20 July 2018
Open season on mocking the right
In light of Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest stunts, Bill Scher and Matt Lewis discuss why the right is so vulnerable to satire.
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In this video:
- Why the Putin meeting caused Matt’s mom to turn against Trump
- Russian spy Maria Butina and the appeal of foreigners who bolster our politics
- “Blame America first” and the dangers of moral equivalency
- Russia’s history as “difficult actor”
- How Bill got duped by Sacha Baron Cohen
- Why Matt has sympathy for those fooled by Butina and Baron Cohen
- Bill: Repealing Roe would “rip America in two”
Why does Trump like Putin so much?
In the wake of the leaders’ joint press conference, Robert Wright and Jacob Heilbrunn consider the possibilities.
Try this at home
Philosopher Thomas Metzinger suggests using a hammer and a rubber glove to change your perception of your self.
Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv
The wrong pick?
Matt Lewis argues that Trump erred by choosing Brett Kavanaugh instead of Amy Barrett for the Supreme Court.
Are the deepest questions unanswerable?
Michael Shermer discusses his controversial Scientific American column on God, free will, and consciousness.
Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv
Is Trump an idiot?
Glenn Loury and John McWhorter debate.
Abolish ‘Abolish ICE’?
Bill Scher lays out the political perils of the push on the left to shutter the agency.
The path to becoming a “sex cult” leader
Vanessa Grigoriadis, who recently wrote about the controversial group NXIVM, describes its leader, Keith Raniere.
Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv
Will Roberts become the new swing vote?
Bill Scher and Matt Lewis analyze how Kennedy’s departure could push the chief justice to the left.
Culturally Determined
Should pundits quit psychoanalyzing Trump?
Aryeh Cohen-Wade and Michael Tracey debate the question.
Culturally Determined
Down the QAnon rabbit hole
Aryeh Cohen-Wade and Will Sommer discuss the most popular right-wing conspiracy theory of the Trump era.
Sex, labor, and moral panic
Adult-film actress and activist Arabelle Raphael explains how the legal definition of “sex trafficking” is used to criminalize legal sex work.
MeaningofLife.tv
The “awakening universe”
Theologian John Haught has a cosmic take on religion’s place in the scheme of things.
Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tvThe Wright Show
Meet Judge Amy
Journalist Sarah Posner explains why prospective Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett appeals so strongly to both Trump and conservative Christians.
MeaningofLife.tv
Is this the dawn of a new psychedelic age?
