Uncertain Things

So Far from Peace (w/ John Aziz)

Vanessa Quirk, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Uncertain Things, and John Aziz — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:32:34 GMT

We’re back! And so is British Palestinian writer/Substacker John Aziz. As we did in our 2023 conversation (“Diaspora Palestinian to Hamas Apologists: Debate Me, Bro”), we discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict — but this time we hone in on all that hasn’t changed since October 7th. At this rate, we’re way closer to an AI-induced utopia of abundance than peace in the Middle East. But at least we can all agree on that?

On the agenda:

-Two-state vs. one-state solution

-The leadership vacuum

-Grassroots peace efforts: Where are they now?

-“Genocide” and the limits of international law

-Why accountability matters

-The communism fallacy — and how AI could change everything

To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Guillotine Chic (w/ Mike Pesca)

Vanessa Quirk, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Mike Pesca, and Uncertain Things — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:47:13 GMT

Mike Pesca — host of the How To! and The Gist podcasts — joins us again! We revisit the topic of nihilism, dive into annihilism (and why it’s different), and dunk on quite a few celebrities along the way. Stay to the end, and we recommend the sweet sweet artworks that may just be the antidotes to our burn-it-to-the-ground times.

On the agenda:

-On ghosts, demons, and podcasts [0:00-7:50]

-Adaam’s theory of Annihilism [7:51-14:24]

-Annihilistic artists and the end of truth [14:25-30:36]

-Joy and pitchforks! [30:37-47:32]

-Artistic antidotes to Annihilism [47:33 - 1:04:00]

Mentioned in this episode:

-How to Ghostbust the Old-Fashioned Way (How To!)

-Vibes of Nihilism (Uncertain Things)

-“The Jacobin Seduction” (Uncertain Newsletter)

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Doing the World a Favor in Iran (w/ Eli Lake)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Uncertain Things, Vanessa Quirk, and Eli Lake — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 05:36:09 GMT

Eli Lake — staff writer at The Free Press, contributing editor at Commentary Magazine, and host of the Breaking History podcast — returns to the podcast to discuss the state of neoconservatism; the war with Iran (and why all the pundits are wrong about); and the enduring mystery (but not-so-enduring importance) of Tucker Carlson.

On the agenda:

- Neocons, Redux

-The war in Iran

-The “geopolitics” of Europe

-The conversation about the conversation

-Tucker Carlson, the modern day Father Coughlin?

Mentioned in this episode:

* How Israel is helping Iran’s opposition (The Free Press)

* Eli Lake and Andrew Sullivan debate the Iran War (Breaking History)

More Eli on Uncertain Things

* The Decapitation of Hezbollah

* How the World Learned to Love the Butchery of Jews

* The Art of Being Offended

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Canada's Anti-Zionism Fetish (w/ Jesse Brown)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Uncertain Things, and Vanessa Quirk — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 22:29:46 GMT

Jesse Brown — journalist and founder of the Canadaland podcast company — joins us IRL in New York City to talk about his latest project: What is happening here? The audio doc, hosted by Jesse, dives into the ways Anti-Zionism and antisemitism have taken root in Canada since October 7th.

On the agenda

* What is happening here? and the red triangle [0:00-22:38]

* Why the Canada example matters [22:39-35:35]

* Revisiting Anti-Racism and protecting liberalism [35:36-1:04:27]

* Jon enters the chat [1:04:28-1:26:59]

Mentioned in this episode:

* What is happening here? (Canadaland)

* Anti-Zionism, Explained (w/ Adam Louis Klein)

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Losing the Real War (w/ Dr. Einat Wilf)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Vanessa Quirk, Einat Wilf, and Uncertain Things — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 21:42:25 GMT

Dr. Einat Wilf — Israeli writer, podcaster, and now founder of the political party Oz — returns to the pod to tell us a tale of two wars: the physical war fought (and technically won) in Gaza and the global war for Jewish sovereignty (that’s far from over). If you’re a curious layman on this subject, like Vanessa, make sure to revisit our first conversation with Dr. Wilf before listening, to make sure you have the context you need.

On the agenda:

-The weaponization of Gaza [0:00-15:03]

-The “terrible” truth of Palestinian identity and ideology [15:04-22:42]

-The “disappearing” border/alliance with Egypt [22:43-29:17]

-Starvation in Gaza [29:18-34:36]

-Speaking loudly and carrying a small stick [34:37-39:41]

-Defining Palestinianism [39:42-46:39]

-A tangent on hippies [46:40-49:24]

-Netanyahu’s interference in the “real” war [49:25-59:27]

-Anti-Zionism and America’s role [59:28-1:14:22]

-A ministry of trolling [1:14:23-1:1:16:32]

Mentioned in this episode:

* The War of Return

* Zionism and the Refugee Machine (w/ Dr. Einat Wilf)

* Unraveling UNRWA

* Anti-Zionism, Explained (w/ Adam Louis Klein)

* Hooked on Dead Jews (w/ Dara Horn)

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

America, the Fundamentalist (w/ David French)

Uncertain Things, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Vanessa Quirk, and David French — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 04:31:44 GMT

New York Times columnist, co-host of Advisory Opinions and The Dispatch Podcast, and Nashville-based evangelical, David French, returns to the pod once again. This time, we had one big question on our minds: What’s with all the Christianity cosplaying taking over politics right now? But an Uncertain Things episode wouldn’t be an Uncertain Things episode if we stuck to just one topic! We ended up discussing, among other topics, Jesus Christ, the American Civil War, the likelihood of the dissolution of the union today, Venezuela, C.S. Lewis, and more. As always with Mr. French, it was a delightful, thought-provoking, and nerdy conversation.

On the agenda:

-A quick question about Jesus Christ [0:00-3:50]

-Countdown to our country’s dissolution [3:51-22:57]

-A tangent on Venezuela [22:58-27:15]

-America, the Fundamentalist [27:16-1:09:50]

-Advice to a burgeoning Christian [1:09:51-1:20:00]

Further reading/listening:

* Time to Talk about Secession? (David French on Uncertain Things)

* America, The Lonely (David French on Uncertain Things)

* ‘I’m a Liberal Who Lost His Faith’ (Tom Holland on Uncertain Things)

* Divided We Fall (David French)

* Attack Upon Christendom (Søren Kierkegaard)

* The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Anti-Capitalism, Anti-Abundance, Anti-Chill (w/ Ben Dreyfuss)

Vanessa Quirk, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Ben Dreyfuss, and Uncertain Things — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 12:38:16 GMT

Journalist Ben Dreyfuss (writer of Calm Down and co-host of Central Air) joins us for a conversational grab bag: Zohran Mamdani’s agenda; the Left’s ideologues (and how to distinguish them from the cosplayers); the challenge of maintaining personal relationships across political divides; Luigi Mangione’s appeal; the dearth of humor amongst Millennials; and more. If these topics leave you spinning down a dark apocalyptic hole of cynicism, remember (as Ben reminds us at the end of this episode): calm the f*ck down. And consider telling a joke or two.

On the agenda:

-Mamdani, the DSA, and the Left’s ideologues [00:00-21:31]

-Keeping friends after October 7th [21:32-29:30]

-Fake, lying social media and the “noticers” [29:31-35:54]

-Playing footsie with murders (the Luigi Mangione story) [35:55-45:21]

-Changing people’s minds — and finding common ground [45:22-1:01:22]

-NIMBYism, Abundance, and back to New York City [1:01:23-1:10:27]

-Why it’s hard to be funny [1:10:28-1:14:31]

-Blindspots on the Left & Right [1:14:32-1:22:00]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

In Defense of Exclusion (w/ James Lindsay)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Uncertain Things — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 19:51:28 GMT

Adaam is joined by James Lindsay, author of Cynical Theories and founder of New Discourses, to play the epistemology drinking game: you take a shot every time either speaker uses the word! They talk about how higher education in America became a racket, whether we can revivify classical liberalism in the age of social media, whether we need to exclude bad actors from the public discourse, whether James’ Twitter persona is a force for good or for chaos, and how to tell a PsyOp when you see one. They of course also discuss the “woke right,” Tucker Carlson, and why scapegoating Jews is still the rage.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Anti-Zionism, Explained (w/ Adam Louis-Klein)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Uncertain Things, Vanessa Quirk, and Adam Louis-Klein — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:45:34 GMT

Anthropologist Adam Louis-Klein was in the Amazon on October 9th, when he went online and learned what had happened two days previously. Almost immediately, he also discovered something else: his left-wing colleagues in the academy were ready to ostracize him for his “filthy Zionist” views. Since then, Louis-Klein has turned his analytical eye toward anti-Zionism. In this conversation, he explains the ideology’s history and how it continues to perpetuate itself through cycles of libel. He also breaks down the other greatest hits of left-wing academic jargon — settler-colonialism, genocide, occupation, etc. — along the way. And we all try to break ourselves out of the language games that prevent us from having a real conversation about what’s happening, and not, in Gaza.

On the agenda:

-On Zohran Mamdani [00:00-12:40]

-Libel cycles post-October 7th [12:41-29:12]

-Defining terms: Zionism, Anti-Zionism, and more [29:13-57:00]

-The left’s alliances [57:01-1:10:42]

-On victimhood, violence, and self-reliance [1:10:43-1:27:36]

-The reader’s/viewer’s responsibility [1:27:37-1:42:41]

-Expanding the concept of genocide [1:42:42-2:01:31]

-The future of Anti-Zionism [2:01:32-2:09:37]

Mentioned in this episode:

* When is it Genocide? — The Ezra Klein Show

* Editors’ Note: July 30, 2025 — The New York Times

* Editors’ Note: Gaza Hospital Coverage — The New York Times

* How the World Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Butchery of Jews (w/ Eli Lake) — Uncertain Things

* The Apocalypse We Deserve (w/ Niall Ferguson) — Uncertain Things

* Don’t Blame Israel on the Jews (w/ Walter Russell Mead) — Uncertain Things

* Hooked on Dead Jews (w/ Dara Horn) — Uncertain Things

* Zionism and the Refugee Machine (w/ Dr. Einat Wilf) — Uncertain Things

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

ICE, Klein, Coates (w/ Nancy Rommelmann)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Vanessa Quirk, Uncertain Things, and Nancy Rommelmann — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 20:50:22 GMT

Writer, reporter, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em co-host, and pie baker extraordinaire Nancy Rommelmann returns to Uncertain Things to talk (again) about a topic she knows all too well: Portland. In 2021, she lambasted the way the media was distorting what was happening on the ground by underplaying the violence. Four years later, she’s lamenting the way the President and his cronies are distorting what’s happening on the ground by overplaying the violence. We get into ICE’s antics, Portland’s response (so far), and the “heroes” making headlines. Then we switch tacts to share our thoughts on the (much discussed) Klein-Coates interview, and Adaam is remarkably reserved in his epithets.

On the agenda:

-Rommy returns to talk Portland [00:00-04:09]

-Portland, 2004-2020 [04:10-9:15]

-Portland today: Who’s really there [9:16-18:37]

-The Trump Show [18:38-42:53]

-Ezra Klein v. Ta-Nehisi Coates [42:54-1:00:56]

-The responsibility of the commentator [1:00:57-1:22:25]

Mentioned in this episode:

* We’re addicted to destruction (w/ Nancy Rommelmann) — Uncertain Things

* Adaam on Annihilism

* Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em — Substack

* Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines — The Ezra Klein Show

* Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause — Vanity Fair

* Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way — The New York Times

* Make More Pie — Substack

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

When Speech Is Violence, Etc. (w/ Matt Welch)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Uncertain Things, and Matt Welch — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 04:15:18 GMT

Matt Welch, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast and editor at large for Reason Magazine, joins Adaam to discuss the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s grim. How grim? Very. Get off social media. Turn off your phone. Touch grass. See ya’ll in the gulag.

Also:

-Matt’s previous visit to Uncertain Things

-Adaam on political violence

-Adaam and Jonah Goldberg on political violence

-Yuval Levin on violence

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: http://uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Lost Pleasures of Discomfort (w/ Christine Rosen)

Uncertain Things, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Vanessa Quirk, and Christine Rosen — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 21:51:40 GMT

What’s lost when we opt for the convenience of technology over the difficult, awkward, thrilling realities of human interaction? With so much tech to reach for, when do we lose the ability to interact with each other – or even understand ourselves? And with the AI revolution already afoot, is humanity just f*cked? Vanessa’s back from mat leave and ready to dive into our tech-saturated, under-socialized world with Christine Rosen — senior fellow at AEI, co-host of the Commentary podcast, and author of The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World.

On the agenda:

-Happy returns and the pleasure of ambiguity [0:00-5:55]

-Information isn’t knowledge [5:56-9:03]

-The pleasure of ambiguity and the value of discomfort [9:04-20:47]

-How tech mediates and impairs us [20:48-47:38]

-Humanity in the age of AI [47:39-1:24:18]

Mentioned in this episode:

* Panic Porn and Trauma Creep (w/ Christine Rosen)

* The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: http://uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

One Minute to Paradise (w/ Jonah Goldberg)

Uncertain Things, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, and Jonah Goldberg — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:24:27 GMT

Jonah Goldberg, host of The Remnant and author of Suicide of the West, joins Adaam for a session of unfettered nerdery and gloom, in which definitions shall be debated, Straussian hats worn, and metaphors unapologetically mixed. They cover the meaning of “utopianism,” the revolutionary force of monotheism, the power of language, the messianic urge from Christ to the Jacobins, the lack of new ideas, the obstinacy of human nature, and the importance of gallows humor.

On the agenda:

-Jonah’s origin story [2:00]

-Monotheism, a radical idea [6:00]

-Postmodernism and the charisma of words [19:00]

-Utopianism, left and right [27:00]

-Maimonides against Messianism (and Sayyid Qutb) [38:00]

-Are ideas dangerous? (On Rousseau, the Jacobins, Strauss, Annihilism) [53:00]

-Dark humor and Holocaust jokes heuristics [1:21:00]

-Blindspots [1:43:00]

Also:

-Adaam and Ruth Weisse on the 10th Commandment

-Adaam and Yuval Levin talk about the nature of liberalism, beauty and conservatism

-Howard Jacobson at Tablet Magazine on the death of a tailor

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: http://uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Thou Shalt Not Be a Socialist (Ruth Wisse)

Uncertain Things and Adaam James Levin-Areddy — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 22:22:52 GMT

It is an extra (((special))) episode on Uncertain Things as Ruth Wisse, senior fellow at the Tikvah Fund and author of Jews and Power, hosts Adaam for Friday afternoon cookies and Talmud. The two discussed the wave of resentment that threatens to consume American culture (or Annihilism, as Adaam stubbornly calls it), the problem (or lack thereof) of inequality, the Jewish rejection of Weakness Worship, and what it means to stand witness to evil.

On the (((agenda))):

-Neocons love assimilation [1:30]

-Accents are genocide [9:00]

-The idea that disparity is evil is evil [17:00]

-Charity and dignity (and pity) [27:00]

-Gratitude, resentment, and feminism [34:00]

-What’s up with American Jews… plus American liberalism… plus standing witness to evil [48:00]

Also:

-Adaam and Yuval Levin talk about the nature of liberalism, beauty and conservatism

-Howard Jacobson at Tablet Magazine on the death of a tailor

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: http://uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Lower Expectations of Humanity (Yuval Levin)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Yuval Levin, and Uncertain Things — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 11:52:00 GMT

AEI Senior Fellow Yuval Levin rejoins the pod to discuss the enemies of continuity. He and Adaam debate the definition of conservatism and whether it’s the Annihilist urge that dominates the contemporary left or something else entirely. Oh, and if that’s not nerdy enough for you, they also go on a semi-Burkean detour to adjudicate whether beauty in art is related to truth (because someone had to!).

