Francis Fukuyama is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is known for his book The End of History and the Last Man, which argued that liberal democracy represented the endpoint of humanity's ideological evolution. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about whether his end of history thesis holds up by modern standards, the nature of democratic backsliding in the United States, and the main contributing factors behind the decline in social trust within the country. Show Notes The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama "It’s the Internet, Stupid" by Francis Fukuyama, Persuasion "Is Social Media Destroying Democracy—Or Giving It To Us Good And Hard?" by Dan Williams, Conspicuous Cognition

Marshall Kosloff is a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center and the host of the podcast The Realignment. His work covers the nature of coalitional change in American politics since the rise of Donald Trump, and how Democrats can accomplish the policies of the Abundance agenda at the state level. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about his journey from the center-right to the center-left, the dearth of compelling stories in center-left discourse, and why it’s so important for liberal communicators to emphasize the destination instead of just the vehicle for that destination. Alitu podcast editing software (if you use the coupon code PODSTART at checkout, you’ll get 50% off your first month)

Steve Teles is a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University, and a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center. He is one of the main advocates of the abundance agenda, which champions supply-side solutions to many of the problems of modern economies, including housing unaffordability, clean energy, public infrastructure, and more. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about how the abundance movement has grown in recent months, the level of bureaucratic autonomy that he wants government administrators to have, and whether or not government deregulation would make authoritarianism more efficient. Show Notes Varieties of Abundance by Steve Teles, Niskanen Center Cascadian Abundance Substack Cost Disease Socialism: How Subsidizing Costs While Restricting Supply Drives America’s Fiscal Imbalance by Samuel Hammond and Daniel Takash, Niskanen Center What libertarianism has become and will become — State Capacity Libertarianism by Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution What State Housing Policies Do Voters Want? Evidence from a Platform-Choice Experiment from now Publishers

Allie Volpe is a correspondent at Vox. She writes extensively about the science of human connection—friendship, conversation, community, and the invisible threads that tie our well-being to the relationships around us. So in this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about why she enjoys talking to strangers, how social trust has changed over time, and the extent to which it is useful for people to see threats and danger everywhere. Check out my podcast listener survey here: https://forms.gle/SkVuC6brcgo85gJ57

David French is an opinion columnist for The New York Times. Formerly a senior editor at The Dispatch and staff writer at National Review, David is known by many for his understanding of mainstream conservatism, and how Republican culture has changed significantly over the past decade. In this episode, I spoke with him about the history of populism within Evangelical America, the ways that Evangelical culture led to the rise of the MAGA movement, and how the current Trump administration is weaponizing the apathy and fatigue of American citizens.

Jeremiah Johnson is the co-founder of The Center for New Liberalism, host of The New Liberal Podcast, and the writer behind the Substack Infinite Scroll. His writing lives at the strange intersection of serious policy and unserious online discourse—and he’s one of the few people I’ve come across who is willing to take both seriously. One day he’s writing about marginal tax rates or housing vouchers; the next he’s explaining how fan drama in a K-pop subreddit is more predictive of future political radicalization than anything you’ll hear from a campaign manager. It sounds absurd, until you realize: he might be right. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about why he considers himself a liberal, why social media conversations tend to be both toxic and important, and why it's better to create things than to consume things. Show Notes "You don't care about politics. You have a politics hobby." by Jeremiah Johnson, Infinite Scroll "Politics Is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change" by Eitan Hersh "On Consumption vs Production" by Jeremiah Johnson, Infinite Scroll

Bret Devereaux is a military historian and a Teaching Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. He writes the blog "A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry," which covers Roman history, the nature of power and violence in society, and the best sci-fi/fantasy stories. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about how George Washington prevented a military coup, the unwritten rules governing the US military, and the tension between critiquing institutions and defending their existence. Show Notes "Collections: The American Civil-Military Relationship" by Bret Devereaux, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry

Karin Tamerius is a psychiatrist, a political psychologist, and the founder of Smart Politics. She writes the Substack ”The Smart Politics Way,” which has quietly become one of the most thoughtful guides to how we talk about—and think about—politics. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about why the human brain is not hardwired to deal with politics in a productive way, how empathy shapes peoples’ political belief, and the kinds of discipline that people can engender within themselves to deal with the news cycle.

Mónica Guzmán is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times. She is also host of the podcast "A Braver Way," and a senior fellow for public practice at the Obama Foundation. Her beat is bridging political divides, and how to model good-faith political disagreements across the aisle. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about the pervasiveness of fear in American politics, what couples therapy has to do with understanding political differences, and how to make use of political consumption.

