Journalist Ben Dreyfuss (writer of Calm Down and co-host of Central Air) joins us for a conversational grab bag: Zohran Mamdani’s agenda; the Left’s ideologues (and how to distinguish them from the cosplayers); the challenge of maintaining personal relationships across political divides; Luigi Mangione’s appeal; the dearth of humor amongst Millennials; and more. If these topics leave you spinning down a dark apocalyptic hole of cynicism, remember (as Ben reminds us at the end of this episode): calm the f*ck down. And consider telling a joke or two.
On the agenda:
-Mamdani, the DSA, and the Left’s ideologues [00:00-21:31]
-Keeping friends after October 7th [21:32-29:30]
-Fake, lying social media and the “noticers” [29:31-35:54]
-Playing footsie with murders (the Luigi Mangione story) [35:55-45:21]
-Changing people’s minds — and finding common ground [45:22-1:01:22]
-NIMBYism, Abundance, and back to New York City [1:01:23-1:10:27]
-Why it’s hard to be funny [1:10:28-1:14:31]
-Blindspots on the Left & Right [1:14:32-1:22:00]
Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe.
