The Good Fight

X: ⁠@Yascha_Mounk⁠ & ⁠@JoinPersuasion⁠

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The Good Fight Club: Russian Drones in Poland, Low Literacy in Schools, and Can Anyone Rein in Trump? Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

In this week’s episode of The Good Fight Club, Yascha Mounk, Ivan Krastev, Amanda Ripley, and Mike Pesca discuss what the Russian drones shot down in Poland mean for NATO, the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision on immigration, how the Democrats can hold Donald Trump to account, and declining reading rates in U.S. schools.

Ivan Krastev is the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna.

Amanda Ripley is the co-founder of Good Conflict, a media and training company that helps people reimagine conflict, and the author of High Conflict, The Smartest Kids in the World, and The Unthinkable.

Mike is the host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news and analysis podcast in existence.

Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community

Podcast production by Mickey Freeland.

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YouTube: Yascha Mounk, Persuasion

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Tom Ginsburg on Whether America Should Adopt a New Constitution Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

Tom Ginsburg is the Leo Spitz Distinguished Service Professor of International Law, Professor of Political Science, and Faculty Director of the Malyi Center for the Study of Institutional and Legal Integrity and the Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression at the University of Chicago.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Tom Ginsburg explore different approaches to constitutions in the United States, Europe, and beyond, the advantages and disadvantages of the U.S. political system, and how to protect the First Amendment.

Polarization is at an all-time high. It can feel daunting—perhaps even misguided—to engage in meaningful dialogue with those holding starkly different views. What does it mean to champion pluralism in such a moment? Persuasion’s new series on the future of pluralism, generously supported by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, features longform essays and podcast interviews that make the case for civic dialogue and highlight inspiring examples of it in practice. You can find past installments here.

Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community

Podcast production by Mickey Freeland.

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Daron Acemoglu on How States Succeed—And Why Many Don’t Sep 06, 2025

Show notes

Daron Acemoglu is an Institute Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His books include (with James A. Robinson) Why Nations Fail, and (with Simon Johnson) Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity. In 2024, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Daron Acemoglu discuss the impact of colonialism, the role of culture in civil society, and China’s strengths and weaknesses.

Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community

Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and John Taylor Williams.

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The Good Fight Club: The “Trump Is Dead” Conspiracy, the Big Summit Between Xi, Putin and Modi, and Firings at the CDC Sep 04, 2025

Show notes

In this week’s episode of The Good Fight Club, Yascha Mounk, Francis Fukuyama, Mona Charen, and Russell Muirhead explore why the “Trump is dead” conspiracy took hold, the recent summit between Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Narendra Modi, and what the latest developments at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us about the fate of public health in America.

Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University. His latest book is Liberalism and Its Discontents. He is also the author of the “Frankly Fukuyama” column, carried forward from American Purpose, at Persuasion.

Mona Charen, syndicated columnist and author, is Policy Editor of The Bulwark and host of two weekly podcasts: The Mona Charen Show and Just Between Us.

Russell Muirhead teaches Government at Dartmouth College. He is the author, with Nancy Rosenblum, of Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos. He serves in the NH House of Representatives where he focuses on election law.

Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community

Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay.

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Cass Sunstein on Defending Liberalism Sep 02, 2025

Show notes

Cass R. Sunstein is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. His latest book is On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Cass Sunstein explore critiques from the left and the right, what different strands of liberalism can teach us, and why John Stuart Mill has the answer.

We’re delighted to feature this conversation as part of our new series on Liberal Virtues and Values.

That liberalism is under threat is now a cliché—yet this has done nothing to stem the global resurgence of illiberalism. Part of the problem is that liberalism is often considered too “thin” to win over the allegiance of citizens, and that liberals are too afraid of speaking in moral terms. Liberalism’s opponents, by contrast, speak to people’s passions and deepest moral sentiments.