On the agenda:

-Cultural continuity and the modern conservative [00:10]

-The hubris of knowledge [10:19]

-Who are the enemies of continuity [17:54]

-Solipsism as morality [26:28]

-Rousseau and the new Jacobins [31:23]

-Redemptive destruction [39:00]

-Is despair anti-conservative? [48:54]

-Beauty [53:31]

Also:

-Our previous chat with Yuval Levin about Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine

-Adaam on the Jacobin temptation

-Yuval on American renewal

-Ken Goshen on why contemporary art sucks

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: http://uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

War Is Hell (Dan Senor)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Uncertain Things — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 01:44:20 GMT

Dan Senor, host of the Call Me Back podcast and co-author of The Genius of Israel, is bullish on Israel. Is there anything that could change his mind? He and Adaam discuss what makes Israeli society strong and what might make it turn against itself. They also can’t resist some media naval gazing and debate whether the fall of sense-making gatekeepers is a boon or a curse.

On the agenda:

-Brave new media

-Could anything make Dan go bearish on Israel?

-Something bigger than yourself

-The abominable dilemma (why Israel negotiates with terrorists)

-War is hell (and the rest is sentimentality)

-How to criticize Israel in an anti-Zionist era

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: http://uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Law Is How We Deal With Our Mistakes (Alan Dershowitz)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Uncertain Things — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 15:12:40 GMT

Alan Dershowitz is one of the most prolific legal scholars (and civil rights litigators) in this country of ours. In his latest book, The Preventive State, he takes the first step in developing the jurisprudence of what Philip K. Dick called precrime. Dershowitz argues that we need a better — and more transparent — legal system for calculating how many civil liberties we’re willing to sacrifice in order to prevent potential harm. He and Adaam debate what such a system would look like, what’s at stake of being lost, where do rights even come from, and whether the law is a rebellion against God.

On the agenda:

-Starting a conversation while canceled

-False positives and false negatives

-Kant in the streets, Bentham in the sheets (or: the Straussian case for legal ambiguity)

-Our rights come from our wrongs

-AI paving the path to Omelas

-The Talmudic rebellion

Also:

-Read Adaam’s piece on Jewish Law as the triumph against divine totalitarianism

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: http://uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Mood Music of Anti-Racism (Coleman Hughes)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Coleman Hughes, and Uncertain Things — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 18:20:05 GMT

Coleman Hughes, author of The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America and writer for The Free Press, argues that recent progressive theories about antiracism have looped all the way back to racism. He joins Adaam to discuss the power of language to reveal and distort, the moral confusions of revolutionary activism, the aesthetics of social justice, and how this all relates to Israel’s war on Iran.

On the agenda:

-Coleman’s backstory and the march through the institutions (or at least Columbia)

-What do you mean, Neo-racism? (Speak plainly!)

-Social science versus social redemption

-Ta-Nehisi Coates composes mood music (and conceals reality)

-What’s up in Israel

-The West doesn’t understand death cults

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Hope for Gaza (w/ Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Uncertain Things, and Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 19:04:29 GMT

Is there hope for Palestinians in Gaza after the war? What will happen to Hamas? Does anyone still want a Two State Solution? And will the war with Iran change the game? Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and director of Realign for Palestine, joins Adaam James Levin-Areddy to discuss. Ahmed seeks to refocus the Palestinian mission from armed resistance against Israel to self-governance, independence, and prosperity. He and Adaam debate what this will take, and whether the window for such a vision is closing.

Further readings:

-On their first conversation, Adaam and Fouad discussed the view from Gaza

-Earlier on the day this was recorded, Adaam spoke with Nadav Eyal about Israel’s war in Iran

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Enemies of Free Speech (w/ Greg Lukianoff & Nadine Strossen)

Uncertain Things, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Greg Lukianoff, and Nadine Strossen — Thu, 29 May 2025 23:25:36 GMT

Former ACLU President Nadine Strossen and FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) President Greg Lukianoff join Adaam to discuss their upcoming book War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail. The three dig into what makes liberalism in general and free speech in particular so powerful, so radical, and so rare. Is too much information a danger for free speech? Why are some institutions resilient to ideological capture while others cave? Do generational tensions pose a threat to liberal values? What does it really mean to defend free speech?

On the agenda:

-Free speech is eternally radical (00:30)

-The Skokie Affair made Adaam fall in love (10:47)

-Generational tensions at the ACLU, or: maintaining institutional integrity (26:13)

-Real liberalism is (and always was) hard (51:12)

-Marketplace of Ideas vs. Pure Information Theory, or: the importance of knowing falsities (1:01:06)

-AI and the problem of Too Much Information (1:10:02)

-Blindspots (1:23:55)

Show notes:

-Greg’s Substack: The Eternally Radical Idea

-Upcoming rerelease of Aryeh Neier’s Defending My Enemy with additional material by Nadine

Art by Niv Tishbi

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Vibes of Nihilism (w/ Mike Pesca)

Uncertain Things, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, and Mike Pesca — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 12:11:00 GMT

Perspicacious podcaster Mike Pesca, host of The Gist and author of Pesca Profundities, joins Adaam to partake in principled, punny, and peppily pugnacious perorations. On the agenda: the creeping nihilism of American society (and should we be worried about it), the comedy of Signalgate, the state of the media, and the revenge of the cancelled.

On the agenda:

-Podcasting with Pesca [00:00]

-Misinformation and media [10:52]

-Objectivity [14:55]

-Signalgate [27:54]

-Nihilism in America [35:37]

-Jan 6 and Oct 8 [42:36]

-Surviving cancellation [51:19]

-Judicial overhauls [56:43]

-Constitutionalism and its discontent [01:00:05]

-Blindspots [01:04:19]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

When My Team Became an Online Mob (w/ Brianna Wu)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Uncertain Things, and Brianna Wu — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:04:22 GMT

Former Democratic organizer Brianna Wu joins Adaam James Levin-Areddy for a conversation about her journey from leftist activism to clashing with leftists about antisemitism and the recklessness of transgender politics. Wu opens up on the challenges that come with standing up to one’s own tribe, the importance of defending liberal values, and how to think responsibly—and compassionately—about sex and gender.

On the Agenda:—How Gamergate changed everything—The (de)evolution of progressive politics—October 7 and Jewish mothers—Can normie liberalism bridge the partisan divide?—Transgender health care vs. transgender politics

Show Notes:—The Pros and Cons of ‘Queer’ (w/ Jamie Kirchick)—Jesse Singal for The Dispatch: How The American Media Distorted the Transgender Debate

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

How the Modern World Self-Destructs (w/ Tomer Persico)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 03:34:04 GMT

Religious scholar Tomer Persico, now a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, returns to help us unpack why liberalism is special — and why it’s now in crisis.

Mentioned in this episode:

-Our first conversation with Tomer, about the implications of seeing ourselves as made in the image of God

-Yascha Mounk, who talked to us about how identity politics is straining liberalism

-Tom Holland, the Liberal who lost his faith

-Sarah Isgur, who survived Trump’s DOJ

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Why Liberalism [3:10-13:30]-Defining Liberalism & Individual Rights [13:31-18:23]-The Government's New Responsibility: Protect Individual Rights [18:24-29:43]-The Importance of Unprescribed, Artful Negotiations of Power [29:44-48:05]-Nationalism & Mass Conscription [48:06-1:02:32]-The Problem Liberalism is facing now [1:02:33-1:18:20]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Significant Sans Sex (w/ Rhaina Cohen)

Uncertain Things, Vanessa Quirk, and Adaam James Levin-Areddy — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 19:06:51 GMT

To write The Other Significant Others, journalist Rhaina Cohen interviewed couples around the country who have committed to sharing their lives with each other — just not their beds. These pivotal yet hard-to-define relationships have existed throughout history, but we lack the vocabulary to talk about them (let alone a legal framework to protect them). Adaam and Vanessa — platonic partners themselves — talk to Rhaina about the nomenclature that helps/hinders us, the lack of templates for meaningful friendships, and the unspoken-about-elephant in these relationships (yes, sex).

Mentioned in this episode:

-Rhaina on the Ezra Klein Show

-Our conversation about friendship infrastructure with David French

-Our conversation about solitude with Bill Deresiewicz

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-On words, romance, and indefinable friendships [0:00-33:06]-The legal difficulties platonic partners face [33:07-40:24]-Putting marriage on/off its pedestal [40:25-47:28]-On polyamory [47:29-53:49]-The challenges of relationships with no defaults or templates [53:50-1:03:36]-Friendship & solitude [1:03:37-]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

From Jesus Christ to the New York Times (w/ Andy Mills)

Vanessa Quirk, Uncertain Things, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, and Andy Mills — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 16:26:00 GMT

Podcaster/journalist Andy Mills shares the unusual trajectory of his life and career: from small town boy; to God-loving member of a close-knit group of friends; to rebellious drop-out of a Christian college; to curious outsider in Southern Sudan; to hard-working, some-time inappropriate young media professional; to a more self-aware, award-winning podcast producer; to New York Times outcast; to independent media professional (with a Substack, of course). [Break for breath.] Along the way, we discuss the merits/drawbacks of faith, unpack the pivotal year that was 2015, debate the limitations of forgiveness, and dissect the difference between being canceled for your beliefs versus what others believe of you.

Mentioned in this episode:

-Reflector podcast

-Mills Spills (BAR pod)

-The Witch Trials of JK Rowling (Free Press)

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

- Growing up in small town Christian America [0:00-14:53]-What happened to the Church - a.k.a When God died in 2015 [14:54-22:00]-Winning, and then losing, the friendship lottery [22:01-47:39]-The tension of uncertainty in community [47:40-52:52]-Online conversations and communities (back to 2015) [52:53-1:01:59]-Entering journalism by way of Sudan [1:02:00-1:11:57]-Identity, narrative, and bias [1:11:58-1:30:30]-The tribe of media and the danger of ideas (2015 reprise) 1:30:31-1:42:30-Andy's second cancelation story [1:42:31-1:59:26]-Comparing the cancellations [1:59:27-2:05:36]-What happened at the New York Times [2:05:37-2:19:15]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Decapitation of Hezbollah and the Fall of Rome (w/ Eli Lake)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 11:01:00 GMT

The indispensable Eli Lake — contributing editor at Commentary Magazine and staff writer and podcaster at The Free Press — returns to the pod to mark the destruction of mass murderer and DSA heartthrob Hasan Nasrallah along with the top brass of his terror gang in Beirut this weekend. This leads to a discussion about the nature of warfare and the importance of escalation, the inanity of American media, and also what the decline of norms in the Roman Republic portends for the future of the American experiment. Si vult pacem, face bellum?

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Bad week for the axis of a******s

-The deescalation trap

-Eli and Mehdi Hasan

-Muh norms

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

It's Over (w/ Caitlin Flanagan)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 21:10:03 GMT

Caitlin Flanagan returns! The unapologetic author of On Thinking for Yourself (a selection of her excellent essays for The Atlantic) comes to talk to us about the fall of Western civilization, what happens when you let church-going go, what happened to universities, and why (though a Catholic herself) Caitlin has started wearing a Star of David.

Check out (the juicier) part two of this conversation (for paid members only) here.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Praising our AI overlords

-A post-apocalyptic, post-church West

-Dangerously under-educated

-Why Caitlin wears the Star of David

-When/how universities went wrong [

-On parenting and Ballerina Farm

-P.S. - Adaam’s reflections on wearing the Star of David

Mentioned in this episode:

-Our previous episode with Caitlin (Uncertain Things)

-On Thinking for Yourself (Caitlin Flanagan)

-Calvin Coolidge’s Address at the Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (UCSB)

-Overtime: Bob Costas, Coleman Hughes, Caitlin Flanagan | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

-From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life (Jacques Barzun)

-Part two of this conversation (Uncertain Things LOCKED)

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Agony of Abundance (w/ Nick Gillespie)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 02:27:22 GMT

Nick Gillespie — editor at large at the libertarian institution that is Reason Magazine (and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie) — comes on the pod for an IRL conversation about 'The Agony of Abundance,' the paradoxical state in which we’re more prosperous, yet more dissatisfied, than ever. We discuss the negative narratives peddled by the media — a misdirection that’s untethering us from reality — and debate the limitations libertarianism and liberal thinking in an ever-more tribal world. And, before we go, we dive into psychedelics and whether they’re really worth all the fuss.

Uncertain Things is a reader-supported publication. To support this rag-tag podcast crew of two, consider becoming a paid member.

On the agenda:

-00:00 Housing Preamble

-04:12 Welcome to Uncertain Things

-06:01 Our Negative Perceptions vs. Reality

-23:39 Mass Misdirection

-33:28 Trust and the U.S. and Israeli Governments

-41:05 Liberalism vs. Tribalism

-01:08:57 On Generating a Liberal Revival

-01:24:08 Debating Psychedelics

Mentioned in this episode:

-The Economic Theory That Explains Why Americans Are So Mad - Ezra Klein Show

-The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture - Amazon

-Big Tech Panic (w/ Shoshana Weissmann) - Uncertain Things

-What to Expect When No One's Expecting: America's Coming Demographic Disaster - Amazon

-‘They Aren’t Who You Think They Are’: The inside story of how Kanakuk—one of America’s largest Christian camps—enabled horrific abuse. - The Dispatch

-In Praise of Privilege - Uncertain

-Psychedelic Libertarianism with Nick Gillespie - Coleman’s Corner

-The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less - Amazon

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Our Friend Attended a Trump Rally — And Witnessed History

Uncertain Things — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 18:50:43 GMT

PLEASE NOTE: We are releasing this episode in the immediate aftermath of the alleged assassination attempt on President Trump. Details and facts presented in this conversation are still being corroborated and are subject to be updated/corrected.

Recurrent guest Misha Thomas (“The Liberal Who Voted for Trump” / “Blackness and the Other Side of Trauma”) was visiting family in Pittsburgh yesterday when he decided to check out his first ever Trump Rally with his partner. After waiting for hours under the hot sun, they saw Trump take to the stage — and minutes later, heard rounds of bullets going back and forth. Misha shares his first-person account of what seems to have been an attempt to assassinate the former president.

To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack. Check out our free ‘Uncertainty’ newsletter for updates and rants. Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Progressives Are Silly (w/ Nellie Bowles)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 15:33:00 GMT

Nellie Bowles is back! The journalist, writer of the TGIF newsletter, and co-founder of The Free Press (along with her wife Bari Weiss) returns to discuss her new book, Morning After the Revolution. In it, she chronicles the unfortunate series of events that led her to leave The New York Times in 2021. We get into that in this conversation, too (diving into the backlash she received for covering the more violent 2020 protests in Portland and Seattle) — as well as the stories of Progressive absurdism that pepper the book. And before we wrap, we get into Nellie’s thoughts on being a newly converted Jew in the wake of October 8th.

Uncertain Things is a reader-supported publication. To support this rag-tag podcast crew of two, consider becoming a paid member.

On the agenda:

-Surviving the NYT in 2020 [1:40-23:41]

-Absurdity and anarchy [23:42-37:18]

-The joys and pains of becoming Jewish [37:19-51:06]

Mentioned in this episode:

-Our previous conversation on San Francisco’s lunacy

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Indoctrination of Elite Education (w/ Bill Deresiewicz)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 22 May 2024 13:48:53 GMT

William Deresiewicz — author of (the newly updated) Excellent Sheep, The Death of the Artist, and The End of Solitude — returns to the pod! This time we dive into one of the institutions we love to hate: elite universities. We dwell on and debate the protests at Columbia (et al.), the reasons why it’s all gone so wrong, and whether or not the solution is just to raze them to the ground.

Check out our ‘Uncertainty’ newsletter for updates and rants. To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-The context for Excellent Sheep, c. 2014 [2:39-12:21]

-The student as customer / PC police officer [12:22-27:32]

- The emptiness inside [27:33-40:02]

-To fix or ruin the elite reputation? [40:03-49:54]

-Getting into the protests & elite failure [49:55-58:58]

- What exactly went wrong [58:59-1:08:08]

-The answer isn’t yoga [1:08:09-1:29:36]

Mentioned in this conversation:

-Our last conversation with Bill

-Vanessa’s newsletter on solitude/friendship

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Down the Saddam Rabbit Hole (w/ Steve Coll)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:28:51 GMT

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, author, and former Columbia Journalism School dean (to us!), Steve Coll, takes us deep into the conspiracy-plagued mind of Saddam Hussein, the subject of his latest book The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq. We go deep into the wonky journalism weeds — including what it took for Coll to get his hands on the Saddam tapes. And we ask our former dean the eternal question: Is J-School worth it?

