This week my guest is, technically, me. Back in October, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie and I happened to be in New York City at the same time. We took the opportunity to meet at the Manhattan Institute’s recording studio, where Hamish interviewed me for an episode of his fantastic podcast The Active Voice. He’s generously allowed me to share that episode with you here.
In the course of the conversation, we touch on the difficulty and necessity of understanding all sides of a political issue, even when we think we are sure of our own position. We talk about the heightening of negative partisanship as a new, seemingly dominant political strategy. We talk about how the advent of podcasting and social media have changed my way of engaging with the public. And we get into the relationship between my lived experience and my politics. This, of course, leads us into a conversation about my memoir-in-progress (it is progressing!) and how I’ve been trying to understand my own passages through “the valley of the shadow of death” in my life.
Substack has become a vital part of my professional and intellectual life over the last couple of years, so I was very happy to be able to sit down with one of its founders for this brisk, rich conversation. Enjoy!
Featured Content from City Journal
“The United States has a problem with persisting racial inequality. But affirmative action isn’t the remedy for this problem. It’s a distraction.” Read my cover story for City Journal, now available online.
0:00 Why Glenn does The Glenn Show
13:02 Glenn: “If I was going to vote for Trump, I wouldn’t tell you”
19:21 “The cat is out of the bag” on election denial
25:45 Modeling epistemic modesty
31:12 Why is race such an important issue for Glenn?
39:13 The Old Glenn and the New Glenn
45:46 Confronting the past
50:44 Putting “the funk” on the story of your life
Recorded October 27, 2022
Links and Readings
Hamish’s podcast, The Active Voice
Robert Wright’s Nonzero Newsletter
Matt Taibbi’s book, Hate, Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another
John McWhorter’s book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America
Benjamin Crump’s book, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People
Glenn’s Quillette piece, “Unspeakable Truths about Racial Inequality in America”
Glenn’s first Bloggingheads appearance, with Joshua Cohen in August 2007
James Q. Wilson’s book, Thinking about Crime
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