PODCAST · news
Wisdom of Crowds
by Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic
Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better. wisdomofcrowds.live
Episodes
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Is the Left's Moment Really Real This Time?
Shadi and Damir have been circling a question for weeks: is the American left’s moment real? To find out, they invited Sam Adler-Bell, co-host of Know Your Enemy and a socialist since it was, in his words, about as fashionable as collecting model trains. Radicalism keeps outperforming caution.…
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Where's Your Red Line?
Damir is back from a sweltering Europe, where some commentators seemed to treat air conditioning as a moral failing. He opens the show with a provocation: the European aversion to AC isn’t about strained grids or shuttered nuclear plants — it’s secular theology, Christian guilt repurposed for…
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Anthropic's Jack Clark: AI or Democracy
This week, we are bringing you a conversation, recorded live at the Times Center in Manhattan last Thursday, between Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, head of the Anthropic Institute and the man behind the Import AI newsletter, and our own Samuel Kimbriel. Clark opens with the uncomfortable...
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What If We Fired All the Politicians?
In this live taping — a partnership between Wisdom of Crowds, Aspen Philosophy and Society, and Yale’s new Center for Civic Thought — Samuel Kimbriel sits down with political theorist Hélène Landemore and writer Osita Nwanevu to hash out a deceptively simple question: what is democracy actually...
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Church and Empire
The Iran war has produced an unlikely main character: the Pope. This week, our dear friend and former colleague Santiago Ramos returns to the pod. He joins Christine and Damir to unpack the escalating clash between the Trump administration and the Catholic Church over the war, Trump’s various...
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Did We Get Hungary Wrong?
This week, Damir and Shadi are joined by Julian Waller, Professorial Lecturer in Political Science at George Washington University and co-author of Autocrats Can’t Always Get What They Want: State Institutions and Autonomy under Authoritarianism. The occasion is an awkward one for a certain kind…
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Anti-Politics and the Counter-Revolution
Samuel Kimbriel was in Italy the other week, where he sat down with Rome-based political theorist Giovanni Orsina to talk about European populism. The conversation starts with Giorgia Meloni, who, Orsina argues, is more a pragmatic traditional right-wing politician than a true populist. It then...
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Peter Beinart on Why the "Right to Exist" is the Wrong Question
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Last week, Shadi wrote a controversial essay over at Wisdom of Crowds titled “Does Israel Have a Right to Exist?” This week, we had our friend Peter Beinart on to the show to unpack the question some more. Peter is,...
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What Ails the Left?
This week, Shadi and Sam sat down with Jonny Thakkar, an Assistant Professor in Political Science at Swarthmore College and one of the founding editors of the invaluable The Point magazine. In a recent essay in The Point, Jonny argues that the left’s organizing framework — reducing injustice and...
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Cameron Kasky on How Israel Lost America
This week, Shadi and Damir hosted Cameron Kasky — a rising young activist in the Democratic Party and former congressional candidate for New York’s 12th District — who gave us a glimpse into where American politics might be headed. Cameron started his career as a gun control advocate after...
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Are We All Clavicular Now?
Damir, Shadi and Christine discuss the latest wave of worrying data about young adults’ retreat from dating, sex, marriage and parenthood. Shadi lays out the big numbers — projections that a large minority of young Americans may never marry and a substantial share may never have children — and…
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Just How Worried Should We Be About AI?
Damir and Sam are joined by Cambridge philosopher Henry Shevlin of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence for a raucous and rambling conversation about the state of artificial intelligence. Is it about to get conscious, take all of our jobs, and destroy the world? Or is all this...
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American Exceptionalism on Trial
This episode features a full-length debate between Shadi Hamid and Trita Parsi —two thinkers who fundamentally disagree about the role of American power in the world. Released jointly with The Disagreement podcast and hosted by Alex Grodd, the conversation reflects a shared Wisdom of Crowds ethos…
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What the New Right Actually Believes
This week Christine Emba and Sam Kimbriel are joined by Laura K. Field, a political theorist and the author of the new book Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right. It’s a sharp, readable taxonomy of the thinkers, factions and subcultures that helped build the MAGA coalition—from the...
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Venezuela and Its Consequences
Against the backdrop of Trump’s breathtaking snatch-and-grab operation against Venezuela’s nasty dictator Nicolás Maduro, Shadi and Damir debate the complexities of global politics, focusing on the tension between power and morality. They explore the implications of U.S. foreign policy decisions...
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How Democracies Can Get Their Mojo Back
As the year winds down, Shadi and Damir hosted Michael McFaul, a professor at Stanford University and former special assistant to President Obama and U.S. ambassador to Russia. His new book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder is as good a start as any in...
