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Wisdom of Crowds

Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic

Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better. wisdomofcrowds.live

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57:57

Who Is Zohran Mamdani, Really?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/11/22

After Friday’s meeting between Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, everyone is asking: who is Zohran Mamdani really? What motivates him: is it progressive cultural issues, or economic populism? Is he woke, or a pragmatist? He won the mayor’s seat in New York City with just over fifty percent of the vote, when even the leaders of his own party refused to endorse him. What makes this guy tick?Today’s guest is one of the best people, apart from Mamdani himself, to answer these questions. Ross Barkan is a

65:22

Shadi Hamid on the Case for America

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/11/15

This week’s episode is a live recording of Wisdom of Crowds, where we celebrated a very special occasion: the publication of Shadi Hamid’s new book, The Case for American Power. The book is a soul-searching study about American power as a force for good in the world, and it combines memoir and foreign policy analysis. Shadi’s thesis is that if we want to make the world “more just and more moral, more democratic and more respectful of human rights,” then backing the United States is both the “last

56:19

Will the Right Sideline Nick Fuentes? Can it?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/11/08

With Shadi out promoting his new book, Damir sat down with WoC friend Jamie Kirchick to debate the influence of media figures like Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes on conservatism on America. Anti-semitism may be the oldest hatred, something different feels afoot today. Generational shifts in attitudes on Israel, partly fueled by the Gaza war, have given unscrupulous charlatans an opening into the mainstream. But why are mainstream conservative institutions not fighting back? And what does this say

34:39

Trust, Politics and Community

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/11/01

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveAre human beings by nature suspicious of each other? Or is harmonious communal life our default mode? The answer to this question has implications for politics. Today’s episode is a live discussion about just this question, recorded last summer at the Aspen Ideas Festival. The guest is philosopher Tamar Gendler of Yale University, whose work deals with …

45:08

Nobody Is Autonomous

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/10/25

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWe need to get better at asking for help.So argues author Leah Libresco Sargeant in her new book, The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto. The core thesis of the book is that “women’s equality with men doesn’t depend on their interchangeability with men.” But the book also has many insights that apply to men as well as women. All of us need to get better at asking for help. Hosting this episode are Shadi Hamid

39:34

Tyler Cowen: We Are Lucky to Be Living in This Era

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/10/18

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live“This is one of the greatest historical eras mankind will ever see.”So says Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason University, renowned author and chairman at the Mercatus Center, a think tank. He is also a writer, and famous podcaster whose books, like The Great Stagnation and Average is Over, which for over a decade have helped readers under…

49:57

[REUPPED] Community, Freedom and the Polis

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/10/14

Yesterday, the philosopher Michael Sandel won this year’s prestigious Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. The million-dollar prize is a lifetime-achievement award given to an individual “whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement.” We were lucky to have Professor Sandel on our podcast last summer, along with his son, fellow-philosopher Adam Sandel, and Wisdom of Crowds’ resident philosopher, Samuel Kimbriel. To celebrate Professor Sandel’s award, we are

75:06

Why the Two-State Solution Died

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/10/08

This week we have a very special guest: Robert Malley, a veteran American diplomat and Middle East expert. From advising President Clinton at Camp David to serving as President Obama’s top White House official for the Middle East and then as Biden’s Special Envoy for Iran, Malley has spent decades at the heart of U.S. diplomacy. Today he joins Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss his new book, Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine.Malley begins the

54:54

Piety and Politics

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/10/04

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveLast week, Wisdom of Crowds philosopher-in-residence Samuel Kimbriel wrote an essay about the political use of Christianity within MAGA, contrasting the sincerity of Erika Kirk’s piety with the propagandistic use of the Lord’s Prayer in a recent military recruitment video. Shadi Hamid reflected on Samuel’s piece and more, writing a column about it for the Washington Post. Today, we bring both men together to discuss the

50:56

Is Weightlifting the Answer to Male Loneliness?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/09/27

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveToday we have a return guest: Jordan Castro. Jordan is a writer and the deputy director of the Cluny Project, a think tank of sorts for cultural entrepreneurs. The last time Jordan appeared on Wisdom of Crowds, we discussed his first novel, The Novelist. Now Jordan has a second book, Muscle Man, about a disgruntled middle-aged academic who tries to find an answer to…

