The Street Porter and the Philosopher

This episode features Cass Sunstein, leading legal scholar, bestselling author, and one of the most influential thinkers on liberalism, law, and public policy. He joins Rebecca Lowe to explore the relationship between the arts and liberalism. They discuss what makes a work of art “liberal,” the representation and role of choice in music and popular culture, the moral and aesthetic limits of political messaging in art, how liberal societies shape and are shaped by the culture they produce, and much more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pursuitofliberalism.com

Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast season about Liberalism and the Arts, with our guest Sunil Iyengar who directs the Office of Research & Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. Sunil sits down with Henry Oliver to discuss the state of reading in America, including the long-term decline in book and literature reading, the growth of audiobooks and digital formats, what these shifts mean for children and literacy, how reading relates to civic and social life, the importance of schools, libraries, and access to books, and much more. New episodes of this podcast season will come out every two weeks. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pursuitofliberalism.com

Last week, Cass Sunstein gave the inaugural Emerging Scholars Lecture at the Mercatus Center, where both of us work. We’re delighted to share the transcript and recording of his talk, 'Hayekian Behavioral Economics', here on our Pursuit of Liberalism substack. We hope you enjoy it! Henry and Rebecca. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pursuitofliberalism.com

In this episode, Henry and Rebecca discuss the liberalism of the poet Seamus Heaney. Henry thinks it’s Heaney’s individualism that makes him a liberal. Rebecca thinks that Heaney’s focus on depicting reality is just as important, to this end, if not more so. But they agree that he’s really great…[Transcript coming soon!]Thanks to GPT for the picture! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pursuitofliberalism.com

In this episode, Henry and Rebecca discuss the liberalism of the late playwright Tom Stoppard. Henry thinks he’s “one of the great geniuses of English literature”. Rebecca is a little less sure. But they agree that his plays offer a great route into debating liberalism…[Transcript coming soon!] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pursuitofliberalism.com