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Holiday Special: The Case for a New American Founding
This week, we have a special live episode for you. Wisdom of Crowds, in cooperation with Aspen’s Philosophy and Society program, threw a holiday party in DC, celebrating the release of our friend Osita Nwanevu’s new book, The Right of the People. Samuel Kimbriel sat down with Osita and the great...
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Why are Charismatic Demagogues So Attractive?
This week, the great Nils Gilman joined Damir Marusic and Samuel Kimbriel on the pod to unpack the complexities of American foreign policy and its implications for Europe — and beyond. The conversation starts by trying to make sense of Trump’s latest National Security Strategy as a jumping off...
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Do We Crave Intensity in Our Lives?
Damir’s back from Ukraine, still buzzing — and feeling weird about it. He and Christine talk about the thrill and guilt associated with reporting from war zones, the ethical implications of war tourism, and the psychological toll on both journalists and civilians. The conversation then shifts to...
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Lea Ypi on Dignity, History and Internet Trolls
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live A few years ago, Lea Ypi was scrolling through Facebook when she came across a family photo she had never seen before. Someone had discovered a photograph of Ypi’s grandparents on their honeymoon and posted it on a...
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Who Is Zohran Mamdani, Really?
After Friday’s meeting between Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, everyone is asking: who is Zohran Mamdani really? What motivates him: is it progressive cultural issues, or economic populism? Is he woke, or a pragmatist? He won the mayor’s seat in New York City with just over fifty percent of the...
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Shadi Hamid on the Case for America
This week’s episode is a live recording of Wisdom of Crowds, where we celebrated a very special occasion: the publication of Shadi Hamid’s new book, The Case for American Power. The book is a soul-searching study about American power as a force for good in the world, and it combines memoir and...
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Will the Right Sideline Nick Fuentes? Can it?
With Shadi out promoting his new book, Damir sat down with WoC friend Jamie Kirchick to debate the influence of media figures like Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes on conservatism on America. Anti-semitism may be the oldest hatred, something different feels afoot today. Generational shifts in...
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Trust, Politics and Community
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Are human beings by nature suspicious of each other? Or is harmonious communal life our default mode? The answer to this question has implications for politics. Today’s episode is a live discussion about just this...
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Nobody Is Autonomous
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live We need to get better at asking for help. So argues author Leah Libresco Sargeant in her new book, The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto. The core thesis of the book is that “women’s equality with men...
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Tyler Cowen: We Are Lucky to Be Living in This Era
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live “This is one of the greatest historical eras mankind will ever see.” So says Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason University, renowned author and chairman at the Mercatus Center, a think tank. He is also…
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[REUPPED] Community, Freedom and the Polis
Yesterday, the philosopher Michael Sandel won this year’s prestigious Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. The million-dollar prize is a lifetime-achievement award given to an individual “whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement.” We were lucky to have...
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Why the Two-State Solution Died
This week we have a very special guest: Robert Malley, a veteran American diplomat and Middle East expert. From advising President Clinton at Camp David to serving as President Obama’s top White House official for the Middle East and then as Biden’s Special Envoy for Iran, Malley has spent…
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Piety and Politics
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Last week, Wisdom of Crowds philosopher-in-residence Samuel Kimbriel wrote an essay about the political use of Christianity within MAGA, contrasting the sincerity of Erika Kirk’s piety with the propagandistic use of...
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[UNPAYWALLED] The Antidotes to Male Loneliness
Today we have a return guest: Jordan Castro. Jordan is a writer and the deputy director of the Cluny Project, a think tank of sorts for cultural entrepreneurs. The last time Jordan appeared on Wisdom of Crowds, we discussed his first novel, The Novelist. Now Jordan has a second book, Muscle Man,...
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The Return of the Assassin
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Today’s guest is Geoff Shullenberger, the managing editor of Compact and a writer whose articles and reviews have appeared in American Affairs, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Atlantis, UnHerd, and more....
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Our "Years of Lead"?
Our episode this week is more on the serious and somber side. Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk and speculate about its consequences. What are we learning about America and American politics in the wake of that horrible shooting? Is America heading toward...
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Trust and Tech
The Lyceum Movement is a nationwide grassroots organization that aims to build a healthier public discourse by bringing diverse groups of people together to investigate first principles. Every August, Lyceum hosts a big event in Des Moines: the Tallgrass Ideas Festival. And for the last three...