-What it takes to put a book like this together [0:00-19:15]

-The Saddam tapes [19:16 -23:46]

-Inside the conspiracy rabbit hole [23:47-29:52

-Behind the conflicting perceptions [29:53-41:12]

-Oil, Israel, and failed policies [41:13-49:46]

-The U.S.-Israel relationship [49:47--53:32]

-How the media is covering the conflict [53:33-57:43]

-Objectivity and the rifts in journalism today [57:44-1:06:44]

Check out our ‘Inscrutable’ blog and ‘Uncertainty’ newsletter for thoughts and rants. To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Three Drunk Jews Refuting Jonathan Glazer (w/ Batya Ungar-Sargon & Eli Lake)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 11:00:00 GMT

With Vanessa off for the weekend to explore the world of psychedelics, the podcast has been hijacked by a cabal of furious, loud, and lubricated Jews. Adaam, 3 martinis and a Laphroaig in, is joined by Newsweek opinion editor and author of Second Class Batya Ungar-Sargon, and Free Press reporter and host of The Re-Education podcast Eli Lake. The three have gathered to refute Jonathan Glazer’s Jewishness being worth hijacking by anyone. In proper Talmudic engagement, Batya spits fire, Eli plays devil's advocate, and Adaam speaks up for the grammar Nazis. Be warned, this may be our most petty, potted, parochial, and problematic episode yet.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

What the Left Gets Wrong About Black History (w/ Charles Love & Wilfred Reilly)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:25:13 GMT

Authors and co-hosts of the Cut the Bull podcast, Charles Love (Race Crazy) and Wilfred Reilly (Taboo, Hate Crime Hoax) join us for a lively conversation/debate about race, history, and K-12 education — and Vanessa gets put in the hot seat. Questions covered include: Should Black history be separate from American history? Are we over-indexing on sex and gender in the classroom? Is social media an “environmental toxin” — or just another misdirection from the left? And, of course, what are the biggest blindspots on the left and the right?

-Where we’ve been [0:00-4:47]

-Eric Adams, “environmental toxins,” and the Left [4:48-10:43]

-1619 and documenting history [10:44-30:54]

-Black history vs. American history [30:55-42:43]

-Sex and gender in the classroom [42:44-59:29]

-Diagnosing the misdirection [59:30-1:03:36]

-The failings of integration [1:03:37-1:09:20]

-How to fix education [1:09:50-1:13:18]

-Blindspots on the Left and the Right [1:13:19-1:18:39]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Zionism and the Refugee Machine (w/ Dr. Einat Wilf)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 04:29:03 GMT

Dr. Einat Wilf is an Israeli writer, speaker, former (and future?) politician, podcaster (We Should All be Zionisists), and co-author of The War of Return. In this episode, we dive into some historical context for the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Vanessa asking all the ignorant questions you were too afraid to ask: What/who was there in Israel before 1948? Was displacement a part of the Zionist vision? Why did displacement happen? Then we pivot to the subject of Dr. Wilf’s book: The right of return, and the fundamental reason why peace, until this day, has been impossible. We conclude with a deep dive into UNRWA — the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees — and explain the role it’s played in perpetuating the conflict, to this day.

On the agenda:

-Zionism’s Parents and the Land of Israel [3:22-11:33]

-The Disappointment of Emancipation/The Possibility of Self-Determination [11:34-21:21]

-On Sovereignty and Displacement [21:22-53:29]

-The Refugee Question [53:30-1:02:37]

-UNRWA & Palestinian Identity [1:02:38-1:33:58]

-Where do we go from here? [1:33:59-1:42:30]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

What Iran Wants (w/ Arash Azizi)

Uncertain Things — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 22:14:29 GMT

Iranian historian and writer Arash Azizi comes on the pod to share his perspective on the Israel-Hamas conflict today — and why he believes ceasefire is the only viable path forward for Israel’s war with Hamas. Along the way, Azizi gives us on an overview of Iran’s politics since the Revolution of 1979 (i.e. how Soleimani became The Shadow Commander) and explains the country’s current stance toward Israel (which stands in contrast to the position of many Iranians). His second book about the country’s recent protest movements — What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom — will be out next year.

On the Agenda:

-Unpacking the Iranian Revolution (and the Left’s participation)

-Arash’s background

-Soleimani’s appeal (How we consolidated supreme power)

-Iran’s stance on Israel vs. Iranians’ sentiments

-Debating ceasefire

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Diaspora Palestinian to Hamas Apologists: Debate Me, Bro (w/ John Aziz)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 21:22:19 GMT

John Aziz is a British Palestinian musician who has come into the public spotlight since October 7th for tweeting out for peace and against Hamas. In this conversation, we unpack why it’s so controversial for a Palestinian like John to be pro-peace, the trauma both sides aren’t acknowledging or addressing, and the overly-simplified, ironic, Star Wars narratives of the Western Left. Follow him on X and read John’s article in The Atlantic here.

On the agenda:

- John’s Background [0:00-08:37]

-The Challenge of Advocating for Peace [08:38-18:34]

- The Trauma on Both Sides [18:35-24:51]

-Why is so hard to speak out against Hamas? [24:52-29:59]

-New Ideology, New Leaders [30:00-38:36]

-The Star Wars Ideology of the Western Left [38:37-54:33]

- LGBT+ in Gaza [54:34-1:01:03]

- "I'll Debate Anyone" [1:01:04-1:02:51]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Disgusting 'Journalists' (w/ Batya Ungar-Sargon)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 15:26:27 GMT

Friend of the pod Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor for Newsweek and author of Bad News, returns for a deep, contentious conversation about the responsibility of journalists covering the Israel-Hamas war, the people worth expending energy on (versus relegating as enemies), and the uncomfortable embrace of moral certainty.

While much vitriol is expended on the “journalists” bringing shame to the (let’s face it, already pretty scumbag) profession, we also shout out the reporters doing good, honest analysis, even if we don’t always agree with their positions: Zaid Jelani, Lee Fang, and Arash Azizi.

On the agenda:

-The Moral Imperative of Remembering [1:55-9:11]

-On Emotions and Moral Certainty [9:12-16:54]

-Disgusting "Journalists" [16:55-20:39]

-On Journalistic Responsibility / Objectivity [20:40-26:36]

-Debating How - and Who - to Trust [26:37-38:39]

-Liberal vs. Jewish Values [38:40-52:14]

-On Moral Equivalence and Retaliation [52:15-58:24]

-Who is reachable? [58:25-1:07:22]

-The battle continues [1:07:23-1:12:40]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

How the World Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Butchery of Jews (w/ Eli Lake)

Uncertain Things and Eli Lake — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 23:33:57 GMT

Note: This episode is far more explicit — and way more rage-ful — than your average.

As you have likely read by now in the news, last Saturday, a group of Hamas combatants infiltrated Israel and massacred about 1300 people, mostly civilians.

Usually, Uncertain Things is all about embracing epistemological uncertainty. This conversation is not about that. To help Adaam process his rage and achieve some much-needed catharsis, he turned to returning guest, Eli Lake. Eli — host of The Re-Education Podcast, contributing editor to Commentary, and columnist for the New York Sun — did not disappoint, bringing some awesome, righteous outrage toward the American Left.

On the agenda:

- Hamas and their attack on Israel [0:00-7:15]- Contextualizing the catharsis to come [7:16-17:04]- Eli’s moral outrage [17:05-25:17]- On policy: blockades and Iran [25:18-29:22]- Back to our previously scheduled outrage [29:23-35:19]- Predicting the fallout [35:20-43:54]- Debating the culture of life, the culture of death [43:55-1:01:58]- Coexisting with evil [1:01:59-1:05:29]- The Left IRL [1:05:30-1:07:46]- The rage returns [1:07:47-1:13:51]

- Outro: On moral relativism and forgiveness [1:14:10-22:58]

We also recommend:

-Adaam’s first impressions, on Jonah Goldberg’s The Remnant

-Adaam’s bleaker thoughts, on the Dispatch Live

-David French and Sarah Isgur’s conversation on the Law of War and Anti-Semitism on Advisory Opinions

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Liberals Against Identity, Round 2 (w/ Yascha Mounk)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Vanessa Quirk, Yascha Mounk, and Uncertain Things — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:55:49 GMT

Yascha Mounk returns for round two! If you missed part one of our conversation with the political theorist, writer, and podcaster about his latest book, The Identity Trap, stop now and listen to that episode first.

We pick up where we left off last time and get deep into debate about strategic essentialism, the privileging of marginalized voices, and the incoherencies of standpoint theory. We also ask Yascha why he disagrees with John McWhorter’s theory that the proponents of the Identity Synthesis are members of a new religion. Plus, Yascha plays relationship counselor for your sparring hosts and his dog finally gets outside.

Follow Uncertain Things on uncertain.substack.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

On another note, we will be attending Yascha’s Oct 4 talk at the Streiker Center in NYC. See you there?

Also check out:

-Our talk with James Kirchick about the contradictions of our current gender debates.

-Our talk with Yuval Levin on the moral failure of civic institutions in the age of narcissism.

-Our talk with Tom Holland about his lost faith in liberalism.

On the agenda:

-Re-capping Round 1 [0:00-3:03]

-On Justice, essentialism, and race (the implications of standpoint theory) [3:04-15:12]

-Who Gets to Speak for their Race? [15:13-23:49]

-The Catastrophes of Unsalvageable Liberalism [23:50-32:15]

-On intention and persuasion [32:16-42:03]

-The woke religion? [42:04-50:31]

-The Identity Synthesis [50:32-54:43]

-Outtake: Against Monocausal Explanations [55:00-57:25]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Identity Infection, Round 1 (w/ Yascha Mounk)

Uncertain Things and Yascha Mounk — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 17:32:21 GMT

Political theorist, writer, and podcaster Yascha Mounk returns! Last time, we spoke about Yascha’s last book: The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure. This time, Adaam got to air his personal grievances as we dove into the thorny topic of his latest book: The Identity Trap.

Yascha covers a ton: he traces the intellectual history of the postmodern ideas that captured the academy in the 2010s; he explains how these once-fringe ideas subsequently infiltrated the mainstream Left; he puts the tenets of identity-based politics to the philosophical test (analyzing the logical strengths and weaknesses of ideas like standpoint theory and cultural appropriation); and he defends liberalism as the best political framework we have to dismantle the injustices of our current world order (the very thing lefties, with their identitarian tendencies, are supposedly trying to do).

Of course, dear listener, we barely scratched the surface of all that in one hour. Instead, we got deep into Said, Spivak, and Foucault, panopticons and all — and so this conversation with Yascha continues soon, in part two.

On the agenda:

- Cannibalism & grievances [0:00-6:05]

- Who are you trying to persuade? [6:06-22:28]

- The children of Foucault [22:29-38:11]

- The Said/Spivak Pivot [38:12-47:13]

- Strategic Essentialism [47:14-1:02:14]

- The Woman Question [1:02:15-1:09:50]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Big Tech VS Democracy (w/ Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami, & Jeremy Weinstein)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:04:12 GMT

We bring in the fall with a big conversation about big tech, with the authors of System Error: Stanford professors Rob Reich (expertise in: political science, philosophy, ethics, democracy, digital technology), Mehran Sahami (software engineering, in particular machine learning and AI, and VC funding), and Jeremy Weinstein (political science, government, social impact). We cover the systemic drivers in tech (VC-capital, utopianism, and the “optimization mindset”), bemoan the resulting decline in our democratic values, get into our classic “can politicians really be trusted to regulate this sh*t?” debate, enter into our novel “does any one care about privacy really” debate, and, of course, consider the moral implications of soylent. If you didn’t get enough after this conversation, you’re in luck – we have another tech-focused episode coming soon.

On the agenda:

- Riding the emotional rollercoaster of life [0:00-6:22]

- The Optimization Mindset [6:23-22:37]

- Utopianism [22:38-28:58]

- Systemic Drivers & the VC problem [28:59-40:31]

- Non-regulatory Solutions [40:32-46:56]

- Privacy: Who cares? [46:57-51:30]

- The great regulation debate [51:31-1:04:39]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Pros and Cons of 'Queer' (w/ Jamie Kirchick)

Adaam James Levin-Areddy — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 15:58:18 GMT

James (Jamie) Kirchick is an author, columnist for Tablet magazine, historian, podcaster, and staunch believer in/defender of liberal values — and he’ll speak up against any party/group currently trampling on them. He began his journalism career writing about domestic and foreign politics; his first book, The End of Europe focused on the rise of populism in the continent (paid subscribers — stay tuned for some bonus content on this topic!).

The first part of this conversation is all about Jamie’s second book, The Secret City, which explored the fascinating gay history of Washington D.C. and how the extreme homophobia of our country gave way, rather rapidly over the course of the 20th century, towards cultural acceptance and legal equality. The second half of this conversation we debate the pros and cons of the word “queer” and the “queer movement” — which Jamie discussed at length in his thought-provoking Liberties article “From Queer to Gay to Queer” (you can find a truncated version of his argument in his article for The Atlantic, “The Struggle for Gay Rights Is Over”).

If you want to hear the preamble that precipitated this conversation, check out our episode with Eli Lake about art and offense.

On the agenda:

[0:00-12:31] Introducing Jamie

[12:32-38:22] Our history of homophobia

[38:23-44:27] Male homosexuality vs. Female

[44:28-49:09] The success of gay civil rights

[49:10-56:10] Revising history and coercing expression

[56:11-1:00:24] Assimilation vs. radicalism

[1:00:25-1:16:42] The excesses of the Queer liberation movement

[1:16:43-1:27:38] On pronouns and terminology

[1:27:39-1:37:49] Social contagion, gender nonconformity, and kids

[1:37:50-1:45:04] Political scandal and revolution

[1:45:05-1:48:40] Blindspots

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

A Huge Outpouring of Human Misery (w/ Peter Turchin)

Uncertain Things — Sat, 08 Jul 2023 13:40:14 GMT

Scientist-turned-historian Peter Turchin returns! Peter first came on the pod a few months ago to discuss the famous prediction he made in 2010 that we were headed for crisis, circa 2020. Last time, we covered the controversy he’s stirred up within the historical discipline, the methodologies behind cliodynamics/his data-based predictions, and the drivers of social unrest (in particular, elite overproduction). This conversation — recorded on the heels of the publication of his new book End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration — we pick up where we left off. Peter explains it all: how do we prevent all-out civil war? What’s the most likely outcome if we keep on the path we’re currently on? And is he more of a Harry Seldon or a Leto II?

On the agenda:

-L’intro [0:00-3:30]

-A quick re-cap [3:30-7:29]

-Breaking the rules [7:30-15:04]

-Clearly in crisis [15:05-19:28]

-The British Empire circa 1848 (the Chartist Period) [19:29-26:57]

-A huge outpouring of human misery [26:58-33:46]

-Culture as a prerequisite for reform [33:47-40:57]

-The social psychology of the New Deal [40:58-45:22]

-A new generation of elites without a culture of reform [45:23-53:48]

-Designing a science of history [53:49-58:05]

-Charismatic Jesus Types [58:06-1:10:48]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Long Shadow of Complexity (w/ David Krakauer)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 13:28:02 GMT

David Krakauer is the President of the Santa Fe Institute — an academic institution that conscientiously bucks the overly-siloed and ideological bents of most universities these days. Krakauer is an evolutionary biologist who studies “the evolution of intelligence and stupidity on Earth.” He joined us on the pod for a wide-ranging conversation covering the history of complexity science, the inadequacies of the academe, the aesthetic “third way” between maximalism and minimalism, and the artifacts that make us smarter (like pianos) versus the ones that really don’t (GPS, for one).

