PODCAST

Wisdom of Crowds

Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic

Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better. wisdomofcrowds.live

news news commentary

All Episodes

81:02

Episode 28: Victorians, Manners, and the Woke Wars

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/08/06

Stand up straight! The Washington Post's Christine Emba joins Shadi and Damir to ponder the positive aspects of the woke wars, the role of ideas in furthering social change, and the virtues of lukewarm takes. Reading List: "Why George Floyd Died," by Rod Dreher (The American Conservative) 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

63:16

Episode 27: Reassessing the Reactionary Right

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/07/30

Are we reaching a tipping point in our politics, and is the very legitimacy of our democratic system is being called into question? The Week's Damon Linker joins Shadi and Damir to discuss how a desperate narrative seems to be taking a hold on the Right, its historical antecedents, and whether the threat comes from an illiberal ideology or if our Union has always been more precarious than we thought. Reading List: "When Conservatives Become Revolutionaries," by Damon Linker (The Week) "Democracy

68:01

Episode 26: The Moral Trap of Universal Values

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/07/23

Jamie Kirchick of the Brookings Institution and author of The End of Europe joins Shadi and Damir to talk race, anti-semitism, morality, and the ever-multiplying claims to universal rights that are driving the turmoil shaking Western societies to their cores. Come for Damir's tinnitus, and stick around to find out if Shadi will end up a neo-neocon as the woke brigades take over the Left. Reading List: "The Man Who Opposed Hate," by James Kirchick (Tablet) This is a public episode. If you’d like to

55:45

Episode 25: Arguing the One-State Solution

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/07/16

Peter Beinart joins Shadi and Damir to discuss his recent essays for Jewish Currents and the New York Times, in which he argues that with the two-state solution a dead letter in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the only possible path forward is making a case for a bi-national state. Is this a tactical maneuver to expand the Overton Window to unblock the status quo? A desperate attempt to prevent Israel from considering worse solutions? Or a moral case energized by the ascendance of the

65:57

Episode 24: Can Religion Heal Our Racial Divides?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/07/09

Shadi and Damir sit down their friend Robert Nicholson, Founder and Executive Director of the Philos Project (and one of the small handful of people who witnessed the birth of the idea for this podcast with his own eyes). Recently back from a trip to Minneapolis, Robert discusses facing up to our deep national dysfunctions as someone who has worked abroad, and how religion might end up being the best bridge we have across our gaping racial divides. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss

60:29

Episode 23: Progress, Religion, Steve Albini, and the...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/07/02

Shadi quizzes Damir about his belief in the possibility of progress and social change, before the conversation spins off into a discussion about the creative process, selling out, and the nature of success. Reading (Listening) List: "How a Great Power Falls Apart" by Charles King (Foreign Affairs) "The Problem With Music" by Steve Albini (The Baffler) "Atmosphere" by The Oranges Band This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

62:06

Episode 22: Activism and Its Discontents (Live)

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/06/29

On June 23, Shadi and Damir went live on Periscope to discuss Shadi's latest piece for the Atlantic, the tension between political change and negative externalities, their new Patreon account, and plans for a newsletter. 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

50:03

Episode 21: A How-To Guide to Thinking Through the...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/06/16

Shadi talks through his inner conflicts. Damir responds by minimizing the reality of what is happening. Also: why Americans are all fundamentalists (whether secular or religious), the appropriateness of activist-journalism, the empty symbolism of woke politics, and whether the New York Times should(n’t) be our lodestar. Reading List: “Our Deathwish” by Jacob Siegel (Tablet) “The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution”, by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic) Waverley, by Sir Walter Scott This is a public episode

58:38

Episode 20: Fixing Things in Fragile Democracies,...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/06/08

The former President of Georgia joins Shadi and Damir to talk about how tricky reforms—such as police reforms—can succeed (and fail), about how identity is a slippery thing in the post-Soviet space, about liberalism, illiberalism, and Western haughtiness, and about his encounters with Donald Trump when he was just another rich guy with a political itch. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

73:10

Episode 19: Cry Havoc. Really, Really Cry.

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/06/04

Very special guest Michael Signer joins the podcast to talk about his new book recounting his time serving as mayor of Charlottesville during the violence of August 2017. With America in upheaval, it's an appropriate time to revisit that sad bit of recent history, but also an opportunity to think about what's gone wrong with our politics, and what, if anything, can be done to fix it. A rich discussion. Reading List: Cry Havoc: Charlottesville and American Democracy Under Siege, by Michael Signer

55:57

Episode 18: Live, Amidst the Flames

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/06/01

Shadi and Damir live-streamed an episode as a weekend of violent protests around the country wound to a close. Our episodes are never scripted or prepared, but in this case we are interacting with our audience on Twitter's Periscope in real time to help guide the conversation. Also, please excuse the audio quality. 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