This series, made possible with the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation, aims to change that narrative. In podcast conversations and long-form pieces, we’ll feature content making the case that liberalism has its own distinctive set of virtues and values that are capable not only of responding to the dissatisfaction that drives authoritarianism, but also of restoring faith in liberalism as an ideology worth believing in—and defending—on its own terms.

Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community

Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay.

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⁠ This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clar⁠⁠i⁠⁠t⁠⁠y⁠⁠.⁠

YouTube: Yascha Mounk, Persuasion

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Tyler Cowen on AI (Rerun) Aug 30, 2025

Show notes

Yascha Mounk and Tyler Cowen also discuss AI and the state of the world economy.

Tyler Cowen is an American economist, columnist, and blogger. Cowen is the Holbert L. Harris chair in economics at George Mason University, and is the co-author, with Alex Tabarrok, of the blog Marginal Revolution.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Tyler Cowen discuss the likely economic futures of Europe, Asia, and Africa; how the United States should approach competition with China; and what role young people should ascribe to personal financial advancement in their career choices.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.

If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following ⁠this link on your phone⁠.

Email: podcast@persuasion.community

Website: ⁠http://www.persuasion.community⁠

Podcast production by ⁠Jack Shields⁠, and Brendan Ruberry

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⁠This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clari⁠⁠t⁠⁠y⁠⁠.⁠

Twitter: ⁠@Yascha_Mounk⁠ & ⁠@joinpersuasion⁠

Youtube: ⁠Yascha Mounk⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠Persuasion Community⁠

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Musa Al-Gharbi on Why We Have Never Been Woke (Rerun) Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

Yascha Mounk and Musa Al-Gharbi discuss why so many members of elite groups like to pretend they’re oppressed.

Musa al-Gharbi is an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. His most recent book is ⁠We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite⁠.

In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Musa Al-Gharbi discuss the tendency of certain elite groups to lay claim to marginalized identities as a form of symbolic capital; the challenges posed by "asymmetric multiculturalism," in which we encourage certain groups to organize along identitarian lines while discouraging others from doing the same; and how we can apply greater consistency to our analysis of social dynamics.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.

If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following ⁠this link on your phone⁠.

Email: podcast@persuasion.community

Website: ⁠http://www.persuasion.community⁠

Podcast production by ⁠Jack Shields⁠, and Brendan Ruberry

Connect with us!

⁠ This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clar⁠⁠i⁠⁠t⁠⁠y⁠⁠.⁠

Twitter: ⁠@Yascha_Mounk⁠ & ⁠@joinpersuasion⁠

Youtube: ⁠Yascha Mounk⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠Persuasion Community⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Do We Always Think We're Right? (Rerun) Aug 23, 2025

Show notes

What transforms reasonable people into an angry mob? Why are we so eager to dismiss those who disagree with us as inherently evil? These are questions which Jonathan Haidt has spent his career trying to answer. One of the world’s most influential social psychologists and a member of Persuasion's Board of Advisors, he argues that a lot of recent cultural shifts are encouraging emotional fragility rather than resilience. A professor of ethical leadership at NYU's Stern School of Business, Haidt seeks to employ moral psychology to promote dialogue rather than division.

In this week’s episode of The Good Fight, Yascha Mounk sits down with Jonathan Haidt to discuss psychological differences between the left and the right, the human tendency to discriminate in favor of the in-group, and how to build a less tribal culture and country.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.

If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone.

Email: goodfightpod@gmail.com

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk

Website: http://www.persuasion.community

Podcast production by John T. Williams and Rebecca Rashid

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Arlie Hochschild on Trump Voters, Old and New (Rerun) Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

Arlie Hochschild is an author and professor emerita of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her books include Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right and Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Arlie Hochschild discuss the fear of empathy among the American left, the impact of the loss of pride among white working class communities, and how to understand the deep story of Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024.

Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight.

If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following ⁠this link on your phone⁠.

Email: podcast@persuasion.community

Website: ⁠http://www.persuasion.community⁠

Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Leonora Barclay

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