What Am I Making Podcast #004 - Jared Yates Sexton

I would guess that Jared Yates Sexton and I would have either been the best of friends, or hated each other if we had gone to high school together. We would simply have had too much cultural overlap to be apathetic about each other. The enlightened, mature side of me is sure we would have been fast friends had our ages and geography coalesced in a different cosmic plane. The more reasoned and logical side of my brain thinks we might have perceived each other as a threat, and thus would have been sworn enemies.Thankfully, when Jared and I did finally get the chance to connect, we got along like a house afire. Over the course of our conversation, we hit upon the spiritual crisis of consumerism, the erosion of appreciation and the ever so simple act of just listening to the birds. Actually, that bird bit comes up more than once. It’s pretty good advice once you get there.While we are always skirting around the edges of what might seem like a political discussion, it’s really a conversation at the meeting point of the personal, the political and the philosophical. It’s exactly the kind of conversation I wanted to curate when I first envisioned this project.If you enjoy this chat, please be sure to check out Jared on the various social outlets, and take a look at the work he’s doing at his podcast and Substack.It would also be really wonderful if you clicked the link right below this sentence and signed up for a free, or even better, a paid subscription. Thanks for being here and thanks for your support. Please be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of this discussion. Or maybe you have other great ideas for a guest or a topic of discussion. As Ted Knight says in Caddyshack, “Well, we’re waiting . . .”Jared Yates Sexton is a political analyst and author of the forthcoming book THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM: A HISTORY OF POWER, PARANOIA, AND THE COMING CRISIS. His most recent book is AMERICAN RULE: HOW A NATION CONQUERED THE WORLD BUT FAILED ITS PEOPLE. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, Politico, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere. He is the co-host of The Muckrake Podcast and his writings can be found at Dispatches From A Collapsing State.Follow Jared Yates Sexton:Dispatches From A Collapsing State (Jared’s Substack)TwitterYouTubeJY Sexton WebsiteThe Muckrake Podcast Get full access to What Am I Making at whatamimaking.substack.com/subscribe