67:45

Episode 17: How The Expert Fetish Might Re-Elect Trump

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/05/28

Shadi and Damir discuss how Trump's unabashed contempt for expertise has encouraged his opponents to latch onto expert opinion—and how this could boost Trump if the economic opening goes even tolerably well. Reading List: "What a Maskless Trump Says About His Re-Election Strategy" by Henry Olsen (WaPo) "In Search of Lost Time" by Peter Pomerantsev (The American Interest) "Pandemics Kill Compassion, Too" by David Brooks (New York Times) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with

54:16

Episode 16: The Folly of Individuals

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/05/20

Shadi and Damir talk about their conflicted feelings about recording the previous episode in a room together, the dangers of optimism about the recovery, what the "new normal" in successful South Korea looks like, why America in all likelihood won't ever be able to get there, and why that might or might not be OK. Reading List: Shadi's tweet thread about why America can't be like South Korea. Michael Kim's tweet thread about the reality in South Korea. Man lectures BoJo in a park. This is a public

61:06

Episode 15: Trump Versus Coronavirus and the Elites

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/05/14

The Atlantic Council's Benjamin Haddad joins Shadi and Damir to talk social distancing, the coronavirus response on both sides of the Atlantic, and how elites' ever more fervent love of experts could lead them to political disaster. Reading List: Le paradis perdu: L'Amérique de Trump et la fin des illusions européennes, by Benjamin Haddad (Grasset) "The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution," by Shadi Hamid (The Atlantic) "Social Distancing Isn't Going To End Soon. So How Do We Live With It?" by Gaby

64:34

Episode 14: The Dangerous Temptation of Ideals and...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/04/03

In the third week of lockdown, Shadi and Damir talk about the Beatles versus the Stones, how the 1960s represent a kind of dangerous idealism grounded in universal values, and how there’s no escaping politics. Reading List: “The Coronavirus Killed the Revolution,” by Shadi Hamid “It’s imperative for the U.S. and China to work together on the coronavirus pandemic,” by Michael McFaul Jennifer Rubin’s Political Mathematics “National Identity is Made Up,” by Max Fisher and Amanda Taub This is a public

66:25

Episode 13: Coronavirus and the Future of Politics

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/03/18

Catastrophe and resilience, human and economic costs, and the future of democratic politics: Shadi and Damir hunker down for an intense coronavirus podcast (while of course observing appropriate social distancing protocols). Reading List: “Pandemics Kill Compassion, Too,” by David Brooks “The Wuhan Virus and the Imperative of Hard Decoupling,” by Andrew Michta “The Coronavirus Called America’s Bluff,” by Anne Applebaum This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or

65:04

Episode 12: Sanders’ Goldwater Moment and The Future...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/03/08

In the shadow of Bernie Sanders’ underperforming on Super Tuesday, Shadi and Damir welcome author Ben Judah to the podcast to talk about the enduring promise of left-populism in an Age of Trump. Relevant Reading: “Left Populism and the Rediscovery of Agonistic Politics,” by Shadi Hamid “Traditional ‘foreign policy’ no longer exists. Democrats are the last to know,” by David Adler and Ben Judah “Hawks say Sanders will be weak on Russia. But Putin should fear a President Bernie,” by Ben Judah and

65:20

Episode 11: The Weaponization of Wokeness

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/02/13

Shadi and Damir talk about how racism, virtue signaling, the fundamental illegitimacy of the Chinese state, and how both consensus and irreconcilability can be fatal for democracy. Reading List: “China is the Real Sick Man of Asia” by Walter Russell Mead “Birth of the Nations” by Damir Marusic “It’s Not About Britain. It’s About Europe” by Damir Marusic “The dark side of consensus in Tunisia: Lessons from 2015-2019” by Sharan Grewal and Shadi Hamid “After Europe” by Ivan Krastev This is a public

65:55

Episode 10: The Russians and Their Souls

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2020/01/26

Author and essayist Peter Pomerantsev and Karina Orlova of Echo of Moscow Radio join Shadi and Damir to talk about the Russian soul, imperialism, historical memory, opioids, and bad cocaine. (It’s a lot less depressing than it sounds!) Reading List: This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality, by Peter Pomerantsev Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia, by Peter Pomerantsev Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich

66:09

Episode 9: Meritocracy, Depoliticization, and the End...

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2019/12/12

Shadi and Damir start talking about the appeals and perils of Pete Buttigieg and end up discussing the dangerous dead ends of meritocratic right-think. Mentioned in the Podcast: Shadi’s tweetstorm about Mayor Pete (https://twitter.com/shadihamid/status/1203416084189196288) Luuk van Middelaar’s latest book (https://www.amazon.com/Alarums-Excursions-Improvising-Politics-European-ebook/dp/B07PHV1Y4M/) “Lanes Are Starting to Emerge in the 2020 Primary” -Nathaniel Rakich, 538

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