John and I talked once post-election, but that was in a Q&A episode for full subscribers only. This is the first time we’ll be discussing the our feelings about the results of the election on a proper episode. Here’s my feeling: in a word, elation. I’m glad Trump won, and I’m excited to see what the next four years look like. Given the ambivalence I’ve expressed in the past, that may come as a bit of a surprise. I’ll have more to say about it in the full subscriber-only post-show.
In this conversation, John accepts that his preferred candidate was defeated. But he still thinks of Trump as a charismatic moron. Well, I don’t. He’s accomplished something historic, he needs to be taken seriously. I do take him seriously—I’m not merely being contrarian. Clearly, John is hoping parts of Trump’s agenda founder, though he says he wouldn’t want anything to happen that would harm ordinary people. We then switch gears, and John tells me about going to Dublin for two events with the evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins, who is evidently retiring from speaking tours. John was clearly excited for the opportunity to talk with a writer and thinker he so admires, and he recounts the events.
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0:43 John reconciles himself to Trump’s win
4:06 Glenn: Wake up! It’s time to take Trump seriously!
12:16 Why Glenn feels a sense of excitement about the present moment
14:54 Ground News Ad
16:40 Is Glenn’s attitude all about contrarianism?
21:00 Does John hope that Trump’s administration fails?
26:08 ACTA ad
28:22 John’s trip to Dublin with Richard Dawkins
36:44 John’s questions for Dawkins
41:51 What Dawkins might think about race, culture, and IQ
Recorded November 18, 2024
Links and Readings
John’s NYT piece, “What if I’m the ‘Friend’ Donald Trump Referred To?”
John’s Atlantic piece, “Trump’s Unmonitored Speech”
Max Boot’s book, Reagan: His Life and Legend
Richard Dawkins’s latest book, The Genetic Book of the Dead: A Darwinian Reverie
Dawkins’s book, The Selfish Gene
Dawkins’s book, The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene
Dawkins’s book, The God Delusion
Dawkins’s book, The Ancestors’ Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life
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