most influential politicians, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel; and what a Europe guided by “European values” would look like.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Ansell is Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of Why Politics Fails. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Ben Ansell discuss the collective goods that we all desire (democracy, equality, solidarity, security and prosperity) and why political systems struggle to bring them about; the implicit trade-offs in democratic systems; and the institutions we need to create more just and prosperous societies.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Murtaza Hussain is a reporter at The Intercept covering national security and foreign policy. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Murtaza Hussain discuss why most Americans, whether they know it or not, are philosophical liberals; why the political cleavages that exist among white Americans are likely to replicate themselves among the country’s immigrant and minority communities; and why, counter to their long tradition of irreverence, American liberals are no longer funny.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Goodwin is Professor of Politics at the University of Kent. He is the author, most recently, of Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Matthew Goodwin discuss the left’s transition from a focus on the working class to college-educated professionals; how leaders like Tony Blair and Bill Clinton were able to broaden their electoral tents in the 1990s; and why the “cultural dimension” of politics isn’t going away.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martin Wolf is the chief economics commentator for the Financial Times. He is the author of The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism.In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Martin Wolf discuss the symbiotic relationship between democracy and capitalism; the reasons for the crisis of democratic capitalism; and the dire consequences should it fail.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Greenblatt is the national director of the Anti-Defamation League. Greenblatt previously served in the Obama White House as Special Assistant and Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. He is the author of It Could Happen Here: Why America Is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable-And How We Can Stop It.In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Jonathan Greenblatt discuss the rising threat of antisemitism in the United States; the link between strong liberal democratic institutions and the safety of minority populations; as well as how to draw the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticisms of the Israeli government.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frans de Waal is a Dutch-American primatologist and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior in the Department of Psychology at Emory University. He is the author of, among other books, Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes and Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist.In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Frans de Waal discuss how primate empathy forms the basis for human morality; the precedent for diversity in human gender and gender roles that exists in non-human primates; and why, despite attempts to separate human behavior from human biology, you can’t have one without the other.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthias Matthijs is Associate Professor of International Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and Senior Fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations.In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Matthias Matthijs discuss Germany’s Zeitenwende and why the country has found greater success than its European peers in countering right-wing populism; the spoiler potential of the European right-wing from Giorgia Meloni to Viktor Orbán; and why, despite the long road ahead, Matthijs remains optimistic about the European project.This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.communityPodcast production by John Taylor Williams, and Brendan RuberryConnect with us!Spotify | Apple | GoogleTwitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasionYoutube: Yascha MounkLinkedIn: Persuasion CommunityLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices