This week’s episode is a special collaboration with The Disagreement, a new platform that aims to “celebrate and normalize healthy disagreement.” (Check them out!) Wisdom of Crowds is 100% behind that mission statement, and so it was natural fo

In Search of New Political Ideas

13 days ago 1h 12m

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveChristine and Damir kick things off by discussing a memoir about the fall of Communism in Albania. Damir reflects on his own post-Communist background, and ponders

Parenthood at the End of the World

20 days ago 37m 28s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThis week’s podcast is a recording of a live event. Rachel M. Cohen, a senior policy reporter for Vox, recently published an essay where she asks: “To our generati

How to Disagree Without Compromise

27 days ago 1h 27m

America is badly polarized. It’s a fact so pervasively acknowledged that pointing it out starts to feel like saying the sky is blue. Unlike a blue sky, however, growing polarization in America presents a difficult challenge. Because America is

The World According to Jordan Castro

Mar 22nd, 2024 1h 48m

Editor’s note: We haven’t done an episode quite like this before. I absolutely loved this conversation with the novelist Jordan Castro, one of the most exciting young American authors writing today. Because it was such a rich conversation, we’r

"Doing the Work" May Be Hazardous to Your Soul

Mar 15th, 2024 57m 56s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveIn a late-night confab, Damir and Sam explore the meaning of experiences of wonder, which they each have written about for Wisdom of Crowds.For Sam, these unique e

"More" is Less

Mar 2nd, 2024 50m 56s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveA recently-published memoir making headlines suggests a trend: Polyamory is going mainstream among high-status Americans. Culture critic and environmental studies

The Lure of the Scam

Feb 23rd, 2024 51m 3s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveChristine and Damir discuss two personal essays from New York magazine that went viral last week. The first deals with divorce, the second with getting scammed. A

The Map and the Territory

Feb 16th, 2024 50m 20s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveJason Blakely of Pepperdine University joins Shadi and Damir to discuss his new book, Lost in Ideology: Interpreting Modern Political Life. A professor of politica

You Know I'm No Good

Feb 9th, 2024 1h 1m

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveOur brand new Executive Editor, Santiago Ramos, joins Shadi and Damir to discuss his first-ever essay for Wisdom of Crowds, “Empathy for the Devil.” The essay is a

Brass Knuckles and Winning

Feb 2nd, 2024 34m 16s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveAre ideas overrated? Shadi’s recent column (and controversial tweet) exploring the reasons behind Trump’s popularity launches a discussion about what exactly drive

Are We The Baddies?

Jan 26th, 2024 39m 8s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThree months into the Israel-Gaza war, Shadi, Damir, and Sam get philosophical about morality and international relations. Is it realistic to expect states to beha

Apocalyptic Dread, Burnout, and a New Year

Jan 19th, 2024 38m 52s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveLongtime member of the Crowd and WoC contributor once called episodes when Shadi and Damir just chew over stuff “train wrecks”. (He meant it in an affectionate wa

Claudine Gay and the Culture Wars

Jan 8th, 2024 45m 26s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveAaron Sibarium, a star reporter over at the Washington Free Beacon covering the campus culture wars, joined us this week to talk about Claudine Gay’s resignation.

The Rich and the Unhappy

Dec 10th, 2023 42m 25s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThis week, our in-house philosopher and very own Editor-at-Large returns to the podcast for a one-on-one discussion with about wealth, ambition and whether they

Is Masculinity in Crisis?

Dec 3rd, 2023 37m 5s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWe’re thrilled to publish the audio from our first major event in collaboration with Aspen Institute’s Philosophy & Society Initiative. P&S and Wisdom of Crowds ha

Can War Be Humane?

Nov 21st, 2023 57m 12s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWhat constitutes justifiable warfare—and how should the overall impact of conflicts be evaluated? With the United States being so closely associated with Israel’s

America's Palestinian Blindspot

Nov 14th, 2023 48m 46s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWhy do Americans struggle so much to understand Palestinians? A former advisor to the Palestinian leadership and a participant in the doomed 2008 Annapolis peace t

How Realistic is a Ceasefire in Gaza?

Nov 3rd, 2023 38m 12s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveAfter nearly a month of being consumed by the Israel-Hamas war, and take a step back to evaluate the prospects of an end to the violence, while still probing the

The End of the World As We Know It

Oct 27th, 2023 1h 4m

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveIn a charged and often emotional conversation, and welcome Robert Nicholson, the president of the Philos Project, to discuss the pro-Israel perspective as the wa

Peter Beinart on Israel, Hamas, and Why Nonviolence Failed

Oct 20th, 2023 39m 34s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveTwo weeks after Hamas’s brutal attack on Israeli civilians, tensions have skyrocketed as Israel begins an offensive against Gaza from the air and the ground as the

Who is Responsible for the War in Gaza?

Oct 13th, 2023 41m 22s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveAfter Hamas fighters massacred hundreds of Israeli civilians, Israel is now massed on Gaza’s borders ahead of an operation that will likely devastate the Palestini

How To Regain Your Sense of Wonder

Sep 24th, 2023 42m 39s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveWhat are the most valuable parts of our transient lives and how does our appraisal of them change as we age?This week, and take a step back from larger questions

The Virtue Politics of Mitt Romney

Sep 17th, 2023 45m 45s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveAs the leaders of the major political parties show stark signs of advanced age, their supporters are bending over backwards to defend their own while criticizing t

Is a Better World Possible Without American Power?

Aug 25th, 2023 52m 21s

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThis week, we’re pulling one of our favorite and most explosive episodes from the archive. This one, from May 2022, with socialist intellectual on the role of Ame