On the agenda:

-Intro to David [0:00-03:24]

-The history of complexity science [03:25-12:36]

-The folly of disciplines [12:37-18:11]

-The limitations of language [18:12-31:11]

-Judgment vs. impact [31:12-37:05]

-Complexity as dialectical exercise [37:06-40:25]

-Complexity as the third aesthetic option [40:26-44:13]

-Why we need narrative [44:14-51:33]

-The problem(s) with the academy (i.e. the morgue of dead ideas) [51:34-1:04:19]

-SFI projects that disrupted institutional thinking [1:04:20-1:11:44]

-Machine learning and the drawbacks of supercomputing [1:11:45-1:16:34]

-Testing the limits of our cognitive understanding (complementary vs. competitive cognitive artifacts) [1:16:35-1:24:37]

-On curation, control, and complacency [1:24:38-1:34:29]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the Content Age (w/ William Deresiewicz)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 08 May 2023 20:41:18 GMT

William Deresiewicz — author of Excellent Sheep, The Death of the Artist, and The End of Solitude — has lived many lives. He’s been an orthodox Jewish boy who lost his faith; a journalism school student unimpressed by the pretensions of the profession; a literature professor who (blasphemously) loved books and teaching. Today, he’s an author, essayist, and nostalgic ex-New Yorker. No matter where he’s been in life, Deresiewicz has often been on the outside looking in, which is maybe why he’s able to see and analyze our culture so clearly. We start off this conversation diving into The Death of the Artist, and how the concept/role of the artist has evolved and changed throughout history; we then meander into a discussion on community, solitude, and cities; and conclude by diving into his two definitions of the word “culture,” while unpacking the techno-solutionism of America.

On the agenda:

-Phantasms, Batman, and Bill [0:00-6:00]

-The first paradigm - artist as artisan [6:01-17:04]

-The second paradigm - artist as bohemian [17:05-27:55]

-The third paradigm - artist as professional [27:56-33:40]

-To the fourth paradigm [33:41-39:41]

-Artist as producer vs. truth teller [39:42-57:53]

-Art and community [57:54-1:01:59]

-Solitude and cities [1:02:00-1:19:25]

-Culture vs culture [1:19:26-1:40:06]

Mentioned in this conversation:

-Washington Post’s Leonard Downie Jr. on moving beyond “objectivity”

-The Herd of Independent Minds

The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

San Francisco Burning (w/ Nellie Bowles)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 18:56:05 GMT

Nellie Bowles is one of the few journalists who lives and writes in the Venn diagram of both Adaam and Vanessa’s interests. For years she was the tech reporter for The New York Times and her epic 2022 piece on San Francisco’s decline for The Atlantic deservedly kicked up a lot of attention, including from your podcast hosts — for different reasons, of course. In 2021, she left “mainstream” media and started the independent media outlet The Free Press with her wife Bari Weiss (where she writes the TGIF newsletter). In this conversation we talk about SF (following up on our conversation with Vishaan Chakrabarti), tech culture, ideological capture, media mediocrity, and the joys (really) of parenthood.

On the agenda:

-Nellie, great writer, enthusiastic new parent [0:00-7:24]

-The s**t show that is San Francisco [7:25-17:56]

-Preserving painted ladies vs. laundromats [17:57-29:18]

-The saga of Chesa Boudin [29:19-44:15]

-Covering tech’s heart, mind, and scams [44:16-1:09:19]

-Wrapping Up and Being Kind [1:09:20-1:13:52]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Doom of the Public (LIVE w/ Niall Ferguson & Martin Gurri)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 21:30:30 GMT

Behold! The recording of our first ever live event! We were graced by the thoughts, arguments, and non-English accents of Niall Ferguson — economic historian, fellow at Stanford, and author of many books, including Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe — and Martin Gurri — a former media analyst for the CIA and author of The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium (a.k.a the Uncertain Things bible). We dug into all manner of apocalyptica: the collapse of our media institutions (so long credibility), the increasing tensions with China (hello Cold War II), and the despair that has engulfed our minds. Plus, we learn the answer to all our woes: Thomas Hardy.

On the agenda:

-Great Debate, Real Humans, and Computer Failure [0:00-7:53]

-Vietnam War vs. Today [7:54-20:56]

-Trump Derangement Syndrome [20:57-27:54]

-Cold War II in the Internet Age [27:55-44:07]

-If Our Cold War Turns Hot [44:08-49:09]

-Pathologies, Ideologies, and Despair [49:10-58:58]

-Crisis of American Education [58:59-1:02:20]

-What Keeps Our Guests Up at Night [1:02:21-1:06:33]

-The tradeoffs of Cold War II [!;06:34-1:11:19]

-Peak humanity [1:11:20-1:14:55]

-Ukraine/Taiwan Scenarios [1:14:56-1:16:19]

-Human Agency and Thomas Hardy [1:16:20-1:19:21]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Special thanks to Niall, Martin, and Connor Lynch for making this event possible.

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/turatti/6726041123

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Be My Guru (w/ Helen Lewis)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 03:55:40 GMT

Journalist Helen Lewis spent much of last year knee-deep in gurus — the Steve Jobs, Russell Brands, and Jordan Petersons who captivate (and capture) audiences with their spiritual aura and (increasingly) podcasts — while reporting The New Gurus. She postulates that they derive their popularity, in part, to the decline of religion in our societies, a topic she explored in her reporting for The Church of Social Justice and The Roots of Woke Culture. In this convo, we cover religion, gurus, genius, feminism, and her infamous interview with Jordan Peterson.

Find more of Helen's work at The Atlantic or on her Substack.

Check out our ‘Inscrutable’ blog and ‘Uncertainty’ newsletter for thoughts and rants. To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-The first Uncertain Things event! [0:00-3:21]

-Setting up Helen [03:22-6:50]

-The decline of religion [06:51-20:38]

-Words, names, and language [20:39-29:26]

-The Joe Rogan test [29:27-43:23]

-Gurus, genius, and the content economy [43:24-51:33]

-Journalists, human-sized narratives, and strong men [51:34-1:09:32]

-How to Interview Jordan Peterson(s) [1:09:33]

-Religion replacements [1:22:04-1:26:36]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The City and the Citadel (w/ Michael Kimmelman)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 12:03:00 GMT

Vanessa has admired the New York Times’ architecture critic Michael Kimmelman ever since she was a starry-eyed youngster starting her urban journalism career. Now that his latest book The Intimate City is out, it was the perfect excuse to have him on the show. She and Adaam ask Michael what it was like at the Times in the late ‘80s when he started out, continue the conversation they started with Vishaan Chakrabarti about Progressives’ urban failings, discuss the non-profit journalism division that he helped spawn, and contemplate the importance of time when it comes to making (and appreciating) great cities.

On the agenda:

-Criticism, Community, and other Pet Topics [0:00-10:05]

-The New York Times, from Shabby Palace to Citadel [10:06-26:12]

-Anacostia, the High Line, and Gentrification [26:13-36:07]

-What’s Community (and Preservation) Anyway? [36:08-47:56]

-A Culture of Fear of Change [47:57-56:20]

-The Role of the Critic [56:21-1:09:59]

-The Pragmatism of Houston [1:10:00-1:18:51]

-Walking Through the City [1:18:52-1:23:50]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Fragments of Meaning

Adaam James Levin-Areddy — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 14:30:00 GMT

The Personal, The Political, and The Urban. Adaam and Vanessa discuss the episodes from the year that stuck with them most — and reflect on the unexpected ways these conversations are thematically linked together.

With Mark Lilla, they continued mulling on the questions they began considering back in season one with Tom Holland and Tomer Persico — i.e. where do we derive morality in a post-religious age? What are the socio-cultural and religious undercurrents that can help explain our current malaise? Perhaps most pointedly, “how much morality is enough?” And to what extent should we disentangle the political from the personal (at this point, Adaam — with an assist from his mother — brings Christopher Hitchens into the conversation.)

They then revisit their conversation with Yascha Mounk, in which Adaam and Yascha debated the extent to which oppression gives groups meaning — and, thus, the extent to which liberal democracy (as much as we love it) can actually undermine group cohesion. Adaam and Vanessa also reflect on diversity and nationalism, and their (inverse?) relationships to democracy.

From the rise of fervent nationalists, they veer into a conversation about apathetic urbanites — and revisit their interview with Vishaan Chakrabarti. They reflect on Americans’ seeming inability to demand better urbanism, and ask: will we ever get the locally-rich cities we need?

They close with a quick reflection on their varied, lively conversation with Christene Rosen, in which we (ironically enough) weaved the political with the personal (what can we say, internal consistency is just not one of our values - #cognitivedissonance).

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out these great episodes:

-Philosopher Mark Lilla

-Urbanist Vishaan Chakrabarti

-Political Theorist Yascha Mounk

-Commentator Christene Rosen

On the agenda:

-[0:00-8:15] End of year preamble and predictions

-[8:16-14:16] Musing on Mark Lilla

-[14:17-21:56] Must the personal always be political?

-[21:57-32:17] Noodling on Yascha Mounk

-[32:18-37:29] Considering Vishaan Chakrabarti

-[37:30-41:12] Christene Rosen reflections and our year-end conclusions

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

What We Secretly Want (w/ Robin Hanson)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 15:13:18 GMT

Robin Hanson is an economics professor who kept running across conundrums of human behavior in his research. Why do we spend so much of our GDP on medicine — even when studies show that more medicine does not lead to better health outcomes? Why have we spent years perfecting methods of instruction — yet educational institutions keep resisting the very reforms that would help us learn better? Along with his colleague, Kevin Simler, Hanson went to evolutionary biology to find a theory that helps explain all the contradictions, which he describes in their book The Elephant in the Brain. In this conversation, we dive deep into his findings and dwell in the not-so-flattering corners of human psychology.

On the agenda:

* Clothing Emperors, Dropping Schmeckles [0:00-12:52]

* Inefficient Evolution, Inspirational Speakers [12:53-20:04]

* Medicine: WTF? Part 1 [20:05-31:44]

* Evolutionary Psychology, Motives, and Norms [31:45-45:46]

* Medicine: WTF? Part 2 [45:47-50:39]

* Marriage, Parenting, and Education [50:40-56:56]

* Institutions and Mobs [56:57-1:04:17]

* Comedic Statutes of Limitations [1:04:18-1:12:54]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Art of Being Offended (w/ Eli Lake)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 19:01:00 GMT

Eli Lake — host of The Re-Education Podcast, contributing editor to Commentary, and columnist for the New York Sun — is a Neo-Conservative, Neither-Trumper as comfortable talking about the FBI as the musical genius of Ye. Eli was game to debate ideas, have his opinions challenged, and cover a wide-range of topics — from the Israeli elections and American midterms, to the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of artist’s political opinions, to the merits of Love in the Time of Cholera, to the importance of letting cultural norms settle over time.

On the agenda:

-Israel's Red Wave - What is it and why is it here? [05:39-27:25]

-The Genius and Folly of Ye [27:26-46:14]

-The Moral Dimension of Art [46:15-50:39]

-KANtreversYE [53:04-1:04:32]

-Short-Circuiting Norms and Influencing Elections [1:04:33-1:13:29]

-On being offended and partisan soul-searching [1:13:30-1:21:32]

-Ode to Robert Caro [1:21:33-1:23:55]

-On Neo-Conservatives and the FBI [1:23:56-1:31:07]

-Blindspots & talking about sexuality [1:31:08-[1:39:30]

-Midterms Post-Script [1:39:31-1:53:55]

Go deeper:

-Bibi’s Back, Baby (Dispatch)

-Red Wave Over Israel (Re-Education)

-In for a Kanye. In for a Pound.(Re-Education)

-The Feminist Critique (Re-Education)

Artwork by Kasiq Fashion.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Partisan Poison (w/ Andrew Heaton)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 16:26:11 GMT

Andrew Heaton, host of The Political Orphanage and our favorite “tepid grab bag” of political punditry, returns to the pod to help us understand the big issues at stake before the midterm elections: abortion, inflation, and culture war stuff. Along the way, Heaton explains why having sex on the hood of a car isn’t always a good idea, why dating in our era of partisan politics is exhausting, and why we need electoral reforms (like rank choice voting and multi-party systems) to save us from ourselves.

On the agenda:

-Heaton and housekeeping [00:00-7:35]

-The arts of engaging celebrities and podcasting [7:36-14:07]

-Tribalism Games [14:08-25:13]

-Two party vs. Multi-party systems [25:14-38:03]

-Punditry part 1A: Abortion and Inflation [38:04-48:19]

-A tangent on expertise and authority [48:20-58:16]

-Punditry part 1B: Abortion, continued [58:17-1:09:25]

-Punditry part 2: Partisanship and Ron DeSantis [1:09:26-1:21:14]

Go deeper:

-Adaam’s newsletter about why everything feels so broken

-Andrew’s Uncertain Things debut

-Adaam on The Political Orphanage: cognitive dissonance FTW

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Coming Collapse (w/ Peter Turchin)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 14:48:50 GMT

Scientist-turned-historian Peter Turchin is best known for a dire prediction he made in 2010: we were headed for serious unrest, circa 2020. Peter came to this (as-so-happened) accurate prediction by treating the soft science of history like a hard one — what he calls cliodynamics. He and his team quantified indicators of social unrest in previous historical periods, generating a database of information, and then created a structural-dynamic model that could determine the biggest drivers of social violence and societal collapse. Peter, who’s currently serving as the Project Leader at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, talks to us about his approach to history, the factors that are most responsible for our current period of unrest, and the actions that could, just maybe, divert us from Civil War II.

On the agenda:

-Peter pre-amble and Vishaan post-script (0:00-7:01)

-How cliodynamics work? (07:02-17:21)

-Quantifying instability, locating gaps, and making predictions (17:22-28:33

-The state of our present-day empire (28:34-38:28)

-The trouble with too many elites (38:29-51:34)

-How to stop an unfolding trainwreck (51:35-1:02:44)

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

How Progressives Ruin Cities (w/ Vishaan Chakrabarti)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 15:16:08 GMT

Urbanist, architect, and professor Vishaan Chakrabarti joins us to explain how the f*** cities got so expensive — and, while we’re at it, ugly. Vishaan is both a doer and a thinker — he’s the founder and creative director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism as well as a writer of books, talker of TEDs, and a collaborator of journalists (see: "Not Your Car"). In this conversation, we dig into the affordability crisis, why Progressives keep running cities into the ground, and what we need to do to have better cities — and lives.

Check out our ‘Inscrutable’ newsletter for thoughts and rants. To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Prelude [0:00-7:05]

-The Uncertainty Newsletter! [7:06-8:29]

-A History of Housing: The Arms Race and Race [8:30-22:27]

-Bubblegum, shoestring, and vicious circles [22:28-27:31]

-The many ramifications of Reagan [27:32-34:28]

-When cities became safe and sexy [34:29-43:48]

-Progressive cities' misguided policies [43:49-47:49]

-The absurdity and cruelty of San Francisco (see: Nellie Bowles’ “How SF Became a Failed City”) [47:50-52:53]

-The aftermath of Jane Jacobs [52:54-1:00:40]

-Community engagement conundrums [1:00:41-1:11:48]

-On gentrification, cars, and future urbanites [1:11:49-1:20:37]

-The national vs. the urbanist conversation [1:20:38-1:26:14]

-NYC vs. SF [1:26:15-1:36:01]

-Why are cities so depressing? [1:36:02-1:44:34]

-Blindspots [1:44:35-1:47:22]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Don't Blame Israel on the Jews (w/ Walter Russell Mead)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 14:51:04 GMT

Foreign policy expert Walter Russell Mead’s new book — The Arc of a Covenant — kept Adaam up at night with its unique insight into the American-Israel relationship and its gripping historical anecdotes (Stalin! Truman! Roosevelt, oh my!). In this conversation, we investigate the culpability of “THE JEWS,” explore why gentiles catalyzed the creation a Jewish nation-state, discuss the ways anti-Semites keep accidentally helping Israel, and break down the specter of Orientalism that keeps haunting American foreign policy. Plus, we get into the Iran deal and some good old-fashioned geo-politics, by way of a Matt Yglesias tweet.