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Community, Freedom and the Polis
A special treat from the Aspen Ideas Festival: a panel discussion about American community and politics, featuring a father–son philosophical duo. Michael J. Sandel is a professor at Harvard University, where he teaches political philosophy. His famous “Justice” course has been viewed by tens of...
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From Utah to Utopia
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live American Primeval on Netflix. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. Ballerina Farm on Instagram. American culture is living through a Mormon moment. It is a sign that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...
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Where's the Resistance?
President Donald Trump federalized DC law enforcement this week, raising all sorts of questions — about democracy, authoritarianism, sovereignty and legitimacy — that are natural fits for us to discuss here at Wisdom of Crowds. Yes, Trump’s use of emergency powers to justify the takeover is...
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Waiting for the Barbarians
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live “ ‘Barbarism’ is a word that keeps coming to my lips lately,” writes Damir Marusic in a brilliant new article this week. Barbarism seems to be the only real word that describes what comes after the liberal...
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Men Without Women, and Vice Versa
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Women and men are having a hard time finding each other. A lot of women are giving up on finding a mate. Some women with mates are worried that their men don’t have any friends. Everyone hates dating apps. People…
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Matthew Walther on Conspiracy Theories
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Dead almost six years, Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news. The sordid details of his crimes, and the elaborate conspiracy concerning elites that he may or may not have been a part of, have become a central issue...
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What is Happiness?
What is happiness? Why are so many Americans — by their own admission — unhappy? These are the central questions in this special episode, live from the Aspen Ideas Festival. At the festival, our house philosopher, Dr. Samuel Kimbriel, hosted a discussion with three distinguished thinkers. Adam...
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Paul Elie on Culture and Crypto-Religiosity
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live It’s the summer doldrums, so this week, Wisdom of Crowds is taking a break from politics and war and Trump. Instead, we are talking about culture. Our guest, Paul Elie, is one of the leading culture and religion...
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Is History Still Over? with Francis Fukuyama
Last month, Francis Fukuyama was scheduled to come to Washington, DC for a live taping of Wisdom of Crowds. Unfortunately, as subscribers know, Frank lost his voice the morning of his scheduled appearance, and we were forced to cancel. However, we were able to record a bit of conversation with…
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War is the Father of All
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live “War is the father of all and the king of all; and some he has made gods and some men, some bond and some free.” So said the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. In his essay this week, Santiago Ramos says the...
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Sohrab Ahmari on the Israel-Iran War and its Aftermath
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live The Israel-Iran war is about to enter its sixth day. As of this recording — Wednesday evening, June 18 — President Trump has not announced whether the United States will join the Israeli war effort. During this...
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Abbas Milani on the Future of Iran
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live The war between Iran and Israel is bound to determine the future of the Middle East and, possibly, the whole world. The time is fitting, then, to release Shadi Hamid’s and Santiago Ramos’ conversation with Abbas...
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Livestream: War in Iran
It’s finally happened: Israel has attacked Iran. Wisdom of Crowds executive editor Santiago Ramos joined Damir Marusic for a live-streamed emergency q&a about the latest Middle East crisis. What do we know? What can we expect in the near future? What does this mean for the Middle East in the long...
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What Kanye West Thinks He's Doing
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Why do artists try so hard to shock the public? Why is Kanye West singing about Hitler? Why are New York artists dabbling with fascism? The novelist and cultural critic Țara Isabella Burton joins Damir Marusic and...
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The Future of AI and the Future of Humanity
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live Is tech replacing humanity? Or is it sharpening the question of what it means to be human? What does it mean to live a good life — as opposed to passable life? What features of humanity become more important by...
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Sex and Death and Norms and Shame
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.live We live in an increasingly weird world, where the weirdness is facilitated and accelerated by the Internet. We live in a world full of instantly-available bizarre pornography and terrorist attacks inspired by...
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How to Think About Power and Morality
As subscribers of Wisdom of Crowds will know, the war in Gaza has preoccupied Shadi Hamid for over a year now, and has taken a central place in his political thinking. Damir Marusic begins this episode by challenging Shadi on this point. Is he giving too much importance to one political and moral...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better.
wisdomofcrowds.live
HOSTED BY
Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Wisdom of Crowds have?
Wisdom of Crowds currently has 262 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Wisdom of Crowds about?
Agreement is nice. Disagreement is better. wisdomofcrowds.live
How often does Wisdom of Crowds release new episodes?
Wisdom of Crowds publishes regularly with 262 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Wisdom of Crowds?
You can listen to Wisdom of Crowds on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Wisdom of Crowds?
Wisdom of Crowds is created and hosted by Shadi Hamid & Damir Marusic.
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