20 January 2022
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How real is Don’t Look Up?
Bill Scher and Matt K. Lewis debate whether Adam McKay’s film accurately depicts our current media and political environment.
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In this video:
- Bill and Matt disagree about Don’t Look Up [Spoilers]
- Does Don’t Look Up reflect our political reality?
- Can entertainment move the political needle?
- Bill: Democrats could employ the talking filibuster right now
- What’s the voting rights exit strategy for Dems?
- Does tepid media coverage of Trump’s Arizona rally suggest his hold on Republicans is fading?
Revisiting the Lani Guinier controversy
Glenn Loury and John McWhorter discuss Lani Guinier’s contributions to our ideas about voting rights, her nomination to a position in the Clinton administration, and Clinton’s subsequent withdrawal of that nomination.
Leveling the playing field
Robert Wright and anthropologist Agustín Fuentes discuss the issues that arise when trans women compete in women’s sports.
The strange history of the Transformers
Aryeh Cohen-Wade and Milton Lawson discuss the unusual origins of the ’80s action figures.
“Insurrection” or “meth behavior”?
Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus discuss the legal and political consequences of January 6 a year later.
The End
The biologist Edward O. Wilson, who passed away over the holidays, spoke with Robert Wright two decades ago about facing death without hope of an afterlife.
Black self-making
In this clip from July 2, 2021, Glenn Loury and John McWhorter discuss the ability of black communities to determine their own paths.
The “humanitarian” rationale for harmful US actions
Robert Wright, Daniel Larison, and Kelley B. Vlahos discuss what they consider a major problem with US foreign policy.
Is web3 bullshit?
And what even is it? Max Read, writer of the newsletter Read Max, tries to answer the question.
The Wright Show
A very high bang-per-buck arms industry executive
Robert Wright and Richard Hanania, author of Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy, discuss a man who helped start both the Iraq War and the expansion of NATO.
The Wright Show
Exporting authoritarianism
Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus debate whether China’s authoritarianism and surveillance technology will pose a threat to the world.
The Glenn Show
Restoring vulnerable communities from within
Glenn Loury and Robert Woodson discuss some of the ways that Woodson Center-supported programs are helping communities in need.
Culturally Determined
Getting canceled as a savvy career move
Aryeh Cohen-Wade talks with Douglas Lain, who was recently ejected from his role running the leftwing publisher Zer0 Books, which published Angela Nagle’s controversial book Kill All Normies in 2017.
The Wright Show
And the winner is … Steve Bannon
Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus confer the not-so-prestigious Villain of the Year award on the right-wing provocateur.
The DMZ
“‘Twas the Night before Trump’s Mess”