On the agenda:

-Debunking the Israel myth [7:57-15:00]

-Antisemitism: long-rooted and occasionally helpful [15:01-29:44]

-Orientalism [29:45-36:16]

-Shaping the world in America's image [36:17-49:58]

-The Cold War, Stalin, and Truman (or The Randomness of History) [49:59-1:07:28]

-The history of the craziest, most practical, idea [1:07:29-1:15:57]

-Matt Yglesias, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and geopolitics today [1:15:58-1:26:49]

-Liberal Democracy: Nothing's set in stone [1:26:50-1:29:47]

Follow WRM at @WRMead.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Panic Porn and Trauma Creep (w/ Christine Rosen)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 14:48:15 GMT

Christine Rosen is the best kind of opinion writer — one we love to disagree with. Senior fellow at AEI, senior writer at Commentary magazine, and co-host of the Commentary podcast, Christine joined us for a conversation ostensibly about trauma, a word/concept that is proliferating in art and life (and getting dangerously diluted in the process). However, this fun conversation sprawled over much contentious ground: history in public discourse, eugenics, human nature, the doomsaying of liberal media, the arrested development of conservative media, Mar-a-Lago, and the mutually assured destruction of marriage.

On the agenda:

-On history, humility, and human nature [4:45-12:56]

-The Atlantic, panic porn, and conservative media [12:57-34:15]

-Mar a Lago raid and our eroding trust [34:16-40:52]

-Defining trauma down [40:53-1:11:12]

-Losing the trauma plot [1:11:13-1:21:16]

-On marriage, kids, and mutually assured destruction [1:21:17-1:30:18]

-Blindspots [1:30:19-1:32:12]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Right’s Identity Crisis (w/ Matt Continetti)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 15:21:09 GMT

In his latest book, Matthew Continetti — the right’s pre-eminent intellectual historian — traces the rich history of America’s 20th century conservative moment. In this conversation, we don’t dive into the details of history itself (for that, pick up a copy of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism), but rather discuss the origins and repercussions of some of the right’s more unsettling trends — from post-liberalism to populism to religious authoritarianism. As is our wont, we debate, disagree, and dunk on Biden, too.

On the agenda:

-Analyzing the Right from the Right [0:00-7:26]

-The Post-Liberals of the New Right [7:27-18:38]

-Culture vs. Capitalism [18:39-32:46]

-Rediscovering The American-ness of Conservatism [32:47-42:06]

-Turning back the clock, but to when? [42:07-45:31]

-Discussing Dobbs v. Jackson [45:32-52:11]

-The Monster Within [52:12-1:05:49]

-Blindspots on the Left & Right [1:05:50-1:07:34]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Veneer of Legitimacy

Uncertain Things — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 11:03:00 GMT

The yin to David French’s yang, lawyer Kreesa Lancaster gives us her perspective on how and why the Supreme Court came to the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. Along the way, Kreesa breaks down the legalese, explaining such terms as substantive due process, stare decisis, and strict constructionism / originalism, for good measure. But we also discuss why all the legal wonkery can be a distraction from what’s really at play here — and what Americans need to be paying attention to.

On the agenda:

-Why we’re having this conversation now [0:00-4:07}

-On leaks and legal disclaimers [4:08-7:09]

-Substantive due process. What the f**k? [7:10-11:03]

-Privacy: an unenumerated right [11:04-14:28]

-Understanding originalism / strict constructionism [14:29-25:24]

-Stare decisis and Roe’s impact [25:25-30:43]

-Silver (or grayish?) linings [30:44-36:06]

-Dissecting Dobbs v. Jackson [36:07-38:57]

-The Supreme Court's five-prong test [38:58-50:29]

-The veneer of legitimacy [50:30-1:01:43]

-In Alito's shoes [1:01:44-1:09:50]

-Deciding to come on the podcast [1:09:51-1:13:26]

-What Dobbs means in practice [1:13:27-1:25:46]

-Creating a culture of choice [1:25:47-1:41:35]

-Other rulings in peril [1:41:36-1:50:02]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

America, The Lonely (w/ David French)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 10:00:00 GMT

David French, conservative thinker, podcaster, and author of Divided We Fall, returns to the pod to talk about friendship, or the lack thereof, and why Americans are so goddamn lonely. David unpacks the link between loneliness and the rise of radical and authoritarian groups, and we ponder why Americans just don’t seem to prioritize friendship and connection (including in the built environment — bars that blare music, we’re looking at you). Stick to the end, and listen as we put our cross-partisan friendship to the test, throwing David some soft balls on topics as warm and fuzzzy as guns and abortion.

On the agenda:

- Vanessa’s baaaaaccckk [0:00-4:54]

- The rise of factional friendship [4:55-14:16]

- Friendship infrastructure [14:17-32:33]

- Accountability & social cohesion [32:34-41:15]

- Gendered approaches to intimacy [41:16-48:41]

- The ways we wall ourselves off [48:42-53:11]

- Polarizing topic: Abortion [53:12-1:19:11]

- Polarizing topic: Guns [1:19:12-1:27:49]

- Friendships Lost [1:27:50-1:31:00]

- Blindspots [1:31:01-1:32:51]

Reading list:

* Divided We Fall (duh!)

* Bowling Alone (Robert Putnam)

* Alienated America (Timothy P. Carney)

* The Great Experiment (Yascha Mounk)

Fourth of July bonus:

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Between Comedy and Pissing People Off (w/ Andrew Heaton)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 20:59:53 GMT

Back from a delicious month-long detachment from the news cycle, Adaam sits down with political vagabond and comedian Andrew Heaton, host of The Political Orphanage podcast, to relearn how to do audio rambling. In a more light-hearted discussion than normal (still need to warm up!), we talk the subtle art of political comedy, the glory (and pains) of arguing, and the implacable hardships of having a euphonious voice like Andrew’s.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our ‘Inscrutable’ newsletter for thoughts and rants. To support us and gain access to exclusive content, consider becoming a paid member of Uncertain on Substack. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-The fundamentals of Uncertain Things

-Marriage, an atavism

-The guy who may own a blimp

-Drawing the line between stand up and shouting at each other

-Having debates like a human

-Something about the Jews

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

You Are Not Your Ideas (w/ Angel Eduardo)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 09 May 2022 20:29:50 GMT

Angel Eduardo, author and co-host of the Fair Perspectives podcast, insists that we can rise above this polarized moment and have real – difficult but vitriol-free – debates with each other. Steelmaning is for beginners. We’re talking starmanning! How to do that is what we try to figure on this episode. Adaam and Angel argue about the merits of compassion versus cognitive dissonance and how best to make people more comfortable about being wrong. Meanwhile, Vanessa worries that too much open-mindedness could lead to inaction – or even apathy. She also gets a good laugh from Angel’s diatribe about the word LatinX.

On the agenda:

-Seeing through the Matrix

-Compassion and humility or just cognitive dissonance?

-Censorship is in the air and the Harper’s Letter

-The art of being wrong (or: it’s ok to fight… verbally)

-Who’s this ‘We’ we keep talking about?

-Engineering language and Stalin’s hyphenation fascination

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Diversity Isn’t Destiny (w/ Yascha Mounk)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 15:12:32 GMT

We’ve been wanting to have political theorist, writer, and podcaster Yascha Mounk on the show for a while now, and the wait was so worth it: his new book, The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure, is not only timely, it’s quite Uncertain Thingsy. He explains the three main ways that diverse democracies fall apart — and to what extent the U.S. is already under their influence. Plus, we dunk on elites, bemoan our political status quo, and ask: could oppression be good for us?

On the agenda:

- Intro to Yascha [0:00-9:56]

- Shout out to IRL pod encounters [9:57-11:38]

- Humans: Naturally predisposed to difference [11:39-25:50]

- How to Make Diverse Democracies Work [25:51-33:12]

- The Problem of Fragmentation [33:13-45:29]

- The Danger of Elites [45:30-54:30]

- The Gerrymandering Arms Race [54:31-1:01:51]

- The Secret Sauce of Oppression [1:01:52-1:19:41]

- On Patriotism & Blindspots [1:19:42-1:25:18]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

NOT CANCELED (w/ Meghan Daum)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 19:41:21 GMT

When writer and podcaster Meghan Daum released her book The Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars in 2019, she didn’t get canceled, per se. But its reception among her liberal friends was… frosty. Readers charged that Meghan had been captured by the IDW; reviewers painted her as out of touch; event organizers sent nary an email. Meghan has since made a new media home for herself, interviewing people and broaching topics on her “Unspeakable” podcast. Her fellow “heterodox” listeners love her for it. And we loved chatting with Meghan about some of her (and our!) favorite topics: what the left and right won’t talk about, feminism, book clubs, podcasts, humor, self-censorship, and more.

On the agenda:

-Feminism and the problem with everything [7:25-14:44]

-Victim narratives and the “injustice” of biology [14:45-24:12]

-“The most miserable writing experience of my life” [24:13-31:17]

-Not canceled [31:18-39:07]

-Unspeakable topics [39:08-43:57]

-What the left and right control [43:58-48:40]

-Media Divides [48:41-53:19]

-Closing ranks around ideologies [53:20-59:46]

-Loneliness, book clubs, and the women of the IDW [59:47-1:12:40]

-A tangent on peace privilege [1:12:41-1:16:03]

-Meghan’s journey into the heterodox universe [1:16:04-1:25:51]

-Funny in the backchannels [1:25:52-1:34:15]

-Blindspots. Stereotypes, and self-censorship [1:34:16-1:42:10]

-Heterodoxy 2.0 [1:42:11-1:45:50]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

What History Reveals — and Hides (w/ Jody Avirgan, Kellie Carter Jackson, and Nicole Hemmer)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 00:03:04 GMT

After covering the 2016 elections, podcaster and journalist Jody Avirgan (FiveThirtyEight, 30 for 30) was tired. Damn tired. Of the news cycle, the click bait, the politics. He felt pulled to history as a way of making sense of the present in a more complex, thoughtful way — and so he reached out to Nicole Hemmer, a historian who studies right wing media and occasional opinion writer/cable. The two created the podcast “This Esoteric Day in History,” and eventually recruited Kellie Carter Jackson, a historian who studies the abolitionist era and the theme of violence, to round out their trio. We invited all three on the pod (an Uncertain Things record) to dig into the upsides of bringing history into public discourse, the perils of pushing historians onto social media, and the possibility that podcasts could save us all.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreon for behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Three journos and two historians walk into a pod [0:00-9:35]

-How the podcast came to be [9:36 -12:05]

-Intellectual first responders [12:06 - 18:56]

-Progress isn’t Inevitable [18:57-22:44]

-How progressives and conservatives use history [22:45-29:59]

-Out of the ivory tower, into the tweet storms [30:00-52:04]

-Media: making the world worse, every day (podcasts exempted) [52:05-1:00:35]

-The CRT Monkey’s paw [1:00:36-1:05:16]

-An honest conversation about violence [1:05:17-1:24:00]

-On democracy and our fundamental values [1:24:01-1:34:47]

By the way… We, Jody, Kellie, Nicole, and a bunch of other podcasters have joined the Pro-Democracy Podcast Coalition, in partnership with a nonpartisan organization called RepresentUs, to raise awareness and preserve, bolster, and protect democracy. Get informed and get active at represent.us/podcast

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Free Speech Recession (w/ Jacob Mchangama)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 19:11:18 GMT

Jacob Mchangama — author of Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media, lawyer, and founder and director of the Copenhagen-based think tank Justitia — has uncovered an unfortunate, though not too surprising, historical pattern, across cultures and societies: the second we feel under threat in a society, free speech (that supposedly sacrosanct value) goes swiftly by the wayside. In this conversation, Jacob takes us back in time and traces the history of free speech all the way from Ancient Greece to the EU’s recent banning of Russian propaganda — and we unpack a whole lot of hypocrisy along the way.

On the agenda:

-Adaam’s big mistake [0:00-7:44]

-Self-censorship and its consequences [7:45-14:51]

-The pro-democracy podcast coalition [14:52-20:15]

-On cartoons and Milton’s curse [20:16-25:13]

-Free speech through the ages: Greece & Rome [25:14-37:51]

-Free speech through the ages: the Middle Ages [37:52-44:18]

-Free speech through the ages: from Reformation to Revolution (stopping on Spinoza along the way) [44:19-55:47]

-American culture vs. American law [55:48-1:09:21]

-A golden age or a free speech recession? [1:09:22-1:13:26]

-Banning Russian propaganda [1:13:27-1:22:22]

-Liberal democracy: why does it matter? [1:22:23-1:29:30]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Surrender to the Illusion (w/ Daniel Roy)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 18:06:12 GMT

After studying neurobiology in college, Daniel Roy became a professional sleight-of-hand artist slash YouTube magician. He joined us to explore how illusionists exploit our innate psychological and social tendencies in order to make us unwillingly suspend our disbelief. In this in-person conversation, we dive into the topics of misdirection, deception, and illusion — and the ways they resonate with politics, tech, and media today. But it wasn’t all intellectual debate: Daniel also graced us with some real life magic, which you can visually enjoy on our YouTube page.

On the agenda:

-Getting seriously into magic [5:20-14:12]

-Inattentional blindness and the illusion of impossibility [14:13- 27:21]

-The magician as social manipulator [27:22-40:56]

-When mistakes (and hecklers) happen [40:57-47:10]

-The conflict of psychological surrender [47:11-54:44]

-Attention capture and the media parallel [54:45-1:05:38]

-Magic in the YouTube era [1:05:39-1:24:01]

-The mental and ethical challenges of magic [1:24:02-1:53:33]

-An audio magic trick! [1:55:29-2:15:31]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

How Much Morality Is Too Much? (w/ Mark Lilla)

Uncertain Things — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 20:28:32 GMT

Author and political philosophy professor Mark Lilla joined us to debate morality (what makes something good, and how much of it is enough?), innocence vs. ignorance, reactionary passions and nostalgia, the importance of maintaining a private sphere of moral inquiry, and the psychoses of current American politics. We usually ask our “blindspots” question at the end. This time, it captured the entire talk.

On the agenda:

-Wisely choosing Vico [5:06-6:49]

-Losing faith, gaining skepticism, and seeking the goodness of knowledge [6:50-7:56]

-Ignorance and bliss [11:59-17:32]

-The pros and cons of American populism and dogmatism [17:33-29:12]

-How much morality is enough? [29:13-30:06]

-Why our government's so dysfunctional [30:07-37:58]

-Elitism and activism in the academe [37:59-46:09]

-The productive anxieties of American life [46:10-49:36]

-The nostalgia party of the right [49:37-1:01:39]

-The unserious, crusading left [1:01:40-1:10:54]

-The case for indifference [1:10:55-1:15:24]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

America's Sadness Problem (w/ Helen Russell)

Uncertain Things — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 21:12:43 GMT

You’d think author and speaker Helen Russell — whose professional obsession for the past few years has been happiness — would be loathe to discuss the topic of sadness. Au contraire. As she’s learned more about what it takes to be happy, she’s discovered it relies on perfecting the lost (at least in America) art of being sad. We talk with Helen about her book How to be Sad, discuss why American culture is particularly bad at embracing melancholy, and discover what we could all learn from those strapping Danes.

