Wisdom of Crowds Podcast Por Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic arte de portada

Wisdom of Crowds

Wisdom of Crowds

De: Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic
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wisdomofcrowds.liveWisdom of Crowds Ciencias Sociales Filosofía Política y Gobierno
Episodios
  • Sex and Death and Norms and Shame

    Sex and Death and Norms and Shame
    May 24 2025
    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWe live in an increasingly weird world, where the weirdness is facilitated and accelerated by the Internet. We live in a world full of instantly-available bizarre pornography and terrorist attacks inspired by misanthropic ideologies whose manifestos are published online. Katherine Dee, an Internet ethnographer, writer and friend of Wisdom of Crowds, joins Christine Emba and Shadi Hamid to talk about the recent terrorist attack on an IVF clinic in California and Christine’s recent New York Times article about the social damage wrought by porn.Shadi shakes things up by posing a blunt question at the very beginning: Should we ban porn? It hurts men as well as women. Why not? Can we reconcile the ideals of liberalism with a state effort to suppress pornographic content? This question inspires Christine and Katherine to reflect about the ethics of sex work, the perils of reporting on dangerous and soul-crushing topics, as well as signs of hope in American culture.Throughout, Katherine applies her trusty reporter’s eye toward making an accurate, non-judgmental and perceptive account of what’s really going on with sex and ideology on the Internet. Christine, for her part, makes the case of norms and shame as useful tools for making society better. Shadi, in Socratic fashion, tests the strength of his interlocutors’ arguments.In the bonus section for paid subscribers, Katherine explains the nuances of “efilism” and “promortalism”; Shadi reflects on the meaning of suffering and how belief in God changes one’s approach to suffering; and Christine reflects on “cold, rational logical measure — suffering v. pleasure. Pleasure v. nothing.”Required Reading and Listening:* Christine Emba, “The Delusion of Porn’s Harmlessness” (New York Times). * Katherine Dee, “An Efilist Just Bombed a Fertility Clinic. Was This Bound To Happen?” (default.blog).* Katherine Dee, “The Nihilism of the Mass Shooter” (default.blog).* Katherine Dee, “The Trouble with Being Born” (default.blog).* Sophie Gilbert, Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves (Amazon). * Dan Savage on kinks (AV Club).* Andrea Dworkin, Pornography (Amazon). * XO Jane (Wikipedia). * “Supreme Court case on age limits for porn sites could affect 19 states” (Axios).* “Palm Springs IVF clinic bomber ID’d as Guy Edward Bartkus, a ‘pro-mortalist’ who opposed people being born ‘without their consent’” (New York Post).* Last week’s podcast: “How to Think about Power and Morality” (WoC).* Sin-eaters (Wikipedia).Free preview video:Full video for paid subscribers below:
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    49 m
  • How to Think About Power and Morality

    How to Think About Power and Morality
    May 17 2025

    As subscribers of Wisdom of Crowds will know, the war in Gaza has preoccupied Shadi Hamid for over a year now, and has taken a central place in his political thinking. Damir Marusic begins this episode by challenging Shadi on this point. Is he giving too much importance to one political and moral cause over all others? And is he giving too much importance to morality as such in geopolitics?

    The conversation eventually shifts when Damir tells Shadi that he is an “activist” when he writes in favor of a cause, and Shadi disagrees. Writers want to change the world, too, and that does not make them activists. Even Damir (Shadi argues) wants to change the world in some way with his writing. Even Damir has a preferred outcome. But Damir denies this: “My preferred outcome is that people recognize the world is fallen and irredeemable.” Instead, Damir says that it is precisely Trump’s “superpower” of being morally indifferent to norms and human rights that has, paradoxically, brought a few positive developments in the Middle East.

    This is a tense episode, one that digs deep into the psyches of both Shadi and Damir. “Then what?” Shadi retorts. “What’s the point of persuading people that the world is irredeemable?” Writing is just playing with words and power, Damir says. It’s “a slug trail I leave behind myself.”

    This episode cuts to the core of Shadi’s and Damir’s convictions, so we have made it free for all subscribers. You will not want to miss their conversation about Dresden, Hiroshima, Bucha, Trump and the Middle East, and more!

    Required Reading

    * “I’m Not As Open-Minded As I Used To Be” (WoC).

    * “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential” (The Lancet).

    * “Gaza will be entirely destroyed, Israeli minister says” (The Guardian).

    * Pankaj Mishra, “Unholy Alliances” (New Yorker).

    * Yglesias and Shadi exchange about Trump and the Middle East (X).

    * Damir’s Bucha essay (WoC).

    * “Trump announces US will stop bombing Houthis” (Politico)



    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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    1 h y 15 m
  • Make Greatness Great Again

    Make Greatness Great Again
    May 11 2025
    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveOur special guest this week, David Polansky is a political theorist and commentator who lives in Canada. A frequent contributor to Wisdom of Crowds, he joins Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss two excellent recent essays. The first one, titled “Does Canada Exist?” is about Canadian national identity, an issue that has become more relevant since Donald Trump has taken to calling Canada the 51st state, and while some in the western Canadian province of Alberta has floated the idea of seceding from the rest of Canada. Polansky’s article was quoted in the New York Times and National Post.David’s most recent peace, “Michael Jordan Yes; Winston Churchill No?” is about what makes politicians great and whether political greatness (in terms of impact) can be distinguished from moral goodness. After one hundred days of Trump, it is an important question to ask.What follows is a rollicking and often hilarious conversation in which various politicians — Justin Trudeau, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump — are sized up according to the standards of classical greatness and found wanting. Damir and Shadi nevertheless argue that Trump is the most consequential president since FDR. Polansky argues that Trump’s impact is in large part due to the fact that the Left is lost right now. It is lost, he argues, because it cannot create a new identity, and instead tries to forge unity around “niche issues,” like the Palestine question.In our bonus section for paid subscribers, the gang muses on Trump’s relationship to shame; Polansky distinguishes between courage and guts, and why Trump has the latter but not former; Shadi asks, “What do you think about Stalin?”; Damir explains why Trump is like a character in a science fiction novel; Polansky argues that “there’s a grandeur to America, but there’s also a ridiculousness to America”; Shadi interrogates Polansky on hierarchy and greatness; and the three men ponder whether Eisenhower was a great president.Required Reading and Viewing* David Polansky, “Michael Jordan, Yes; Winston Churchill, No?” (WoC).* David Polansky, “Does Canada Exist?” (WoC).* David Polansky, “Pundit Don’t Preach” (WoC).* David’s Substack, Strange Frequencies.* Where the “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” meme comes from (Paul Krugman’s Newsletter). * “What to Know About Alberta’s Potential Separation From Canada” (TIME).* Carl Schmitt (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).* Chantal Mouffe on “agonistic” democracy (Pavilion).* Stephen Kotkin talk about Stalin (YouTube).* Isaac Asimov, the Foundation trilogy (Amazon).* “Trump says Houthis showed ‘bravery,’ believes they will honor truce deal” (Times of Israel).* Polansky’s “Cabots and Lodges” reference (Berkshire Edge).* Analysis of Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC speech (CNN).Free preview video:Full video for paid subscribers below:
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    47 m
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