Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

• Hasan Piker Is Flirting With the Revolution

  The Twitch and YouTube star Hasan Piker understands what pushes people to commit acts of political violence. But does that understanding tip over into appreciation? In this episode of “Interesting Times,” Ross Douthat and Piker debate why Piker’s post-liberal rhetoric attracts criticism from the right (and results in the occasional platform suspension) and why Americans’ changing attitudes on Israel feed his “revolutionary optimism.”02:14 - Life during and after Twitch10:45 - The Hasan Piker worldview15:57 - “Revolutionary violence”20:13 - Is it hyperbole or incitement?30:48 - Hasan’s Luigi Mangione coverage41:35 - The danger in pushing taboos51:52 - Anti-Zionist advocacy and Hasan’s Turkish background1:08:00 - “Revolutionary optimism”Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.A full transcript of this episode is also available on the Times website. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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• The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Crackdown on Academia

  What is wrong with higher education in America? According to many on the right, a lot. This week, Ross Douthat talks to May Mailman, the lawyer behind President Trump’s battles with Harvard and Columbia, about the administration’s assault on the Ivy League and why “a glorification of victimhood” is changing the relationship between universities and the federal government.02:51 - What is a “culture of victimhood”?07:38 - Mailman’s political awakening11:44 - Social media and protest culture in the 2010s19:39 - The Trump administration’s strategy against universities26:33 - The financial levers that could ensure compliance36:09 - Ideological diversity and free speech47:56 - How legal is all this?52:25 - Higher education in 2030Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.A full transcript of this episode is also available on the Times website. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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• Ezra Klein Is Worried — but Not About a Radicalized Left

  Ezra Klein argues that the left desperately needs a unifying project — for its own survival and for the sake of the country. In this episode of Ross Douthat’s “Interesting Times,” Ross and Ezra assess the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and debate whether the left has taken a dark turn.00:25 How liberalism became “uncertain and exhausted”08:37 The void in the Democratic Party12:21 Does progressive despair lead to radicalism?15:04 “Violence is contagious"19:24 Can the left be more malleable?28:20 The hippies, Peter Thiel and technology32:11 Does the American left need cosmic hope?41:59 A vision of the “good life”Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.A full transcript of this episode is also available on the Times website. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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• I was set to interview Charlie Kirk. Then he was assassinated.

  In moments of political shock and horror, where can we turn? Ross was supposed to interview Charlie Kirk next month for the show and now offers his reflections on Kirk, his political movement and his assassination.(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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• Does the Future Belong to China?

  Is the United States still a worthy opponent for China? In this episode, Ross Douthat talks to Dan Wang, the author of “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future,” about the alarming speed at which China is able to build and could blow America out of the water.01:44 - “A life full of ease and beauty”05:30 - Rule by engineers11:00 - China’s Technological Mastery16:04 - Is autocracy driving innovation?25:00 - What are the real stakes of the competition?35:47 - How could China fail? 53:00 - Advice for America(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)Thoughts? Email us at [email protected]. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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