On the agenda:

-Making Space for Sadness, in all its flavors [3:51-9:14]

-Cross-Cultural Comparisons [9:15-12:54]

-Gender and the emotions we're allowed to access [12:55-17:54]

-The emotional burden of an artless life [17:55-23:48]

-Our atrophied social connections [23:49-29:24]

-Inequality, addiction, and social media [29:25-36:54]

-Raising kids and deciding to have them in the first place [36:55-44:21]

-Sadness taboos and rituals [44:22-48:33]

-Diagnosing Brexit (and other dark times) [48:34-53:58]

-Sadness Post-Script [54:28-1:24:32]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Hooked on Dead Jews (w/ Dara Horn)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 19:42:28 GMT

People Love Dead Jews. That's the title of novelist and literary scholar Dara Horn's provocative book, which explores the ways in which non-Jewish societies exploit Jewish histories and atrocities to "flatter" themselves and erase Jewish realities. In an episode filled with more ghoulish humor than usual, we follow Dara’s journey of uncovering a troubling (and often truly absurd) history. We also can’t help ourselves and go meta: not only raking on the media (as we’re wont to do) but also nerding out about the difference between Jewish and Western literary narratives.

On the agenda:

-Memorializing dead Jews, erasing living Jews [9:44-26:35]

-Why does empathy require similarity? [26:36-30:33]

-Jews disrupting historical narratives [30:34-34:54]

-Anti-semitism, assimilation, and Jewish agents of erasure [34:55-42:38]

-"I spent 20 years not writing this book" [42:39-49:29]

-How I'm Supposed to Respond to Anti-Semitism [49:30-53:23]

-Victim Blaming to Feel Good [53:24-58:46]

-Holocaust museums have failed [58:47- 1:05:56]

-What Readers Want (Resolution not Ambiguity) [1:05:57-1:20:00]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Media's Psychotic Break (w/ Matt Taibbi)

Uncertain Things — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 01:47:25 GMT

Matt Taibbi thrives on the absurd. He used to revel in journalism's culture: caustic, independent, collaborative, and adversarial to those in power. Now, the former Rolling Stone writer and author of Hate Inc. sees little to love in the toxic, "credentialist" media world. We discuss Matt's transition to Substack (the future!), the psychotic break Trump inspired in "mainstream" media, and the future of our broken industry.

On the agenda:

-Journalism cultures, past and present* [3:38-20:22]

-Protest subscriptions, absurdism, and economic anxiety [20:33-37:14]

-Gerrymandering hate and victimhood [37:15-45:39]

-The pernicious chaos of totalitarianism [45:40-50:01]

-A Trump-induced psychotic break [50:02-1:01:54]

-Tech troubles [1:01:55-1:05:35]

-What's Next for Media? [1:05:36-1:09:05]

-The Blindspots Q [1:09:06-1:14:25]

For more media musings…

…check out our conversations with Batya Ungar-Sargon, Nancy Rommelmann, Matt Welch, and Katie Herzog.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Chillin' With the Philosophers (w/ Anthony Gottlieb)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 17:31:44 GMT

Anthony Gottlieb is a historian of ideas, the former executive editor of The Economist, the author of The Dream of Reason and The Dream of Enlightenment, and the George R.R. Martin of the history of philosophy. He tells us why he kept a poster of Wittgenstein in his dorm, how journalism forced him to unlearn the bad prose of academia, what is the quality that defines a successful philosopher, and why he thinks the liberal foundations of the West remain firm (Adaam is less certain).

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Check out our Patreonfor behind-the-pod updates. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Coming up at the Economist [3:55-10:00]

-Bertrand Russell, boyhood idol [10:01 - 15:34]

-On Hume and Religion [15:35 - 21:24]

-Philosophizing in Uncertain Times [21:25 - 28:21]

-The Power of Charisma [28:22 - 39:10]

-Wrestling with Wittgenstein [39:11- 44:12]

-The Enlightenment Project's Legacy [44:13 - 56:16]

-On Skepticism, Self-Awareness, and Philosophy Today [56:17 - 1:04:26]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Escaping the Content Machine (w/ Lindsay Ellis)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 16:14:53 GMT

Film critic, YouTube influencer, and sci-fi author Lindsay Ellis joins us to talk about her new novel and the complexities of human-alien relationships. But, in typical Uncertain Things fashion, we couldn't help but ask Lindsay about the f*ed up nature of today's social media landscape — one that cripples artists and rewards very bad behavior indeed. Plus, Lindsay gives us her guide for distinguishing between good and bad faith criticism, diagnoses Hollywood's TV problem, and hints that the future is books.

On the agenda:

-Aliens vs. transhumanism [06:33-11:10]

-Dealing with bad faith critics [11:11-19:04]

-The algorithm effect [19:05-22:51]

-The artist/audience disconnect [22:52-28:11]

-Hollywood's TV problem [28:12-30:35]

-Scarred by the content machine [30:36-35:07]

Check out Lindsay’s novels Axiom’s End and Truth of the Divine. And as promised, here’s Lindsay’s take on Mel Brooks and satire and The Beauty and the Beast remake.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

We're Addicted to Destruction (w/ Nancy Rommelmann)

Uncertain Things — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 21:52:41 GMT

Nancy Rommelmann is a fiery (but mostly peaceful) writer and reporter. She’s also the co-founder (along with Matt Welch) of Paloma Media — a home for "the growing number of misfit creators who no longer fit neatly in our cramped categories of media, politics, and culture." Nancy made the trek to Queens for an in-person (!) conversation where she shared her journalism war stories, her ire about Donald MacNeill, Jr., and her musings on beauty as a commodity.

On the agenda:

-Intro to Nancy [00:00 - 4:00]

-Our anti-natalist debate w/ Jacob Siegel, to be continued [4:01 - 6:00]

-Settling in [6:01-16:27]

-Deconstructing Portland [16:28 - 35:40]

-The NYT vs. The Donalds [35:41 - 1:02:06]

-Creating Things in the Chaos [1:02:05 - 1:11:14]

-The Beauty Blindspot [1:11:15 - 1:32:09]

-Blindspots on the Left & Right [1:32:10 - 1:39:24]

-People Will Surprise You [1:39:25 - 1:44:17]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Genes, Germs, & Justice (w/ Nicholas Christakis)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 22:40:05 GMT

We live in a society enamored with divisions, but Nicholas Christakis lives by the outlandish idea that humans are fundamentally similar — and has devoted much of his career to uncovering the universals of social experience. (He's a lumper, not a splitter.) The Yale professor and author of many books — including Blueprint and Apollo's Arrow — unpacks his fascinating findings in evolutionary biology, describes the price we pay for the spread of ideas (namely, germs), and reflects on that now infamous moment on the Yale quad six years ago.

On the agenda:

-The asymmetry of celebrity [5:46-13:41]

-The perception and reality of inequality [13:42-23:24]

-Against the ascendant emphasis of difference [23:25-43:21]

-Lumpers and splitters [43:22-49:50]

-The social suite: How genes shaped our societies [49:51-1:07:10]

-Why utopias and other intentional communities fail [1:07:11-1:14:16]

-Prestige hierarchy and teaching [1:14:17-1:18:24]

-Reflecting on the Yale incident, six years later [1:18:25-1:31:03]

-On Covid (the price we pay for the spread of ideas) [1:31:04-1:37:42]

-Distrusting institutions [1:37:43-1:45:26]

-Blindspots on the left and the right [1:45:27-1:49:22]

-Bonus: Can culture change our genes? (On exophenotypes) [1:49:39-2:01:35]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Escaping the Gospel of Guilt (w/ Jacob Siegel)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 16:24:49 GMT

Tablet Magazine senior writer and irresistible baritone Jacob Siegel finds it impossible to be in America and write about America. He gave up on New York, his former haven, and moved to the provinces of the Empire (namely, Israel). What changed? We talk about fancy buzzwords — from gentrification to critical race theory — and how they all played a role in his disillusionment. Adaam and Jake also fly into a tangent argument about parenthood, child-rearing, and anti-natalism. Oh, yeah, and Afghanistan. Plenty of gloom and existential angst to go around.

On the agenda:

-Why not have kids? (Intro)

-Why have kids? (Jake’s argument)

-The ubiquitous Brooklyn

-Guilt, race, and elementary schools

-Who does CRT benefit?

-Goodbye, Afghanistan

-Hello, bad media

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

F*ck Zeus (w/ Tomer Persico)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 05:26:29 GMT

In honor of our one year anniversary, our first ever guest, religious scholar Tomer Persico, returns to the pod for another intellectually and spiritually satisfying conversation — this time IRL. (Check out our original convo first if you haven't already). This time Tomer, author of Man in God’s Image, dives right into the ancient concept of the self, jumps to the creation of interiority/individuality, expounds on the isolation of America, and comes for a landing on the old, new, and ugly of Israeli politics.

On the agenda:

-Happy anniversary, us! (Adaam’s Ishiguro essay)

-Two Jews. One mic.

-Recap: The Image of God

-The birth of the inner world

-But, science! (My physics friend dissents)

-Bye bye, Empire

-Loneliness and totalitarianism

-So what did I miss (in Israel)?

-The flattening of our politics

-Arthur Koestler

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

EXTRA: The Journey to Jaded (w/ Adaam and Vanessa)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 20:11:51 GMT

The tables are turned! Kyle Huber of the Adventure Creator Podcast interviews your jaded journo hosts, Adaam and Vanessa, to learn more about our backgrounds, the origins of Uncertain Things, and to pick our brains on (what else) the fall of liberal democracy. Enjoy and, if you want to hear more creatives talking about their passion projects, subscribe to the Adventure Creator Podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Vanessa's back story [7:22]

-Adaam's back story [15:55]

-The Uncertain Things story [27:01]

-The issues with media & media consumption [33:40]

-Liberal democracy: why it matters, what's at stake [53:13]

-Blindspots on the left, blindspots on the right [1:05:19]

-On Covid, freedom, and human connection [1:10:38]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Why Hollywood Sucks (w/ Rob Long)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 23:25:08 GMT

Vertigo survivor Rob Long has been writing and producing for the small screen for decades. With some prompting from an entertainment-fatigued Adaam, Rob bemoans the death of truth on TV, the wisdom and folly of Disney, the content catatonia we've slid into, and the strange politics that all this has brought into our private lives.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-We’ve got a Patreon!

-What is content?

-Content catatonia (or: scrolling through the opium den)

-We don’t know what you want to watch

-Netflix won’t save us

-Hollywood’s fear of truth

-Arrogance of the present redux

-Beware The Zeroists

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Reality Rift (w/ Rep. Peter Meijer)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 18:08:30 GMT

U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI) was three days into the job when rioters broke into the Capitol building. A week later, he was one of the few members of the Republican party to vote to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the riot. Seven months later, Meijer would love to focus on policy — but in his day-to-day life and work he's still dealing with the fallout from the "original sin" of election denialism and the dual realities dividing our country.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Why we wanted to talk to Peter Meijer (despite his being a politician) [0:00-6:50]

-From a politics of persuasion, to a politics of coercion [8:01-20:33]

-January 6: The wake-up call that wasn't [20:34-34:11]

-The future of American Imperialism [34:12-39:15]

-Blindspots on the left and right [39:16-40:51]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Can the Supreme Court Survive the Culture War? (w/ Sarah Isgur)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 18 Jul 2021 22:15:43 GMT

Sorkin-character-come-to-life Sarah Isgur joins us to talk courts, law, and culture war. Sarah co-hosts the (much beloved) Advisory Opinions podcast, has managed multiple political campaigns and worked as DOJ spokesperson during the early days of the Trump administration. We talk about political bravery and cowardice; about the illusion of progress and the “vanity of the present”; and about Sarah’s second-guessing her logic for joining the Trump administration. Then at last we get good and wonky, exploring the Supreme Court's 3:3:3 make-up, what it means for the court’s legitimacy, and how everything is made dumber by the culture war.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Real-life Aaron Sorkin character [0:00-6:11]

-Justices: they're people, too [6:51 - 13:46]

-A Political Awakening Rooted in Chaos and Recounts [14:01 - 20:25]

-The World of Campaigning [20:26 - 24:01]

-When Trump Won [24:02 - 31:23]

-Polling Problems [31:24 - 35:12]

-Joining, and leaving, the Trump Administration [35:13 - 45:13]

-The 3:3:3 Court (In Scalia and Kennedy's wakes) [45:14 - 1:01:29]

-The Dilemmas facing the Swinging Three [1:01:30 - 1:10:48]

-The Culture War in the Court [1:10:49 - 1:26:36]

-Blindspots on each side [1:26:37 - 1:33:04]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Speak No Evil, See No Cancel Culture (Freestyle Theodicy)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 14:50:14 GMT

It’s time for some freestyle theodicy: programmer, voting nerd, flatmate, and domestic spouse Zev Goldstein joins us to put some of our household debates on the record. On the agenda: the word evil (and whether it does more harm or good), cancel culture (is it as bad as Adaam claims?), and voting theory (including an explainer on why the way we vote now is by far the worst voting system there is).

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Big Tech Panic (w/ Shoshana Weissmann)

Uncertain Things — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 17:41:28 GMT

R-Street Institute fellow and head of digital media Shoshana Weissmann joins us to talk big tech, monopolies, and regulation. Yes, we get wonky discussing Section 230 and trust busting, but we also carved out time for Shoshana and Adaam to nerd out about Torah law. She also explains why she's so passionate about unenumerated rights and even reminds us that online living has an upside.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

-Only intro and already off-the-rails [00:00-9:00]

-Regulation, what is it good for? [10:16-27:20]

-Shoshana's libertarian origin and the Federalist Society blood rituals [27:00-35:11]

-I <3 Unenumerated rights [35:12-41:01]

-Section 230 and the dementor's kiss of content moderation [41:02-56:33]

-Big Tech: punching bags, soft power, and censorship [56:34-1:10:12]

-Corrosive conversations vs. supportive communities [1:09:34-1:31:19]

-Privilege and personal responsibility [1:31:20-1:38:55]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Apocalypse We Deserve (w/ Niall Ferguson)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 26 May 2021 18:17:05 GMT

Self-described "classic Scottish enlightenment liberal" and prolific historian Niall Ferguson — author of The Square and the Tower, The Great Degeneration, and, most recently, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe — graced the pod with his keen mind and sexy Scottish tones. Niall explained why we are so fixated on the end times, and yet so woefully unprepared for catastrophe when it strikes. He also shared his theory on why historical thinking (beyond your go-to Hitler comparisons, thank you very much) would actually better prepare us for disasters. And by the end of the conversation, we even got his takes on a few hot topics: big tech, section 230, and the Cold War II we're already living in.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -Remembering Norman Stone [11:39]

* -The nexus of economics and everything else [15:52]

* -Doom & cataloguing catastrophes [23:03]

* -We'd love history to be cyclical (and torture data to make it so) [31:48]

* -Seeing the tigers in the grass - and responding rapidly [40:02]

* -Diagnosing the pathologies of pseudo-preparedness [49:25]

* -We need to teach history differently (and forget about the frickin mid-20th century) [58:23]

* -Networks, ideological contagions, and section 230 [1:06:25]

* -In defense of uncertainty [1:23:25]

* -Cold War II and the cumbersome West [1:30:45]

Niall’s recommended read on Israel/Palestine.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Saving Capitalism From Itself (w/ Rebecca Henderson)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 18 May 2021 03:34:30 GMT

Stark inequality. A planet on the brink of destruction. Communities decimated. For many in 2021, capitalism is not looking so hot. But Professor Rebecca Henderson thinks all is not lost. In her book, Reimagining Capitalism In A World On Fire, Rebecca makes the case that capitalism can indeed address the challenges we face — and that companies are already making the switch to a new, more conscientious way of working.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -What capitalism hath wrought and not [2:32]

* -A degree of inequality is a feature, not a bug [11:02]

* -Inclusive capitalism, with guardrails [23:20]

* -There's money to be made in transforming the system [33:20]

* -The instability of self-regulation, the appeal of regulation [47:22]

* -Turning off social media and turning on corporations [51:27]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Our Temples of Tragedy (w/ Justin Davidson)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 07 May 2021 00:05:04 GMT

One of Justin Davidson's first gigs as New York Magazine's architecture critic was covering the development of the 9/11 memorial — an incredibly complex and controversial project that shaped the city's future. The experience influenced the way he thinks about the role of architecture and urbanism in the ways we process our societal traumas. We talk to Justin about the role of the architecture critics, the 21st century task of creating memorials to shame, and why it's too soon to truly memorialize Covid. And then, for fun, we put him in the urbanist hot seat for questions ranging from: "how do we fix housing" to "who should we vote for mayor of New York?"

