I read a "bad review" here before I listened, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Bottom Line: I thought it was fantastic. Maybe people were put off by the early anti-Trump rhetoric from Professor Kennedy, but Glenn could not have had a stronger response. My overall summary: Professor Kennedy would make a typical Woke point, be challenged by Glenn or John, then concede that he agreed. I was left to wonder why he pushes divisive narratives when he apparently has serious doubts. But he was a good guest, a perfect foil for Glenn and John.
Near the end, Glenn made the point that if we artificially promote undeserving people, they are going to reach a point where they are not as capable as their coworkers. The coworkers may not say anything, but they are acutely aware. The Japanese have great terminology for that: "honne" and "tatamae." I think there's a lot more tatamae going on in America right now than Woke politicians recognize.
I feel compelled to comment on Trump/racism thing. The Legend of Trump the Ugly Racist is built on pretty much nothing. Here are just two examples:
1. Trump called a subset of a subset of a subset of a subset of Mexicans "rapists." (Mexicans -> Mexican immigrants -> Mexican illegal immigrants -> Mexican illegal immigrant criminals -> Mexican illegal immigrant criminal rapists.) Yes, Trump was being incendiary, but a politician being incendiary is hardly news. Trump's comment was reported as "Trump called all Mexicans rapists." Silly and childish, but CBS was still claiming that precise thing during 2016 election night coverage.
2. Trump said there were fine people on both sides of the statue debate, adding, "I am not talking about the neo-Nazis, who should be condemned totally." This is reported as: Trump called neo-Nazis fine people.
Those examples and scores of other misrepresentations (i.e., bald-faced lies) are the foundation of "Everyone knows Trump is a racist." It's disheartening when Professor Kennedy buys into that, but far more so when John does. (Although I still hold hope that John's stance is strategic.) Also, as a white Obama voter and then a Trump supporter, the idea that Trump was elected by racists angry over Obama being president is, in my opinion, just plain asinine.
Anyway, I thought this was among the all-time best episodes. John had a strong point re crime reporting (or non-reporting), which to me is often political propaganda rather than news. I'll end with a quote from Glenn:
"I am not offering a defense of Trump to observe that many of the charges against him of racism were instrumental charges seizing upon his vulnerability, with respect to that, to delegitimate the stuff that he wanted to do which people didn't want him to do, for the reasons that they had for not wanting him to do them."
Executive Summary: Democrats will say anything, no matter how false or destructive, to maintain power.
as for trump's comment. i think there is a debate as to whether he said "they are sending their crime, they're rapists" as though to say illegals are by and large rapists, vs "they are sending their crime, *their* rapists", so as to say that rapists are among those crossing the border. to me, he said the latter
I just listened again to an old episode of John and Glenn, "Starbucks and Swimming Pool." If you skip to the 42:00 mark, John describes how he strategically inserts comments in his writing to keep a certain audience from tuning out. He is discussing racism, not Trump, but the idea of signaling in order to avoid being dismissed could apply to TDS as well. If you are addressing liberals and lose all of those with TDS, you aren't going to have much of an audience left.
I'm not in disagreement with you that John probably does have a true case of TDS, but either way, in my opinion, it's likely helpful in reaching his target audience.
By the way, "Starbucks and Swimming Pools" is an excellent episode. I intend to quote elsewhere something Glenn said about narratives.
Thanks for pointing me to "Starbucks and Swimming Pool". I just finished watching it and it was a good one. John comes across as pretty reasonable in that discussion.
I read a "bad review" here before I listened, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Bottom Line: I thought it was fantastic. Maybe people were put off by the early anti-Trump rhetoric from Professor Kennedy, but Glenn could not have had a stronger response. My overall summary: Professor Kennedy would make a typical Woke point, be challenged by Glenn or John, then concede that he agreed. I was left to wonder why he pushes divisive narratives when he apparently has serious doubts. But he was a good guest, a perfect foil for Glenn and John.
Near the end, Glenn made the point that if we artificially promote undeserving people, they are going to reach a point where they are not as capable as their coworkers. The coworkers may not say anything, but they are acutely aware. The Japanese have great terminology for that: "honne" and "tatamae." I think there's a lot more tatamae going on in America right now than Woke politicians recognize.
I feel compelled to comment on Trump/racism thing. The Legend of Trump the Ugly Racist is built on pretty much nothing. Here are just two examples:
1. Trump called a subset of a subset of a subset of a subset of Mexicans "rapists." (Mexicans -> Mexican immigrants -> Mexican illegal immigrants -> Mexican illegal immigrant criminals -> Mexican illegal immigrant criminal rapists.) Yes, Trump was being incendiary, but a politician being incendiary is hardly news. Trump's comment was reported as "Trump called all Mexicans rapists." Silly and childish, but CBS was still claiming that precise thing during 2016 election night coverage.
2. Trump said there were fine people on both sides of the statue debate, adding, "I am not talking about the neo-Nazis, who should be condemned totally." This is reported as: Trump called neo-Nazis fine people.
Those examples and scores of other misrepresentations (i.e., bald-faced lies) are the foundation of "Everyone knows Trump is a racist." It's disheartening when Professor Kennedy buys into that, but far more so when John does. (Although I still hold hope that John's stance is strategic.) Also, as a white Obama voter and then a Trump supporter, the idea that Trump was elected by racists angry over Obama being president is, in my opinion, just plain asinine.
Anyway, I thought this was among the all-time best episodes. John had a strong point re crime reporting (or non-reporting), which to me is often political propaganda rather than news. I'll end with a quote from Glenn:
"I am not offering a defense of Trump to observe that many of the charges against him of racism were instrumental charges seizing upon his vulnerability, with respect to that, to delegitimate the stuff that he wanted to do which people didn't want him to do, for the reasons that they had for not wanting him to do them."
Executive Summary: Democrats will say anything, no matter how false or destructive, to maintain power.
as for trump's comment. i think there is a debate as to whether he said "they are sending their crime, they're rapists" as though to say illegals are by and large rapists, vs "they are sending their crime, *their* rapists", so as to say that rapists are among those crossing the border. to me, he said the latter
TDS is not strategic on John's part. His hate for Trump was/is visceral.
It will be interesting to see his response when Glenn asks him about the similarities between TDS and Wokeism.
I just listened again to an old episode of John and Glenn, "Starbucks and Swimming Pool." If you skip to the 42:00 mark, John describes how he strategically inserts comments in his writing to keep a certain audience from tuning out. He is discussing racism, not Trump, but the idea of signaling in order to avoid being dismissed could apply to TDS as well. If you are addressing liberals and lose all of those with TDS, you aren't going to have much of an audience left.
I'm not in disagreement with you that John probably does have a true case of TDS, but either way, in my opinion, it's likely helpful in reaching his target audience.
By the way, "Starbucks and Swimming Pools" is an excellent episode. I intend to quote elsewhere something Glenn said about narratives.
Thanks for pointing me to "Starbucks and Swimming Pool". I just finished watching it and it was a good one. John comes across as pretty reasonable in that discussion.