Nathan J. Robinson is the founder and editor of Current Affairs, a left-wing print magazine based out of New Orleans. He is also the author of five books on politics. Nathan holds a law degree from Yale and is pursuing a PhD in sociology from Harvard. He also happens to be my favorite active political writer.
In today’s show we cover a lot, including:
Current Affairs, persuading people on politics, understanding the actual positions our political opponents take and engaging with their arguments, the rhetorical strategies employed by the intellectual dark web, the claim that the left is afraid to engage with the actual ideas of the right, giving a platform to odious people, purity policing on the left, 2016 and 2020, whether Bernie should give his millions away and whether anyone should choose to be wealthy, the surprising non overlap of effective altruism and the left, the risks of quantifying values, Bernie on immigration, nationalism, Steven Pinker and the decline of violence, and why we think joining the left is the best way to influence the future in a positive direction.
Show notes:
Nathan’s articles that we discuss:
Why Bernie should give his millions away
Nathan’s spot on prediction of the 2016 election
New York Times propaganda about immigration
The media’s hierarchy of victims
Misleading inequality statistics
Nathan’s EPIC TAKEDOWNS:
Other links:
Jordan Peterson being interviewed by Cathy Newman
Book If You’re an Egalitarian, How Come You’re So Rich?
Twitter thread on Steven Pinker’s faulty sexual assault sources
My article in Current Affairs on psychedelics
ContraPoints on Ben Shapiro and gender pronouns
My review of The Better Angels of Our Nature
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