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -Cities, journalisming, and national tragedies

* -What do critics critique? (And why scale matters!)

* -9/11 and the premature monument

* -How will we remember COVID19?

* -Who do monuments serve?

* -Why NY sucks (aka Adaam’s favorite diatribe)

* -Is there anybody out there (among NYC mayoral candidates)?

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Blackness and the Other Side of Trauma (w/ Misha Thomas)

Uncertain Things — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 23:36:57 GMT

Our friend Misha Thomas, ex-evangelical and psychologist, returns to the show to discuss his recent revelation around race, spurred on by the PBS documentary, The Black Church. Along the way, we discuss a bevy of unanswerable questions surrounding this idea of racial trauma: Is it good for us keep to re-visiting, even valorizing, our past traumas? Are trauma narratives too reductionist for our own good? What good can acknowledging and discussing trauma bring? And is there really an "other side" we'll ever reach?

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -Trigger warnings on both sides [1:11]

* -Reflecting on voting for Trump [14:21]

* -The Black Church & a new revelation on race [19:54]

* -Racism and classism within the Black community [35:00]

* -Busting out of neat, reductionist narratives [44:40]

* -Cringing at self-love and self-hate [54:40]

* -What's so tricky about trauma [1:01:50]

* -The meaning of "moving forward" [1:19:04]

* -"The trauma I've never talked about" [1:31:05]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Cold War II (w/ Eyck Freymann)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 22:21:49 GMT

Back in 2015, when Eyck Freymann began studying China, he kept coming across this phrase in Chinese media: “One Belt, One Road.” No one in the West was talking about it, but, for anyone paying attention, it was the initiative that would define Xi Jinping’s reign. Eyck joins us to explain the significance of these four words, the imperial mantle Xi Jinping has donned (and why many countries are loving it), and the tricky geo-political landscape the U.S. must navigate if we’re to avoid another Cold War.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -Intro to Eyck & China [2:49]

* -A Coda to our Conversation with Batya Ungar-Sargon [7:47]

* -The story of the decade is not a story about debt traps [17:07]

* -One Belt, One Road: How it began [25:11]

* -The Empire Strikes Back (What Chinese propaganda teaches us) [38:25]

* -Why the West needs to be on alert [51:37]

* -Violations & Hypocrisies [1:02:08]

* -What the Biden Administration Should Do [1:11:55]

* -Eyck's take on current events [1:19:18]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Marxism vs. The Media (w/ Batya Ungar-Sargon)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 19:23:15 GMT

Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor for Newsweek and self-proclaimed "vulgar Marxist," is still a lefty — even if the left no longer wants her. We talk to Batya about her upcoming book (Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy), debate the liberal media's criminal avoidance of class inequality (which, to her, explains the underpinnings of its current obsession with race), and even get into the differences between Israeli and diaspora Jews.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -Into the ickiness (why we started uncertain things) [6:09]

* -Intro to Batya [10:10]

* -Getting called out for calling out Anti-semitism [14:05]

* -What happened at the New York Times [23:05]

* -Misdirection, race, and moral panic [37:20]

* -Class and its dubious champions [47:35]

* -The betrayal of the left (on welfare and UBI) [58:43]

* -Trump's working class wins [1:09:05]

* -A perfect defense of the status quo [1:13:30]

* -The woke theology and bowling alone [1:19:00]

* -Israeli Jews, diaspora Jews, and anti-zionism [1:29:20]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday ruminations, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

What We Lose When We Break Free (w/ Yuval Levin)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 18:27:11 GMT

Yuval Levin is a leading conservative thinker and political scientist who has, for quite some time, been contemplating the question: what’s gone wrong in America? We dive into his most recent book, A Time to Build, where he traces the long-term shriveling of our social institutions — from political parties to journalism to the academy — a process which, according to Yuval, supercharged the current trends of inequality, division, and political opportunism. Later on, we dare to get even nerdier than that and revisit Yuval’s historical study of Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine, and the lessons they still teach us.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -The Hitler question [4:26]

* -Yuval, introduced [9:29]

* -The difference between the left and right [13:28]

* -Seeing things in institutional terms [16:36]

* -Conformity, cohesion, and resistance [21:20]

* -The strangeness of mid-century America [33:31]

* -The social infrastructure that shapes us [38:39]

* -The resilience of libraries and schools [42:30]

* -Journalism as an institution [45:00]

* -America's overly high expectations of the Academy [52:15]

* -From the political to the performative (or how to fix Congress) [57:16]

* -Being a conservative in the Trump era [1:12:14]

* -On Burke, Paine, beauty, and truth [1:20:03]

* -Space vs. Motion [1:27:28]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Sex, Feminism, and the Madding Crowd (w/ Caitlin Flanagan)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 17:08:23 GMT

Caitlin Flanagan has a taste for controversy. Over her decades writing for The Atlantic, she's covered everything from feminism (and the ways it lets women down) to porn to self-censoring in comedy to her own struggle with cancer to the darkest depths of the culture war. But are there any subjects she wouldn’t write about?

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -Introducing Caitlin [3:53]

* -On writing and being dour [11:00]

* -The censorship and self-censorship of the young [20:46]

* -Touching touchy subjects [25:44]

* -On feminism, cruelty, and the culture war [31:47]

* -The left, the right, and the French [42:15]

* -Patriotism & the Patriot Act [47:32]

* -Our disembodied lives [49:53]

* -On porn, sex work, and loneliness [58:13]

* -Trauma and its new narratives [1:10:24]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

A Thousand Narratives: America Rewrites Its History (w/ Moshe Sluhovsky)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 18:39:59 GMT

Professor Moshe Sluhovsky, who teaches history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, taught a young Adaam to appreciate the nuance, contradictions, and blind spots of the past. In this episode, he breaks down conflicting historical narratives that have pervaded the academe, gives his perspective on America's newfound historicism, and rants with us about the inaccurate historical movies he loves and we hate.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* -Intro to Sluhovsky, the professor who taught Adaam why history matters [1:15]

* -The conflicting narratives of Colonialism [21:58]

* -History, the field that navigates "the complexities of possible stories that could be told" [24:30]

* -History, a field ill-equipped for images [40:18]

* -Historical movies: the good, the bad, the ugly [45:54]

* -The young, contentious project of re-writing American history [59:24]

* -On abstract thinking, morality, and politicization today [1:06:56]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Finding The Angels of Capitalism (w/ Dr. Dawn Carpenter)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 01:54:25 GMT

Back when Dr. Dawn Carpenter was starting out in the finance world in the '90s, she sought out the organizations trying to do some good in the world. It was an unusual decision back then — and one that allowed her to carve out a niche for herself. Now, the conscious capitalism movement is becoming far more mainstream, and as the host of the "What Does It Profit?" podcast, Dawn has a front row seat. We talk to Dawn about the morality of capitalism, her theological studies and how it applies to her work, and the mystical Oz-like machinations of our economy.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

Oh, there’s merch, too: mugs, laptop cases, tote bags, t-shirts… the lot. And everything’s on sale. Hurrah for capitalism…?

On the agenda:

-The virtualized mind

-What does it profit?

-In the room where it happens

-A theological awakening

-Conscious capitalism (A podcast begins)

-Contributive justice

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The CIA Analyst Who Saw It Coming (w/ Martin Gurri)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:08:32 GMT

Perched from his position as a media analyst at the CIA, Martin Gurri noticed — way before most of us — that change was afoot. Starting in the early 2000s, he noticed the new "tsunami" of information coming our way, and he began to see how it was changing, and would forever change, not just our means of communication, but our concepts of authority and power, and even our societies themselves. In 2014, he put down his reflections in a book — The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium — which might as well be the Uncertain Things bible.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* The 20st century vs the tsunami

* From Cuba to the CIA

* On Authority, Truth, and Utopia

* The long march to somewhere

* The border infiltrates the center

* The sectarian mind and the force of negation

* The nuttiness of the Trump years

* What we can do

* There are no alternatives to liberal democracy

* Short-term pessimist, long-term optimist

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Post-Trump Tipping Point (w/ Nadav Eyal)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 14:29:26 GMT

Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal returns to the pod in celebration of the release of the English translation of his book, Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization. We pick up where we left off last time, beginning with the role of the journalist, especially in this new vaccine-starved world, meander into Facebook's many failings, and then take a final, chilling turn to the state of the American empire post-Trump.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* Journalists, vaccines, and the "toilet paper dilemma" [10:27]

* Facebook, Silicon Valley, and Freedom of Speech [24:10]

* "The West Crumbled in the Trump Years" [39:16]

* When the world wasn't watching... [47:15]

* "There is no organizing idea for an America-centric world any more." [54:59]

* Nationalism vs. populism [1:00:37]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Perestroika Begins at Home (w/ Matt Welch)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:09:24 GMT

On Inauguration Day, with J.Lo's oddball rendition of America's favorite commie song still ringing in our ears, Matt Welch graced our uncertain pod with his virtual presence and cathartic rants. Matt — author, Reason Magazine’s editor-at-large, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast, master of "atrocious analogies," and Adaam's touchstone of sanity (among other roles) — joined us for a wide-ranging conversation about Biden, the truth, free speech, podcasts, and the consequences of so-called cancel culture.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* Inauguration Day: "I'm not the target audience." [6:42]

* Living in truth and holding politicians to account [14:11]

* Journalists, do your job better [18:44]

* Consumers, consume better, too [25:37]

* A techno-hippie in the free speech loop hole (Podcasts v. Mass media) [35:03]

* Cancel culture and its tattle tales [47:45]

* In defense of common sense [1:19:49]

* The elephant in the country: the deficit [1:24:56]

* Trump and the right's delusional disarray [1:28:04]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

America, Inc. (w/ Adam Winkler)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 07:49:13 GMT

Adam Winkler, constitutional law professor at UCLA School of Law, joined us mere hours after Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol. We talk (fittingly) about our history of law and disorder, dive deep into his book We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights (Adam even spins some delightful yarns about Supreme Court high jinks of yore), and unpack all the ways in which corporations have consistently won (and in all likelihood will continue to win) more rights than the rest of us. At least America's future is bright for somebody...

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* Nation of law and disorder (5:33)

* Intro to corporate Rights and Personhood (13:45)

* Our corporate origin story (On, Jamestown, Charters, and the founding fathers) (17:40)

* Corporations and race (25:20)

* The narrative of the corrupt corporation (29:52)

* The landmark case of 1809 (37:45)

* Railroad (& supreme court justice) high jinks (42:05)

* The power of a personality (58:00)

* Citizens United, the capstone of a 200-year battle (1:04:27)

* "The future of corporate Rights is rosy" (1:07:02)

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

On Honor and Justice (w/ Tamler Sommers)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 05:29:27 GMT

Tamler Sommers, philosopher and co-host of Very Bad Wizards, joins us just a few days after the insurrection on the Capitol to explain how we got here (spoiler alert: liberalism's over-emphasis on individualism and dignity seriously failed us). He also walks us through some of the controversial arguments in his book — Why Honor Matters — and describes the ways in which honor cultures actually have a lot to teach us (especially in these crazy Covid times) about courage, community, and responsibility.

On the agenda:

* Diagnosing Trump's army

* Honor: What is it?

* Honor v. Religion (see: our interviews w/ Tom Holland and Tomer Persico)

* Anti-Maskers: Freedom fighters or Trump tribalists?

* Honor's bad rap

* What Liberalism Has Wrought — Mass Incarceration

* Conflict Resolution in Honor Cultures

* Restorative Justice in Theory (See “Can Forgiveness Play A Role in Criminal Justice?” and “Conflicts as Property”)

* Vaccine envy, just desserts, and other American depravities

* Restorative Justice in Action (Tamler’s inspirations: ”Forgiveness in Justice” & “Conflicts as Property”)

* Interrupting violence with honor (and a cameo from The Godfather)

* Safety, risk, and damned bicycle helmets

* On Covid theater and authoritarian control

* Tamler's beef with philosophy

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

How to Steal Wealth From Workers — With the Best of Intentions (w/ Zohar Goshen)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 19:54:40 GMT

Columbia University Law Professor Zohar Goshen joins to discuss his provocative new theory about the root causes of American income inequality. His upcoming publication (co-authored with Prof. Doron Levit) goes beyond the traditional explanations — globalization, automation, taxation — and pushes against a few of Wall Street’s sacred bulls. He also puts forth a pretty nifty solution — one that will never, ever happen, of course.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* Corporate Governance 101 [6:29]

* Born in the 80s: shareholder primacy and income inequality [13:25]

* The conventional inequality explanations [19:10]

* What went wrong: the pension problem [27:56]

* Strong governance is good [37:25]

* Strong governance is bad (the Steve Jobs story) [39:38]

* The consequences: Capital gains, workers' loss [46:25]

* Why changing corporations won't work [1:01:01]

* The big break up we need - and is never gonna happen [1:07:42]

* The 2008 financial crisis vs today's [1:16:03]

* On ESG - Let's rethink that G [1:25:50]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Post-Colonial Absurdities, Post-Caste Delusions (w/ Yashica Dutt)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 17:51:27 GMT

Indian journalist Yashica Dutt joins us to talk about her memoir, Coming out as Dalit, where she details her journey from rejecting and hiding her "lower-caste" status to embracing it and advocating for Dalit rights. Weaving between Yashica's personal story and India's political history, we cover everything from pre-colonial inequalities, colonial atrocities, post-colonial absurdities, and current-day injustices (from India to Silicon Valley). Oh, and we get Yashica's not-hot take on Isabel Wilkerson's book, too.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* Hiding my caste and "passing" [7:17]

* Reservation and its discontents [21:42]

* The absurdities of post-colonial studies [29:13]

* Gandhi, not a great guy [39:34]

* The backlash to progressive values [52:30]

* The conversation about caste vs. race [1:09:09]

* Casteism in Silicon Valley [1:22:43]

* Isabel Wilkerson's Americanized lens [1:29:09]

* Coming out as Dalit [1:35:38]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Why Anti-Racism Trainings Fail (w/ Chloé Valdary)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 16:57:32 GMT

Chloé Valdary is a paragon of paradox — an identity she relishes in. She gained notoriety for creating The Theory of Enchantment (originally a curriculum for young students, now an alternative to corporate Anti-Racism trainings) and for her heroic (yes, heroic!) ability to maintain nuance and compassion on Twitter (yes, it is possible). Chloé tells Adaam and Vanessa how she pivoted her company in the wake of George Floyd's murder this summer, describes her complicated relationship to critical race theory, and tries to convince Adaam that the human spirit will, indeed, endure this dumpster fire of a moment.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

For more sanity, follow Chloé on Twitter: @CValdary. If you’re interested in diving into the human condition, consider enrolling in The Theory of Enchantment, or visit her homepage to learn more.