46:35

The Return of the Assassin

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/09/21

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveToday’s guest is Geoff Shullenberger, the managing editor of Compact and a writer whose articles and reviews have appeared in American Affairs, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Atlantis, UnHerd, and more. Last week, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Geoff wrote an incisive piece titled, “The Return of the Assassin.” In it, he observes that the nature of violence has shifted in recent years, away from

48:46

Our "Years of Lead"?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/09/13

Our episode this week is more on the serious and somber side. Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk and speculate about its consequences. What are we learning about America and American politics in the wake of that horrible shooting? Is America heading toward low-grade civil war—like the Years of Lead in Italy during the 1970s? Does the Right control the culture and the media—and will it use this event to expand its political power? Does the Left have a problem with

77:21

Trust and Tech

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/09/06

The Lyceum Movement is a nationwide grassroots organization that aims to build a healthier public discourse by bringing diverse groups of people together to investigate first principles. Every August, Lyceum hosts a big event in Des Moines: the Tallgrass Ideas Festival. And for the last three years, Wisdom of Crowds has been there, hosting a live taping of our podcast.This year, the Festival’s theme was trust. We hosted an episode about trust and technology, a topic on everybody’s mind. Our two

49:41

Community, Freedom and the Polis

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/08/29

A special treat from the Aspen Ideas Festival: a panel discussion about American community and politics, featuring a father–son philosophical duo.Michael J. Sandel is a professor at Harvard University, where he teaches political philosophy. His famous “Justice” course has been viewed by tens of millions worldwide. His son, Adam Sandel, is a philosopher, award-winning teacher, and holder of the Guinness World Record for most pull-ups in one minute. Together with Samuel Kimbriel, Wisdom of Crowds’

45:58

From Utah to Utopia

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/08/22

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveAmerican Primeval on Netflix. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. Ballerina Farm on Instagram. American culture is living through a Mormon moment. It is a sign that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing in confidence and strength. But what are the drawbacks to becoming mainstream? What are the trade-offs involved in American liberalism? What can those of us who are not part of the LDS Church

63:31

Where's the Resistance?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/08/15

President Donald Trump federalized DC law enforcement this week, raising all sorts of questions — about democracy, authoritarianism, sovereignty and legitimacy — that are natural fits for us to discuss here at Wisdom of Crowds. Yes, Trump’s use of emergency powers to justify the takeover is constitutional, even if he is stretching the concept of what counts as an emergency. But Damir Marusic feels like things took a much darker turn this week, and nobody seems to have noticed. Weren’t people in the

43:43

Waiting for the Barbarians

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/08/09

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live“ ‘Barbarism’ is a word that keeps coming to my lips lately,” writes Damir Marusic in a brilliant new article this week. Barbarism seems to be the only real word that describes what comes after the liberal international order. But Damir isn’t pointing to the supposed barbarism of our enemies. His article points to the ways that we in the West — and in the United States — are becoming coarser and more egocentric. Like

57:30

Men Without Women, and Vice Versa

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/08/02

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWomen and men are having a hard time finding each other. A lot of women are giving up on finding a mate. Some women with mates are worried that their men don’t have any friends. Everyone hates dating apps. People are having fewer babies.These are among the many depressing stories that the media is telling about love and marriage today. How true are they…

44:57

Matthew Walther on Conspiracy Theories

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/07/23

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveDead almost six years, Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news. The sordid details of his crimes, and the elaborate conspiracy concerning elites that he may or may not have been a part of, have become a central issue within the MAGA coalition. Conspiracy theories in general are now a part of daily political life. None of us can escape them. Most of us probably half-believe in at least one of them. Why is that?Today’s guest

53:45

What is Happiness?

Wisdom of Crowds ·

2025/07/19

What is happiness? Why are so many Americans — by their own admission — unhappy? These are the central questions in this special episode, live from the Aspen Ideas Festival. At the festival, our house philosopher, Dr. Samuel Kimbriel, hosted a discussion with three distinguished thinkers. Adam Sandel is a philosopher and assistant district attorney in Brooklyn whose latest book is titled Happiness in Action: A Philosopher’s Guide to the Good Life. Agnes Callard is a philosophy professor at the

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