Stephanie Murray is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and the author behind the Substack ”Family Stuff.” Her beat involves covering many of the intricacies and data points behind parenting and child-rearing, particularly the decline in birthrates throughout much of the developed world. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about the cultural explanations for why people aren’t having as many kids, why lower fertility rates are such a big deal, and her own experience as a mother of three.

Charlotte Swasey is the writer behind the Substack "Medium Data," which examines the intricacies of polling and political analysis to generate upcoming election forecasts and predictions for Democratic politicians. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about the Senate forecast for the 2026 Elections, the gap between the perception and reality of Democratic policies, and how politicians could approach controversial issues like immigration.

Dylan Matthews is a senior correspondent at Vox and one of the key writers behind Future Perfect, a section of the site dedicated to exploring ways to make the world better through evidence, reason, and moral philosophy. But if you look at his body of work, you’ll find that he’s written about everything from AI risk to tax policy to foreign aid spending. And that eclecticism is part of what makes him so compelling. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about the extent of negativity bias in journalism, the positive effects of George W. Bush’s presidency, and the future of artificial intelligence in society.

Matthew Adelstein writes the Substack ”Bentham’s Newsletter” under the alias ”Bentham’s Bulldog.” He is the rare thinker who will, in one breath, defend a rigorous logical case for the existence of God, and in the next insist that we should worry more about shrimp than about most public-policy debates. His outlook isn’t contrarian for sport; it’s the consequence of three guiding hunches he’s written about: that our moral circle is still way too small, that good arguments should beat gut feelings even when they get weird, and that tribal loyalty is the mind-killer. Follow that recipe and you end up somewhere delightfully off-map—and that’s exactly where this conversation goes. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about the philosophical arguments for the existence of God, the merits of utilitarianism, and whether or not we should kill animal predators to prevent them from killing other animals.

Katherine Dee is an internet culture reporter who writes the Substack ”default.blog,” which observes the quirks and tendencies of various subcultures on social media. In this episode, I got a chance to talk with her about her history covering different facets of the internet, how she approaches AI, and the different incentives of online interaction compared to in-person interaction.

Jessica Grose is an opinion writer for The New York Times. What I admire about Jessica’s writing is that she doesn’t just cover politics as a horse race or culture as a meme war; she zooms into the kitchen tables, classrooms, and waiting rooms where policy choices land on real bodies. Her beat is ​parenthood and education, faith and loneliness, COVID aftershocks and TikTok doom-scrolls — basically, all the places where our ideals crash into our everyday lives. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about how our social media has been affecting kids, how student performance has changed in recent years, and the ways that modern medicine has become a victim of its own success.

Micah Sifry is a writer and organizer behind the Substack "The Connector." He has decades of experience in covering how technology is changing politics, and how to participate productively in the political process. In this episode, I got a chance to talk with him about the history of mass protests in the US, the recent authoritarian cuts to government spending, and public perceptions of government service. Show Notes "A Different Kind of Anti-Trump Resistance Is Brewing" by Micah Sifry, The New York Times

Announcement: this podcast will be publishing episodes twice as often as before (so every single week on Thursdays) for the next several weeks at least, and hopefully for longer. Count yourself lucky in that regard :) Noah Smith is an economist who writes the Substack "Noahpinion" and co-hosts the podcast "Econ 102." He is known for his commentary on economic issues like inflation, trade policy, deficit spending, and more. In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about Trump's latest tariffs, how harmful they will be for all of us, and how the economic world order is changing.

Cathy Reisenwitz writes the Substack ”Sex and the State,” which covers the intersection between feminism, sex advocacy, and how our society shapes our perception of gender roles. In this episode, I got a chance to talk with her about her upbringing as an Evangelical, how her views on gender and sex have changed over time, and the tension between our desire for rigid structure and our desire for autonomy.

Shauna Daly is the co-founder of the Substack ”Young Men Research Initiative,” which covers how to reach out to young men who are increasingly drifting rightward. In this episode, I got a chance to talk with her about the ways that young men are lacking a script for what type of person they should be, the recent decline in romantic relationships between young men and women, and which masculine-coded traits might be worth promoting in the future.

When we see people acting in ways that seem irrational or incomprehensible, it’s easy to see them as ignorant or evil. But what if there’s more to it? What if, beneath the surface, there’s a much more complex mix of emotions—joy, fear, loyalty, and even desperation—that we tend to dismiss or fail to see? Erik Engheim writes the Substack ”Erik Explores,” which covers politics, history and culture from a Nordic perspective. In this episode, I got a chance to talk with Erik about how he was wrong about Trump supporters, and his apology to them for misjudging their morality. We discuss the nature of Republican support for Donald Trump, and the sense of joy that is present within the MAGA movement.