PODCAST

Wisdom of Crowds

Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic

Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better. wisdomofcrowds.live

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All Episodes

64:14

Episode 48: Who Are the Real Realists?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2021/02/19

Was Barack Obama America's last "realist" president? Was he even a realist at all? Emma Ashford of the Atlantic Council joins Shadi and Damir to answer these questions and more. They also discuss democracy promotion, whether to confront China, and why Shadi supported Bernie's candidacy even though Shadi is an interventionist. Required Reading: "Reality Check #1: Build cooperation cycles, not security spirals," by Emma Ashford (Atlantic Council) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this

58:01

Episode 47: The Sources of Our Discontent

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2021/02/13

What is driving our current political upheaval? Shadi and Damir discuss a few different theories including the decline of religion, the absence of an aristocracy, and, crucially, modern America's obsession with dogs. Required Reading: "The Weimarization of the American Republic," by Aaron Sibarium (American Purpose) "Reflections on What's to Come," by Shadi Hamid (Wisdom of Crowds) "The Death of Our Most Cherished Pieties," by Damir Marusic (Wisdom of Crowds) This is a public episode. If you’d

75:11

Episode 46: How Big is the White Supremacist Threat?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2021/02/06

New York Times justice reporter Katie Benner joins the show to talk about January 6, the FBI and DOJ response, the limits of 9/11 comparisons, and if the threat posed by right-wing militias is overstated. 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

63:14

Episode 45: The Game Stops Now

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2021/01/28

Shadi regrets not investing in GameStop. Damir thinks that once you say democracy must be saved from the masses, protecting Wall Street from the retail-investing crowds is the next logical step. Finally, does Shadi still consider himself a progressive? Required Reading: The Tolerance Dilemma Joker and Our Leaderless Future Locke's essay on toleration This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

73:39

Episode 44: Fantasy and Reality in Biden's America

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2021/01/21

Hours into the Biden administration, Shadi and Damir sit down with author Bruno Maçães to talk about Trump, January 6, the future of world order, and the sources of American exceptionalism. Reading List: Bruno on Substack. History Has Begun: The Birth of a New America, by Bruno Maçães (Oxford University Press) "The Roleplaying Coup," by Bruno Maçães (City Journal) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

100:45

Episode 43: Mending What's Torn

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2021/01/14

Is 1/6 our new 9/11? Are we in danger of making decisions in the heat of the moment that we will come to regret? Is the United States splitting apart fatally? And what will there after COVID be like? Megan McArdle, the person most responsible for the invention of Wisdom of Crowds, joins Shadi and Damir to chew over our post-insurrection reality. Reading List: "Why we should be frightened by tech companies’ censoring of conservatives," Megan McArdle (Washington Post) "Trump fed off the

62:37

Episode 42: The Darkness and the Light

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2021/01/09

Ben Judah joins Shadi and Damir for a first attempt at digesting what happened this week in Washington. Was it a coup attempt? Are we at a moment of catharsis where the country can start to rebuild? Or are we in for even more darkness? Reading List: "Japanese Lessons for the American Coup," by Noah Smith "The Weimarization of the American Republic," by Aaron Sibarium This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

55:51

Episode 41: Falling Down the Rabbit Hole

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/12/19

A wide-ranging episode: a day or so after Damir's birthday, Shadi discusses his longest bout of self-isolation ever, Damir talks about Teddy Roosevelt and how enlightened views on slavery were completely compatible with that old-timey colonial racism. Plus national stereotypes, arranged marriages, and Domino's Pizza! Reading List: A tweet by (Captain) David Ryan. Shadi on Riada Akyol's podcast. Damir on Michael Weiss' podcast. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other

101:05

Episode 40: The Death of Liberal Democracy Won't Be...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/12/11

Andrew Sullivan joins Shadi and Damir to try to put the last four years of Trump into some kind of perspective. Was he stopped or did he succeed? Is he a symptom or a source of decay—or both? Is our republic doomed, or will things just go back to normal? And what's the proper role of a writer and intellectual in troubled times: to analyze or be engaged? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

54:51

Episode 39: The Cultural Roots of Coping with COVID...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/12/07

On Friday, December 4, 2020, Shadi and Damir went live on Periscope—Damir from Croatia, Shadi from DC. On their minds: how different cultures react, deal with, and adapt to COVID, how even vaccination is becoming a partisan issue in the United States, and how to think about the state of exception in democratic societies. Check out the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l8elM2Bq7TM This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

47:53

Episode 38: "...If You Can Keep It..."

