The Good Fight

Latest Episodes:

Audrey Tang on “Misinformation” Mar 29, 2025

Show notes

Audrey Tang is Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador and served as Taiwan's first digital minister and the world’s first nonbinary cabinet minister.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Audrey Tang discuss what makes social media so divisive, how to tackle misinformation without undermining free speech, and how online tools can engage participation in a democracy.

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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Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

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Aaron Sibarium on Identity Politics under Joe Biden and Donald Trump Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

Aaron Sibarium is a staff writer at the Washington Free Beacon, where he covers higher education and institutional capture.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Aaron Sibarium discuss racial bias in medicine, affirmative action at universities and if “woke” is dead.

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 Mickey Freeland, and Leonora Barclay

Connect with us!

Spotify | Apple | Google

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community

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Hamish McKenzie on How Substack is Transforming Public Discourse Mar 22, 2025

Show notes

Hamish McKenzie is co-founder of Substack, a platform for online publications including Persuasion and writing like Yascha’s weekly column. He is a writer and former journalist based in San Francisco.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Hamish McKenzie discuss how Substack was formed, why its business model rewards different behaviors to traditional social media, and its steadfast commitment to free speech in the face of criticism.

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

Connect with us!

Spotify | Apple | Google

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community

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Jacob Mchangama on Free Speech Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech, a research professor at Vanderbilt University, and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). His book Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media is now available in paperback with a new epilogue.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Jacob Mchangama discuss traditions of free speech throughout history, whether European laws are too restrictive, and concerning trends in the United States.

Note: This episode was recorded on February 24, 2025.

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Francis Fukuyama on Donald Trump at Home and Abroad Mar 15, 2025

Show notes

Francis Fukuyama is a political scientist, author, and the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Fukuyama’s notable works include The End of History and the Last Man and The Origins of Political Order. His latest book is Liberalism and Its Discontents. You can find his blog, “Frankly Fukuyama,” at Persuasion.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama discuss talks of a ceasefire in Ukraine and what this means, what the impact of Donald Trump’s foreign policy might be on the Far East, and why we should be concerned by Trump’s domestic policy.

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

Connect with us!

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Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community

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Jonathan Rauch on the Politicization of Christianity Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

Yascha Mounk and Jonathan Rauch also discuss patrimonialism in the United States.

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Persuasion Board of Advisors. His latest book is Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Jonathan Rauch discuss the decline of religion and its impact on society, the long-term future of religion in America, and why patrimonialism is the best frame for understanding the Trump administration.

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

Connect with us!

Spotify | Apple | Google

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community

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How to Have Difficult Conversations with Mónica Guzmán Mar 08, 2025

Show notes

Mónica Guzmán is author of I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times; founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity; Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels; and host of A Braver Way podcast.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Mónica Guzmán discuss how to build trust across political divides and the joy of heated debates.

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 Mickey Freeland, and Leonora Barclay

Connect with us!

Spotify | Apple | Google

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community

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Yascha Answers Your Questions #1 Mar 04, 2025

Show notes

I’m really proud of the community that has grown up around The Good Fight, Persuasion and my own Substack. That’s why I was excited to welcome paying subscribers to join me for a live session—so I could answer your questions personally.

We had a great discussion: About the idea of a foreign policy for the middle class. About the state of free speech in Europe. About how to tell when the rule of law has broken down in the United States. About the prospects for a third party. And about so much more.

Our next Q&A, reserved for paying subscribers, will be on Monday, March 31 at 6pm Eastern. Do join us!

–Yascha

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 Mickey Freeland, and Leonora Barclay

Connect with us!

Spotify | Apple | Google

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community

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Spencer Case on Defending Patriotism Mar 01, 2025

Show notes

Editor’s Note: This podcast was produced as part of Persuasion’s partnership with the Civil Discourse @ MIT program, at which Spencer Case spoke late last year on the topic “Does Citizenship Require Patriotism?” To learn more about Civil Discourse @ MIT, visit the program’s website here, and to see prior episodes in the series click here.

Spencer Case hosts Micro-Digressions: A Philosophy Podcast. He's the author of many academic philosophy articles and coauthor of Is Morality Real? A Debate. He is currently an assistant teaching professor in the Bowling Green State University philosophy department.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Spencer Case explore the difference between patriotism and nationalism, what extremists get wrong, and how to think about self-identification in the debate about trans rights.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clari t y .

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 Mickey Freeland, and Leonora Barclay

Connect with us!

Spotify | Apple | Google

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community

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

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Jake Sullivan on National Security Feb 22, 2025

Show notes

Jake Sullivan served as national security advisor under President Biden.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Jake Sullivan discuss the record of President Biden’s administration, the future of Ukraine, and how it feels to be making decisions under pressure in the Situation Room.

Note: This episode was recorded on February 12, 2025.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clari t y .

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

Connect with us!

Spotify | Apple | Google

Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion

Youtube: Yascha Mounk

LinkedIn: Persuasion Community