On the agenda:

* Born and raised in a state of paradox [7:10]

* The Enlightenment and its promise [12:01]

* Disenchantment v. Enchantment [15:17]

* The pivot to anti-racism training (and becoming oppositional to critical race theory) [21:09]

* Power corrupts, twitter power corrupts absolutely [45:39']

* When Biden won, the conversation changed [56:10]

* On empathy [1:06:50]

* The inevitable ends of CRT and cancel culture [1:14:57]

* Israel through the American lens [1:27:21]

* Massive convergence [1:33:30]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Why Empathy's Bad — And Suffering Hurts So Good (w/ Paul Bloom)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 02:04:59 GMT

Nothing says Christmas is coming like a conversation about dehumanization, moral fuzziness, and the evils of empathy! Moral psychologist Paul Bloom joins us for a fascinating conversation on the above — and even gives us a sneak peek of his new book (coming out next year). And, because this is Uncertain Things after all, there are some fun tangents on Trump, Hitler, and atheism, too.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* Suffering — and why we like it [6:12]

* On morals, atheists, and envy [19:48]

* Cognitive empathy and the future schools of Trump studies [30:51]

* The perils of emotional empathy [35:37]

* Journalism: a fundamentally immoral pursuit? [44:01]

* Stigma wanted [52:53]

* The Empathy defense [59:00]

* Inside the dehumanizer's mind [1:06:25]

* The objective objection [1:18:15]

* Moral fuzziness, clear polarization [1:28:58]

* Adam Smith, wise virgin [1:34:09]

Paul Bloom’s books Against Empathy and Just Babies are widely available and highly recommended. You can also follow him on Twitter: @PaulBloomAtYal.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Art: WTF Happened? (w/ Ken Goshen)

Uncertain Things — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 23:07:56 GMT

To celebrate Thanksgiving weekend, we talk to classical artist, art educator, and friend of the pod Ken Goshen. We go deep into art history, tracing where it all started to go so terribly wrong, spend too much time hating on Koontz (but loving on Warhol), and discuss how Instagram and social media is changing the art world — potentially for the better.

Oh! And because our word pictures can only do so much, follow @KenGoshen and see his incredible art for yourself — and get more Ken rants on his pod, Art’s Cool.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* The classical art resurgence on Instagram [5:33]

* In defense of beauty [12:25]

* The origins of the struggle against beauty (On Romanticism, Rationalism, and Goya) [18:22]

* The point of no return (On Duchamp, Rothko, Pollock, and Warhol) [32:42]

* Truth bombing Koons [35:48]

* What’s wrong with Contemporary Art: Taste [52:02]

* What’s wrong with Contemporary Art: Concept [57:17]

* The rebellion isn’t justified (except when it is) [1:04:56]

* A classical artist in a contemporary world [1:09:17]

* How to win at Instagram [1:13:01]

* The power of a teacher [1:29:28]

* The power of a pandemic [1:36:22]

* Is art school worth it? [1:42:20]

* Passion on pause[1:48:35]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Vanessa M. Quirk and Adaam James Levin-Areddy. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to uncertain.substack.com

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Chomsky, Katy Perry, and the Algorithm God (w/ Adam Neely)

Uncertain Things — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 16:52:08 GMT

YouTube music educator Adam Neely joins us for an oh so welcome respite from politics (sorta). We talk about the importance of storytelling (and click-bait) in YouTube creation; music theory's relationship to white supremacy; the relationship between music, language, and culture; and the absurdity of copyright. And make sure to listen to the end, when Adam takes us along on a mini journey of music creation.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to Uncertain Things wherever you get your podcasts.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

* Demystifying music — or what quantum theory and polyrhythms have in common [7:12]

* On film scores and storytelling [13:00]

* Live music lost [15:02]

* Living the YouTube life (and serving the Algorithm God) [18:55]

* “There’s always a patron” [32:22]

* “Music Theory & White Supremacy,” the backlash, and the “critical mistake” [34:44]

* Music as language, music as language-like — and a hat tip to Victor Wooten [47:14]

* Chomsky chuntering [56:24]

* The metaphor of pitch [58:13]

* America’s obsession with copyright [1:08:50]

* When labels attack [1:20:23]

* Putting Adam on the spot [1:30:25]

You can follow Adam on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Vanessa M. Quirk and Adaam James Levin-Areddy. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to uncertain.substack.com

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Time to Talk About Secession? (w/ David French)

Uncertain Things — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 04:24:31 GMT

David French — senior editor of The Dispatch, conservative evangelical, never Trumper, and really nice guy — joins us the day after the election to discuss his new book "Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation." We discuss the reasons why we're so painfully divided, unpack how secessions of yore unfolded, and speculate on the chilling scenarios that could lead to secessions in the not-so-distant future.

And as a bonus (because we’ve all be through a lot this week) we check in on a few past guests — Katie Herzog, Robby Soave, Tomer Persico, and Misha Thomas — to get their post-election day thoughts.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to Uncertain Things wherever you get your podcasts.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

[4:47] Why David’s mad at himself today

[8:22] The SCOTUS election pattern

[11:00] David French in a nutshell

[13:00] “I went to Iraq, and then I saw what a real enemy was.”

[17:00] The power of testimony

[21:30] Never on the Trump train

[24:33] The Big Sort

[29:02] How gun rights took off

[32:55] Mind the Overton window gap

[33:54] The path to secession (Fake news, 1861 style)

[37:42] Offensive language vs. Dysentery blankets

[38:09] The different demographics of illiberal tendencies

[41:50] What fundamentalists and the radical left have in common

[45:06] A Tale of Two Secessions

[49:52] Each side’s competing narratives of grievance

[53:43] Our doom spiral of escalation

[55:10] Some familiar characters

[56:22] How to embrace pluralism

[1:00:18] An Election Day montage

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Vanessa M. Quirk and Adaam James Levin-Areddy. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to uncertain.substack.com

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Biased Journos, Young Radicals, and Pre-Election Spooks (w/ Robby Soave)

Uncertain Things — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 19:34:13 GMT

Reason Magazine senior editor Robby Soave is known for exposing the biases and blindspots of the media. In his book Panic Attack: Young Radicals at the Age of Trump he follows the growing trends of illiberalism in America. In preparation for Nov. 3 madness, we talked about media bias, monopolies, the dangers of revoking Section 230, and — of course — the nightmare that is the 2020 elections…

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to Uncertain Things wherever you get your podcasts.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.

On the agenda:

[0:37] Libertarians: we abhor both sides!

[2:58] The case for journalists telegraphing their political views

[5:57] “Everything about the Trump years wants you to commit to a team… with the media in the non-Trump team.”

[10:12] “You can be objective without being unbiased.”

[11:03] The Covington incident

[13:32] Why didn’t you vote for Biden?

[15:47] What makes Trump appalling to you?

[18:45] On the excesses of the left and what they might mean for the election

[25:21] If Trump loses, what happens on the right?

[27:47] If Trump is re-elected…

[28:59] Young Radicals and the new understanding of “safety”

[32:07] Where do they draw the line?

[34:40] The hard sciences have been more resistant

[36:08] The injustice of a humanities degree

[36:48] It’s filtering into K12 education too

[38:30] The underlying institutional issues at play

[43:33] The misaligned incentives of Higher Education

[51:38] Are we drawing too much or too little attention to this issue?

[56:14] On Section 230 and social media

[1:02:15] The Monopoly (non)argument

[1:08:52] How do you solve crony capitalism?

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Liberal Who Voted for Trump (w/ Misha Thomas)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 16:07:37 GMT

Our favorite ex-evangelical Misha Thomas returns to the pod to talk pre-election jitters — and drops a bombshell on us unsuspecting hosts. What follows is perhaps our most honest (and hopefully disarming) conversation yet.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to Uncertain Things wherever you get your podcasts or here: uncertain.substack.com.

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

You Can Be a Dictator, Too (w/ Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith)

Uncertain Things — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 04:59:10 GMT

Ten years ago, NYU political scientists Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith wrote "The Dictator's Handbook," which posited that all political leaders — from autocrats to democratically-elected officials — are governed by an uncomfortably similar set of rules and incentives. We thought now’s the perfect time to take a fresh look at their model and re-learn the dos and don’ts of political power. We discuss the Trump presidency, the Electoral College, voter fraud, jolly old Putin, and a variety of delectable topics to get you revved up and ready for election day.

If you haven’t already, please join our coalition of essentials by subscribing to Uncertain Things here (or wherever you get your podcasts).

[5:55] The basic principles of the theory

[13:00] Democracies & Dictatorships, a sliding scale

[19:56] It’s a mess, but we’re course-correcting

[23:05] The problem with the Electoral College (it’s not what you think)

[29: 21] All leaders want to shrink their coalition (on gerrymandering, sore loser laws, and Tanzania)

[33:05] The people push back

[35:25] How vote fraud actually happens

[37:45] On social media (the information/disinformation arms race)

[49:21] Universities are not democracies

[54:46] Which companies win, which commit fraud

[1:00:31] What we get wrong about foreign aid (the Petro-State Problem}

[1:006:31] The liberalizing myth

[1:08:44] The issue with inequity in democracy

[1:14:00] A Yang gang post-script

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

The Revolt Is Justified (w/ Nadav Eyal)

Uncertain Things — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 18:56:44 GMT

Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal brings an outsider’s eye to American politics (or as he puts it, a perspective from” an outpost of the empire”). Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa Quirk ask about his new book, Revolt (out in Hebrew here, out in English soon); about what Trump got right and the media got wrong; and what it means to live in a radical moment.

If you haven’t already — please subscribe here (or wherever you get your podcast).

[0:40] An unsolicited window into Adaam & Vanessa’s domestic life

[3:30] Nadav’s career in a nutshell

[4:40] Into Trumpland

[6:00] The first (and weakest) horseman of the apocalypse

[10:40] Standing up to China

[13:30] Amateur Hour at the White House

[16:00] Obama-phoria & the pendulum swing

[17:00] Nick Griffin, a dreadful man with a grasp on reality

[22:50] The failures of the Obama administration

[24:20] Back into Trumpland

[26:20] What a globalist is

[34:02] Nationalism and an empire in retreat

[36:30] The revolt is a sentiment, not an ideology (Or Molotov cocktails in Athens)

[42:00] “The America that we dreaded, we feared, we hoped for is gone.” What’s to be born?

[45:42] Living through a radical moment

[52:10] No progress without struggle

[54:50] The natural order is change, we were just born in a pause

[55:40] The responsibility of journalists

[1:00:20] The journalist’s dilemma

[1:07:00] The advantage of being Israeli (On chutzpah and frank conversations)

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Why Everything Is a Culture War Thing (w/ Katie Herzog)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 01:41:43 GMT

We talk to one of the most (to quote Adaam) inexplicably hated people in media: Katie Herzog. She helps us understand the controversy that's hounded her for the past three years, why you can't escape the culture war (even if you really, really try), and why Americans just can't take/make a joke anymore. We also talk about sex. If you like what you hear, check out Katie's podcast with Jesse Singal, Blocked and Reported (and maybe revisit her old pieces on The Stranger).

If you haven’t already, sign up to Uncertain Things wherever you get your podcasts.

On the agenda:

* Everything is a Culture War Thing - [6:46]

* Why are you so loathed? [9:39]

* Why it’s dangerous to talk to de-transitioners [13:11]

* What “platforming” means [17:23]

* “What’s wrong with the moment right now.” / Katie’s take on Jordan Peterson [21:20]

* The backlash “sparked this change in me.” [24:50]

* The right’s strength? Picking up on the left’s weaknesses [28:17]

* A liberal in a Navy town [32:01]

* Is there wokeness in Israel and is it anti-Israel? [35:37]

* People are desperate for community [39:20]

* The secrets of podcasting success [44:04]

* On humor and the lack thereof [46:46]

* “Cuties” and puritanical panic [48:52]

* Sex and hysteria on both sides [52:37]

* The biggest blindspot on the left and the right [57:19]

* The equal and opposite reactions of Trump [1:00:05]

* Experimenting with sobriety [1:02:36]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

Wake Up, Change the Channel (w/ Michael Smerconish)

Uncertain Things — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 16:33:32 GMT

Michael Smerconish, host of eponymous shows on CNN and SiriusXM P.O.T.U.S., joins us to talk about why everything is so rotten in political media. We talk about surviving as an independent in a partisan world, about the bad incentives of the news industry, and of course about the Notorious RBG.

On the agenda:

* RBG & Scalia - RIP [1:59]

* Smitten with media [10:53]

* Ronald Reagan among the sausages [11:36]

* Becoming an independent (“I wasn’t suited for the party or the party wasn’t suited for me.”) [15:30]

* The hunt for the hunt for Bin Laden [16:52]

* “I end up pissing off everybody.” [19:43]

* Pennsylvania proud [25:00]

* RBG’s passing and the fall-out [27:24]

* “The polarization of the media has led to a polarization of society.” [32:19]

* Trying to prove that you need not be an ideologue [39:28]

* All the choices, no decisions [46:42]

* “What isn’t keeping me up at night?” [50:25]

* Cringe-worthy columns of yore [56:56]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

'I'm a Liberal Who Lost His Faith' (w/ Tom Holland)

Uncertain Things — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 17:01:33 GMT

Tom Holland, historian and bestselling author of Rubicon and In the Shadow of the Sword, joins us to discuss his latest book, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. A certified atheist, Tom puts his own liberal, secular worldview to scrutiny and asks, why do we Westerners believe what we believe? (Turns out we’ve been “breathing in liberal values like radiation from Chernobyl.”) This question embraces everything from human rights to sexuality, from separation of church and state to Black Lives Matters.

This also completes our “Christianity and the West” trilogy.

Warning: Adaam fan-boys hard (and perhaps by the end of the conversation, you, too, will be a convert).

Oh, and if you haven’t already, subscribe:

On the agenda:

* Tom joins [3:44]

* Rome is the T-Rex of Antiquity [5:24]

* Bush’s America: The New Rome? [6:49]

* The trouble with understanding the Classical world [10:09]

* The stories that shape our worlds [16:35]

* On BLM [19:57]

* Sex & Power in Rome —> Me Too [22:58]

* The Enlightenment Cycle [29:09]

* The Great Awokening [32:19]

* “The single most pointed and justified criticism that I’ve had.” / Breathing in liberal values like radiation in Chernobyl [36:02]

* Atheism is the logical end point (Here we Paul again) [41:14]

* “We are creatures of our historical DNA” [44:22]

* To have no privilege = privilege (hat tip to one neurotic Nietzsches) [51:54]

* What would Hitler NOT do? [54:49]

* Why Human Rights don’t exist [56:31]

* Secularism in retreat [1:01:11]

* Undoing our Protestant brainwashing (“I’m a Liberal Who Lost his Faith”) [1:08:28]

* 3 Scenarios for the Future [1:16:43]

* A world of multiple civilizations [1:20:00]

* The myths that will haunt us [1:22:56]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

P.S. Getting Drunk for Jesus (Persico Revisited)

Uncertain Things — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 00:09:57 GMT

To celebrate the release of the first episode of Uncertain Things, Vanessa and Adaam got together (virtually) with house expert on all things Christian Misha Thomas to drill further into some of the topics brought up by Tomer Perisco. Consider this part 2 of our “Christianity and the West” trilogy.

Stay tuned — the epic finale is coming soon. And if you haven’t already, subscribe:

On the agenda:

* Introducing Misha, our expert on all things evangelical [1:10]

* On religion as a literary expression [8:00]

* On ritual [12:41]

* Attending the college of contradictory ideals [15:35]

* How Paul gave us the concept of religion (with a hat tip to Plato, too) [24:30]

* Metaphorical tea time with Richard Dawkins [37:30]

* Revelation nation [41:00]

* God is dead, we’re all Gods [44:00]

* Surviving a chaotic universe, 1st century B.C. style [55:35]

* On identity, trauma, and resilience [1:00:49]

* Primed for compassion, a Misha fable for the future [1:09:15]

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe

How The Image of God Made Us All Atheists (w/ Tomer Persico)

Uncertain Things — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 02:02:52 GMT

Tomer Persico, religious scholar and Israeli intellectual, talks to us (in our inaugural podcast — woohoo!) about what he considers to be one of the most impactful ideas in the modern world: The Image of God.

On the agenda:

* How Tomer found religion [5:16]

* What is “The Image of God”? [14:38]

* How St. Paul broke Judaism. [29:27]

* Let there be atheism. [48:30]

* The cult of authenticity and Donald Trump. [56:20]

* Identity politics is just another strand of Christianity. [1:14:46]

* What’s going on in Israel? [1:31:10]

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Vanessa M. Quirk and Adaam James Levin-Areddy. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to uncertain.substack.com

Get full access to Uncertain Things at uncertain.substack.com/subscribe