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/11/22

A glitchy episode (apologies), as Shadi and Damir record across the Atlantic, with Damir in self-isolation and with shaky internet in Croatia. Damir talks about his run-in with the law, and Shadi admits Republicans' rejection of democratic outcomes is bringing out his uncompromising inner partisan. Reading List: Democrats calling for "deprogramming." Shadi's "raw power" first draft. Shadi getting back on-side with the Left (members only). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this

56:47

Episode 37: An Optimistic Take on the 2020 Vote

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/11/05

Shadi and Damir get together after a long night of watching the results come in from the 2020 Presidential elections and take stock of where they stand. You'll never guess who's the optimist. Reading List: "Everything in its Right Place," by Radiohead (Kid A) 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

89:07

Episode 36: Who's the Biggest Threat?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/11/01

Who poses the biggest danger to our country aside from Trump: the wokes, the integralists—or the Never Trumpers themselves? Aaron Sibarium of the Washington Free Beacon joins Shadi and Damir to talk about his new essay about Weimar Germany, polarization, and the allures and dangers of moral certitude. Reading List "The Weimarization of the American Republic," by Aaron Sibarium (American Purpose) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus

71:59

Episode 35: Jewish Identity in the Age of Trump

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/10/16

What is dissolving the social bonds that tie us together in America? Is liberalism decaying? And is there a "successor ideology" waiting in the wings? Special guest Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, joins Shadi and Damir to talk about Jewish identity and American politics in the waning moments of 2020. Reading List: "Brooklyn's Anti-masking Protests Betray a Broken Culture," Yehuda Kurtzer (The Atlantic) "Memory Malpractice," Yehuda Kurtzer (Tablet)

66:26

Episode 34: The Romance of Righteousness

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/10/08

Why so angry? Shadi and Damir talk about useful idiocy, neoconservatism, and the dangerous temptation of righteousness in politics. Come for Shadi musing about U2 and stay for Damir rhapsodizing about Guy Debord. Reading List: Not the Coen Brothers. "On Romance and Being in a Constant State of Alarm," Shadi Hamid (WoC) "The Biggest Risk to This Election Is Not Russia. It’s Us." Fiona Hill (NYT) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus

51:51

Episode 33: The Things We Do To Each Other

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/09/27

Does rhetorical escalation among our elites belie the stability of the nation today? With Amy Coney Barrett nominated for the Supreme Court and partisan rancor at an all-time high, Shadi and Damir pick apart their doubts about the health of our democracy. Reading List: Shadi's prescient tweet "Resisting the Juristocracy," Samuel Moyn (Boston Review) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

75:51

Episode 32: The Looming Crisis of Legitimacy

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/09/18

The great Nils Gilman of the Berggruen Institute and Noema joins Shadi and Damir to talk about why the upcoming elections feel existential, why our federal government feels increasingly illegitimate, and why Shadi's most recent piece in The Atlantic has annoyed so many people. Reading List: "Human Rights and Neoliberalism," by Nils Gilman (LA Review of Books) "The Collapse of Racial Liberalism," by Nils Gilman (The American Interest) "The Democrats May Not Be Able to Concede," by Shadi Hamid (The

58:41

Episode 31: Smart People and Dumb Ideas

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/09/11

Shadi thinks Damir is getting more worried about our institutions. Damir reveals the depths of his relentless fatalism. All because NPR thought it was a good idea to interview a radical apologist for rioting and looting. Reading List: "One Author's Controversial View: 'In Defense of Looting'," by Natalie Escobar (NPR) "Between Orientalism and Postmodernism: The Changing Nature of Western Feminist Thought Towards the Middle East," by Shadi Hamid (Hawwa) The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics,

65:16

Episode 30: The Revolution May Not Be Televised

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/09/04

During a livestream, Shadi and Damir talked about the site redesign and relaunch, why it's smart to abandon Big Tech platforms during the upheavals of the Age of Wokeness, how America is definitively not on the cusp of revolution (no matter what the activists might think), and whether violence was likelier if Trump defeats Biden than vice versa. 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

67:35

Episode 29: Writing, Working Out, and Why Ordinary...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/08/14

It's summer. Damir rings up Shadi to talk about the pleasure of writing and the pain of exercising, before the conversation takes a much darker turn. Required Reading: Islamic Exceptionalism, by Shadi Hamid That Mohammed Tweet, by Shadi Hamid 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

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